Generative rules and the therapeutic community.

Residential institutions require explicit theories of institutional functioning, which incorporate an account of personal change. The theory of functioning of therapeutic communities must be related to theories of personality. It is suggested that the predominantly trait theories of personality disorder used by psychiatrists do not escape the critique of trait theories of personality in general (Mischel, 1968). Theories based upon generative rules (Argyle, 1976) seem to provide a better basis for a theory of functioning of the therapeutic community.