ABSTRACT
This paper presents the findings of the author’s research in two contrasting local authority elderly persons’ homes in 1981, It is based upon a combination of approaches. First, the majority of all staff (managerial, care and domestic) were individually interviewed by the author to obtain their own personal definitions of and response to, ‘confusional states’ in residents. Secondly, the author spent time in both homes observing their operation and structure. Thirdly, a close analysis of residents’ admission particulars and file data was made to provide a further basis for comparison. The research suggests that a number of characteristics of residents, homes and staff appear to interact in a process of ‘label acquisition’. This is offered as a tentative model of the labelling process and some practical inferences as to how it may be ameliorated or reversed are offered.
