Life-styles of Severely Retarded Non-communicating Adults in Hospitals and Small Residential Homes

Summary Comparisons were made of the care practices of the staff, organizationand management, physical environment and activities of the residentsof three hospital wards and three small non-hospital residentialhomes for mobile, severely or profoundly retarded adults withdisturbed behaviour. Although, overall, compared with the wards,the small homes had better staff ratios, markedly more staffautonomy, resident oriented care practices, occupations andleisure pursuits and their residents were more often engagedin simple constructive activities, there were differences amongthe individual units, especially the wards. The results showedthat, even within a rigidly run insititution, the initiativesof individuals in charge of the living unit can have an appreciablepositive effect upon the residents' life-styles.     

The Children's Family Trust: a Unique Approach to Substitute Family Care?

Summary This article outlines the contribution made to child care since1945 by the Children's Family Trust in providing substitutefamily homes. Reference is made to some Trust policies whichhave aroused controversy over the years. Recruitment and supportof the substitute Parents is discussed, and a brief analysismade of the children for whom placement with the Trust may bemost appropriate. Comparisons are drawn between staff turnoverin Trust families and other residential homes, and between successand failure rates of placements with the Trust and in long-termfoster-homes. The final section assesses the role of the Children'sFamily Trust and its philosophy in contemporary child care.     

Private Children's Homes

Summary The paper provides survey and intensive research material onthe private children's homes sector. It is shown that this sectoris currently in decline. Private homes are found to be shelteringchildren with long and complex care histories and to adopt adistinctive residential style. Although private homes providevaluable long term continuity, they are less likely to offerthe same range of community services as do residential settingsmanaged by the local authority and voluntary child care agencies.     

Staff Attitudes and Caring Practices in Homes for the Elderly

Correspondence to Tim Booth, Joint Unit for Social Services Research, The University, Sheffield S10 2TN. Summary This article presents the findings from a major survey of staffattitudes and caring practices in homes for the elderly in Fife.The survey was carried out in the wake of the Wagner Reportto examine the diffusion of good practice ideas among residentialstaff and to see how far these ideas are reflected in actualcaring routines. The study points to the existence of a ‘coolingeffect’ whereby adherence to good practice lessens thecloser one gets to operational reality. Finally, the implicationsof these findings for staff training are discussed.     

The Place of Fostering in Social Work

Summary To foster children is no longer regarded as the main objectiveof the child care services. However, fostering is once againa matter of social work and public debate. The paper explainsthat more types of children are now being assessed as requiringfostering at a time when social service departments are findingit difficult to expand their number of foster homes. This greaterdemand for foster homes coincides with recent researches whichhelp to clarify the nature of fostering. Accordingly, a distinctioncan be made between 'exclusive' and 'inclusive' fosterings.It is considered that a conflict exists between popularity ofexclusive fostering and research findings which stress the valueof inclusive fostering. Research is also identifying the contributionwhich social workers can make in the fostering field. But thedesired inputs of training, low caseloads and staff stabilitypose problems for social work management. Finally, the researchfindings discussed in the paper are used to argue that the forthcomingChildren Bill is not only based on false assumptions about thebehaviour of natural parents but will also promote exclusiverather than inclusive fosterings. A plea is made that childwelfare policy be seen in a larger context of social reform     

Integrating Group Dynamics Training and the Education and Development of Social Work Students

Summary This paper explores experience of the development of a groupdynamics workshop in a post-graduate course for student socialworkers. The background to the workshops is outlined with referenceto students, course staff and consultant staff. A brief summaryof different conceptual approaches to group dynamics trainingis offered in order to clarify terminology and methods. Importantconclusions concerning the design and operation of the workshopsare drawn and emphasis is placed on an analysis of the multiplerole situation of student social workers, choosing appropriatelearning designs, and making these explicit     

Consistency: a pre-requisite for inspecting old people's homes?

Correspondence to Dr Ian Gibbs, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD. Summary Inspection of old people's homes, in both local authority andindependent sectors, forms a major component in the work ofthe new ‘arm's length‘ inspection units. The successof these units will depend in part on inspectors' ability tomake consistent judgements based on agreed standards. This articlereports on a study which examined the extent to which inspectorswere able to reach reliable conclusions about the quality ofcare in old people's homes and the possible contribution ofchecklists in this task.     

