ABSTRACT
Residential care is more than the bricks and mortar of the building. It is much more than the people who live and work within the institutional walls. Even the additional focus on the social relationships between staff and residents is unlikely to capture the full flavour of life within a residential community. What is remarkable about the public schools is their ability to adapt to new market conditions. The asylums that so mesmerised E. Goffman have mostly been closed in the 30 years that followed the publication of his book. Change in the residential sector has not been confined to reduced volume of provision. The words ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ were not sufficient to cope with the range of actions of which residents and staff was capable. Culture is more resistant to definition. A group of sociologists and psychologists working in the early part of this century became interested in the symbols people use in their interactions with each other.
