RELATIONSHIP OF INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTIVENESS, PEER GROUP STATUS, AND HIERARCHICAL COHESION TO THE PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL CLIMATE IN A RESIDENTIAL DRUG-FREE THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY

The present study explored the relation between a set of social climate variables (Involvement, Support, Spontaneity, Staff Control) and a set of interpersonal status variables (Interpersonal Attractiveness, Peer Group Status, Hierarchical Cohesion) within three residential units of the Odyssey House drug rehabilitation program in New York City. The aforementioned variables were of interest because of past research indicating their relevance to patient satisfaction, adjustment, and outcome in psychiatric and community-based treatment settings. Research participants consisted of 100 residents in treatment who were stratified into five peer group levels of ascending privilege, authority, and judged therapeutic gain in the program.; Social climate perception was assessed by the Community Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES) developed by Rudolf Moos (1974). Interpersonal attractiveness (sociometric standing amongst other residents) and hierarchical cohesion (choice of high status peer group members as desired associates) were determined by resident responses on the Interpersonal Attractiveness Rating Sheet (Drassner & McCraven, 1978)--a group preference grid ascertaining interactional preferences in an eating, working, and group therapy situational context.; It was hypothesized that one independent source of variance within the interpersonal status variable set would "explain" one independent source of variance within the social climate variable set. This hypothesis was tested by a canonical analysis and supported (Rc = .44, p < .05). The derived canonical composites suggested a "constriction-control" dimension within the social climate variable set that was "explained" by a "status-authority" dimension within the interpersonal status variable set. In this respect, higher peer group status related to perceiving the therapeutic community social climate as less restrictive, less controlled by staff, and more facilitative of the open expression of feelings. It was therefore concluded that differential social climate perception of social control may be more characteristic of drug-free therapeutic communities than of other community-based treatment settings which lack stratified patient-status hierarchies.; Supplementary analyses suggested the following: (a) interpersonal attractiveness in a therapeutic community is a cross-situational dimension, (b) cohesion with high status peer group members is sought by those of similar status as well as by those of lesser peer group status, and (c) resident satisfaction within therapeutic communities may be augmented through maximizing vocational/educational activities, initiating individual therapy at beginning stages of treatment, providing residents with a functional analysis of program expectations and practices, and delineating clear indices by which residents can gauge their progress toward graduation. Lastly, the approximately comparable social environment in each of the three Odyssey House facilities suggests that programs with highly structured and consistent treatment philosophies do exert a discernible "environmental press" on those who reside within. This latter finding supports research directed toward the development of treatment program taxonomies which distinguish the social climate of one treatment setting from that of another.; Further research is suggested to cross-validate the aforementioned findings in other therapeutic community settings.