Rebirth in a therapeutic community: a case study

In most research on human behavior the experience of the subjects is filtered through the perspective of the behavioral scientist as observer and interpreter. In the narrative which is the principal portion of this study, a subject--in this case, a patient--reports directly both as subject and social scientist. An alternate title for the study might be, "the experiencing of a total institution". In contrast to what might be expected from much of the sociological literature on total institutions, this experience turned out to be a pleasant and positive one.