Adult Perspectives on Totalistic Teen Treatment: Experiences and Impact – This thesis presents qualitative research based on interviews with adults who, as adolescents, resided within a totalistic treatment milieu. The term “totalistic” refers to an array of features and methods associated with autocratic treatment programs and total institutions that utilize a closed group dynamics approach to affect fundamental personal change (De Leon, 2000; Goffman, 1961; Grant & Grant, 1959; Schein, Schneier, & Barker,1961). The term also implies the assumption that the totality of simultaneous, clustered conditions is a primary “active ingredient” within such programs (Leach, 2016). The term “residential treatment” is a matter of convenience and is not meant to exclude totalistic forms of intensive outpatient treatment.