The national flavour versus pan-culturism: A review of Social psychology: The Canadian context.

Reviews the book, Social Psychology: The Canadian Context edited by J. W. Berry and G. J. S. Wilde (1972). The title of this book is likely to evoke a positive or a negative response from the reader depending on how he feels about the need for more Canadian content. Berry and Wilde are not out to prove that Canadian psychologists are as good as any in the world. The editorial effort was directed towards "studies of social behaviour of Canadians, rather than studies done in Canada by Canadians". The first section on "The Canadian People" provides an overview by contributions from other academic disciplines. The second section on "Canadian Dualism", which comprises nearly half of the book, is about the French-Canadians versus the English-Canadians. The third section on the "Canadian Natives" concentrates on the ethnic pluralism of the Eskimos and Indians. The fourth section on "Canadian Pluralism" presents findings on a larger number of different groups. Finally, the Appendix presents five tables containing background and demographic data likely to be useful for undergraduate research on Canadian people. Suggested readings for this purpose are also included in the introduction to each section. This book is most likely to be appropriate for courses emphasizing ethnic group relationships or cultural social psychology. In conclusion, this is a handy sourcebook on the kinds of research and the techniques useful for studying ethnic groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating research and practice: An ecological analysis of the dynamics behind bullying and victimization.

Reviews the book, Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized edited by J. Juvonen and S. Graham (see record 2001-00685-000). Peer Harassment in School: The Plight of the Vulnerable and Victimized is a timely volume dedicated to understanding the correlates and consequences of chronic victimization in children and adolescents. The editors, Juvonen and Graham, define peer harassment as "victimization that entails face-to-face confrontation (e.g., physical aggression, verbal abuse, nonverbal gesturing) or social manipulation through a third party (e.g., social ostracism, spreading rumors)" (Juvonen & Graham, 2001, p. xiii). They use the term "harassment" as synonymous with "victimization" throughout the volume. The chapter authors include leading experts in peer harassment from both the United States and other industrialized countries (i.e., Canada, Australia, Norway, Great Britain). The book's emphasis on research on victims rather than research on bullies is important for school-based intervention programs, which have historically focused on how to intervene with aggressive students. The book further underscores the complex interconnections that exist among bullies, victims, and onlookers to the bullying events. Peer Harassment in School is a timely, theory-driven, and well-researched book that reviews the empirical evidence on methodological, developmental, social, and ecological factors associated with peer harassment. The volume is a "must-read" for any school practitioner and/or researcher interested in understanding the complexity behind victimization in children and adolescents. Juvonen and Graham draw on more than two decades of their collective researching of social phenomena in school-aged youth (Juvonen, 1991; Graham & Folkes, 1990; Graham & Juvonen, 1998) to produce an important book that advances conceptual models for peer victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of History of Academic Psychology in Canada.

Reviews the book, History of Academic Psychology in Canada edited by Mary J. Wright and C. Roger Myers (1982). The title of this book is to be taken seriously. It is a history of academic psychology in Canada in which history of the academy moves prominently to the fore, often leaving the reader with only tantalizing glimpses of the psychology that gave meaning to the effort. Substantively, it is a history of university departments of psychology in Canada. Each departmental history is written by a person or persons having a long association with the department and a sufficient interest in its history to write it. At its best, this book provides well-written and penetratingly thoughtful accounts of the struggle to build psychology as an academic discipline in Canada. Often obscured in the effort, however, is the psychology itself. What was the psychology advocated by these personalities? What did they contribute to it? The reader will have to turn elsewhere for the answers. Regardless of limitations or faults, however, this book deserves full credit as the first attempt to rescue Canadian psychologists from their "social amnesia." It is an important step toward establishing a national consciousness and identity, which by itself would be sufficient reason for a positive reception. Fortunately, it has many other features that recommend it as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Readings in social psychology: Classic and Canadian contributions.

Reviews the book, Readings in social psychology: Classic and Canadian contributions edited by Brian Earn and Shelagh Towson (1986). Earn and Towson argue that students should know that social psychology is an active discipline with significant contributions from their own nation, that there are areas of research of particular relevance to the Canadian context, and that they should be able to gain from incidental learning about their own society. The format of the book is rather conventional. Readings are grouped into content areas: social motives (aggression and altruism), social influence, attitudes, social interactions (attraction and loneliness), attribution and cognition, ethnic relations, prejudice, and applications (TV influence, social support, law). It includes contributions by many of the most prominent social psychologists in Canada, and several "classic" papers by U.S. social psychologists. As one who has long regretted the fact that we are compelled to teach social psychology with only foreign materials, the reviewer welcomes the publication of this book. The reviewer hopes that in the second edition the editors take more seriously the purpose of a book of readings, and set out to communicate to undergraduate students what social psychological research is all about. The reviewer also hopes that the publisher is able to produce a volume that looks more professional and is easier to read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Child sexual abuse: Critical perspectives on prevention, intervention, and treatment.

