Adapted from author's doctoral dissertation, the Catholic University of America. (JJ)

A short-term group approach has been developed utilizing principles of crisis intervention. Group sessions are offered during admission and predischarge phases. Achievable goals pertain to providing support and information to families and diagnostic information to staff. Supportive statistical data and case examples are presented. (Author)

Research supported in part by VRA grant 2569-P.

Describes Hub Group, a short-term ward-based group therapy program for institutionalized adolescents. Backed by a behaviorally-based privilege system, Hub Group contracting methods facilitate rapid investment in group therapy and promote change. Advantages and disadvantages of including mixed levels of functioning in the same group are discussed.…

The use of communication boards with teachers by seven nonspeaking, nonambulatory, severely mentally retarded students in a residential classroom setting was studied. Analysis of videotaped nonspeaking student-teacher interactions revealed that these students rarely used their communication boards despite their severe inability to convey messages…

Studied the stability of happiness for rural, urban, and institutionalized Canadian older adults (N=600). For urban and institutionalized persons housing satisfaction was the main predictor; for rural individuals, health and marital status remained consistent predictors. Results showed that although predictors differ, happiness remains stable in…

A program was implemented to increase the manual signing of five profoundly retarded (mean age, 19 years) and four autistic (mean age, 9 years) youth within their daily environment. (Author)

Replicating previous findings that the inability to "shift" conceptual attitude on the Weigl is consistent with indices associated with cortical dysfunction, the Weigl is shown to possibly serve as a nonverbal instrument to assess cortical dysfunction where inability to "shift" appears to tap a dysfunction in symbolic rather…

Administered the Hopelessness Scale to criminal psychiatric inpatients, general psychiatric inpatients, and college students. Both psychiatric groups endorsed significantly more items in the hopeless direction. Found the scale more reliable with the psychiatric patients. Item analysis of the Hopelessness Scale suggests that three items were not…

Institutionalized retarded clients (N=142) were assessed on the Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) within six months of their admission to Woodhaven Center (Philadelphia) and approximately 12 to 18 months later. While clients were found to progress significantly on seven of the 10 domains of Part One of the ABS, no significant gains were noted on Part…

Summarizes the design and effects of a group therapy project using videotape feedback with seriously disturbed adolescents. Offers anecdotal evidence that the feedback facilitated the correction of the participants' distorted body images, low self-esteem, lack of capacity for self-observation, and poor peer relationships. (SS)