A study of the personality and background in one hundred consecutive admissions of men treated for alcoholism at the New York Hospital, Westchester Division, revealed a number of interesting findings. There was a high incidence of alcoholic relatives. The combination of an oversolicitous mother with a successful and forceful father occurred in fifty-seven of the men. The authors found 'a passive and effeminate approach to life in forty-six'. Follow-up studies, some years later, revealed that forty-three had benefited to a significant degree, the average duration of treatment in this group being six months.

This high incidence of success in the therapy of what is admittedly a most difficult problem is not elucidated by the description of the treatment program. Though there are references to 'psychotherapeutic interviews', the major emphasis in treatment is on such methods as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, group games, etc. There is unfortunately a dearth of data on the actual dynamics either in the personalities or in the treatment.