Books by Howard W. Polsky

This original research study of residential treatments of problem adolescents represents one of the few attempts in the field to observe in a systematic fashion the residents' living situation in the institutional setting. An innovative field experiment is developed to contrast the interaction of counsellors and residents as they create three distinctive cottage subcultures.

From Custodialism to Community offers a critique of current residential care and a rationale and strategies for its transformation. The authors discuss challenges presented to residential settings by developmental characteristics of adolescence, specifically the power of the peer group as it encourages challenging authority.