This paper reviews 27 studies of parental attitudes on the deinstitutionalization of a family member. In 12 of the studies, the family member was institutionalized. Those studies showed overwhelming satisfaction with the institutional placement and general opposition to deinstitutionalization. In seven studies, the family member had already moved from an institution to the community. Those parents retrospectively reported lower levels of satisfaction with the earlier institutional placement, lower levels of opposition to deinstitutionalization, and high levels of satisfaction with community settings. The three studies in which parental attitudes were sampled both before and after deinstitutionalization mirrored the other studies, showing high levels of general satisfaction with institutional placements before deinstitutionalization and high levels of satisfaction with community placements after deinstitutionalization. Also summarized are parental concerns about deinstitutionalization, their continuing concerns about their children's community placement, their perceptions of the positive outcomes of community living, and ways to facilitate parental satisfaction with deinstitutionalization.
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