'All this is about is money and making sure that heads are on beds': Perceptions of payment by results in a therapeutic community. (June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gosling, Helena
• Is Part Of: Probation journal. Volume 63:Number 2(2016:Jun.)
• Page Start: 144
• Page End: 152
• Publication Date: 2016-06
• Subjects: commodification -- effectiveness -- outcome-based commissioning -- payment by results -- Therapeutic Community; Probation -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 364.6305
• DOI: 10.1177/0264550516637241
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-5505

Abstract

The aim of this article is to critically reflect upon some of the practical difficulties which surround the implementation of an outcome-focused payment initiative, colloquially referred to as Payment by Results (PbR), in a drug and alcohol service situated in the North of England. Drawing upon the findings of a longitudinal study in a residential rehabilitation service, the discussion illustrates some of the tensions and dilemmas which surround the introduction of increasingly business-orientated decisions within a person-centered environment that is designed to work alongside some of society's most troubled and troublesome individuals. To conclude, the article suggests that financially-driven processes (such as PbR) commodify the rehabilitative ideal, making service users and practitioners alike increasingly accountable to a counterintuitive fiscal endeavour.