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This book is addressed to those who are responsible for the education of adolescents.
It discusses in well-organized sequence the areas of adolescent life in which normal and pathological disturbances occur, both on first sight often indistinguishable. The normalcy of aberrant behavior during this period is stressed and the sources of tension are described. The material is organized in terms of clinical psychopathology, which is evident from the chapter headings: Sex, Rebellion and Dependence, The Severe Disorders, Anxiety States, Psychosomatic Disorders, Homesickness, Stealing and Other Anti-Social Behavior. An excellent discussion is given of the Pitfalls of Testing. A suggestive reading list is appended.
A book on adolescence which dispenses altogether with psychoanalytic terminology, and still conveys its essence as far as it is communicable in a popular exposition, is heartily welcome. It seems, however, that 'family' and 'group' life deserves more attention than they are given in this book; also, the various stages of adolescence should have been more explicitly emphasized. Genetic explanations are, furthermore, too oversimplified. It seems to be an unwarranted reassurance that unconscious conflicts can be resolved if only the adolescent 'puts into words' what weights so heavily on his mind.
This book nevertheless conveys a helpful, sensible attitude toward adolescents. Without creating alarm, it presents an enlightened awareness of deviate tendencies which often find benefit from professional intervention. The book is recommended as a competent, unfanciful, and highly readable guide to the age of adolescence.