Following Charles Spencer’s brave revelations in his book, Gaby Hinsliff confirms the psychological harm done to many children who attended boarding schools (Boarding schools can do tremendous harm. Charles Spencer’s bleak memoir proves it, 19 March). However, I was surprised to see the theory of boarding school syndrome called “a relatively new concept, and arguably fuzzy round the edges”. My book Boarding School Syndrome evolved from more than 30 years’ research. It is based on extensive data, accumulated from observations from clinical practice and from interviews conducted with people who boarded.
The term came of the need to name the identifiable psychological patterns in adults who sought psychotherapy, deeply traumatised by having been sent to boarding school at a young age. All of them, like Spencer, abandoned, bereaved and imprisoned for a percentage of their childhoods. Some were additionally traumatised by the brutal regimes and sexual abuse that we now know was rife. The research findings presented in my book are duplicated and confirmed by my colleague Nick Duffell.
