Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities

Substance abuse treatment facilities are usually health facilities—but can be any other type of facility—that provide a continuum of care for persons with substance dependency (characterized by destructive patterns of using a substance that lead to significant problems or distress in an individual’s private or public sphere of life), aimed at treatment and rehabilitation. Typically included in this continuum of care are behavior modification, counseling, treatment, therapy, resocialization, rehabilitation, and/or monitoring. These facilities are global in context, though they differ quantitatively and qualitatively, offering a range of interventions in a variety of settings, including residential and outpatient treatment.

Substance abuse treatment facilities are relevant to surveillance, security, and privacy for differing reasons. Based on the notion of “natural surveillance,” or the design of the facility, these ...