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Clinical approaches to violence
Book Reviews
309
reproduction and one on smoking and weight changes. The final chapter on wine-tasting has been extended to include cuisine. All three are interesting, although slightly surprising choices. The female reproduction chapter looks briefly at changes in feeding over the menstrual cycle and the influence of diet on the menstrual cycle. Pregnancy and lactation are also covered as well as the fetal alcohol syndrome. The chapter has a slightly disjointed feel although the idea of a subtle interplay of eating and reproduction in the interest of the survival of the species is proposed as a unifying theme. The smoking and weight gain chapter touches on a subject of increasing public health importance, since the issue of weight change is increasingly implicated in smoking uptake and cessation. The chapter offers a summary of the effects of nicotine on weight and eating in animals and the effects of smoking cessation on weight and eating in humans. There is one obvious omission in the book, that is any section relating to food intake and health, but perhaps this will feature in the third edition. For those who enjoyed the first edition, let me recommend that you read the second edition and bring yourself up to date. For those with an interest in eating who want to know how psychological research has illuminated the area, then this is an excellent introduction, and for clinicians working with eating disordered patients, there is now an easy way of becoming informed about the relevant basic psychological research. JANE WARDLE, PhD Senior Lecturer in Psychology ICRF Health Behaviour Unit Institute of Psychiatry London SE5
Advanced Psychosomatic Research in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Edited by D. RICHTER,J. BITZER and P. NIJS. Berlin: Springer, 1991. Price DM 128.00. 262 pp. THIS volume reports the proceedings of the second European Symposium on Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. It is organized into three main sections: disturbed body perception, disturbances of the menstrual cycle, and the climacteric syndrome and senium; within each of these areas, a heterogenous collection of topics are included. Unfortunately, the promise on the book cover that we will be given ' . . . t h e state of the art of international research into psychosomatic obstetrics and gynecology' is not fulfilled. Most of the chapters do not present any research findings and of those which do, both the methodology and the presentation of methods and results are of poor quality. Throughout the book, conclusions are made about the psychological characteristics of different patient groups on the basis of clinical impression or, at best, uncontrolled studies. The implicit assumption is that emotional disturbances play a causal role in gynecological disorders; few authors even raise the possibility that such emotional disturbances may be the result rather than the cause. Many of the chapters do not provide any references, others are badly out-of-date. An examp/,e of this is a review of studies on premenstrual syndrome in which, apart from the author's own work, the most recent study cited was published in 1980! Very few of the chapters attempt to integrate biological, psychological, and social factors; in particular, biological aspects of the various disorders are largely ignored. The book is also heavily slanted towards psychoanalytic theory and practice and behavioural or cognitive/behavioural approaches are scarcely mentioned. A final point concerns the overall tone of the book, which I found extremely negative; in particular, the chapters on childbirth and on the climacteric read like catalogues of physical and emotional symptoms and nowhere are the positive aspects of these different life stages mentioned. Although one cannot disagree with the editors' statement that this area 'needs methodology and scientific thinking', there is too little of either in this book. CYNTHIA A. GRAHAM Research Psychologist Behaviour Research Group MRC Reproductive Biology Unit Edinburgh
Clinical Approaches to Violence. Edited by K. HOWELLS and C. R. HOLLIN. Chichester: Wiley, 1989. Price £14.95. PB 344 pp. THE APPEARANCE of the second reprint of this volume, now in paperback signals that the book has succeeded in the marketplace. That it is already a critical success is apparent from the reviews quoted
310
Book Reviews
on the back cover. While forensic psychiatry and psychology may be rapidly growing disciplines, they are still numerically small. Why then has this book interested a wider mental health audience? Received wisdom, arising from theories of destigmatization, decarceration and normalization is that there is no causative link between mental illness and violence, and no valid epidemiological association between the two either. Recent years have seen these shibboleths threatened, particularly in the new forensic psychiatry literature. What makes this volume distinctive is that it addresses nothing so bold or unpalatable for the general reader. It merely takes a pragmatic clinical approach to the problem of violence. That mental health workers are desperate for such advice seems to be the key to its success. The editors deserve credit for simple clarities. Violence is seldom confused with aggression. Concepts of violence are separated from contexts. Chapters seldom overlap and are written with a uniform directness of style. The relationship of violence to context is the guide to many chapter headings, e.g. Family, Children's Institutions, Prisons, Psychiatric Hospitals. Chapters are also defined by theme (Personality Disorder, Sexual Violence, Child Abuse, Violent Children). Of the 'conceptual' chapters, the most important is surely Novaco and Nash's chapter on Anger Disturbances. Most clinical psychologists, but few psychiatrists will know about Novaco's Anger Inventory and Novaco's Anger Management--a programme of cognitive therapy for anger problems. Although Novaco protests that for most people anger is a constructive part of normal mental life, in dissecting the phenomenology of anger, he outlines a psychopathology which is neglected in almost all modern textbooks of psychiatry. Novaco himself points out that only works on psychosomatic disorders commonly mention anger. Other outstanding chapters are by Toch (Violence in Prisons), Webster et al. (Dangerousness) and Marshall and Barbaree (Sexual Violence). Davies' chapter on how to avoid being assaulted should form a part of the curriculum for all trainees. Ignoring for a moment the possibility that people buy this book only for Davies' chapter, the editors are to be congratulated for a readable, useful and well referenced work. Others will carry forward the debate on epidemiology, sociology and public policy concerning violence and mental health. The clinical assessment and treatment of individuals need wait no longer. Dr HARRY KENNEDY Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist Royal Free and Friern Hospitals London N l l 3BP
