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The title of this volume is ill-chosen, for it is not a systematic text on the emotional problems of early childhood, but consists rather of twenty-four papers selected from those read at the International Institute of Child Psychiatry in Toronto in 1954. These papers are arranged in three sections, each containing several detailed case descriptions together with a report of the discussion on the case material at the Institute, reports of current
research work, and a commentary by a recognized authority upon the particular field of child psychiatry covered by the section.
The first section deals with the preventive aspects of child psychiatry, and the three case reports given here are of interest in demonstrating the methods used and the problems entailed in applying a prophylactic psychiatric approach to young children in such differing milieux as a mental health agency, a well-baby clinic, and a paediatric hospital ward. In the latter environment it is instructive to read of how much could be achieved for a seriously mentally endangered baby by manipulation of the hospital environment and the utilization of the skills and interest of a paediatric nurse and resident, guided unobtrusively by the psychiatrist. The research reports in this section indicate ingenious attempts to apply objective measurements to such complex happenings as the changes taking place in the family of a child undergoing psychiatric treatment, and remind us of how much work of this kind remains to be done towards the development of the concepts of child psychiatry.
The second section is concerned with the relation of physical and emotional factors, and with problems of hospitalization. The three long case descriptions deal with ulcerative colitis, infantilization, and pseudo-retardation as the result of maternal deprivation, and the treatment techniques used in each case are of particular interest. Among the research reports there is a contribution from Prugh, who discusses the investigations