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Training mit sozial unsicheren kindern
706
ROOK REVIEWS
The book is especially useful for those social workers in residential settings. it is unfortunate that the author was not able to address more precisely some of the problems thrown up by the statutory work undertaken by field workers in area offices. They have to meet the expectations of management and their clients sometimes without the necessary assessment or treatment skills. This is my only reservation about a work which challenges ‘the mindless eclecticism fostered by training’ and establishes ‘empiricism in social work’. It provides the profession with the means to be effective; hopefully members of the profession will be able to use them appropriately. MICHAEL Loo~tc~
I-I. H. SIEWERT: Srheidzmg Wege zur Bewultigung. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich (1983). 156 pp. U. PETERMANN: Trainingmir so&l ~n~~chere~ Kindern. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich (1983). 160 pp. R. HIMXH and 1. PFINGSTEN:Gripped-training soziafer Kompetenzen. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich (1983). 204
pp.
These three German books present a new departure; they all are part of a series entitled “Materials for Psychosocial Praxis”, and aim to give very concrete and detailed advice and help in situations of social difficulty. The book by Siewert deals with the problems that arise after divorce, and is aimed to help people in dealing with these problems. The book by Petermann deals with the training of children having little by way of social skills. and the book by Hinsch and Pfingsten deals with group training in social competence. The methods used are based on empirical studies, but of course how well these methods may work in the way given in these books must remain doubtful. One can only hope that in due course studies will be done to establish this point. Face validity would certainly be quite high. and social workers, psychologists and others in the so-called helping professions will find these books useful, even though they will undoubtedly impose their own preconceived notions on the course of the treatment. The language is very simple, concepts also are simplified, and little by way of prior knowledge seems to be required to follow the discussion. Thus this is an interesting departure, but one which it is difficult to evaluate at the present time. H. J. EYSENCK
R. J. STERNBERG (Ed.):Advances 475 pp. f24.95.
in the Psychology
of Human
Intelligence,
Vol. I. Lawrence
Erlbaum,
London
(1982).
This is the first volume of what would appear to be a series much to be welcomed. All the nine chapters in it, written by ditrerent authors. are of a high standard, and all are of interest to students of intelligence. Most are concerned with what might be called cognitive theories, strategies, componential theories, and attentional factors, except for A. R. an excellent chapter outlining recent work on reaction-times Jensen’s contribution on “The Chronometry of intelligence”, and their relation to intelligence and cognitive processes. Chapters deal not only with general intelligence, but also with spatial aptitudes, reading skills, numerical abilities, attention, problem-solving etc., but they never get down to more general serious theoretical issues. such as how to reconcile the results reported by Jensen with the theorizing of the other authors in this volume. Perhaps later volumes will be more informative in this respect; so-called ‘cognitive‘ theories have so far tended to protect their realm by simply disregarding recent work on reaction times, evoked potentials etc., which threatens to undermine their most cherished hypotheses. In. R. J. Sternberg’s recent Handbook of Human Inteifigence, not only were evoked potentials excluded, but there was no mention of reaction-time work either. In the present volume at least RTs are presented in detail; may one hope that in future work evoked potentials and other physiological measures of intelligence will also find a place? H. J. Eusr;.?icK
W.-S. TSENG and J. F. MCDERMOTT: Culture, New York (1981). x + 304 pp. $34.00.
Mind and Therapy: An Introduction
to Cultural
Ps,ychiatry.
