The first section identifies general distinctions between residential drug abuse treatment and residential TC's, and the effectiveness of residential treatment in general is briefly reviewed. This section notes that not all residential drug abuse treatment programs are TC's; not all TC's are in residential settings; and not all programs that call themselves TC's use the same social and psychological treatment models. The term "therapeutic community" is widely used to label a distinct approach in almost any setting, including community residences, hospital wards, prisons, and homeless shelters. One effect of this labeling has been to cloud understanding of the TC as a drug abuse treatment approach, how well it works, where it works best, and for which clients it is most appropriate. Of more urgent concern are the policy implications that reflect misunderstanding of the efficacy and cost benefits of residential drug abuse treatment in general and TC's in particular. The second section of the article summarizes the diversity within the TC modality and outlines the essential elements of the TC approach and program model. The concluding section discusses some issues and implications for treatment, research, and policy. Some issues discussed in these sections are staff integration, residential TC's in an integrated treatment system, an integrated system approach, housing versus treatment, clients' rights and the self- help community, and entitlements and the self-help ethic. 55 references