Child Psychiatry

This is the first real volume to deal specifically with the psychiatry of children. There have been many volumes dealing with the mental hygiene of childhood, books that have had merit and value but which have lacked that appeal to make them of real practical value to the pediatrician. In his preface to this volume, Park strikes the keynote of the work in his statement that it "leads the pediatrician through a terrain which was not well mapped and clearly defined in his mind. In this terra incognita he was apt to wander and become lost, or, perhaps, he refused to enter it at all." In the first place, this book is an excellent presentation of the problems of psychiatry and mental hygiene of childhood. It presents a discussion of the causes of many of these difficult instances of personality differences, supplies a fresh and dynamic point of view and a course of treatment. Too many of the texts in this field have followed a particular school of thought and often appear to be somewhat labored in order to try to prove a point. Dr. Kanner uses resources from many different schools. He has gathered together and abstracted the thought of innumerable competent observers who have carried on research dealing with many of the habits and with the behavior of children. It would be impossible and unnecessary to comment on the amazing amount of material Dr. Kanner has presented. It is enough-to say that he has covered the gamut of even those minor disorders or habits of children which are so upsetting to parents and which are so bothersome to the pedi-atrician who is asked to deal with them. The compilation of this material should be especially interesting to the psychiatrist dealing with children's problems. Part One of the volume is devoted to basic principles of examination and study and an outline of the outstanding factors and fields of influence having to do with the development of children's problems. The Second Part is divided into three sections-the first of which deals with personality difficulties associated with or as sequelae of physical illness. The importance of recognition of the organic side of these troubles is frequently overlooked in discussions of child behavior. The second section deals with those difficulties of personality which express themselves in the form of involuntary part-dysfunctions of activity. The author here has carefully followed the outline of …