Reviews the book, Child sexual abuse: Critical perspectives on prevention, intervention, and treatment edited by Christopher R. Bagley and Ray J. Thomlison (1991). This book is a compilation of a series of literature reviews originally commissioned by Health and Welfare Canada in 1987 and completed in 1988. The individual papers included in this edited version represent a cross section of Canadian academicians, clinicians, and case workers who are integrally involved in the policies and practices regarding child sexual abuse in Canada. The work provides a comprehensive perspective on prevention at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. The list of authors is impressive in terms of their expertise and experience. At a time when numerous books on child sexual abuse are appearing on the market, it is nice to see a book that has some unusual aspects. Aside from its distinctly Canadian perspective, the book addresses several important, yet frequently ignored, topics. The book provides an up-to-date review of several core issues: conceptualization of the problem, prevention strategies, impact of sexual abuse, investigative interviewing, treatment outcome studies, and treatment issues for child molesters. The more unique topics include a review of the strategies used to evaluate prevention programs, prevalence rates among a number of special populations, the role of medical practitioners in preventing and intervening in child sexual abuse, and sexual abuse and exploitation among disabled individuals. Overall, I can recommend this book for clinicians and researchers in Canada and elsewhere who are interested in child sexual abuse. This compilation of literature reviews highlights the leading role that Canadian social service agencies have taken in developing programs for sexually abused children and their families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Pure Types are Rare.

Reviews the book, Pure Types Are Rare by Irwin Silverman. This is a provocative book. In it, Silverman, with ambitious abandon, sets out to denude the "medical model of mental illness" of its Emperor's Clothing. Unceremoniously, Silverman strips away the clothing of the medical model: psychiatric diagnoses are unreliable and invalid, labels are applied at the whim of the psychodiagnostician; mental illness bears no resemblance to physical disease, mental "illness" is a myth; biological causes of mental illness do not exist; biological treatments serve only to mask the real social and psychological causes of madness; psychotherapy is no treatment at all, there are no "treatment" principles or methods. What remains after Silverman's assault on the medical model? The medical model as Emperor remains, albeit naked. Silverman views the medical model and the entire mental health enterprise as an Emperor indeed: it is a political ideology that serves to control the socially and economically impoverished. Silverman goes on to offer an alternative to the medical model, a social psychological perspective on madness. He favours a view of madness as a social role which may be adopted by a person in the process of coping with life conflict. Silverman attacks practically all of the important assumptions and practices of psychiatry and clinical psychology. His radical social perspective on mental illness is at such odds with the common psychological perspective that, obviously, most psychologists, be they practitioners or researchers, will not like this book. Silverman insists on too radical a departure from our common beliefs. Despite the reviewer's disagreement with Silverman's radical social perspective on mental illness, he thinks that this is a worthwhile book. While the reviewer disagrees with his premise that clinical practices are exclusively or primarily political in essence, the reviewer does agree that there are essential social and political functions served by our practices. Silverman relentlessly and effectively uncovers important social and political meanings of diagnostic and treatment practices. This, according to the reviewer, is the strength of the book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Intercultural counselling and assessment: Global perspectives.

Reviews the book, Intercultural Counselling and Assessment: Global Perspectives edited by Ronald J. Samuda and Aaron Wolfgang (1985). Intercultural Counselling and Assessment is an edited volume of papers presented to an invited Symposium on Intercultural Counselling held at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, 1983. The intention of the publication, as stated by the editors, was to fill the gap in guidelines and methods in intercultural counselling by providing source material that is both theoretical and practical. The book is geared to professionals in the field of education, psychology, and social work, with the goal of engendering "greater sensitivity and a more professional approach to the task of coping with an increasingly varied and mixed population of students in schools" (p. xvii). The strength of the book lies in its comprehensive coverage. The philosophy of counselling conveyed in the book reflects the orientation of multiculturalism in Canadian immigration policy. Six chapters address the issues and answers in counselling specific ethnic and cultural groups, including Chinese immigrants, South Asian immigrants, West Indian immigrants, European immigrants, Native Canadians, and foreign students. Another six chapters provide the background and guidelines for counselling minorities in specific environments, such as in employment, correctional service, disability service, and education. It is a comprehensive volume and has highlighted the important issues that counsellors should become familiar with in an intercultural society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Human Subject in the Psychological Laboratory.