Evaluating a Group Home: Problems and Results

Summary The need for an evaluative framework for group homes for thementally ill is discussed. Evaluation involves separating implicitfrom explicit objectives. The possible objectives for a grouphome are considered in terms of the questions of who decideswhat the objectives are to be, how they are defined, and theirrelationship to the idea of normality. A further issue in decidingobjectives is whether the client's independence is to be foundwithin the group home or beyond it. The elements of a group home's regime are then considered: theseinclude control and group support. Problems in measuring theelements involved are mentioned. An evaluative scheme based upon this is then drawn up for aparticular group home, and the results described. The residentsare found to have experienced little change overall in theirlevel of independence, and this is associated with a regimewhere residents act in a dependent way towards staff, and staffperceptions of control and support are different from thoseof residents.     

Adolescents Who Sexually Abuse and Residential Accommodation: Issues of Risk and Vulnerability

Summary This article, arising out of quantitative and qualitative researchstudies conducted by the authors, begins with a brief overviewof current knowledge about male adolescent sexual abusers andassociated policies, procedures and services. A particular concernraised by professionals and welfare agencies, who are strugglingto develop appropriate responses to young sexual abusers, concernsthe circumstances and problems of young people who are placedin residential accommodation as a result of their sexually abusivebehaviour, often where there are also child victims of sexualabuse. The vulnerability of young sexual abusers and the riskthey pose to others is considered in the light of the findingsof qualitative research by one of the authors into the constructionand control of children and their sexualities in residentialchildren's homes. This research suggests that the inadequateways in which sexual behaviour in children's homes is perceivedand managed, serves to compound the problems of both the sexuallyabusive and non-abusive adolescents placed there. The findingsfrom both authors' research are then theorized within broaderconceptual frameworks about the nature of childhood, childhoodsexuality and institutionalization and its links with peer sexualabuse.     

The Micro-economics of Old People's Homes

Summary Eleven old people's homes in England were studied to investigatehow money was distributed within the home, what it had to coverand how it could be spent. The level of the Personal Allowanceand the problems of providing shopping facilities are discussed.The relationship between questions of money and independence,initiative and responsibility in old peoples' homes are consideredand suggestions are put forward to increase old peoples' choiceand control over their own lives.     

Dependency and its Relationship to the Assessment of Care Needs of Elderly People

Correspondence to Dr Ian Gibbs, Social Policy Research Unit, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, Heslington, York, YO1 5DD Summary A number of previous studies of old people in residential homeshave suggested that a substantial minority are not in need ofthat form of care. The rapid growth in the number of peoplein private homes, supported by social security payments andentering without any independent assessment, has led to concernthat many more people enter residential homes without needingto be there. Social workers were employed in four areas to assess the needsof residents newly admitted to homes in the independent sectorand over eighty per cent were found to be in need of residentialcare. It is suggested that the measures of dependency used toindicate need in some previous studies fail to take into accountthe complex factors involved in deciding whether a person needsresidential care.     

The Supply of Foster Families for Children in Care

Correspondence to John Miles, Institute of Social and Applied Psychology, The University, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7LZ. Summary The family circumstances of 2694 foster homes in England arecompared with representative families from the 1985 GeneralHousehold Survey. Foster families typically include a womanin the 31–55 age group, live in homes with three or morebedrooms, are two parent families with one parent working full-timeand the other not, and they have older children only. The incidenceof families with these characteristics is used to develop anestimator of the relative supply position of local authorityareas for foster care, from which a number of conclusions aredrawn. Over the last thirty years some social changes have improvedthe supply, others decreased it, and on balance the nationalsupply position is little changed. Ironically, supply is bestin those areas which have the lowest need for fostering services.Ways in which local authorities can improve their supply positionare considered. The supply estimator reveals that the averageboarding out payments made by authorities show clear signs ofresponsiveness to the local supply position for foster families.     

The Effects of Group Living in a Residential Home for the Elderly

Summary The group-living system of care is becoming increasingly popularin residential homes for the elderly. This study examined purposefulactivity, as measured by engagement, in one such home beforeand after changeover to group living. It was found that engagementwas significantly increased after the changeover. In addition,life satisfaction was increased and orientation unchanged bythe changeover in a small sample of residents. These resultsare interpreted as supportive for the effectiveness of groupliving.     

Gender and the Pursuit of Respectability: Dilemmas of Daily Life in a Home for Adolescents

Summary Our attention in this paper centres on aspects of daily lifein a local authority Home for Adolescents. We focus on the contradictionsand dilemmas surrounding the staff's efforts to regulate theexperiences of their charges; especially, on the tensions arisingfrom attempts to channel the residents', the ‘children's’sexuality. In so doing, we seek to relate local, managerialconflicts to broader, to societal issues; in particular, toissues surrounding conceptions of gender, respectability, familylife. Drawing on a participant observation study, we argue thatsexuality pervades the administration of such a home. We describethe socio-spatial features of the institution, the daily routinesof its occupants and the boredom evidenced by residents—theircharacteristic response to the routines imposed on them. Further,we record aspects of the residents' experiences when releasedfrom the Home; their visits to boyfriends, to girlfriends, toclubs and pubs. In short, we contrast the pursuit of respectabilitywithin the Home with the search for pleasure outside its confines.     

