Community Mental Health Journal Volume 2, Number 2, Summer, 1966
SOCIAL
DISTANCE
AND
THE
DYING
RICHARD A. KALISH, PH.D.*
To determine the relative degree of avoidante elicited by the dying, a sample of 203 college students were requested to respond to a social distance scale evaluating 14 ethnic and nonethnic groups. Male subjects indicated basically less avoidance than female subjects, and ethnic groups (e.g. Negro, MexicanAmerican) were less avoided than the nonethnic groups (e.g. drug addict, dying person, alcoholic). A brief discussion of the problems of mental health workers in their own dealings with the dying is presented. For many years, the social scientific study of death and bereavement was limited primarily to a handful of anthropologists and psychiatrists. Recently, however, a surge of interest in the topic has been noted. Beginning with Feifel's (1959) book, the professional literature has rapidly increased until published bibliographies now cite 400 references, disproportionately many of which are dated 1963 or later (Kalish, 1965). A theme mentioned in numerous sources is the degree to which thinking of death and dying appears to be avoided. Dying is a taboo topic (Feifel, 1963) about which even physicians in a geriatric facility are likely to be unduly optimistic (Kastenbaum, 1965) and which produces avoidance by nurses in a general hospital (Bowers, Jackson, Knight and LeShan, 1964). University students are as disturbed by deathrelated words as by sex-related words (Alexander, Colley, and Adlerstein, 1957), and the highly acclaimed 1962 Broadway play, Gi/t of Time by Garson Kanin is unable to draw an audience, because even sophisticated theatre-goers cannot accept a man dying of cancer as a dramatic theme. This avoidance of death and dying presents several mental health problems: (1) the dying person may need some form of
help in utilizing his remaining time most effectively, in coping with the possibility of pain and discomfort, and in handling the problems involved with the coming separation; (2) the relatives of the dying individual need help in accepting their own often ambivalent feelings and in dealing with their own separation anxieties; and (3) those having professional contact with the dying, e.g., doctors, nurses, social workers, ministers, etc., must be helped to examine their own feelings regarding death and dying. Although it is generally recognized that the dying are avoided, the relative degree to which they are avoided has been a matter of speculation. The present study is an initial inquiry into this problem. Since social distance seemed an appropriate operational definition of avoidance, the author modified Bogardus' social distance scale (Bogardus, 1925) for this investigation. To place avoidance of the dying in perspective, the social distance scale was also applied to other groups eliciting avoidance. These latter fell into two categories: (1) ethnic groups; and (2) groups representing medical, legal, or social problems. The basic purpose of this study was to investigate the social distance that people place between themselves and the dying, in comparison to the social distance desired from other avoidance-producing groups. PROCEDURES
Sample The sample consisted of 203 students in a required introductorypsychologyclass at an urban west coast state college. Eight questionnaires were eliminated for inadequacies of various sorts, leaving 80 male and 115 female respondents. Of these, 84% were Caucasian, 9% were of Asian ancestry, and 5% were Negro. Except for 11 Ss, all respondents were 21 years old or less, with more than over half be-
*Dr. Kalish, a social psychologist,is Associate Professor of Psychology, California State College at Los Angeles. The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Robert Kastenbaum, Cushing Hospital, whose encouragementand demands for this paper helped shape its being. 152
RICHARD A. KALIStt
153
ing 18 years of age. Forms were administered in class and were unsigned. Instrument A modification of Bogardus' social distance scale (Bogardus, 1925) was used. The original item, "would exclude from the country," was replaced by an item on dating, and slight changes in wording were made on other items. Final items, in order of presentation, not scaling, were: Would willingly admit to my street to live within a few doors of me. Would willingly go out with on a date. Would willingly become close friends with, assuming we were of the same sex. Would willingly allow to become a citizen of the United States. Would willingly accept as a member of my family by marriage. Would willingly accept as a visitor to the United States. Would willingly allow to be employed in the field I hope to enter. Groups to be evaluated, in sequence, were: 1. Professional gambler 2. Active member of the American Nazi Party 3. Negro 4. Mental hospital patient just recently released 5. Attempted suicide 6. Person obviously in constant pain 7. Jew 8. Drug addict 9. Canadian 10. Mexican-American 11. Person dying from an incurable disease 12. Frenchman 13. Alcoholic 14. Person convicted of armed robbery and assault
RESULTS Major results are presented in Table 1. The fact that the social groups are presented in a sequence roughly commensurate with their acceptability should not obscure the n u m e r o u s reversals in the data. Except for ratings of the Negro on more intimate steps of social distance, the cleavage between the ethnic minorities and the non-ethnic groups is almost complete. A1. though the dying person seems more acceptable than any other non-ethnic group, this response is more true for women than for men and includes numerous reversals. Also, more than a third of the entire sample would not willingly allow a dying person to live in the immediate neighborhood. Three out of five would be reluctant~to give him employment in the field they wish to enter. It is possible that the " i m a g e " produced by the description phrase, "person dying from an i n c u r a b l e disease," is that of a contagious disease or disfiguring illness. However, it seems entirely possible that a good p r o p o r t i o n of the avoidance results from the wish to circumvent the encounter with the dying or the dead. Rejection of the person in constant pain is even more extreme. For this sample the only relationship that demands close and immediate personal interaction, the dating relationship, finds the person in p a i n almost completely rejected.
