Socially Maladjusted Adolescents' Perceptions of Their Families

Abstract

The Family Environment Scale, a 90-item true-false instrument used to evaluate the social climate of families, was administered to 17 socially maladjusted adolescents. The results showed that these adolescents perceived their families as not highly supportive or concerned about each member's welfare. These families were perceived as providing little cultural, intellectual or recreational stimulation in the home. The families scored relatively higher on the Conflict subscale which measures the extent to which open expression of anger and aggression are characteristic of the family. Implications of these data for understanding and programming for the socially maladjusted child were discussed. Also the clinical and educational utility, e.g., structuring counseling sessions, planning home visits, of the scale was delineated.