Here are some tips
from people about how they found it best to use these papers.

First some historical background.
The papers weren't written for publication but
as one time only presentations for a particular 
meeting -- usually of the American Association of
Residential Centers for Children.
Consequently, each paper may be filled with references
to particular issues of interest at the time -- some even
local to that particular group -- and from the point of
view of the conceptual biases of the group at that time.

Actually, the papers are sort of useless because all they
really do is translate what simple country people with
common sense evolved that worked at TSPP into
whatever arcane intellectual, conceptual language would
appeal at the time to the ivory tower types.
Thus, some papers are focused into psychoanalytic speak,
some into the language of models of brain function and
all use bigger word than is necessary to keep the
intellecutal types from running us (TSPP) down for being
a simple country operation in Liberty Hill Tx.
Now it is ironic that the poor people trying to use them
for practical purposes need to translate the information
back into simple common sense.

Therefore a lot of what is in the papers, once one
translates it into one's own experience, should result
into a reactions of "of course".   However, there is
something of a sleeper here.  If one is willing to work
at it, there are buried in the papers among the
"of course" themes, a fair number of little practical
pointers which can be useful to folks who already have
the big picture (by virture of their own experience
in a real theraputic milieu).   So the audience for the papers
is very restricted.

I've gotten some interesting feedback.
For instance about half the folks who have commented
to me about the Kreating Cultures with Kids paper
have told me that the theory was facinating but
they just skipped over the examples;
and the other half told me that all that theory
booring but the examples were very useful.  I guess that
mean that the paper is really two papers in one.

The most recurring theme about the use of the papers from
my long time associates, and their advice to newer people is:
Don't read the papers when you begin working in an RTC
and expect they will help you do your job.
Wait until you have some experience and your feet on the ground
and then you'll find them more useful.
The most persistent comment by the old timers is that
when they re-read the papers at subsequent points in their
careers, they feel they finally were getting it all --
but when they then re-read them at a later point, they
realized that they then got a lot more that they had missed.

I've had that experience myself with them.
For instance, the last time I looked at
the first section of the "Plans for Treatment..."
paper which is called "Some General Techniques", it
read like a nice statement of general philosophy
(and platitudes) until I came up short and remembered that
almost every sugar coated sentance there
(that doesn't seem to mean much at first) is actually
a peice of _practical_ technique.

As for some comments about the papers in general.
The basic philosophy is in the "Milieu of Real Relationships"
and that is the first paper to read.

The next most useful paper is "Kreating Cultures..."
but its very dense.  The first two sections
are difficult in being an attempt to sum up and apply
two very difficult theoretical systems (some ideas
about brain function and some ideas about anthropology).
The later part of the paper is then packed with various
examples of RTC practice which amplify those but which
are also interesting in themselves.
_DO_NOT_ attempt to read the paper without the package
of illustrations that should accompany them separately --
it is hard enough to understand and the illustrations
at least give you a half a chance.

The paper on "Behavioral Management" does contain
the essence of how to think about the approach to managing
behavior ("discipline"), but it is buried in a lot of
psychoanalytic cant in order to make it acceptable to
a group that otherwise would have rejected it.

The paper "Plans for Treatment" contains a lot
of practical detail about the phases/stages of treatment in
an RTC and how that applies to various typical problems
certain kids have.  But here also, the issues are presented
in terms of the issues of Narcissism which were of interest
to the AACRC at that time and very fashionable in psychoanalytic
circles.  This isn't so bad a distortion however, because
you can translate "issues of narcisism" to mean
"self-esteem regulation" and this is central to RTC
(if not all) theraputic work.  The later part of this paper
would probably be of interest only to those thinking
about writing treatment plans.  (Ordinarily that wouldn't
include "child care workers" -- but it would include incamps.)

One shorter paper (really the extract from a letter)
about the temper tantrum should be of interest to anyone
who needs to physically restrain kids.

The papers were written some time ago so that I might
not agree with everything there -- but despite the various
historical anacronisms, they have held up fairly well.

I'm always interested in feedback, argument, questions
and do a lot of email.

Michael S. Weiner
msw@cluedin.com
msw@docw.com