TABLE 1 PERCENT OF SUBSECTSINDICATINGWILLINGACCEPTANCEOF VARYINGDEGREESOF SOCIALDISTANCEFOR SPECIFIEDGROUPS
Group Nazi Addict Convict Alcoholic Suicide Gambler Pain Mental Dying Negro Mex.-Am. Jew French Canadian
Marry M% F% 5 6 13 13 33 44 38 38 31 21 51 59 85 93
2 3 8 7 15 19 29 32 39 22 55 54 85 92
Date M% F% 10 4 14 20 33 31 9 34 25 20 66 66 84 99
2 1 1 1 10 19 5 10 23 17 55 43 89 92
Degree of Social Distance Friend Street Employ M% F% M% F% M% F%
C i t i z e n Visitor M% F% M% F%
16 12 24 31 43 56 35 46 44 69 85 80 94 100
20 9 46 35 48 27 38 49 73 57 73 64 84 80 73 57 79 81 90 95 95 97 95 97 99 99 99 100
5 2 3 10 25 23 32 43 58 66 82 90 95 99
18 3 9 5 20 8 25 15 45 29 59 46 45 42 54 54 53 57 51 64 79 82 85 93 100 98 98 100
11 13 19 24 35 36 31 43 45 84 88 86 100 99
6 6 9 8 23 20 23 34 35 93 89 94 96 97
43 46 40 54 69 74 77 69 83 88 95 94 100 99
26 33 26 42 60 65 74 60 78 94 95 97 98 99
154
THE COMMUNITYMENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL
Even though it was not possible to include the geriatric patient in this study, the variables relating to pain and death are relevant. Although geriatricians are aware that neither of these two descriptions apply to the geriatric population as a whole, the "image" of an elderly person, as held by the general population, often seems to include both physical suffering and terminal illness. Under such circumstances, the geriatric patient would be highly anxiety provoking in person-to-person relationships, a situation which would be accentuated when the patient is encountered in an institution housing other geriatric patients in varying degrees of physical and intellectual decline. Avoidance of the other non-ethnic groups appears even greater than avoidance of the dying. The drug addict, the convict, and the alcoholic are excluded by the respondents from even the less intimate degrees of social distance. Avoidance is seen in these data, not only of dying, but also of violence. A casual glance at the hierarchy of avoidance indicates that those groups most avoided are those associated with violence and uncontrolled impulsivity. Two interesting sidelights were observed: first, the men were consistently more accepting of all groups, although the females were more willing to befriend the dying; and, second, with this age and educational group, the marriage relationship is apparently less intimate than the dating relationship. Both males and females (especially the latter) were more selective in whom they would date than in whom they would accept as a family member by marriage, perhaps because the marriage is seen as involving someone else in the family, wMle the dating is perceived as occurring to the respondent. DiscussioN
If these data may be taken at face value, the social isolation of the dying is a very real occurrence. The dying person is more likely to be rejected for the usually shortterm dating relationship than the long-term
family membership, which implies that it is the personal contact that is most feared. This finding is emphasized by the strong avoidance of dating the person suffering pain. The dying person is avoided by more than half of both sex-group populations for the three situations which might produce frequent face-to-face encounters, and is simultaneously rejected by more than half the sample as a co-worker (the reaction of the female subjects on this item might reflect the protectiveness of aspiring school teachers). In spite of the usual hesitancy to generalize too much from a limited sample of subjects and a limited sample of items, the author feels that these data give graphic evidence of the immense difficulties faced by workers in mental health fields. Groups such as drug addicts, convicts, alcoholics, suicidals, and mental patients face immense problems upon their return to society, if even the traditionally tolerant college freshmen desire to exclude them from normal friendship, neighborhood, and employment relationships. Avoidance of the dying is, in many ways, a much different problem. The dying person has not been, historically, rebuked and avoided as sinful and evil; his situation is seldom reversible and his future behavior will have little effect upon reducing the social avoidance displayed; his condition is rarely of his