ABSTRACT
In Hilaire Belloc’s book Path to Rome there is a section entitled In Praise of this Book’. His example has not been widely followed: authors are generally somewhat coy and circumspect in drawing the reader’s attention to the worth and uses of their books. None of the communities we studied were custodial institutions, and so all of them were to some extent vulnerable to premature departures by residents. As in any course of treatment, those who discontinue treatment prematurely can be expected to derive less benefit than those who remain for the full course. No community is more vulnerable to defaulting than a day hospital, where defaulting is simply a matter of going home at the end of one day and failing to return to the hospital on the next day. In a number of communities the ‘highlight’ of the group programme is the weekly ‘community meeting’.
