“…The program characteristics included in the study were selected from the research, clinical, and theoretical literature regarding the nature of therapeutic environments for psychiatric patients. Much has been written about the constructs of the therapeutic milieu (Ellsworth, Maroney, Klett, Gordon, & Gunn, 1971;Lawton & Cohen, 1975 ;Moos, 1974;Paul & Lentz, 1977;Van Putten, 1973;White, 1972), and the research literature on the characteristics of effective programs has been summarized by Ellsworth (1979). The present study represents a serious attempt at measuring the important characteristics derived from the clinical, theoretical, and research literature.…”