Reviews the book, The Human Subject in the Psychological Laboratory by Irwin Silverman (see record 1978-20076-000). In this book, the author presents his assessment of the laboratory experiment following years of research on the social psychology of the psychological experiment. Silverman makes his views clear from the outset: the laboratory is "an excellent place to study laboratory behavior; but by virtue of this it is suited for little else", and he relentlessly pursues this thesis throughout the book. Through the seeming enormity of evidence and Silverman's constant attention to his thesis, the reader is brought to the precipice from which the laboratory experiment must surely fall. The uncritical reader will find Silverman's arguments well-written and effectively woven together in a relatively concise, easily readable manner. Any criticisms of the book must focus on errors of omission rather than problems of style or misrepresentation of fact. The important questions seem to concern a need to better understand how an experimenter can conduct meaningful research with human subjects. This understanding will not come about from proclaiming that other methods are better or from research which has only the objective of documenting the inadequacies of current methods. More than anything else Silverman's book suggests the need for a new direction for increased research on the social psychology of the psychological experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Research methods in social relations, with especial reference to prejudice; Vol. I: Basic processes; Vol. II: Selected techniques.

Reviews the book, "Research methods in social relations, with especial reference to prejudice; Vol. I: Basic processes; Vol. II: Selected techniques," by Marie Jahoda, Morton Deutsch, and Stuart W. Cook (see record 1953-02637-000). The reviewer notes that the two volumes show the impacts of their sponsorship, and of the many hands which have been laid upon them. There is a sense of urgency in the book's treatment of problems of social intolerance and discrimination, and an implication of mild, but persistent, exhortation to the reader to take constructive steps in combating these evils. For the scientific reader the proper course is to be found in "action research" (participative research directed toward the solution of tangible problems), and for the social practitioner the recommended course is cooperation with the scientific investigator. In spite of the instances of apparent over-earnestness and occasional naiveness which occur in the book, it still remains a useful and informative document. It would be an excellent source book for nonspecialists, and for students who wish to gain a brief, but competent and comprehensive overview of this field of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Community Psychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-being.

Reviews the book Community Psychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-being, edited by Geoffrey Nelson and Isaac Prilleltensky (2005). As their subtitle suggests, the authors are concerned with many matters beyond a mental health focus. Although they modestly describe themselves as "editors," Nelson and Prilleltensky actually wrote most of the book, with only Parts 5 and 6 devoted to the work of others. In Part I, the authors introduce their project for community psychology, offering "issues, values, and tools for liberation and well-being." In Part II, "Values, Principles, and Conceptual Tools," the authors talk about sources of values and the way values are chosen to inform research and action. Part III, "Tools for Action," is devoted to interventions at various levels: social, organizational, small group, and individual. In Part IV, the authors present "Tools for Research." Part V presents diverse topics that include marginalization; globalization, poverty, and social justice; colonization and racism; immigration, adaptation, and the challenges of cultural diversity. Part VI, a final "look toward the future," talks about the new aims and definitions of community psychology presented by this text. This books is one of those rare texts that fully meets the twin purposes of providing ideas for the mature community psychologist as well as working as a text for advanced students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Clinical guidelines in cross-cultural mental health.

Reviews the book, Clinical guidelines in cross-cultural mental health edited by Lillian Comas-Diaz and Ezra E. H. Griffith (see record 1988-97772-000). This volume represents the latest work on psychotherapy with ethnic/racial minority populations, and was intended for mental health practitioners as well as academicians. The book is divided into three parts. The first section has six chapters addressing the role of "ethnosociocultural" factors such as ethnicity, family values, language, religion, politics, and race in the cross-cultural delivery of psychotherapeutic care. The second section focuses on clinical practice with specific ethnic/racial groups including Afro-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Southeast Asian refugees, and West Indians. A final section of one chapter by Comas-Diaz discusses the "state of the art" in cross-cultural mental health. Three factors set this book apart from previous ones on this topic: 1) devotion of an entire section to core ethnosociocultural factors; 2) use of case vignettes to illustrate important cross-cultural issues in mental health; and 3) provision of specific recommendations for the practitioner. Unfortunately, the effort falls short due to the strong academic approach to clinical issues evident throughout the book. Moreover, there was substantial variability in contributors' use of case material and provision of specific recommendations. This uneven coverage, one of the prime drawbacks of many edited volumes, may limit its appeal to practitioners. This book is an improvement over previous texts in this area, but it is by no means a clinician's guide to cross-cultural mental health because of the pervasive academic influence throughout. Consequently, there is an imbalance in favor of didactic over pragmatic approaches to cross-cultural mental health. Thus this book seems more suitable for clinicians in training than for clinicians in practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Divorced families: A multidisciplinary development view.

