This book explores sociodramatic play as a potential compensatory tool for educationally disadvantaged children. The author examines the antecedents of educational disadvantagement and develops a rationale for the use of sociodramatic play. She places sociodramatic play in perspective as a particular stage of play behavior and further investigates the phenomenon in this light. Using observations of advantaged and disadvantaged children, she studies particular differences and similarities between the two groups, with special attention on factors related to sociodramatic play. After placing the observations on a conceptual framework, the author discusses identification and the role of parents in developing the requirements for sociodramatic play. Group differences are then isolated as causes for differences in sociodramatic play, and an experiment is designed and performed to test the effectiveness of these factors in eliciting sociodramatic play among disadvantaged children. The results are presented and interpreted, and, finally, various findings and impressions collected during the experiment and considered of significance are reported and discussed. (MH)