Main description:

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.

Contents:

1. British boarding schools on trial: Making the case for new evidence 2. British boarding schools, mental health and resilience: Survey research 3. The impact of boarding school on adult relationships: Men's accounts 4. It's not all down to boarding: Early family and peer relationships among boarders 5. The impact of boarding school on adult eating behaviour 6. How does boarding school influence feelings of loneliness? 7: The shadow side of boarding schools: Childhood sexual abuse and its aftermath 8. Having psychotherapy to help with boarding school experiences: The role of denial, shame and privilege 9. Escape, autonomy, friendship and resilience: Positive experiences of British boarding school 10. British boarding schools on trial: Making the case for 'boarding family syndrome'