Parental Attitudes toward Institutionalization

Abstract

This research investigated the influence of institutional characteristics on the attitudes of parents of children hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. Attitudes toward “hospitalization” of parents of children in-patients in the state hospital were compared with those of parents of children in a private, intensive-treatment hospital unit. It was hypothesized that the latter group would report more favorable attitudes. A modified semantic differential technique yielded results supporting the hypothesis. Thirty-four of 45 scales were significantly different. These results suggest that institutionalization and treatment policy are reflected in parents' verbalized attitudes. Implications for theory, methodology, and practice are discussed.