ABSTRACT
Misconceptions abound regarding the history of the placement and treatment of children and youths with emotional or behavioral disorders. Some of these misconceptions are the result of a disregard for history; others are the outcomes of inadequate methods of historical research. Attention to the special needs of children hospitalized for emotional or behavioral disorders has its origins in the 20th century. The development of pediatrics and the establishment of pediatric hospitals presaged the development of child psychiatry and pediatric units in psychiatric hospitals and clinics. Interest in the special mental health needs of the pediatric population culminated, predictably, in hospitals and residential centers devoted exclusively to children and adolescents. Hospital and residential treatment programs for children were launched in an era of burgeoning concern for mental health. Making public schools into clinical schools—centers of clinical services, including health, mental health, welfare, research, and training—was proposed in the 1960s by D. Rothman and P. H. Berkowitz.
