Children with learning problems

86

Journal of School Psychology

and work focus on theories of behavior. It is up-to-date and well documented, but some of its content is poorly indexed and much is redundant. Finally, those whose concerns ate with applications of psychology in the schools will have to translate the behavioral theories presented into their own educational practices.

Richard Harger Jackson State University Jackson, Mississippi 39217

Sapir, S. G., Nitzburg, A. C. (Eds.) Children with learning problems. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1973. Pp. xvi and 709; $15.00 cloth. This book represents a serious effort to guarantee a broad focus of study in the area of learning disabilities. At a time when many professionals, from the perspective of their own disciplines, axe attempting to delimit specific diagnostic and treatment loci within the conglomerate of learning disabilities, the unique value of this book may be that it potentially provides the contextual awareness against which the individual reader can better define his/her specific interests. The Developmental-Interaction approach vis-a-vis the education of children is the editorial framework used to select the various articles. This formulation stresses the nature of the environment as much as it does the patterns of the responding child; as a corollary, the school (as an environment) is expected to promote the "integration of functions rather than as is more often the case, the compartmentalization of functions." Other major tenets that seem to provide editorial direction include (1) the point of view that there is a body of literature on normal development that can be related to children with learning disorders, and ( 2 ) t h e axiom that there is a fundamental relationship between learning and personality development and that the two interact in a "circular process." There axe six major units that serve as organizers for this very comprehensive volume. The common bond between the units is that, to different degrees and in different ways, each unit includes articles addressing aspects of normal developmental processes with reference to leaxning problems. The first unit is a review of major theories of normal development. The articles presented tend to be broad overviews on such aspects as psychosocial development and language. The second unit serves as an introduction to children with learning problems. Here the articles describe the minimally brain damaged child and raise the issue of the recurring problem of the functional value of various descriptive terminology in the learning disability area. The third unit develops the factors that serve as causation of learning disorders. These articles span the range from the heavily organic point of view to the primarily psycho- or sociogenic orientation. The fourth unit compares and contrasts normal and atypical learning patterns within such broad areas as reading processes, language and thought, and perceptual-motor development. The fifth unit explores the "thorny issue" of differential diagnosis. The articles here tend to focus on assessment approaches, including formal testing, of the learning disabled child. The sixth unit presents a broad array of articles on general and specific treatment methodologies. Some of the intervention techniques presented include the use of medication and behavior and play therapies. This unit (and the book) closes with a formal statement by Shapiro and Biber of the Developmental-Interaction point of view as it relates to the education of children. This book is replete with seminal articles by major figures in the fields of normal and abnormal child development. This reviewer will not belabor the reader with authors and titles; suffice to say, the coverage represents a veritable Hall of Fame of contr~uters to the literature over the last forty years. A few of the authors (e.g., Hebb) axe not primarily identified with the child area; nevertheless, the paxticulax selections from these authors can be creatively extended by implication to children. This book is best evaluated and recommended on the broad comprehensiveness of its

Reviews o f S c h o o l Psychological Materials

87

content. It, therefore, cannot be recommended to anyone who wants a very specific, well-elaborated orientation around a certain aspect of learning disabilities. Nor would it be recommended to anyone who has already spent a period of time evolving his own broad base of knowledge and skills in the child area; anyone who has been professionally active with children, particularly children with academic problems, probably is generally familiar with the contents of many of these articles. Conversely, a person who is new to the child development area and wants to develop an eclectic point of view before he specializes will derive much from this book. Finally, for the majority of us who believe (but are not really certain) that we can see both the "forest and the trees" regarding children with learning difficulties, this book would best serve as a readily available reference to diverse articles that continue to play major orienting roles to the various worlds of childhood.

Paul T. Barnes Colorado University Medical Center Denver, Colorado 80220

Henry, N. When mother is a prefix: New directions in youth corrections. New York: Behavioral Publications, 1972. pp. 129; $7.95 cloth. The provocative title of this slender volume hopefully will attzact readers from several professional circle~ The author's objectives appear three-fold: (1) to affirm the importance of, and potential for, counselors' and teachers' influence on youngsters with problems; (2) to provide a model to the workers for positive impact on these youth; and, (3) to evoke self-scrutiny from the directors of correctional institutions for adolescent~ Though directed primarily at youth correction workers, much of the material holds utility for educators who deal with individual and group problems in the classroom. The book is important, ff for no other reason than the us'u~lly overlooked caseworkers and teachers are provided specific content for dealing with'behavior problems. The basic framework presented is called the "Relations Method" of working with young people. Most of the youngsters with whom the author has dealt (and around which the book revolves) come from homes with absent or inadequate parental models. With this assumption, the model is basically one of providing for the ad61escent a more positive example in the person of the counselor or teacher. It is believed that developing this positive relationship will evoke desirable behavior changes from the individual Great emphasis is placed on the personal characteristics of the worker. In a sense, then, the book provides a model for the worker on how to be a model to those with whom he works. The presentation is divided into two major sections: the counselor and the group and the counselor and the individual. The initial section attracts the author's attention for a majority of the book. The group emphasis is placed first on the premise that working with the individual is more effective in the context of a somewhat orderly group. Actually, this first portion deals with more than just the counselor-to-group interaction and process. Intertwined in this material are ideas regarding the need for~:correctionll reform, the concern with institutional directors' taking more responsibility for change, and the imminent danger of losing funds for "rehabilitation" efforts. For this reason there appears some degree of fragmentation in this section during the first several chapter~ The core of the cpunselor-to-grou p material revolves around the process of bringing a group of adolescents from the initial state of anarchy to what the author believes to be a more constructive attitude of self-government. Within the dormitory or dasszoom setting, the author hypothesizes that sandwiched between the almost-natural state of anarchy and the desired climax of self-government is a necessary stage of control. The particular process of movement through the three stages is well presented, and this