IMPACT OF SIZE REVISITED - RELATION OF NUMBER OF RESIDENTS TO SELF-DETERMINATION AND DEPRIVATIZATION

Research suggests that, contrary to common expectations, size does not have an impact on quality of care in residential facilities for peopl e with mental retardation. In the present study conducted in Norway, t he impact of number of residents on two quality of care measures-depri vatization and self-determination-was analyzed. The argument was made that the lack of positive findings in earlier research may have been d ue to the following reasons: (a) the living unit not the facility is t he appropriate focus of analysis and (b) the effect of size is nonline ar and makes a difference only within a size range outside the range i ncluded in many earlier studies. Data from Norwegian facilities suppor t these arguments: Living unit size had a substantial impact on self-d etermination and deprivatization in the 1 to 5 size range but not amon g larger units.