Effects of Social and Environmental Change on Institutionalized Mentally Retarded Persons: The Relocation Syndrome Reconsidered.

The article examines the effects to institutionalized retarded residents of the relocation from an older, crowded living unit to a modern, uncrowded unit. Weight change and the initiation and duration of constructive and nonconstructive behavior were examined. Prolonged overcrowding and relocation affect the social interactions of residents and staff. Although relocation caused significant changes in a variety of behaviors, not all were deleterious.