Cognitive Science: Contributions to Educational Practice. (Monographs in Psychobiology: An Integrative Approach. Volume 6. Edited by MARLIN L. LANGUIS, JAMES J. BUFFER, Jr, DANIEL J. MARTIN and PAUL J. NAOUR. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1991. THIS work is divided into three parts--a review of cognitive neuroscience, results of neurocognitive research and finally a section on cognitive science in educational settings. In the first section the relationship of brain to mind is examined. Restak provides an interesting review of the metaphors which have been used, with a discussion of problems inherent in the understanding of the mind-brain relationship. The theme of exploring brain function is continued by Naour and Torello, who consider current methods of investigating its activity, including brain electrical activity mapping (BEAM) and positron emission tomography (PET), which have the advantage over static imaging systems of allowing the examination of functional areas while the subject is engaged in cognitive activity. This section of the book concludes with an article by Corson and Corson on a series of experiments on dogs establishing differing responses between species to avoidable and unavoidable stresses, using visceral orienting responses as indices. They argue for the possible use of a similar approach to the evaluation of personality types and susceptibility to mental disorder. This chapter is notable for its lengthy introductory section on the work of Parlor and his school, with an emphasis on its integrative approach to psychobiology, a characteristic which, they note, was not shared by Freud, who clung to mechanistic concepts of biology. The second section of the book focuses on a number of research projects. The topics included are quite varied, both in their subject matter and the clarity of their presentation. Robinson and Price show evidence for the relationship of brain lesion location and the production of mood disorder. Ronca et al. describe the uses of physiological responses to stimuli in developmentally impaired children, including one experiment on five subjects with hydranencephaly or grossly destructive hydrocephalus in whom a typical cardiac response to stimulus omission was found, even in the absence of cerebral hemispheres. Other topics in this section include the electrophysiology of reading disabilities (Shucard et al.) and learning disability (Naour et al.), nystagmus in autistic subjects (Clark et al.), EEG activity in autistic children (Cowan et al.), and cognition in deaf persons (Waldron and Rose). A chapter by Lyons on the importance of cognitive style in learning, using a group of preservice teachers as subjects, provides
309
reproduction and one on smoking and weight changes. The final chapter on wine-tasting has been extended to include cuisine. All three are interesting, although slightly surprising choices. The female reproduction chapter looks briefly at changes in feeding over the menstrual cycle and the influence of diet on the menstrual cycle. Pregnancy and lactation are also covered as well as the fetal alcohol syndrome. The chapter has a slightly disjointed feel although the idea of a subtle interplay of eating and reproduction in the interest of the survival of the species is proposed as a unifying theme. The smoking and weight gain chapter touches on a subject of increasing public health importance, since the issue of weight change is increasingly implicated in smoking uptake and cessation. The chapter offers a summary of the effects of nicotine on weight and eating in animals and the effects of smoking cessation on weight and eating in humans. There is one obvious omission in the book, that is any section relating to food intake and health, but perhaps this will feature in the third edition. For those who enjoyed the first edition, let me recommend that you read the second edition and bring yourself up to date. For those with an interest in eating who want to know how psychological research has illuminated the area, then this is an excellent introduction, and for clinicians working with eating disordered patients, there is now an easy way of becoming informed about the relevant basic psychological research. JANE WARDLE, PhD Senior Lecturer in Psychology ICRF Health Behaviour Unit Institute of Psychiatry London SE5
Advanced Psychosomatic Research in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Edited by D. RICHTER,J. BITZER and P. NIJS. Berlin: Springer, 1991. Price DM 128.00. 262 pp. THIS volume reports the proceedings of the second European Symposium on Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. It is organized into three main sections: disturbed body perception, disturbances of the menstrual cycle, and the climacteric syndrome and senium; within each of these areas, a heterogenous collection of topics are included. Unfortunately, the promise on the book cover that we will be given ' . . . t h e state of the art of international research into psychosomatic obstetrics and gynecology' is not fulfilled. Most of the chapters do not present any research findings and of those which do, both the methodology and the presentation of methods and results are of poor quality. Throughout the book, conclusions are made about the psychological characteristics of different patient groups on the basis of clinical impression or, at best, uncontrolled studies. The implicit assumption is that emotional disturbances play a causal role in gynecological disorders; few authors even raise the possibility that such emotional disturbances may be the result rather than the cause. Many of the chapters do not provide any references, others are badly out-of-date. An examp/,e of this is a review of studies on premenstrual syndrome in which, apart from the author's own work, the most recent study cited was published in 1980! Very few of the chapters attempt to integrate biological, psychological, and social factors; in particular, biological aspects of the various disorders are largely ignored. The book is also heavily slanted towards psychoanalytic theory and practice and behavioural or cognitive/behavioural approaches are scarcely mentioned. A final point concerns the overall tone of the book, which I found extremely negative; in particular, the chapters on childbirth and on the climacteric read like catalogues of physical and emotional symptoms and nowhere are the positive aspects of these different life stages mentioned. Although one cannot disagree with the editors' statement that this area 'needs methodology and scientific thinking', there is too little of either in this book. CYNTHIA A. GRAHAM Research Psychologist Behaviour Research Group MRC Reproductive Biology Unit Edinburgh