own choosing and he is frequently more ardent than anyone else in his desires to have it ameliorated; those who avoid him are often influenced by wishing to deny their own mortality or the eventual and inevitable time when they will be faced with the same situation. The reader can undoubtedly add to this list. Many mental health workers who are successful in coping with their own prejudices toward most ethnic and non-ethnic groups, have difficulty in their encounters with the dying. They not only see the imminence of their own death, but they must accept the idea that the fruits of their labor will have only a brief effect. Most people prefer working where the social
RICHARD A. KALISH value (Glaser and Strauss, 1964) of the life they save or help is made greater by many potential years of satisfaction and productivity. At the same time, the general mental health attitudes regarding the value of life are not placed in abeyance merely because the mental health worker has his own problems or because the time remaining for the life is probably brief. After all, we are confronted with the reality of our eventual death, even if we ignore it, and the only difference between the reader of this article and the population under discussion is one of time. Thus, the introspective mental health worker is forced to deal with his own problems and to account for his own values. Is the dying person entitled to a comfortable, potentially self-actualizing, nonalienated life, to the extent his physical and intellectual condition allows? Does the potential length of life or its potential productivity affect the worth and value of that life? How does a given person or organi-
155
zation or research institute apportion its time, money, and effort? How much do we give to the young, the creative, the salvageable? And how much to the old, the dull, and the terminally ill? Even the most objective and scientific individual must fall back upon value judgments in his decisions. REFERENCES ALEXANDER,I. E., COLLEY,R. S. & ADLERSTEIN,A. M. Is death a matter of indifference? Y. Psychol., 1957, 43, 277-283. BOCARDUS,E. S. Measuring social distance. J. appl. Sociol., 1925, 9, 299-308. BOWERS, M., JACKSON, E. N., KNICHT, J. A. & LESHAN, L. Counseling the dying. New York: Thomas Nelson, 1954. FEIFEL, H. The meaning o] death. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959. FEIFEL, H. Death. In N. L. Farberow. (Ed.), Taboo topics. New York: Atherton Press, 1963. Pp. 8-21. GLASER,B., & STRAUSS,A. The social loss of dying patients, diner. J. Nuts. 1964, 64, 119.121. KALISrI, R. A. Death and bereavement: a bibliography. ]. Hum. Relat., 1965, 13, 118-141. KASTENBAUM,R. The realm of death: an emerging a r e a of psychological research. J. Hum. Relat., 1955, 13, 538-552.
ANNOUNCING
BRISTOL ACRES SCHOOL A New Concept in Residential Treatment Within reeent years, in residential treatment, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of having a satisfying participation in community living and allowing the cultural setting to facilitate human growth and a sense of well being. The child, disrupted enough in these relationships to warrant residential placement, has often experienced a sense of failure as a family, school, or community member. Though a new home at school can provide some relief from unmanageable pressures which produced maladaptive behavior, it usually does not play a significant role in altering the world to which he must return. The major focus of the Bristol Acres School (30 miles from Boston) is to create a community which approximates and interacts with the surrounding culture. Psychiatric, psychological, and casework services are directed towards a comprehensive consultation program with the family or other significant persons while the child is at school and towards continuation of care during the school to home transition. The current program for boys ranging in age from 9-17 centers on therapeutic action for the child and his parents. Houseparents are trained in family-based processes which contain an appreciation of a natural community model. At the same time, the school offers an academic and activities program consistent with emergent educational practices. Several openings for the September, 1966 term still exist.
