Daily participant observations of social development over two years at Family House, a residential treatment program, were coded into a narrative and analyzed using a phenomenological perspective allowing "native categories" of significance to emerge and guide the analysis. The strengths and limitations of this novel research strategy…

This practicum took place in seven treatment programs that offer residential, day treatment, and therapeutic school services to children and adolescents with social, emotional, and/or behavioral problems. Each of these programs provides milieu therapy including group-centered treatment guided by professional child and youth care counselors. The…