In this readable and thoughtful study Miss Hollis examines the potentialities and limitations of casework in the growing problem of marital conflict. One hundred cases chosen from the files of eleven large family service agencies and handled by twenty-odd caseworkers serve as material for study and evaluation. Questions asked are: how wide is the gap between present knowledge and that required for effective work in dealing with this problem?; how often are situations really untreatable and how often are these an indication of limited casework skill?

The families represent a fair sample of American urban population, with wide divergencies in nationality, race, income and social status, religious and educational background. One is struck, in view of this fact, by the surprising similarities in complaints and the lack of variation of norms to which these people aspire, or from which they rather guiltily deviate, and one wonders whether