Abstract:

The development of community bases residential facilities for people with an intellectual disability has resulted from the push for normalisation. Much of the literature which assessed the normalisation principle failed to examine residents' satisfaction with their residence and their services provided. One reason was the lack of a reliable, validated measurement device to assess satisfaction. A twenty item scale was developed and administered to seventy-five people living in group homes and hostels. The internal consistency of the scale was examined using the alpha coefficient. A coefficient of 64 was noted. An index of validity was established by correlating residents' score with staff members prediction about how each resident would respond. The results of this study suggest that yes/no format is not an effective method of assessing residents' satisfaction. The reasons for this are discussed and an alternative method is suggested.