This study investigated the effects of an institutional policy of consequating running away behavior of emotionally disturbed adolescents by forcing them to wear a loose pajama-like two-piece garment (hospital whites) for three days following their return to a mental health center. Two important classroom behaviors were measured while 14 adolescents were in the learning center in hospital whites, showing that punitive dress had a measured detrimental effect on the adolescents' classroom behavior.
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