You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
MANY PSYCHOANALYSTS are extremely concerned about the political and environmental turmoil which surrounds them. They are struggling to find avenues for activities that might reconcile their need for social action with their professional functions. The field of Community School Psychiatry offers a possible model for working towards such a goal.
During a period of rapid social upheaval, institutions alter their goals and structure, and new professions seem to spring up overnight in order to keep pace. They may develop as an extension of preexisting professional role models. Two institutions, each struggling to maintain its own viability, may also find it worthwhile (or even necessary) to create a new service either as an amalgam of their separate areas of expertise, or arising de novo out of their collaboration.
Today, educational institutions are undergoing major revisions in basic concepts and techniques. They are also questioning their ability to respond to community directives and to be more alert to the specific needs of children in impoverished or minority groups. Similarly, the mental health professions are in a period of flux, not only as a result of self-exploration by the professional community, but also as a response to pressure from the population they serve. There is a move away from individually oriented psychotherapies to techniques that can respond to broader needs. It is at such a moment historically that both professional groups are collaborating in defining how best to collaborate. Thus, the extent to which they see themselves either as responsive to community needs, or as participants with the community in a joint undertaking, determines the kind of relationship that will be established.
The field of Community School Psychiatry is difficult to define. It changes rapidly with the tide of social, professional, and political pressures,