and receive treatment (Wahl, 1993).
Some believe that the size of the group home is an important consideration; it was expected that smaller is better for people with mental retardation. Previous studies have shown that size does not have an impact on quality of care; these studies were from the late 1960s and 1970s. More recent studies have found a positive relationship between small size and quality care. Therefore the issue is not resolved. Differences in findings may be due to the issues studied (Tossebro, 1995).
Some investigators have found that as group size increases, numbers of relations explode leading to withdrawal, subgroup formation, weaker ties, less cooperation, less helping and supporting behavior, anonymity, deindividualization, and slower response to urgent needs. It is argued that the institution with a focus on suborganizational units, should not be the unit of analysis and that the state of affairs within subunits is not necessarily determined by size of the overall organization. It is argued that the unit is more influenced by its own tasks and environment than by size. Size of suborganizational units may be more of a quality indicator than facility size. It is also noted that studies are restricted to certain size ranges and findings may not be generalizable. Size needs to be clearly defined as number of residents; it can relate to physical space, number of employees, or total number of people involved (Tossebro, 1995).
Residential treatment is also about children. Title XXII of the California Administrative Code defines group homes as facilities in which children are cared for on a 24-hour basis. Most of the cost for residential treatment for children lies in that of the care and supervision of the children. Care of a minor includes food, shelter, education, health concerns, and training in developmental issues (Cohen, 1986; Stein, 1995).
Legislation has resulted in implications for r...