Originally published in 1971, this title describes a series of studies dealing with the upbringing of children in residential institutions. Most work has been carried out in institutions for children with learning disabilities, although units caring for able but deprived children and children with physical disabilities have also been examined. The investigations have been concerned with the detailed nature of different institutional environments – that is, the routine patterns of daily life in hospital wards, hostels and cottages of children’s homes – rather than with the effects of specific child-rearing practices upon the intellectual, emotional and social development of the children. The more precise delineation of ‘the environment’ is an essential step towards the evaluation of residential services and the interpretation of their effects upon those who use them, yet this is an area which had received little systematic attention from social scientists at the time.

This book is a re-issue originally published in 1971. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.