Review of Law and mental health: International perspectives, Volume 2.

Reviews the book, Law and mental health: International perspectives, Volume 2 edited by David N. Weisstub. Following the 1984 publication of Volume 1, reviewed in CJBS (1986), David Weisstub recently edited a second volume in this series. The publication follows the multidisciplinary lead established in the first volume. It consists of five papers, of which three are legal essays and two are empirical social science literature reviews. The two social science articles would be of interest to more psychologists, but particularly those in forensic and correctional psychology. Unlike the first volume, however, the legally oriented papers do not address the classical "forensic" issues. Instead, they deal more generally with legal aspects of mental health. In preparing a multidisciplinary edition, a reasonable objective given the topic, the editor has convened a collection of articles from various disciplines (law, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, criminology, and sociology) instead of articles that, in themselves, represent an integration of disciplines. Once again, one is left wondering if ever the twain shall meet between law and social science. Nonetheless, the editor, as promised, has put together papers on five current issues that are of international importance to law and to mental health. they deal more generally with legal aspects of mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Rehabilitation psychology: A comprehensive textbook.

Reviews the book, Rehabilitation psychology: A comprehensive textbook by David W. Krueger (1983). In this volume, David W. Krueger has developed a new blueprint for constructing an edited volume in rehabilitation. Unique in the present design is the attempt, within a single volume of reasonable size, to cover the rehabilitation field from both a type-of-disability approach and an issue-oriented approach. To achieve this objective, the editor has recruited well-known and highly respected authors to write short chapters in their areas of expertise. In all, there are 42 chapters, which range in length between 4 and 14 pages. Each chapter is written by a different author, with the exception of two chapters written by the editor. No uniformity of style or standard outline for presentation has been followed. Instead, each chapter stands on its own. As a result, the effect is more that of a carefully selected book of readings than that of an integrated textbook. This book stands as an impressive attempt to provide the reader with a broad overview of the field of rehabilitation. As such, it serves as a fine introduction to the field of rehabilitation by providing a good sampling of the diversity of issues that surround rehabilitation and having these issues discussed by recognized experts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Children and the law.

Reviews the book, Children and the law by Jeffrey Wilson and Mary Tomlinson (1986). This book is divided into nine chapters focusing on almost all aspects of law that affect children including: custody and access issues, child protection and adoption, family support, property and civil participation, the child in the courtroom, crime and the child, children in education, and the child as an immigrant. The book Children and the Law is indispensible for both lawyers involved with children before the court as well as mental health professionals working with children. I know of no other accounts that are available that delve into the specifics related to legislation that are as highly readable and thorough as this account provided by Wilson and Tomlinson. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral and emotional disorders in adolescents: Nature, assessment and treatments.

Reviews the book, Behavioral and emotional disorders in adolescents: Nature, assessment and treatment by David A. Wolfe and Eric J. Mash (see record 2005-16249-000). The primary goal of this edited volume is to capture the current state of knowledge about the important behavioural and emotional adjustment problems and disorders of adolescence. Through 20 chapters by foremost experts, the reader is apprised of the unique features of these disorders in adolescents in comparison with children and adults, and of the importance of developmental issues and a developmental perspective. Any thought that adolescent disorders are adequately addressed by upward extension of knowledge of child disorders and downward extension of knowledge of adult disorders is compellingly dispelled. The unique compilation of empirical findings specifically for adolescents is a boon to those pursuing research, teaching or evidence- based practice with this age group. This book will be mandatory reading for any mental health professional, including academics, graduate students, and clinicians working with or teaching about troubled adolescents. As a text, it is excellent for a graduate course on the subject, and an essential reference source for those teaching abnormal development at the undergraduate level or providing clinical service to adolescents and their families. The book will be a classic in the field and a mandatory starting point for any professional interested in a detailed overview of the state of the art in Western societies, including researchers interested in an overview of areas outside their own specific expertise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Understanding terrorism: Psychosocial roots, consequences and interventions.