Clinical Approaches to Violence. Edited by K. HOWELLS and C. R. HOLLIN. Chichester: Wiley, 1989. Price £14.95. PB 344 pp. THE APPEARANCE of the second reprint of this volume, now in paperback signals that the book has succeeded in the marketplace. That it is already a critical success is apparent from the reviews quoted
310
Book Reviews
on the back cover. While forensic psychiatry and psychology may be rapidly growing disciplines, they are still numerically small. Why then has this book interested a wider mental health audience? Received wisdom, arising from theories of destigmatization, decarceration and normalization is that there is no causative link between mental illness and violence, and no valid epidemiological association between the two either. Recent years have seen these shibboleths threatened, particularly in the new forensic psychiatry literature. What makes this volume distinctive is that it addresses nothing so bold or unpalatable for the general reader. It merely takes a pragmatic clinical approach to the problem of violence. That mental health workers are desperate for such advice seems to be the key to its success. The editors deserve credit for simple clarities. Violence is seldom confused with aggression. Concepts of violence are separated from contexts. Chapters seldom overlap and are written with a uniform directness of style. The relationship of violence to context is the guide to many chapter headings, e.g. Family, Children's Institutions, Prisons, Psychiatric Hospitals. Chapters are also defined by theme (Personality Disorder, Sexual Violence, Child Abuse, Violent Children). Of the 'conceptual' chapters, the most important is surely Novaco and Nash's chapter on Anger Disturbances. Most clinical psychologists, but few psychiatrists will know about Novaco's Anger Inventory and Novaco's Anger Management--a programme of cognitive therapy for anger problems. Although Novaco protests that for most people anger is a constructive part of normal mental life, in dissecting the phenomenology of anger, he outlines a psychopathology which is neglected in almost all modern textbooks of psychiatry. Novaco himself points out that only works on psychosomatic disorders commonly mention anger. Other outstanding chapters are by Toch (Violence in Prisons), Webster et al. (Dangerousness) and Marshall and Barbaree (Sexual Violence). Davies' chapter on how to avoid being assaulted should form a part of the curriculum for all trainees. Ignoring for a moment the possibility that people buy this book only for Davies' chapter, the editors are to be congratulated for a readable, useful and well referenced work. Others will carry forward the debate on epidemiology, sociology and public policy concerning violence and mental health. The clinical assessment and treatment of individuals need wait no longer. Dr HARRY KENNEDY Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist Royal Free and Friern Hospitals London N l l 3BP
Cognitive Science: Contributions to Educational Practice. (Monographs in Psychobiology: An Integrative Approach. Volume 6. Edited by MARLIN L. LANGUIS, JAMES J. BUFFER, Jr, DANIEL J. MARTIN and PAUL J. NAOUR. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1991. THIS work is divided into three parts--a review of cognitive neuroscience, results of neurocognitive research and finally a section on cognitive science in educational settings. In the first section the relationship of brain to mind is examined. Restak provides an interesting review of the metaphors which have been used, with a discussion of problems inherent in the understanding of the mind-brain relationship. The theme of exploring brain function is continued by Naour and Torello, who consider current methods of investigating its activity, including brain electrical activity mapping (BEAM) and positron emission tomography (PET), which have the advantage over static imaging systems of allowing the examination of functional areas while the subject is engaged in cognitive activity. This section of the book concludes with an article by Corson and Corson on a series of experiments on dogs establishing differing responses between species to avoidable and unavoidable stresses, using visceral orienting responses as indices. They argue for the possible use of a similar approach to the evaluation of personality types and susceptibility to mental disorder. This chapter is notable for its lengthy introductory section on the work of Parlor and his school, with an emphasis on its integrative approach to psychobiology, a characteristic which, they note, was not shared by Freud, who clung to mechanistic concepts of biology. The second section of the book focuses on a number of research projects. The topics included are quite varied, both in their subject matter and the clarity of their presentation. Robinson and Price show evidence for the relationship of brain lesion location and the production of mood disorder. Ronca et al. describe the uses of physiological responses to stimuli in developmentally impaired children, including one experiment on five subjects with hydranencephaly or grossly destructive hydrocephalus in whom a typical cardiac response to stimulus omission was found, even in the absence of cerebral hemispheres. Other topics in this section include the electrophysiology of reading disabilities (Shucard et al.) and learning disability (Naour et al.), nystagmus in autistic subjects (Clark et al.), EEG activity in autistic children (Cowan et al.), and cognition in deaf persons (Waldron and Rose). A chapter by Lyons on the importance of cognitive style in learning, using a group of preservice teachers as subjects, provides