ABSTRACT
This study was carried out as a direct result of preceding studies which showed a high recidivism rate among hospital patients who had been institutionalized for considerable periods of time (Fairweather, 1964). It was designed to test several hypotheses mainly concerned with the effects that a living and working situation established in the community might have upon reducing this high recidivism rate and enhancing the chronic mental patients’ social status. A working-living social subsystem was established which linked the hospital to a dormitory located in the community. Here the individuals lived and operated a business.
