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The subtitle, ‘Initial Explorations’, is important, for this volume consists of sixteen papers rewritten from drafts used at a meeting of the International Preparatory Commission of the international Association for Child Psychiatry and Allied Professions in January 1960 as something of a rehearsal for the Fourth International Congress of Child Psychiatry held in Holland in August 1962. The theme of this congress was “The Prevention of Mental Disorders in Children”.
The sixteen papers are somewhat loosely bound by an introduction and a concluding discussion by the editor. As might be expected, they vary a good deal in individual quality. Caplan helpfully points out that they can be usefully divided into four main groups. The first, four papers in all, deals with organic threats to mental health. The second, also four in number, with the importance of interpersonal relationships and methods of influencing these. The third, consisting of five papers, deals with situational and maturational crises in the development of children, and methods of preventive intervention. The last three papers are concerned with the socio-psychological implications of the school setting and the opportunities it provides for the promotion of mental health.
In each group there is much interesting material and speculation, although, inevitably, there is much overlap of content from paper to paper which makes for somewhat tedious reading. Two papers merit particular mention. Ackerman's contribution “Preventive Implications of Family Research” is a comprehensive and lucid statement of the aims, methods, and limitations of such research, and its promise for prophylactic practice. “Preventive Intervention in Individual and Family Crisis Situations”, by Klein and