Reviews the book, Divorced families: A multidisciplinary development view by Constance R. Ahrons and Roy H. Rodgers (1987). This book has much to commend it, but is ultimately disappointing. Though it challenges myths about divorce, it reinforces others. The book is engagingly written, but superficial, stretching its analysis far beyond what the data can bear, and ignoring, in its analysis, major questions. Ahrons and Rodgers take the position that, rather than being pathological, divorce is a normal institution of society. The authors set themselves apart from those who sentimentalize the "traditional" family and who blame separation and divorce for such social ills as drugs, delinquency, and premarital pregnancy. Instead, they argue that in the face of industrialization and urbanization, the family has remained remarkably strong. This book will no doubt serve a worthwhile purpose in helping to promote a more positive image of divorce. But the book's preoccupation with "image" is part of its problem. Clearly, another book is needed which is not just concerned about images but about what is really happening--economically, legally, politically, and culturally--to divorcing families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Abilities and Achievements of Orientals in North America.

Reviews the book The Abilities and Achievements of Orientals in North America (1982) by Philip E. Vernon. The main purpose of this book (as the title suggests) is to bring together in one place all the relevant psychological research concerning the abilities and achievements of Orientals (mainly Chinese and Japanese) in Canada and the United States. At times, reference is also made to other peoples of (part) oriental descent, including Hawaiians, Thais, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Innuit, and Amerindians. And implicit in this overview there are also comparisons with Americans of African and European background. This compilation is a major achievement and is a credit to the passion for work which Vernon continues to show. But such a book is an overwhelming one, and at times it does overwhelm the reader. Herein lies the major problem with the book: despite useful summaries at the end of some chapters, and despite the author's own warning that there will be an information overload, the reader is left without a "bottom line," without a synthesis after all the data and analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Introducing Psychology; an Experimental Approach.

Reviews the book, Psychology; an Experimental Approach by D. S. Wright, Ann Taylor, et al. (see record 1970-13650-000). British undergraduate texts in psychology have been generally poor over the years. Recent offerings suggest a change. Among these is Wright and Taylor's 736 paperback "Introducing Psychology; an Experimental Approach". This text covers in a no-nonsense way the traditional material but minus the expense of visual aid and other teaching crutches so typical of North American texts. The approach gives a good dose of structural factors in behavior. There are, for example, chapters on behavior genetics and on the autonomic nervous system. On the whole, the offering represents a refreshing change from the expensive introductory psychology "artwork" that we are accustomed to in Canada. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Anxiety disorders in adults": Correction.

Reports an error in "Review of Anxiety disorders in adults" by John Hunsley (Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 2002[Aug], Vol 43[3], 212-214). In this review, it was incorrectly reported that the series in which this title appears, Guidebooks in Clinical Psychology, is published by Guilford. In fact, the publisher is Oxford University Press. We apologize to the authors and publishers concerned for this error. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-16946-001.) Reviews the book, Anxiety disorders in adults by Peter D. McLean and Sheila R. Woody (see record 2001-00540-000). This recent volume by McLean and Woody, part of Guilford's new series of guidebooks in clinical psychology, is the best example of this new generation of psychotherapy books. The authors have a wealth of experience in conducting clinical research and in supervising clinicians and graduate students in providing treatments in clinical trials. This book is a gem. The scientist-practitioner model is the cornerstone of clinical psychology training in Canada, and it was a real pleasure to read a work that so fully embodies the spirit of the scientist-practitioner model. McLean and Woody's book belongs on the shelf of everyone who trains students to work with anxiety-disordered clients or who provides direct services to this astonishingly underserved segment of the population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Working it out: Using exercise in psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Working it out: Using exercise in psychotherapy by Kate F. Hays (1999). In this well-organized book, Kate Hays presents exercise as a important component of a multi-modal approach to therapy. The overall content is differentiated into four major sections, in the first of which Hays establishes the value of exercise. The second section moves from theory to the use of exercise as a therapeutic tool. Outlined in the third section are the "Psychological Benefits of Exercise with Specific Populations," overviewing many common clinical populations and specific exercise-based treatment recommendations. The fourth section, "Caveats and Boundaries," is just that, an important collection of chapters that did not find a place elsewhere in the book. This book contributes to a practical and applied view of the synergistic interaction of mind and body. Its essential message adds to the base of literature having the potential to influence private and public programs promoting health and well-being. This book ought to be well received by students and professionals such as educators, clinicians and counsellors of varied disciplines, physicians, physiotherapists, and social workers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)