Therapeutic adaptive behavior in residential treatment

Abstract

The adaptive behaviors of twelve children and six staff members in a residentail treatment setting have been recorded from admission to termination. Using General Systems approach we found clear isomorphism between these behaviors and normal child development. Adaptive stages for both groups include monitoring-regulation, focalization symbiosis, mutual reciprocity, individuation-separation, and termination. Characteristic behaviors during each stage and differences between male and female sectors of research population are reported in this paper.