| Summary: | Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University === This is a study of factors in the initial contact related to families' handling of a treatment plan offered by a child guidance clinic.
When a clinic considers cases for treatment plans it is important to
know as closely as possible that the family can and will use such help.
The needs of the community for the helping services of the clinic as shown,
in part, by the waiting lists are a charge to the clinic to offer treatment
wisely. The nature of many of the problem situations presented for
consideration is such that the decision can be a crucial one in the lives
of whole families. Clinics do not offer a simple remedy, but a complex
problem-solving process which involves two or more members of the family
in a new kind of experience with the combined efforts of the clinic team.
Each clinic has objective criteria to consider in making its selection of
cases and each has a vital interest in broadening this objective base for
a more scientific procedure. This study of factors relating to acceptance
of treatment is pertinent to that interest.
Two groups of twelve cases presenting similar problems have been compared.
One group consists of cases which did not accept treatment when it
was offered. The other is a group of cases which accepted and entered into
treatment. The application interviews as recorded in the case records were
examined by means of a schedule. The schedule was constructed to examine
factual data and the attitudes of both parents toward help, toward their
child and toward the problem. The information from the two groups was
then contrasted in an attempt to identify any significant differences. [TRUNCATED]
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