Introduction

Therapeutic communities were born out of the radical and creative forces that established alternative forms of mental health care, from the 1950s to the present day. Thera-peutic environments, influenced by the ideas developed by this movement, exist in psychiatric settings, social work or penal institutions, in community schemes, in projects for the homeless, in the drug and alcohol fields, and in educa-tional and industrial settings. The Journal aims to build up-on this creative legacy by stimulating a continual critical re-thinking of the possibilities for developing therapeutic and relational potential, within whatever communities readers work and live. It aims to provide a forum in which those en-gaged in developing, managing and sustaining therapeutic cultures can communicate their experiences, the effects of political and social policy on their own settings, their ideas, developments and findings; and can disseminate good practice and explore what happens when things go wrong.

The Journal publishes academic papers, case studies, empirical research and opinion. The Journal is interested in publishing papers that critically and creatively engage with ideas drawn from a range of discourses: the therapeutic community movement and other related professional prac-tice, psychoanalysis, art, literature, poetry, music, architect-ure, culture, education, philosophy, religion and environ-mental studies. It will be of value to those who work in health services, social services, voluntary and charitable organisations, and for all professionals involved with staff teams, service users and experts by experience in therapeutic communities, therapeutic environments and supportive organisations.

Editorial Collective

Mark Freestone, Chair of Editorial Collective : East London Forensic Personality Disorder Service, London , UK .
Simon McArdle, Cultural Reviews: University of Greenwich , London , UK .
Rowdy Yates, Abstracts and Digest Section: University of Stirling , UK .
Anita Bracey: Main House Therapeutic Community, Birmingham , UK .
Eric Broekaert: University of Ghent , Belgium .
George De Leon : Center for Therapeutic Community Research at National Development and Research Institutes & Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine , New York , USA .
John Diamond: Mulberry Bush School, Oxfordshire, UK.
Rex Haigh: Nottinghamshire Personality Development Network and Thames Valley Axis 2 Institute, UK.
Barbara Rawlings: University of Manchester , UK .
Sarah Tucker: Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture and Traumatic Stress Clinic, Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust, London , UK .

Journal Staff

Lorna Viikna, Journal Manager: Nottingham, UK. Email: lorna.viikna@nottshc.nhs.uk
Christine Worthington, Editorial Assistant and Typesetting: Nottingham, UK.
Email: ca.worthington@btinternet.com

International Editorial Advisory Group

Eric Allan, Australia
Alan Amtzis, United States of America
Joseph Berke, United Kingdom
Jan Birtle, United Kingdom
Sandy Bloom, United States of America
Christine Bradley, United Kingdom
Dennie Briggs, United States of America
Horst Broemer, Germany
Bartomeu Catala, Spain
Alf Clarke, Australia
Maurizio Coletti, Italy
Charles Devlin, United States of America
Stephanie du Fresne, New Zealand
Chris Evans, United Kingdom
David Fainman, United Kingdom
Craig Fees, United Kingdom
John Gale, United Kingdom
Neil Gordon, United Kingdom
Michael B. Harle, United States of America
Kevin Healy, United Kingdom
Bob Hinshelwood, United Kingdom
Nancy Jainchill, United States of America
Lawrence Jones, United Kingdom
Vanessa Jones, United Kingdom
Phadeon Kaloterakis, Greece
Göran Karlström, Sweden
David Kennard, United Kingdom
Milos Kobal, Slovenia
Martien Kooyman, Netherlands
Hans Kornerup, Denmark
David Kressel, United States of America
Jan Lees, United Kingdom
Maddy Loat, United Kingdom
Aldo Lombardo, Italy
Nick Manning , United Kingdom
Rudolf Moos, United States of America
Kingsley Norton, United Kingdom
Sarah Paget, United Kingdom
Geir Pedersen, Norway
Mads Uffe Pedersen, Denmark
Enrico Pedriali, Italy
Edle Ravndal, Norway
Vera Segraeus, Sweden
Meg Sharpe, United Kingdom
Richard Shuker, United Kingdom
Anthony Slater, Norway
Sushma Taylor, United States of America
Kirk Turner, United Kingdom
Ambros Uchtenhagen, Switzerland
Stijn Vandevelde, Belgium
Adrian Ward, United Kingdom
Fiona Warren, United Kingdom
Martin Weegmann, United Kingdom
Stuart Whiteley, United Kingdom
Gary Winship, United Kingdom
Alan Worthington, United Kingdom
James Ziegenfuss, United States of America