What has made the handling of adolescents complicated in our time is not that today’s adolescents are so much more opposed than in the past to the use of authority (Socrates complained about the unruliness and rebelliousness of the young), but rather that adults have become so much more uncertain and guilt stricken about using authority.

To be constructive, the adult acting in an authority role cannot be authoritarian, meaning despotic, rigid, unsympathetic, or cruel. If he is, he will be feared but not respected. Neither can he be corruptible or subject to manipulation. If he is, he may be subject to seduction by the shrewd, exploited by the strong, considered hypocritical by all, and respected by no one.

The child care worker by his very role and function represents authority. He can expect to evoke ambivalent feelings among all of the children and overt resistance by some. This is particularly pertinent in relation to the delinquent-oriented adolescent who views adults, with the exception of his delinquent associates, as tyrannical authority figures. He tends to express his hostility by defiance and destructive acts. In group care, such a youngster may be helped to modify his distorted attitudes by making available to him benign, firm, and uncorruptible adults with whom he may establish a significant relationship. There must also exist an atmosphere of respect for authority. If a child care worker conveys to children the impression that he is conflicted about authority or feels guilty about expressing it, he cannot be effective. He may, in fact, fortify conflicting feelings toward authority.

Group care is reality-oriented, emphasizing corrective socialization for children who are either unable to cope with reality or who attempt to avoid its demands and restrictions upon their pleasure-seeking urges. Goals of group care include provision of "care, guidance, restraint and protection of such quality that infantile omnipotent strivings are frustrated, dependent object-love relationships with staff are established and tension releasing activities are guided into socially approved ego-building forms of expression" (Simon 1956). Child care workers play a crucial role in realizing these goals. To be effective agents in this endeavor, they need to feel comfortable about upholding established structure, setting limits, and exercising restraint on children’s impulsive behavior. If a worker is fearful that the exercise of his authority will antagonize the children and harm his relationships with them, he will most likely be insecure about using it.

Authority can be abused and misused. Appropriate use of authority serves to strengthen relationships with children and "can contribute to the achievement of several worthy goals: to provide order and security, to reflect the larger social order in which the clients will eventually live, or to aid in the development of inner controls" (Watkins 1979: 213).

As a group leader, the child care worker represents authority with in his group. His personality and nature of involvement with the children as a group will affect the quality of group life, its sense of cohesiveness, social responsibility, and security. In research studies on leadership, three types have been identified (White and Lippitt 1953):

1. Authoritarian leadership characterized by arbitrariness and control. This type of leader is dictatorial. He dominates, is strongly directive, gives orders, does not explain plans or task he imposes on individuals and the group. He rewards conformity and discourages initiative. He is aloof from involvement with individual children but may designate "assistants" who enforce his orders. Whether children submit or rebel, the consequences are destructive to individual, groups and group socialization.
   
2.  Laissez-faire leadership implies lack of adult direction, friendliness but not "closeness, and overall passivity. The adult exercises minimal control.
   
3.  Democratic leadership encourages the participation of the children in planning and decision-making through group discussion. There is open and free communication with adult availability to all the children. Individuality is respected and initiative encouraged. Cooperation rather than competitiveness is stressed. The group atmosphere is one of friendship and pride in the group and the physical setting. Democratic leadership requires (a great deal of) effort and investment on the leader’s part. In the long run, it contributes to healthier child development. This does not mean that the child care worker cannot or should not act with authority. This degree will vary with the nature of the group. Some children need more direction and outer controls than others.

As an authority figure, the worker needs the support and backing of the "structure" of the group care program. The routines, rules, and regulations specify standards of expectations and set limits on acting-out behavior. Since it is "non-personal" in character, it provides the worker with "legitimate power" in his limit-setting role (Jacobs and Schweitzer 1979). This status should be made clear to a child upon admission, so that from the beginning he is aware that the "control" component is set by the program and is not the consequence of the worker’s subjective whim or "hang-ups."

Some children may forget this clarification because of their need to project blame on their child care workers and perceive them in negative terms as authoritarian and depriving adults. This can be counteracted by reminding a child of the true source and purpose of the limit setting mechanism-structure. ("These are the requirements and expectations in this place ... I did not make these rules.") How these controls are interpreted and enforced will depend on the worker’s understanding and acceptance of structured living for the children, on his skill and personality. This is analogous to the parental role in child-rearing and is consistent with the principle that healthy growth requires development of inner controls. When a parent provides the necessary guidance "in a consistent loving manner," he provides the outer, age-appropriate measures of controls his child requires for healthy development. "This serves as a model for the child’s developing an inner control system, reinforces the degree of self-control he has achieved, and provides external controls where inner ones are not as yet developed" (Jacobs and Schweitzer 1979 249). Children in group care who have not experienced this type of relationship in their own families require it. To be effective as a modeling agent, a good working relationship between worker and child is essential. The harmonious interaction of structure, authority, and relationship is the essence of effective group care.

There is also the question of free choice. Certain tasks in group life are mandatory. Group discussion on whether essential tasks should be done or established routines followed is not advisable. It is valid, however, to involve the group in determining how best to do them and to evaluate performance. A worker must also act quickly and decisively in crisis situations and emergencies. This justifies authoritative intervention. A laissez-faire approach may also be valid at certain times – when, for example, there is no programmed activity or during free playtime – to enable a child to make independent decisions or to find his own way as long as it is not damaging to others or to himself. This implies "planned passivity" rather than disinterest or lack of involvement as is the characteristic of laissez-faire leadership.

* Adler, J. (1981) Fundamentals of Group Child Care: A Textbook and Instructional Guide for Child Care Workers. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger. Pages 58-61

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