The project described was undertaken at a private residential juvenile treatment center for boys 10 to 18 years old to present programs that would motivate reading and stimulate interest in human interrelationships. Staff sensitivity sessions, selection of current interest paperback books and magazines, and construction of storage units within…

Data from a nationwide survey of mentally retarded people in state operated residential institutions are presented. Findings are listed for 22 aspects, including number of facilities, average daily residents, new admissions, readmissions during the year, deaths during the year, per diem cost, admissions ratios, termination ratios, net population…

Reported are the trends in patterns of use of psychiatric facilities in the United States from 1946 to 1973 and the impact such changes have had on the composition of the institutional population. Sections cover the sources of data, changes in locus of delivery of mental health services, changes in composition of other institutional populations,…

This paper reports the results of creative writing workshops in various psychiatric hospitals that have demonstrated that individuals in psychiatric settings have particular needs, affinities, and receptivities to the means of self-expression and communication available through creative writing. The purgative effect of Emily Dickinson's poetry and…

The laws in many States concerning institutional commitment for mental health problems are antiquated in many ways. This paper, one of a series sponsored by the governor's office of education and training, presents the Mississippi law on the subject; discusses the statutory laws in selected States; examines significant case law in Mississippi and…

Fourteen institutionalized profoundly retarded Ss (seven females, median age 20 years, and seven males, median age 10 years) who received no intervention training program were assesed on the Balthazar Scales of Adaptive Behavior (BSAB), Sections I and II, to determine whether the Ss' spontaneous social coping behavior would improve as a result of…

The first of a series of four booklets on residential programing for the mentally retarded reviews for parents the prevailing definitions, attitudes and practices in the field. Mental retardation is defined as subaverage functioning which originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairment in adaptive behavior. The need…

The author maintains that correctional workers are at a critical juncture in the use of classification strategies. Numerous guidelines are available for classification, but too often these are not applied. Several suggestions are made for effective classifications. (Author/HMV)

Emphasis was directed toward three factors: (1) social density; (2) spatial density; and (3) overall institutional population level. In prisons, higher population years yielded higher death rates and higher rates of psychiatric commitments. Blood pressure was higher in more crowded housing. Degree of perceived crowding was related to space per…

Scaled scores on Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale subtests were compared among five samples of institutionalized mentally retarded (aged 16 - 71 years) from the east coast (509 Ss), west coast (436 Ss), and three from the midwest (113, 51, and 111 Ss). (Author/PHR)

An overview of the programs of library service to the blind, physically handicapped, and institutionalized is presented. State library agency coordination and funding are included. (Author/MBR)

Describes recommended Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) regulations concerning the participation of institutionalized persons in behavioral research. (SL)

The Missouri Children's Picture Series is explored as an assessment tool for boys in residential treatment. Extreme ease of administration is an attractive feature of the test. The test is better administered to disturbed boys in two sittings, to offset their distractibility and short attention span. (Author)

The Public Offender Counselor Inventory was developed to assess counseling outcomes in prisons. The instrument was written to be relevant to the special needs of inmates. This instrument was successfully utilized to assess the results of groups conducted with female prisoners with drug problems. (Author)

The developmentally, physically, and psychiatrically disabled who must cope with institutionalization, disability, and their humanity, are the people whom the institution library serves. The librarian faces the challenge of professionalism, creativity, and awareness to care for and about these people. (Author/MBR)