Compared supported employment services in two programs: (1) Group Skills Training, a professional rehabilitation agency outside of the mental health center providing pre-employment skills training and support in obtaining and maintaining jobs; and (2) the Individual Placement and Support model, integrating clinical and vocational services within…

This response to a study by D. Strauss and T. Kastner, which compared mortality rates for individuals with mental retardation in either community or institutional settings, notes that all previous research on this subject had found institutional mortality rates higher than those in the community. Methodological concerns are raised about the study.…

Amidst two decades of social neglect, America's white majority has "gifted" inner cities with a new, improved, racially biased criminal justice system. Given the racial patterns firmly fixed in American criminal justice policy and practice, the majority feels justified in undoing welfare and institutionalizing a substantial percentage of…

Examines structural marginality on two levels, substantial and functional. Argues that fundamental organizational framework of economic and political institutions determines the relationship between substantial and functional marginality. Explores the ambiguity involved when dominant society defines and controls marginal groups and individuals.…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization of individuals with severe impairments identifies several points of disagreement, including the appropriateness of placement of such individuals in large institutions, the financial cost of community supportive living, and whether individual needs can best be served in institutions or…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization argues that living in one's home community is better than being forced to leave it to obtain needed services. The commentary also criticizes the assertion that supported living programs funded through Medicaid waiver are not cost-effective compared to traditional institutional or…

Robert Erb responds to commentaries to his paper on institutional placement for individuals with severe disabilities and the costs of community and institutional placements. Risk-and-benefit issues, in addition to cost-and-benefit ones, are addressed. (SW)

Family functioning of 411 incarcerated male juvenile delinquents (aged 12-16 years) was studied using the Family Environmental Scale. A typology of family social environments was developed using cluster analysis. Delinquents with the most serious behavioral difficulties come from family environments with few strengths and openly expressed conflict…

Staff members (n=152) assigned to 76 clients with moderate to severe mental retardation in Norway received training in behaviorally oriented treatment and assessment. Results did not support the hypothesis that training in treatment and assessment would produce greater improvement in client behavior than would training in treatment alone.…

This response to a description of a psychotropic drug review process, TAPER, suggests that the data supporting the reported low rate and dosage level of psychotropic drug use resulting from the process were misleading and inaccurate. Implications of such a drug review process for facilities serving people with developmental disabilities are drawn.…

Presents case of adolescent student at residential program for chemically dependent adolescents who had dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Explains features of attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity and discusses prevalence of attention deficit disorder in chemically dependent population. Explores diagnostic issues,…

A research study is reported that studied (1) the effect of respondents' chronological age on attitudes toward patronizing speech directed at the institutionalized elderly and (2) the prevalence of and understanding of patronizing speech toward noninstitutionalized elderly individuals. (36 references) (LB)

Fifty-eight emotionally disturbed, residentially placed children (ages 7-12) were presented with vignettes depicting child misbehaviors and interpersonal problem situations. Very few children recommended physical punishment, including those from abusive families, but subjects were more likely to endorse physical punishment than normal controls.…

Four studies found serious problems with components of the federal Medicaid program's survey process for evaluating intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded--surveys did not discriminate between certified and noncertified units, direct-care staff behavior was very reactive to the survey's presence, and service providers had divergent…