Implications of the normalization principle for psychotic children

The evolution of the normalization principle is described. Whereas the principle initially advocated normalizing individual lives and routines, it presently is being applied to entire human service delivery systems. The need for more data supporting proposals to normalize human service systems is discussed, as well as some disadvantages in applying this approach with psychotic children. It is concluded that a wide range of treatment options for psychotic children is needed and that these options should be evaluated based on their effectiveness with individual children.