ABSTRACT
Most of the youngsters at Peper Harow had either experienced serious abuse in their early life, or had not been given enough emotional nourishment for normal psychological development. Lacking the personality strengths appropriate for adolescents, they frequently regarded other people and the environment around themselves in a way very different from that of most young people of their age. They would, for instance, feel persecuted by minor adversities, or would regard their own hostility and abusiveness towards others as merely trivial, or even in some perverse way as appropriate! They diced with seriously destructive lifestyles, or activities such as drugs or prostitution, all of which behaviour had derived from their malfunctioning personalities. Unless they could be helped to see themselves and the world around them more realistically and unless they could develop the strengths needed to cope with that reality, their future prospects seemed inevitably catastrophic. They would be unable to sustain adult intimate relationships, or worse, they would become increasingly violent or criminal, or they would suffer a steady deterioration in their mental health, or become alcoholics or drug addicts. They would suffer and cause suffering to others and would be likely to become a permanent burden on the resources of society. This was Peper Harow s challenge then-to what extent could it develop a residential programme that would enable its residents to gain a more normal lifestyle instead? This, of course, had been the objective of many other institutions-Approved Schools and Borstals, Maladjusted Schools and Adolescent Units-but the success of those institutions had been worryingly inadequate, despite considerable organisational and financial investment.