For further information, please write: J. A. MacVicar, Director, The Bristol Acres School 907 Harvard Towers, Cambridge, Mass. 02159
SOCIAL
DISTANCE
AND
THE
DYING
RICHARD A. KALISH, PH.D.*
To determine the relative degree of avoidante elicited by the dying, a sample of 203 college students were requested to respond to a social distance scale evaluating 14 ethnic and nonethnic groups. Male subjects indicated basically less avoidance than female subjects, and ethnic groups (e.g. Negro, MexicanAmerican) were less avoided than the nonethnic groups (e.g. drug addict, dying person, alcoholic). A brief discussion of the problems of mental health workers in their own dealings with the dying is presented. For many years, the social scientific study of death and bereavement was limited primarily to a handful of anthropologists and psychiatrists. Recently, however, a surge of interest in the topic has been noted. Beginning with Feifel's (1959) book, the professional literature has rapidly increased until published bibliographies now cite 400 references, disproportionately many of which are dated 1963 or later (Kalish, 1965). A theme mentioned in numerous sources is the degree to which thinking of death and dying appears to be avoided. Dying is a taboo topic (Feifel, 1963) about which even physicians in a geriatric facility are likely to be unduly optimistic (Kastenbaum, 1965) and which produces avoidance by nurses in a general hospital (Bowers, Jackson, Knight and LeShan, 1964). University students are as disturbed by deathrelated words as by sex-related words (Alexander, Colley, and Adlerstein, 1957), and the highly acclaimed 1962 Broadway play, Gi/t of Time by Garson Kanin is unable to draw an audience, because even sophisticated theatre-goers cannot accept a man dying of cancer as a dramatic theme. This avoidance of death and dying presents several mental health problems: (1) the dying person may need some form of
help in utilizing his remaining time most effectively, in coping with the possibility of pain and discomfort, and in handling the problems involved with the coming separation; (2) the relatives of the dying individual need help in accepting their own often ambivalent feelings and in dealing with their own separation anxieties; and (3) those having professional contact with the dying, e.g., doctors, nurses, social workers, ministers, etc., must be helped to examine their own feelings regarding death and dying. Although it is generally recognized that the dying are avoided, the relative degree to which they are avoided has been a matter of speculation. The present study is an initial inquiry into this problem. Since social distance seemed an appropriate operational definition of avoidance, the author modified Bogardus' social distance scale (Bogardus, 1925) for this investigation. To place avoidance of the dying in perspective, the social distance scale was also applied to other groups eliciting avoidance. These latter fell into two categories: (1) ethnic groups; and (2) groups representing medical, legal, or social problems. The basic purpose of this study was to investigate the social distance that people place between themselves and the dying, in comparison to the social distance desired from other avoidance-producing groups. PROCEDURES
Sample The sample consisted of 203 students in a required introductorypsychologyclass at an urban west coast state college. Eight questionnaires were eliminated for inadequacies of various sorts, leaving 80 male and 115 female respondents. Of these, 84% were Caucasian, 9% were of Asian ancestry, and 5% were Negro. Except for 11 Ss, all respondents were 21 years old or less, with more than over half be-
*Dr. Kalish, a social psychologist,is Associate Professor of Psychology, California State College at Los Angeles. The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Robert Kastenbaum, Cushing Hospital, whose encouragementand demands for this paper helped shape its being. 152
RICHARD A. KALIStt
153
ing 18 years of age. Forms were administered in class and were unsigned. Instrument A modification of Bogardus' social distance scale (Bogardus, 1925) was used. The original item, "would exclude from the country," was replaced by an item on dating, and slight changes in wording were made on other items. Final items, in order of presentation, not scaling, were: Would willingly admit to my street to live within a few doors of me. Would willingly go out with on a date. Would willingly become close friends with, assuming we were of the same sex. Would willingly allow to become a citizen of the United States. Would willingly accept as a member of my family by marriage. Would willingly accept as a visitor to the United States. Would willingly allow to be employed in the field I hope to enter. Groups to be evaluated, in sequence, were: 1. Professional gambler 2. Active member of the American Nazi Party 3. Negro 4. Mental hospital patient just recently released 5. Attempted suicide 6. Person obviously in constant pain 7. Jew 8. Drug addict 9. Canadian 10. Mexican-American 11. Person dying from an incurable disease 12. Frenchman 13. Alcoholic 14. Person convicted of armed robbery and assault
RESULTS Major results are presented in Table 1. The fact that the social groups are presented in a sequence roughly commensurate with their acceptability should not obscure the n u m e r o u s reversals in the data. Except for ratings of the Negro on more intimate steps of social distance, the cleavage between the ethnic minorities and the non-ethnic groups is almost complete. A1. though the dying person seems more acceptable than any other non-ethnic group, this response is more true for women than for men and includes numerous reversals. Also, more than a third of the entire sample would not willingly allow a dying person to live in the immediate neighborhood. Three out of five would be reluctant~to give him employment in the field they wish to enter. It is possible that the " i m a g e " produced by the description phrase, "person dying from an i n c u r a b l e disease," is that of a contagious disease or disfiguring illness. However, it seems entirely possible that a good p r o p o r t i o n of the avoidance results from the wish to circumvent the encounter with the dying or the dead. Rejection of the person in constant pain is even more extreme. For this sample the only relationship that demands close and immediate personal interaction, the dating relationship, finds the person in p a i n almost completely rejected.
