Drugs abuse by adolescents is, nowadays, a major problem of public health. In this field, treatment represents a great challenge, mainly due to the fact that most interventions are not adapted to the adolescents' specificities. The present paper shows the results of an investigation which aimed to analyze the treatment of adolescents through a mode of care that is different from the traditional practices in public health: the therapeutic community. This research tried to understand the conceptions and practices regarding care in the researched institution, comparing them to what is stated by health-related public policies. The research methods utilized were ethnographic description and content analysis. Results suggest that there is a gap between what is stated by public policies and the reality of the therapeutic community that was researched, which, albeit providing shelter and care for the adolescents, make the process of development of their singularities and potentialities difficult, due to its emphasis on the "moral model" of drug addiction treatment.
dependence of psychoactive drugs; adolescence; therapeutic community
