ABSTRACT
In the latter part of 1954 and early months of 1955, six boys between 8 and 11 years of age were admitted to a closed ward in the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. They had been selected for their aggressive, hostile, antisocial adjustment, and for the next four and a half years were the subjects of a prolonged research study in the residential treatment of such children. From the outset their program included four hours a week of individual psychotherapy, special in-hospital school, and intensive milieu therapy with emphasis on “life-space interviewing” around disturbed behavior. 1 While the severity of their symptomatic behavior necessitated emphasis on programing within the hospital milieu, closely supervised experiences in the community were planned as often as possible. A caseworker assigned to the group maintained contact with members of each boy’s family and arranged visits at the hospital or at home when either of these seemed advisable.
