BEHAVIOR PATHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

This ""'state of the art' summary in the field of childhood psychopathology,"" containing essays both theoretical (on psychological maturation, ego development) and practical (the largest number -- on subjects as diverse as suicide and mental retardation, juvenile delinquency and speech disorders), addressing the psychiatrist above all as a physician who must be aware of all influences -- medical, psychological, environmental and societal -- in treating disturbed children. Yet for the most part the approaches here are Freudian and the treatments suggested are the orthodox and already tried. The exceptions are Ralph Luce's discussion of youth in the counterculture (""The question is not why so many young people protest but rather why the majority of those over thirty seem so indifferent""); Thomas Edward's discourse on the culturally disadvantaged and Charles Robitscher's essay on children and the law (""great breaches of the principle of confidentiality occur and are taken for granted""). In general a particularly harsh stance is taken toward drug users without raising the possibility that drug misuse might be a search for identity which has gone awry. The authors make a plea for flexible diagnosis and varied treatment, but the social perspective remains too narrow to provide healing in our troubled, changing times.