Reviews the book, Understanding terrorism: Psychosocial roots, consequences and interventions edited by Fathali M. Moghaddam and Anthony J. Marsella (see record 2003-06477-000). This edited volume effectively meets its goal of assessing the psychosocial origins and effects of international terrorism. Three sections, each containing multiple chapters, address in turn, broad conceptual issues regarding definitions and context of international terrorism, specific psychosocial processes involved in the development and functioning of terrorist groups, and consequences of and responses to, terrorist acts. Two general limitations of the book exist that are probably a reflection of challenges associated with the edited volume format. First, some issues are discussed repeatedly across chapters. Second, some readers may identify limited cases of faulty logic, unnecessarily detailed lists of empirical studies, and an overemphasis on issues uniquely relevant to the United States. Importantly, these concerns are relevant to a small minority of chapters or portions of chapters, and so the book is in large part compelling, intellectual, focused, and decidedly non-ethnocentric. As such, it is recommended reading for anyone concerned with terrorism and war, group relations, politics, aggression, trauma, prejudice, and cross-cultural understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Childhood mental health disorders: Evidence base and contextual factors for psychosocial, psychopharmacological, and combined interventions.

Reviews the book, Childhood mental health disorders: Evidence base and contextual factors for psychosocial, psychopharmacological, and combined interventions by Ronald T. Brown, David O. Antonuccio, George J. Dupaul, Mary A. Fristad, Cheryl A. King, Laurel K. Leslie, Gabriele S. McCormick, William E. Pelham Jr., John C. Piacentini, and Benedetto Vitiello (see record 2007-15067-000). This volume stands as a significant contribution to the current state of affairs in child and adolescent mental health. Unassuming in size (a total of 207 pages including references and author and subject indexes), this compilation is not only of value to researchers and clinicians within the professions of psychology and psychiatry but holds significance across other professions (e.g., social work, occupational therapy, nursing) that serve and support the mental health care of children. This book consists of 13 chapters, of which 11 address common child and adolescent mental health disorders. The authors offer readers a concise summary of the status of support for psychosocial, pharmacological, and combined interventions balanced in the context of safety and potential harm. Recommendations are offered on the most appropriate first-line treatment for a particular disorder (which predominantly favours psychosocial interventions over psychoactive medications). This is a book that will be a significant resource for those seeking evidence-based guideposts to intervention with children, adolescents, and their families. It is a timely, accessible, well-organised text, giving fair consideration to pharmaceutical, psychosocial, and combined interventions. As the authors allude, this compilation represents a "snapshot in time" but sets forth a strong foundation for practise and an agenda to further clinical and research attention to children's mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Making explicit what was before implicit.

Reviews the book, Spatial Cognition: The Structure and Development of Mental Representations of Spatial Relations by David Olson and Ellen Bialystok (1983). Among the topics included in the book are: spatial cognition, structural lexicon, spatial perception, conceptual imagery, perceptual discrimination, mental rotation and hemispheric specialization. Although the reviewer believes some chapters suffer from errors and poor presentation of data, he recommends this book to anyone interested in spatial cognition theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Women's Mental Health: A Comprehensive Textbook.

Reviews the book, Women's Mental Health: A Comprehensive Textbook edited by Susan G. Kornstein and Anita H. Clayton (2004). The reviewer notes that this book was so helpful that I could not put it down to write a review. In my opinion, many readers, including clinicians in psychology and psychiatry, researchers, graduate students, and sophisticated undergraduates would all benefit from perusing this text and examining chapters related to specific disorders and aspects of the reproductive stages of women's lives. This book is definitely a gold mine for busy academics preparing comprehensive lectures on women's mental health issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Competitive employment issues and strategies.