TABLE 1 PERCENT OF SUBSECTSINDICATINGWILLINGACCEPTANCEOF VARYINGDEGREESOF SOCIALDISTANCEFOR SPECIFIEDGROUPS
Group Nazi Addict Convict Alcoholic Suicide Gambler Pain Mental Dying Negro Mex.-Am. Jew French Canadian
Marry M% F% 5 6 13 13 33 44 38 38 31 21 51 59 85 93
2 3 8 7 15 19 29 32 39 22 55 54 85 92
Date M% F% 10 4 14 20 33 31 9 34 25 20 66 66 84 99
2 1 1 1 10 19 5 10 23 17 55 43 89 92
Degree of Social Distance Friend Street Employ M% F% M% F% M% F%
C i t i z e n Visitor M% F% M% F%
16 12 24 31 43 56 35 46 44 69 85 80 94 100
20 9 46 35 48 27 38 49 73 57 73 64 84 80 73 57 79 81 90 95 95 97 95 97 99 99 99 100
5 2 3 10 25 23 32 43 58 66 82 90 95 99
18 3 9 5 20 8 25 15 45 29 59 46 45 42 54 54 53 57 51 64 79 82 85 93 100 98 98 100
11 13 19 24 35 36 31 43 45 84 88 86 100 99
6 6 9 8 23 20 23 34 35 93 89 94 96 97
43 46 40 54 69 74 77 69 83 88 95 94 100 99
26 33 26 42 60 65 74 60 78 94 95 97 98 99
154
THE COMMUNITYMENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL
Even though it was not possible to include the geriatric patient in this study, the variables relating to pain and death are relevant. Although geriatricians are aware that neither of these two descriptions apply to the geriatric population as a whole, the "image" of an elderly person, as held by the general population, often seems to include both physical suffering and terminal illness. Under such circumstances, the geriatric patient would be highly anxiety provoking in person-to-person relationships, a situation which would be accentuated when the patient is encountered in an institution housing other geriatric patients in varying degrees of physical and intellectual decline. Avoidance of the other non-ethnic groups appears even greater than avoidance of the dying. The drug addict, the convict, and the alcoholic are excluded by the respondents from even the less intimate degrees of social distance. Avoidance is seen in these data, not only of dying, but also of violence. A casual glance at the hierarchy of avoidance indicates that those groups most avoided are those associated with violence and uncontrolled impulsivity. Two interesting sidelights were observed: first, the men were consistently more accepting of all groups, although the females were more willing to befriend the dying; and, second, with this age and educational group, the marriage relationship is apparently less intimate than the dating relationship. Both males and females (especially the latter) were more selective in whom they would date than in whom they would accept as a family member by marriage, perhaps because the marriage is seen as involving someone else in the family, wMle the dating is perceived as occurring to the respondent. DiscussioN
If these data may be taken at face value, the social isolation of the dying is a very real occurrence. The dying person is more likely to be rejected for the usually shortterm dating relationship than the long-term
family membership, which implies that it is the personal contact that is most feared. This finding is emphasized by the strong avoidance of dating the person suffering pain. The dying person is avoided by more than half of both sex-group populations for the three situations which might produce frequent face-to-face encounters, and is simultaneously rejected by more than half the sample as a co-worker (the reaction of the female subjects on this item might reflect the protectiveness of aspiring school teachers). In spite of the usual hesitancy to generalize too much from a limited sample of subjects and a limited sample of items, the author feels that these data give graphic evidence of the immense difficulties faced by workers in mental health fields. Groups such as drug addicts, convicts, alcoholics, suicidals, and mental patients face immense problems upon their return to society, if even the traditionally tolerant college freshmen desire to exclude them from normal friendship, neighborhood, and employment relationships. Avoidance of the dying is, in many ways, a much different problem. The dying person has not been, historically, rebuked and avoided as sinful and evil; his situation is seldom reversible and his future behavior will have little effect upon reducing the social avoidance displayed; his condition is rarely of his own choosing and he is frequently more ardent than anyone else in his desires to have it ameliorated; those who avoid him are often influenced by wishing to deny their own mortality or the eventual and inevitable time when they will be faced with the same situation. The reader can undoubtedly add to this list. Many mental health workers who are successful in coping with their own prejudices toward most ethnic and non-ethnic groups, have difficulty in their encounters with the dying. They not only see the imminence of their own death, but they must accept the idea that the fruits of their labor will have only a brief effect. Most people prefer working where the social
