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Peacemaking among primates
relaxation, followed by a discussion of the various established training procedures. Then there is a chapter on assessment which includes the author’s Behavioural Relaxation Scale. The need for Multimodal Assessment, encompassing motoric, visceral, verbal and observational aspects is stressed, reflecting the analysis of relaxation as a complex behaviour. The next is the main chapter of the book, dealing in some detail with behavioural relaxation training. This also includes a suggested script for the initial session in which ten relaxed postures are taught, each focusing on a different part of the body. issues such as home practice, potentia1 problems, and variations are also discussed. The final two chapters are on applications, including using relaxation with special ~pulat~ons~ The reader is also offered interesting iflustrative case studies. Finally, the appendices give the basic scales, score sheets etc. which have been described in the text and which will be useful to the reader interested in applying the methods suggested. The relaxation method described here is the author’s own work. Whether it will have many converts or not, only time will tell. The assessment procedure given here, however, is applicable to any relaxation method. The general discussion throughout the book will also be useful to all practitioners and students, even if they may stay with their own existing standard procedures for relaxation training. Overall, this is an interesting and potentially valuable contribution. One has some reservations, however, about the book’s appearance in a series intended to provide guides to established practices and procedures. Lichstein’s volume, one in the Wiley Personality Processes series. is an altogether different kind of book. It is a major review of the entire field of relaxation. citing more than 1700 references, and indeed discussing a good number of them in some detail. The chapters range from an historical account of relaxation strategies. through theoretical aspects, basic research, and deep and brief relaxation methods-including practical guidelines on induction of relaxation-to a comprehensive discussion of clinical outcome research. It is scholarly, fair and very readable. The author has clearly worked hard on this ambitious venture, and the result is very good indeed. Who would benefit from this 40%page volume? Psychufogists and other mental health professionals who use various relaxation strategies in a clinical setting would be the most obvious group of readers. For them, Lichstein has not only given a critical and comprehensive review, but also provided valuable practical comments and advice. It wilf also interest those who have a specific interest in such specific strategies as meditation and autogenic training” One of Lichstein’s strengths is the way he compares with one another these various strategies which fall broadly under the rubric of relaxation strategies. Students and researchers in the held of history of ideas in general, and/or the history of medicine, psychology or psychiatry in particular, will also find this to be a most welcome volume. A. READ
FRANSDE WAC Peacemaking among Primates. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. (1989). xiv f 294 pp, f23.95. K. IMMELMANNand C. BEER: A Dicrionary of Dhology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. (1989). xvi + 336 pp. f27.95. Frans de Waal’s profusely illustrated hook is like a fresh breeze. Having heard so much from ethologists about aggression in sub-human primates and other animal species, the reader is pleasantly surprised to see this Dutch ethologist highlighting how aggression is counterbalanced by peacemaking and reconciliation in primates. De Waal concentrates on four species-chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys, stump-tailed monkeys and the little-known bonobos in this book. Delightfully written descriptions are given of their behaviours, concentrating on peacemaking, including the use of sexual behaviour for this purpose. In the final chapter, de Waal discusses the human species, applying the data from his animal research and commenting on the need to study human conflict resolution more seriousty, This is a highly readable, entertaining and informative book, and the excellent photographs add to its value. Though intended primarily for the genera1 reader, those behavioural scientists who are not specialist ethologists will also find this book very good reading. A different purpose is served by Immelmann and Beer’s Dicfionory. TIE aim is to present clear and concise definitions of the terms that form the main vocabulary of ethology. Naturally, numerous terms from other, related, disciplines which are commonly used in ethology are also included. The definitions are neither too brief nor too long, though where needed-for example on INSTINCT and RITUALISATION-some detailed discussion is given. For terms that are used differently by different schools, the various uses are set forth. Non-specialist readers will fmd this dictionary to be a useful reference when having to check on the meanings of the less familiar ethologicaf terms. if they spend some time simply browsing through this well-produced book, they will also come across some fascinating new terms which deserve wider usage. Take, for example, KLEPTOGAMY (‘sneaky mating’); one should not be surprised if this becomes a fashionable euphemism for certain forms of adultery in the near future. A.
