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JOAP 8(1):90-91 (1963)

An Approach to Community Mental Health, by Gerald Caplan. London, Tavistock, 1961. pp. ix + 262. 25s. New York, Grune & Stratton. $4.50.

Author: K. M. Newton

Abstract

This book is based on a collection of papers and lectures to various professional groups. The result is an uncertainty of purpose which is frustrating for the reader, because Caplan's main theme is not fully developed. However, he has much to say which is of practical interest to doctors, nurses, and social workers who wish to apply psychological knowledge in their work.

Caplan discusses two ways in which community mental health can be favourably affected:

By administrative action. He illustrates this with examples of the ways in which administrative measures based on psychological principles can influence the community as a whole, and stresses the need for greater cooperation between administrative and psychiatric workers.
By personal interaction. The goal here is “to achieve a coverage of the problems in the community and not deal with just one per cent of them”. Very briefly his thesis is that, in “crises”, families are particularly vulnerable and therefore are accessible to outside intervention, and, at these times, there is a possibility of taking a “short cut” in
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improving interpersonal relationships. “Care agents”, such as nurses, doctors, clergymen, teachers, key men in industry, and policemen, in touch with “mental health advisers”, could be used to intervene. The focus is on the interaction within the family group, rather than on the individual—on the problems of interpersonal relationships which, according to Caplan, would in most cases not encroach more than a minimal amount on the individual's intrapersonal problems.

Having introduced this theme, Caplan gives a very clear account of psycho-analytic theory of the structure of personality. He discusses the psychology of pregnancy, the theory of the origins of the mother-child relationship, the theory of anxiety and grief in relation to ego psychology, and the reactions and needs of normal people in times of crisis. He illustrates the ways in which nurses, doctors, and psychiatric social workers could act as

JOAP 8(1):90-91 (1963)

An Approach to Community Mental Health, by Gerald Caplan. London, Tavistock, 1961. pp. ix + 262. 25s. New York, Grune & Stratton. $4.50.

Author: K. M. Newton

Abstract

Caplan discusses two ways in which community mental health can be favourably affected:

By administrative action. He illustrates this with examples of the ways in which administrative measures based on psychological principles can influence the community as a whole, and stresses the need for greater cooperation between administrative and psychiatric workers.
By personal interaction. The goal here is “to achieve a coverage of the problems in the community and not deal with just one per cent of them”. Very briefly his thesis is that, in “crises”, families are particularly vulnerable and therefore are accessible to outside intervention, and, at these times, there is a possibility of taking a “short cut” in
Page 90
improving interpersonal relationships. “Care agents”, such as nurses, doctors, clergymen, teachers, key men in industry, and policemen, in touch with “mental health advisers”, could be used to intervene. The focus is on the interaction within the family group, rather than on the individual—on the problems of interpersonal relationships which, according to Caplan, would in most cases not encroach more than a minimal amount on the individual's intrapersonal problems.