Brunner/Maz~l,
Greater geographical mobility has led to an increase in contact between mental-health professionals and patients of different cultural backgrounds. It has prompted the writing of this book which aims to emphasize the role played by culture in psychopathology and the importance of culturally-relevant diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems. Culture as a source of stress and a mediator in the expression of psychopathology is examined in a wide selection of problems, ranging from the more specific “culture-related psychiatric conditions” (a concept the authors introduce to replace *~culture-bound syndromes”), suicide and alcoholism, to the more controversial areas such as depression and schizophrenia. The approach is social anthropological and some of the sources suffer from methodological problems which hinder drawing conclusions on the specific contribution of culture to the issues. Cults and intermarriage arc included as separate chapters but one would hope for more in-depth analysis than a somewhat impressionistic account of the topics. On the therapy aspects, folk therapies are described and practical implications for conducting therapy
ROOK REVIEWS
The book is especially useful for those social workers in residential settings. it is unfortunate that the author was not able to address more precisely some of the problems thrown up by the statutory work undertaken by field workers in area offices. They have to meet the expectations of management and their clients sometimes without the necessary assessment or treatment skills. This is my only reservation about a work which challenges ‘the mindless eclecticism fostered by training’ and establishes ‘empiricism in social work’. It provides the profession with the means to be effective; hopefully members of the profession will be able to use them appropriately. MICHAEL Loo~tc~
I-I. H. SIEWERT: Srheidzmg Wege zur Bewultigung. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich (1983). 156 pp. U. PETERMANN: Trainingmir so&l ~n~~chere~ Kindern. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich (1983). 160 pp. R. HIMXH and 1. PFINGSTEN:Gripped-training soziafer Kompetenzen. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich (1983). 204
pp.
These three German books present a new departure; they all are part of a series entitled “Materials for Psychosocial Praxis”, and aim to give very concrete and detailed advice and help in situations of social difficulty. The book by Siewert deals with the problems that arise after divorce, and is aimed to help people in dealing with these problems. The book by Petermann deals with the training of children having little by way of social skills. and the book by Hinsch and Pfingsten deals with group training in social competence. The methods used are based on empirical studies, but of course how well these methods may work in the way given in these books must remain doubtful. One can only hope that in due course studies will be done to establish this point. Face validity would certainly be quite high. and social workers, psychologists and others in the so-called helping professions will find these books useful, even though they will undoubtedly impose their own preconceived notions on the course of the treatment. The language is very simple, concepts also are simplified, and little by way of prior knowledge seems to be required to follow the discussion. Thus this is an interesting departure, but one which it is difficult to evaluate at the present time. H. J. EYSENCK
R. J. STERNBERG (Ed.):Advances 475 pp. f24.95.
in the Psychology
of Human
Intelligence,
Vol. I. Lawrence
Erlbaum,
London
(1982).
This is the first volume of what would appear to be a series much to be welcomed. All the nine chapters in it, written by ditrerent authors. are of a high standard, and all are of interest to students of intelligence. Most are concerned with what might be called cognitive theories, strategies, componential theories, and attentional factors, except for A. R. an excellent chapter outlining recent work on reaction-times Jensen’s contribution on “The Chronometry of intelligence”, and their relation to intelligence and cognitive processes. Chapters deal not only with general intelligence, but also with spatial aptitudes, reading skills, numerical abilities, attention, problem-solving etc., but they never get down to more general serious theoretical issues. such as how to reconcile the results reported by Jensen with the theorizing of the other authors in this volume. Perhaps later volumes will be more informative in this respect; so-called ‘cognitive‘ theories have so far tended to protect their realm by simply disregarding recent work on reaction times, evoked potentials etc., which threatens to undermine their most cherished hypotheses. In. R. J. Sternberg’s recent Handbook of Human Inteifigence, not only were evoked potentials excluded, but there was no mention of reaction-time work either. In the present volume at least RTs are presented in detail; may one hope that in future work evoked potentials and other physiological measures of intelligence will also find a place? H. J. Eusr;.?icK
W.-S. TSENG and J. F. MCDERMOTT: Culture, New York (1981). x + 304 pp. $34.00.
Mind and Therapy: An Introduction
to Cultural
Ps,ychiatry.
Brunner/Maz~l,
Greater geographical mobility has led to an increase in contact between mental-health professionals and patients of different cultural backgrounds. It has prompted the writing of this book which aims to emphasize the role played by culture in psychopathology and the importance of culturally-relevant diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems. Culture as a source of stress and a mediator in the expression of psychopathology is examined in a wide selection of problems, ranging from the more specific “culture-related psychiatric conditions” (a concept the authors introduce to replace *~culture-bound syndromes”), suicide and alcoholism, to the more controversial areas such as depression and schizophrenia. The approach is social anthropological and some of the sources suffer from methodological problems which hinder drawing conclusions on the specific contribution of culture to the issues. Cults and intermarriage arc included as separate chapters but one would hope for more in-depth analysis than a somewhat impressionistic account of the topics. On the therapy aspects, folk therapies are described and practical implications for conducting therapy