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Adult psychopathology and diagnosis
BOOK REVIEWS
618
to the conceptual issues surrounding socially competent behaviour. The field has moved a long way from the naive view of social skills as simplistic motor responses which prevailed in the early 1970s. The theme of the book is to determine how the effectiveness of SST can be improved. Trower makes the case, supported by the chapters included in the text. that the primary cause for the lack of effectiveness has been the paradi_T upon which SST has traditionally been based. A shift is therefore proposed by which social behaviour is no longer viewed as being determined by forces beyond an individual’s control. to a paradigm in which the person is seen as an active agent. being partially self-determined and being abie to influence hisher own environment. Chapters by Harre. Wessler and Carver and Scheiner make an excellent case for the importance of cognitive processes in the regulation of social performance. The overall points made are not necessarily new. but the depth of information contained within this book is not available m other texts relating to SST. For the practitioner, excellent chapters concerning cognition, cognrtive assessment and Intervention are provided. all of which are of considerable practical value. The text as a whole does not make for light reading. but is an exciting development for enthusiasts in the area. s. SPEXE
H. WILL: Die Geburt deer Psychosomatik: Munchen (1984). 231 pages.
Georg
Groddeck,
der Mensch
und
WissenschqJiler.
Urban
& Schwarzenberg.
This is a well-written biography of a rather unorthodox psychoanalyst who is sometimes credited with originating the science ofpsychosomatics. He is also credited with originating the term “Das Es”. usually translated into English as the Id, a notion later on taken on by Freud and transformed by him into something quite different, a transformation Groddeck never approved of. Groddeck wrote in a very curiously unorganized and non-academic style, quite intentionally so. and Will has attempted to reduce his exuberance to a rather more sober format. This wili make access to Groddeck‘s ideas easier for most readers. but of course as the ideas are pretty wild even by psychoanalytic standards, the original format may be more appropriate! However. Groddeck was clearly an interesting and unusual person. and this biography will be welcomed by anyone wishing to make his closer acquaintance. H. J. EYSENCK
S. M. TURNER and M. HERSEN (Eds):
Adult
Ps~cho~atho~ag~
and 5iagnosis.
Wiley, New York
(1984).
520 pages.
f37.95.
This textbook is intended “to present discussion of the major diagnostic categories of adult psychiatric disorders using DSM-III nomenclature”. The first chapter, by Juan Mezzich, is a valuable description of the general principles of diagnosis and classification and of the structure of DSM-III. The last. by the editors, is a thoughtful and reasoned critique of DSM-III and its implications for behaviour therapists. The intervening chapters, however, differ greatly in scope, orientation and authority. Most are written by psychologists and restricted largely to themes and issues of direct interest to psychologists. The chapter on unipolar affective disorders, for example, provides an excellent description and critique of the theories of Seligman. Beck and Rehm and the therapies derived from these but says nothing about the genetics of depression. and biochemical theories of its aetiology. about physical treatments or even about the burgeoning ‘life events’ literature of the last decade. The chapter on aicoholism is likewise concerned mainly with drinking as behaviour, the cues which influence it and the personalities of heavy drinkers. The significance and physioiogical basis of dependence are hardly mentioned. nor are the cultural and economic forces which largely determine the consumption patterns of populations. There would be nothing wrong with this had the same approach been used throughout, but it is not. The chapter on bipolar illness is written, by two psychiatrists. from an exclusively biological viewpoint, Genetics. epidemiology and physical therapies are centre stage. and psychological and social considerations barely mentioned. The chapter on schizophrenia attempts to describe the genetic basis of the syndrome and pharmacological and social models as well as psychological ones but ends up becoming muddled and misleading. In several chapters. too. the terminology and definitions of DSM-III are largely ignored. Despite its shortcomings. however, this book does suggest that American psychologists have had second thoughts about the hostile reception they originally gave to this novel classification. The suspicion that its new te~inology and categories were part of a Machiavellian plot to convert the lucrative territory of abnormal psychology into a series of diseases to be treated only by physicians has gone and been replaced by the recognition that the operational definitions and multiaxial format of DSM-III should be just as useful and welcome to psychologists as to the psychiatrists for whom it was designed. For that alone this expensive volume is welcome. R. E. KENDELL
D. R. GRIFFIN. Atzimui ;ririnkin~q. Harvard
Univ.
Press. Cambridge.
Mass.
(1984). ix + 237 pages.
f14.85.