E.
READ
F$x, D. F. Ross and M. P. TOGLIA (Eds): Perspecrices on Cftifdren’s Testimony. Springer, Berlin (1989). xii + 259 pp.
This book is the second in a series dealing with child witnesses. The first volume, Childrut’s Eyewirness Memory, was published in 1987 and was concerned with the reliability ofchildren’s testimony. The present book complements the previous volume by focussing on adults’ attributions of child witnesses. The volume is principaliy research orientated, concentrating on the resuits from current empirical research on factors that iniIuence adults’ perceptions of child witnesses. The factors researched and discussed include individual characteristics of the child witnesses themselves as well as adults’ beliefs concerning children’s memory processes. According to the editors, “The book is designed to provide researchers, criminal justice workers, attorneys, judges, psychiatrists, and psychologists with knowledge about adult beliefs regarding child witnesses and how these beliefs may influence verdicts”.
FRANSDE WAC Peacemaking among Primates. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. (1989). xiv f 294 pp, f23.95. K. IMMELMANNand C. BEER: A Dicrionary of Dhology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. (1989). xvi + 336 pp. f27.95. Frans de Waal’s profusely illustrated hook is like a fresh breeze. Having heard so much from ethologists about aggression in sub-human primates and other animal species, the reader is pleasantly surprised to see this Dutch ethologist highlighting how aggression is counterbalanced by peacemaking and reconciliation in primates. De Waal concentrates on four species-chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys, stump-tailed monkeys and the little-known bonobos in this book. Delightfully written descriptions are given of their behaviours, concentrating on peacemaking, including the use of sexual behaviour for this purpose. In the final chapter, de Waal discusses the human species, applying the data from his animal research and commenting on the need to study human conflict resolution more seriousty, This is a highly readable, entertaining and informative book, and the excellent photographs add to its value. Though intended primarily for the genera1 reader, those behavioural scientists who are not specialist ethologists will also find this book very good reading. A different purpose is served by Immelmann and Beer’s Dicfionory. TIE aim is to present clear and concise definitions of the terms that form the main vocabulary of ethology. Naturally, numerous terms from other, related, disciplines which are commonly used in ethology are also included. The definitions are neither too brief nor too long, though where needed-for example on INSTINCT and RITUALISATION-some detailed discussion is given. For terms that are used differently by different schools, the various uses are set forth. Non-specialist readers will fmd this dictionary to be a useful reference when having to check on the meanings of the less familiar ethologicaf terms. if they spend some time simply browsing through this well-produced book, they will also come across some fascinating new terms which deserve wider usage. Take, for example, KLEPTOGAMY (‘sneaky mating’); one should not be surprised if this becomes a fashionable euphemism for certain forms of adultery in the near future. A.
E.
READ
F$x, D. F. Ross and M. P. TOGLIA (Eds): Perspecrices on Cftifdren’s Testimony. Springer, Berlin (1989). xii + 259 pp.
This book is the second in a series dealing with child witnesses. The first volume, Childrut’s Eyewirness Memory, was published in 1987 and was concerned with the reliability ofchildren’s testimony. The present book complements the previous volume by focussing on adults’ attributions of child witnesses. The volume is principaliy research orientated, concentrating on the resuits from current empirical research on factors that iniIuence adults’ perceptions of child witnesses. The factors researched and discussed include individual characteristics of the child witnesses themselves as well as adults’ beliefs concerning children’s memory processes. According to the editors, “The book is designed to provide researchers, criminal justice workers, attorneys, judges, psychiatrists, and psychologists with knowledge about adult beliefs regarding child witnesses and how these beliefs may influence verdicts”.