ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes Gouldner's program of critique. It examines several key public documents related to the drug court movement. In order to utilize Gouldner's program of critique, one must first understand the distinction he makes between the technical and the infrastructural levels of social theory. The technical level of theory refers to the actual theoretical system itself, that is, the interrelated set of postulates or statements that purport to explain or predict something about the empirical social world. The first drug treatment court was established in Miami in 1989, which happened to be a hotbed of drug-related, violent street crime. The Gouldnerian program of critique guides us into investigating claims made by proponents of the efficacy, utility, morality, goodness, or cost-effectiveness of any policy, project, or theory. In law and social policy, utilitarianism refers to programs, policies, or orientations that promote the greatest amount of happiness and well-being for the greatest number of people.
