A Study of the Adjustment of Fifty Boys Residing at New Jersey’s Boystown June 30, 1963 to December 31, 1963

Background of the Study. Institutions for a long time have attempted to meet the many needs of those children who have been placed because their parents were unable to adequately care for them, or who neglected or abandoned them, and for those children who have been committed through the Juvenile Court. While there has been much discussion as to the effectiveness of Institution vs. Foster Home, there can be no doubt as to the need for institutions to provide services to those children who are unable to adjust in a foster home setting. This is particularly true in the situation where the child has been sent to an institution because of delinquent, acting out behavior where the cause of his behavior cannot be handled in the family environment. It is for this reason that New Jersey’s Boystown exists, namely to provide for the physical, psychological, spiritual and social well being of all those boys who have been sent there for protective care. The program and activities attempt to meet these responsibilities, hopefully providing each boy with an opportunity to develop his character and personality. Consequently it is necessary to periodically evaluate the adjustment of the boys at Boystown in order to determine whether or not they are being helped with their problems and whether or not the majority of their needs are being met. This is of vital importance since the main purpose of institutional placement is treatment. This study, then, will consider the adjustment of fifty boys who have been in placement during a recent six-month period