ABSTRACT
Staff wish to control children’s behaviour at meals, to get children to bed and to get them up at set times. And staff are aware that children may wish to be doing something else and may get pleasure from group misbehaviour. The pupil is dependent for good reports, good teaching and for humane treatment; the old person is dependent on services to meet her physical needs. Utilitarian processes make use of the staff control of resources. Particular residents may be allocated to sitting areas, dining tables or bedrooms that are thought to be pleasant or unpleasant either because of location or, more likely, because of the other residents in the group. The extent to which residents have control of their life-style is an important variable in analysis of residential living. The informal culture that existed amongst residents at The Pines was similar to the formal set of expectations that would have been professed by agency staff.
