ABSTRACT
In the residential treatment center, cottage parents are highly influential in providing a therapeutic living experience for the children. Emotionally disturbed children are sorely in need of mature adults who will protect them from their own and other's aggression and impulsivity. Cottage parents indicate resistance in more immediate ways by missing conferences, using therapists' advice only limitedly, and not reporting cottage incidents of treatment significance. As the cottage parents' morale deteriorates, they come to feel less identified with the institution's purposes, and they may be convinced that the "powers that be" do not appreciate them. But sanctioning and manipulating the children's influence patterns may result in more peaceful living for the cottage parents, so that treatment considerations may give way to expedience. Among the immediate needs of cottage parents are improved salaries, clearly defined job assignments, better living quarters, and shorter hours. The cottage parents' role at the Children's Aid Society is that of parent surrogates within the cottage-living experience.
