A typology of social environments in community care homes

Observers rated 11 aspects of the social environments of 40 community care homes. Four basic types of homes were identified through a cluster analysis of these ratings. Discriminant analysis suggested that homes in the clusters differed primarily along two dimensions: socioemotional demands and program structure. For each cluster, the main features of the social environment were used to describe the types of psychiatric patients judged likely to be successfully placed in these homes.