ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights various developments in the United Kingdom to illustrate the extent to which drug courts and Drug Treatment and Testing Orders are in keeping with the changing currents of contemporary British culture. That is, the evident shift from "punishment" to "treatment" is driven by widespread cultural and legal change oriented toward the institutionalization of the therapeutic ethos. This legal innovation, like other areas of law, is embedded in contemporary cultural sensibilities Consistent with developing cultural currents, new ideas about personal responsibility have become assimilated into law. Contemporary perceptions of vulnerability stand in sharp contrast to the way people viewed their engagement with adversity not so long ago. It is easy to forget that the systematic application of therapeutic to make sense of how people handle misfortune is a relatively recent development. The adaptation of the discourse of emotionalism in relation to wars and international conflict has been criticized for distorting the situation people face in very difficult circumstances.