The three different alarm calls made by vervet monkeys do not. as was once believed. indicate different degrees of fear. but provide information about the type of predator (leopard. eagle or snake) which has alarmed the calling animal. The
618
to the conceptual issues surrounding socially competent behaviour. The field has moved a long way from the naive view of social skills as simplistic motor responses which prevailed in the early 1970s. The theme of the book is to determine how the effectiveness of SST can be improved. Trower makes the case, supported by the chapters included in the text. that the primary cause for the lack of effectiveness has been the paradi_T upon which SST has traditionally been based. A shift is therefore proposed by which social behaviour is no longer viewed as being determined by forces beyond an individual’s control. to a paradigm in which the person is seen as an active agent. being partially self-determined and being abie to influence hisher own environment. Chapters by Harre. Wessler and Carver and Scheiner make an excellent case for the importance of cognitive processes in the regulation of social performance. The overall points made are not necessarily new. but the depth of information contained within this book is not available m other texts relating to SST. For the practitioner, excellent chapters concerning cognition, cognrtive assessment and Intervention are provided. all of which are of considerable practical value. The text as a whole does not make for light reading. but is an exciting development for enthusiasts in the area. s. SPEXE
H. WILL: Die Geburt deer Psychosomatik: Munchen (1984). 231 pages.
Georg
Groddeck,
der Mensch
und
WissenschqJiler.
Urban
& Schwarzenberg.
This is a well-written biography of a rather unorthodox psychoanalyst who is sometimes credited with originating the science ofpsychosomatics. He is also credited with originating the term “Das Es”. usually translated into English as the Id, a notion later on taken on by Freud and transformed by him into something quite different, a transformation Groddeck never approved of. Groddeck wrote in a very curiously unorganized and non-academic style, quite intentionally so. and Will has attempted to reduce his exuberance to a rather more sober format. This wili make access to Groddeck‘s ideas easier for most readers. but of course as the ideas are pretty wild even by psychoanalytic standards, the original format may be more appropriate! However. Groddeck was clearly an interesting and unusual person. and this biography will be welcomed by anyone wishing to make his closer acquaintance. H. J. EYSENCK
S. M. TURNER and M. HERSEN (Eds):
Adult
Ps~cho~atho~ag~
and 5iagnosis.
Wiley, New York
(1984).
520 pages.
f37.95.
This textbook is intended “to present discussion of the major diagnostic categories of adult psychiatric disorders using DSM-III nomenclature”. The first chapter, by Juan Mezzich, is a valuable description of the general principles of diagnosis and classification and of the structure of DSM-III. The last. by the editors, is a thoughtful and reasoned critique of DSM-III and its implications for behaviour therapists. The intervening chapters, however, differ greatly in scope, orientation and authority. Most are written by psychologists and restricted largely to themes and issues of direct interest to psychologists. The chapter on unipolar affective disorders, for example, provides an excellent description and critique of the theories of Seligman. Beck and Rehm and the therapies derived from these but says nothing about the genetics of depression. and biochemical theories of its aetiology. about physical treatments or even about the burgeoning ‘life events’ literature of the last decade. The chapter on aicoholism is likewise concerned mainly with drinking as behaviour, the cues which influence it and the personalities of heavy drinkers. The significance and physioiogical basis of dependence are hardly mentioned. nor are the cultural and economic forces which largely determine the consumption patterns of populations. There would be nothing wrong with this had the same approach been used throughout, but it is not. The chapter on bipolar illness is written, by two psychiatrists. from an exclusively biological viewpoint, Genetics. epidemiology and physical therapies are centre stage. and psychological and social considerations barely mentioned. The chapter on schizophrenia attempts to describe the genetic basis of the syndrome and pharmacological and social models as well as psychological ones but ends up becoming muddled and misleading. In several chapters. too. the terminology and definitions of DSM-III are largely ignored. Despite its shortcomings. however, this book does suggest that American psychologists have had second thoughts about the hostile reception they originally gave to this novel classification. The suspicion that its new te~inology and categories were part of a Machiavellian plot to convert the lucrative territory of abnormal psychology into a series of diseases to be treated only by physicians has gone and been replaced by the recognition that the operational definitions and multiaxial format of DSM-III should be just as useful and welcome to psychologists as to the psychiatrists for whom it was designed. For that alone this expensive volume is welcome. R. E. KENDELL
D. R. GRIFFIN. Atzimui ;ririnkin~q. Harvard
Univ.
Press. Cambridge.
Mass.
(1984). ix + 237 pages.
f14.85.
The three different alarm calls made by vervet monkeys do not. as was once believed. indicate different degrees of fear. but provide information about the type of predator (leopard. eagle or snake) which has alarmed the calling animal. The