Reviews the book, Competitive employment issues and strategies, edited by Frank R. Rusch (1986). Consistent with its title, the book makes clear that its thrust is competitive employment and that supported work is a means to that end. Several chapters were written by the editor himself; in addition, 38 contributors (many of whom are nationally known in their fields) wrote 24 up-to-date chapters. The result is a comprehensive review, in three sections, of competitive employment programs, competitive employment methods and strategies, and a variety of policy and conceptual issues. This text should prove useful to those for whom it was written: "...advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, service providers, and others interested in...enhancing quality of life for persons with handicaps." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Epilepsy: A handbook for the mental health professional.

Reviews the book, Epilepsy: A handbook for the mental health professional edited by Harry Sands (1982). The editor has gathered 10 contributors, each with a wealth of experience in the area of psychological issues in epilepsy. The book is designed to provide necessary information about epilepsy to "the core mental health discipline: psychology, psychiatry, social work, and psychiatric nursing, and to other collaborating disciplines such as rehabilitation and counseling." It certainly achieves this goal and has the potential of becoming a major reference source as well as textbook in the field. The book could be used as a handbook and reference book for specific problems with epileptics. However, its real strength is its potential use as a unified and comprehensive textbook on a broad range of rehabilitation psychology issues with the epileptic. As a text, it would be appropriate for a senior undergraduate-level or graduate-level course within the broad area of medical psychology. Many of the psychological principles and intervention strategies are applicable to other disabilities. Thus, if educators wish, they can use these chapters as a core model to be augmented by other references to other disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of feminist therapy: Women's issues in psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Handbook of feminist therapy: Women's issues in psychotherapy edited by Lynne Bravo Rosewater and Lenore E. A. Walker (1985). This volume grew out of the meetings of the First Annual Advanced Therapy Institute which were attended by 60 feminist therapists in the spring of 1982. According to the editors the volume reflects advances in feminist therapy; it examines the fundamentals of feminist therapy and considers how to best serve clients from this perspective. The volume is divided into seven major sections, each of which consists of three to eight relatively brief chapters. Each major section has its own editor who provides an informative introduction to and brief overview of the articles in that section. The major sections are: A Feminist Philosophy of Treatment, Introduction to Feminist Psychotherapeutic Techniques and Practices, Women's Issues across the Lifespan, Violence Against Women, Power and Advocacy Issues, Feminist Ethics, and the Training of Feminist Therapists. All in all this is a stimulating and much-welcomed volume. Students and practitioners in all areas of mental health will find it to be an informative and valuable resource. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Child abuse: New directions in prevention and treatment across the lifespan.

Reviews the book, Child abuse: New directions in prevention and treatment across the lifespan by David A. Wolfe, Robert J. McMahon, and Ray DeV. Peters (see record 1997-30225-000). This edited book offers a diverse collection of chapters that describe innovative approaches to the treatment and prevention of child physical and sexual abuse. Readers can peruse contributions from leaders in the field that depict recent efforts to address the complexity of these problems. This book is a valuable addition to the libraries of researchers, clinicians, and students who are interested in issues related to the treatment and prevention of the physical and sexual abuse of children. It will be especially useful to those already acquainted with the characteristics and consequences of child abuse, who will find their understanding of this topic broadened by its contributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Aging in Canada: Social perspectives (2nd ed.).

Reviews the book, Aging in Canada: Social perspectives (2nd ed.) by Victor W. Marshall (1987). Victor Marshall's second edition of Aging in Canada: Social perspectives is a worthy successor to the first edition (1980). The new edition includes 30 chapters on topics in Canadian social gerontology. Of the 38 different authors 24 are new. All chapters were written specifically for this volume. The chapters are longer and more substantial than in the earlier volume; at 613 pages this volume is twice as long as the earlier one but has only four more chapters. Both the inclusion of an index and the placement of references at the end of each chapter are welcome improvements. The chapters are grouped under the following headings: Thinking Systematically About Aging; The Diverse Meanings of Age and Aging; Aging Workers and the Labour Force; Aging, Leisure, and Retirement; Family Structure and Social Relationships; Health and Well-Being in Relation to Age; Health Care; and Political, Economic, and Social Implications of Population Aging. The book is directed at and suitable for those interested in social science, health science, or public policy issues at a wide range of levels from second-year undergraduate to graduate to professionals working in applied or academic contexts. Despite omissions and a few weak chapters the book is informative, thoughtful, and often provocative. It affirms that there is, indeed, a Canadian social gerontology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Health psychology in global perspective.

