ABSTRACT
One of the purposes of residential treatment is to neutralize or inactivate temporarily the influence of the child's parents and simultaneously to put the child under the care of adults who can become-partially and temporarily at least-substitute parental figures. While one predominantly conceives of staff members, such as houseparents, as carriers of these parental qualities, it is obvious that there are many potential parental figures within the institution who have a different degree of parental influence and authority. The child brings with him to the residential treatment center the reality of his own parents. The institution confronts him then with three different levels of parental figures. The child must, therefore, deal with four levels of parental figures. The first is his own parents. The second are the "care parents." The third group is the "power parents." The fourth group are hesitantly called the "transference parents," namely, the therapists.
