Social ecology of supervised communal facilities for mentally disabled adults: VII. Productivity and turnover rate in sheltered workshops.

Turnover, reasons for termination, productivity, and number of hours worked as a function of demographic data, workshop settings, and measures of sociability for mentally disabled adults at six sheltered workshop settings were examined. An annual turnover rate of 48 percent was found, but only residence type and workshop setting were related to length of time in the workshop before termination. Physical attractiveness and sociability (as observed during free periods at the workshops) were positively related to productivity, but only workshop settings predicted number of hours worked. Clients who terminated from the agency for positive reasons were highest in sociability and desire for affiliation, whereas clients who terminated for negative reasons were lowest in sociability and desire for affiliation. Sex, age, IQ, diagnosis, and history of institutionalization were unrelated to vocational variables.