The Psychological Impact of Boarding School is a collection of research-based essays answering a range of questions about boarding school and its long-term impact.
Through a combination of original in-depth first-person narratives as well as larger scale surveys, this book aims to fill gaps in current boarding school research and present new findings. Topics addressed include gender differences, eating behaviours, loneliness, mental health and relationships, the differences between younger and older boarders, and ex-boarder experiences of therapy. The research results highlight a key role in the age that children start boarding, the way that long-term psychological influences of friendships formed at school, and the larger role that parent and family relationships play in the psychological lives of boarders. Through these findings, the book ultimately challenges the current understanding of 'boarding school syndrome', proposing a move beyond the term and its concept.
The book will appeal to psychologists, psychoanalysts, counsellors, academics, teachers, current and ex-boarders as well as parents and guardians interested in the impact of boarding schools from either a professional or a personal perspective.
Through a combination of original in-depth first-person narratives as well as larger scale surveys, this book aims to fill gaps in current boarding school research and present new findings. Topics addressed include gender differences, eating behaviours, loneliness, mental health and relationships, the differences between younger and older boarders, and ex-boarder experiences of therapy. The research results highlight a key role in the age that children start boarding, the way that long-term psychological influences of friendships formed at school, and the larger role that parent and family relationships play in the psychological lives of boarders. Through these findings, the book ultimately challenges the current understanding of 'boarding school syndrome', proposing a move beyond the term and its concept.
The book will appeal to psychologists, psychoanalysts, counsellors, academics, teachers, current and ex-boarders as well as parents and guardians interested in the impact of boarding schools from either a professional or a personal perspective.
'A scholarly and nuanced study on the long-term psychological impacts of British boarding schools: while some people thrive in boarding schools, for too many others the adverse psychological impacts last a lifetime.'
Benedict Rattigan
, author and ex-boarder at Eton
'Boarding is often misunderstood and misrepresented, but this invaluable book provides a wide, and evidence-informed, analysis of the sector. Importantly, the authors allow the voices of the former pupils themselves to speak and in doing so reveal a nuanced and complex series of personal narratives. This is a book that should be read not only by those who work in boarding schools, but by anyone involved in education and child psychology.'
David James
, co-editor of The State of Independence
Benedict Rattigan
, author and ex-boarder at Eton
'Boarding is often misunderstood and misrepresented, but this invaluable book provides a wide, and evidence-informed, analysis of the sector. Importantly, the authors allow the voices of the former pupils themselves to speak and in doing so reveal a nuanced and complex series of personal narratives. This is a book that should be read not only by those who work in boarding schools, but by anyone involved in education and child psychology.'
David James
, co-editor of The State of Independence