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Abstract

The objective of this article, which emerges from the pragmatic dissatisfactions of a service designer, is
to explore the way forward for developing more socially useful research evidence for adolescent
substance abuse services. Analysis is made of the limitations of existing substance abuse research,
driven by classical experimental models that rely on traditional quantitative techniques. Theoretical
propositions about the nature of an ideal service are developed from interviews with professionals in
twenty of Australia’s twenty-three adolescent residential services. These suggest the configurational
nature of the service, arising from its multi-dimensional temporal, spatial and material properties, and
the importance of the service’s capacity to combine diverse service elements in complementary ways to
meet individual client needs. A social sciences methodology—qualitative comparative analysis
(QCA)—has the potential to better analyse the configurational nature of such services, allowing
identification of effective service element combinations, especially in small-N studies.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Bell, EJ
Keywords:	Adolescent substance abuse, service research, health services design and delivery, health research methodology
Journal or Publication Title:	Addiction Research and Theory
Publisher:	Informa UK Ltd
ISSN:	1606-6359
DOI / ID Number:	10.1080/16066350601088111
Additional Information:	The definitive version is available online at http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content?
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

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