The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the Developmental and Deviance Models on services to mentally retarded individuals by addressing the following questions: Do client characteristics such as level of intelligence or skill levels affect the placement of mentally retarded individuals in group homes in the community? How completely are their identified service needs met in community settings? What types of variables affect the extent to which services, documented as needed, are provided? What types of variables affect the extent to which provided services are congruent with the goals in the individual habilitation plans? How often, once placed do group home residents move to residential settings of less or greater restrictiveness? / A total of 477 group home residents were randomly selected from group homes stratified by size (the number of residents: 4-6, 7-10, 11-20, and more than 20 residents). For each client, an instrument was completed which dealt with client characteristics, the adequacy of the community service delivery system and the rate and type of movement experienced by these clients once placed in a group home. / The results indicate that 41% of the sample are severely and profoundly retarded and that these individuals possess minimal, if any, ambulation or communication abilities or self-care skills (bathing, toileting, self-feeding, drinking and dressing). / More services were provided to these individuals than were documented to meet treatment goals of the ihp. Eighty-seven percent of the 1,512 services documented as needed to meet treatment goals in the ihp were provided. A total of 1,945 services were actually received by group home residents, many not documented to meet ihp treatment goals. The service district and the group home size in which the individual lived were the only variables to significantly explain the variance in the amount of ihp-related services which were provided. The service district, level of intelligence and age were significant in explaining the percentage of received services which were congruent with ihp treatment goals. / Client movement was minimal, moves from group homes to institutions decreased as the admission's law made institutional avoidance possible. Moves to settings less restrictive than a group home increased as funding for community support services increased. Too few moves were made to settings more restrictive than group homes to make further analysis possible. / Although this study was only a preliminary examination of the effect of the developmental and deviance models on services affecting the mentally retarded, the developmental model is enjoying at least moderate influence. Services, based on identified need, are provided to an almost complete extent; only administrative differences in service districts and home sizes affect the provision of services. Many unskilled individuals, formerly confined to institutions, are living in the community. In all, this study reflects to a surprising degree, the influence of a progressive perspective on the services of mentally retarded residents of group homes. / Further study is needed to examine the habilitation planning process to determine whether the treatment goals are adequately developed for mentally retarded individuals. Additional investigations should also be undertaken to determine what the service district variable is measuring; it is likely that this variable could be measuring resources, resource utilization, and the differing management structures in the field. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-10, Section: A, page: 4372. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74317 |
| Contributors | POLIVKA, CHRISTIAN H., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 173 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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