Reviews the book, Health psychology in global perspective by Frances E. Aboud (see record 1998-07478-000). Initially, the reviewer was unsure of what to expect from this book, and yet in completing it he feel humbled by the perspective it provided on international and cross-cultural health issues. The reading of this book has served to expand his definition of health psychology to include global and cross-cultural concerns. The organization of the book is logical and easy to follow. The first two chapters provide an introduction to the rest of the text. Each of the remaining seven chapters is dedicated to a specific health concern. Aboud's hope is that the reader will come to appreciate that solutions are not as simple as they might appear in the global health community and that enthusiasm must be tempered with "caution and realistic expectations." We must be careful not to stereotype other people and their problem, and recognize that health and well-being are expressed in different but entirely acceptable ways in different cultures. Courses in health psychology will benefit from the inclusion of this book. It incorporates case studies, case vignettes, and student activities along with the text in a manner that students will find challenging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Language functions and brain organization.

Reviews the book, Language functions and brain organization edited by Sidney J. Segalowitz (1983). This volume attempts an up-to-date summary of our knowledge of brain/language relationships by 24 distinguished researchers in the field (six of them Canadian). The four parts deal with "the general concept of language as a mental organ or a mental complex," "the brain base for language," developmental aspects, and hemispheric lateralization. For each part, the editor has written a brief introduction, which is followed by three or four chapters. The book as a whole presents a delightful though somewhat idiosyncratic selection of topics, loosely focused on the general theme of brain and language. Systematic coverage is not attempted, nor is it likely to be gained from an edited book with its inevitable problems of unevenness in style, differences in approach, and overlap in content. The editor seems to have given at least some of his authors free rein to write about their topic of specialization, and they do it well. It is fun to pick and choose chapters of interest, but I would not recommend front-to-back reading in the expectation of a textbook introduction to the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of play therapy, volume 2: Advances and innovations.

Reviews the book, Handbook of play therapy, volume 2: Advances and innovations by Kevin J. O'Connor and Charles E. Schaefer (1994). This book offers a collection of chapters written by leading experts which addresses the developments in play therapy since 1983. In completing the volume, Editors Kevin J. O'Connor and Charles E. Schaefer sought to offer a multi-disciplinary approach to play therapy. Additionally, the editors stated in their preface that they worked to make this new volume "informative, thought provoking, and clinically useful." Indeed, the editors have succeeded admirably in achieving their stated objectives. The book's organization and emphasis on clinical relevance make it a fit companion to their earlier classic (Schaefer & O'Connor, 1983). The Handbook is very well-organized with an excellent selection of chapter topics. The chapters follow essentially the same format and are integrated well within the book. The editors deserve credit for synthesizing diverse theoretical approaches and techniques into a coherent whole. The individual chapters are clearly written and quite readable. The figures and tables are readily understandable and augment the chapters' content. Clinicians and researchers interested in play therapy and child psychotherapy will enjoy this volume. Although the majority of chapters discuss play therapy with children, two chapters discuss play therapy applications with adults. Accordingly, therapists interested in these approaches will profit from this work. The volume certainly appeals to multi-disciplinary audiences such as psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, pastoral counselors, and educators. The text is extremely appropriate for a graduate course in play therapy. Finally, the book can be read from beginning to end or the reader can select particular chapters in the handbook and sample various clinical approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The big picture in imagery research.

Reviews the book, Theories of image formation by David Marks (1986). This book contains 10 chapters spanning a wide range of views concerning the nature, function, and proper way to investigate mental imagery. It presents a striking variety of views and approaches. Some of the chapters are very good; the remaining chapters pale in comparison. Overall, the book provides what we might imagine as the big picture behind research on image formation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)