中国城市居民委员会的工作比较研究：上海与沈阳

居委会作为街道办事处“派出机构”的角色在客观上已经凌驾于“群众性自治组织”的法律定位之上。相应地,居委会工作人员在长期担当政府代理人角色的路径依赖之下,主观上已经把与社区发展息息相关的日常政务工作建构为社区内部事务。因此,社区建设的实质是基层社会治理结构的建设,它需要国家力量给基层社会的自我运作让渡出一定的空间,而要实现这一目标,关键性的基本前提是政府职能部门的基层管理和服务工作一定要到位,创造性的制度变革是顺应不同性质组织功能的要求,构建“社区建设指导委员会（政府）-社区管理委员会（社会联合体）-社区工作者（专业服务组织）-社区居委会（自治性组织）”的社区治理结构体系。     

Short Term Care for the Elderly in Residential Homes: A Research Note

Please address requests for reprints to Dr. D. Boldy, Division of Health Sciences, Centre for Advanced Studies, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Kent Street, Bentley WA 6102, Australia. Summary Short term care for the elderly has expanded rapidly in thelast five years. The study evaluates short stay care in fourresidential homes using interviews with 42 clients, their main‘carers’, officers-in-charge of the homes and socialworkers. Whilst the service worked reasonably smoothly and provideda break for family carers there remains further potential forimproving the quality of service in the context of a full rangeof services for elderly people.     

Stress and Organizational Culture

Summary The relationship between social work and stress is a complexone which remains relatively under-explored. This paper examinesissues arising from a comparative study of stress in three localauthority social services departments. The main focus is on the human resource management issues underpinningthe experience of social work staff. In particular, the roleof organizational culture is explored and the notion of a ‘cultureof stress’ is introduced. This is a key aspect of thetheoretical account presented. It offers an explanation of theidentified differences amongst the three authorities studiedin terms of the subjective experience of common stressors. The paper concludes with a discussion of the major implicationsfor social work agencies in which such an organizational culturehas developed.     

Feelings and Emotions in Residential Settings: the Individual Experience

Summary This paper examines the impact of admission to residential care,makes a distinction between feelings and emotions, and suggestsways in which emotional habits are formed. Some of the feelingssurrounding primary needs are considered and examples are givenof the powerful emotional drives which result from the dailyinteractions of staff and residents. The need to acknowledgeparallel feelings and emotions in both the cared-for and thecare-givers is underlined together with the importance of constructinga framework of care which allows for the growth of the individualemotional lifestyles of residents.     

Group Living in Homes for the Elderly: A Comparative Study of the Outcomes of Care

Correspondence to Tim Booth, Department of Sociological Studies, Joint Unit for Social Services Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN. Summary This paper traces the theory and practice of group living inhomes for the elderly in the literature and in the field. Itreviews the current state of research and calls for more workon the comparative evaluation of outcomes. It describes andpresents the results from a longitudinal study of matched samplesof residents in group homes and traditional homes which assessedthe relative changes in their personal functioning over time.The findings suggest that group living arrangements have beenoversold—in so far as they promise more than they deliver.     

The role of family care-givers for an older person resident in a care home

Summary A sample of 61 relatives of residents admitted during the precedingthree years to 35 independent sector nursing or residentialcare homes in four local authority areas was interviewed. Thissample included spouses, daughters and sons. Five discrete rolesfor family care-givers in the care homes were described: checkingthe quality of care, companionship, handling the cared-for personwith personal care. Although family care-givers described themselvesas very satisfied with the care homes as a whole, as many ashalf were worried about some aspect of care. A third of theoffspring felt that their relationship with the cared-for personhad improved following the admission to a care home. None ofthe spouses felt this to be the case and most felt that theirrelationship had deteriorated. Spouses tended to visit veryfrequently. Unlike offspring, spouses rarely took the cared-forperson out of the care home. Because of the lack of privacy,visits could be a difficult experience. Those wanting to continuegiving their partner practical support were discouraged by stafffrom doing so. The research has implications for social workers,care home proprietors and registration and inspection unitsin encouraging care homes to adopt more 'relative friendly'policies.