The Making of Them torrent

This book explores why the British choose to send their children away to boarding school, what may happen to these children, and what sort of adults they may subsequently become. It offers some suggestions why sending young children away to board is a particularly British habit, and what may have caused their remarkable attitude to children.


The book proposes that children who board are compelled to 'survive' psychologically - sometimes to their great cost. It argues that in order to cope with their loss of family and to adapt to their school environment, children unconsciously construct a 'Strategic Survival Personality', and that such a personality structure invariably becomes counter-productive in adult life. The book also offers suggestions for reversing the effects of 'boarding school survival' by means of the development of self- awareness and through psychotherapeutic help.