RICHARD A. KALISH value (Glaser and Strauss, 1964) of the life they save or help is made greater by many potential years of satisfaction and productivity. At the same time, the general mental health attitudes regarding the value of life are not placed in abeyance merely because the mental health worker has his own problems or because the time remaining for the life is probably brief. After all, we are confronted with the reality of our eventual death, even if we ignore it, and the only difference between the reader of this article and the population under discussion is one of time. Thus, the introspective mental health worker is forced to deal with his own problems and to account for his own values. Is the dying person entitled to a comfortable, potentially self-actualizing, nonalienated life, to the extent his physical and intellectual condition allows? Does the potential length of life or its potential productivity affect the worth and value of that life? How does a given person or organi-
155
zation or research institute apportion its time, money, and effort? How much do we give to the young, the creative, the salvageable? And how much to the old, the dull, and the terminally ill? Even the most objective and scientific individual must fall back upon value judgments in his decisions. REFERENCES ALEXANDER,I. E., COLLEY,R. S. & ADLERSTEIN,A. M. Is death a matter of indifference? Y. Psychol., 1957, 43, 277-283. BOCARDUS,E. S. Measuring social distance. J. appl. Sociol., 1925, 9, 299-308. BOWERS, M., JACKSON, E. N., KNICHT, J. A. & LESHAN, L. Counseling the dying. New York: Thomas Nelson, 1954. FEIFEL, H. The meaning o] death. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959. FEIFEL, H. Death. In N. L. Farberow. (Ed.), Taboo topics. New York: Atherton Press, 1963. Pp. 8-21. GLASER,B., & STRAUSS,A. The social loss of dying patients, diner. J. Nuts. 1964, 64, 119.121. KALISrI, R. A. Death and bereavement: a bibliography. ]. Hum. Relat., 1965, 13, 118-141. KASTENBAUM,R. The realm of death: an emerging a r e a of psychological research. J. Hum. Relat., 1955, 13, 538-552.
ANNOUNCING
BRISTOL ACRES SCHOOL A New Concept in Residential Treatment Within reeent years, in residential treatment, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of having a satisfying participation in community living and allowing the cultural setting to facilitate human growth and a sense of well being. The child, disrupted enough in these relationships to warrant residential placement, has often experienced a sense of failure as a family, school, or community member. Though a new home at school can provide some relief from unmanageable pressures which produced maladaptive behavior, it usually does not play a significant role in altering the world to which he must return. The major focus of the Bristol Acres School (30 miles from Boston) is to create a community which approximates and interacts with the surrounding culture. Psychiatric, psychological, and casework services are directed towards a comprehensive consultation program with the family or other significant persons while the child is at school and towards continuation of care during the school to home transition. The current program for boys ranging in age from 9-17 centers on therapeutic action for the child and his parents. Houseparents are trained in family-based processes which contain an appreciation of a natural community model. At the same time, the school offers an academic and activities program consistent with emergent educational practices. Several openings for the September, 1966 term still exist.
For further information, please write: J. A. MacVicar, Director, The Bristol Acres School 907 Harvard Towers, Cambridge, Mass. 02159
