An interesting social process study of periodic outbursts of antisocial behavior among adolescents in a psychiatric hospital is presented. Group antisocial behavior was found to depend on a complex mixture of individual and social dynamics. The three general reasons cited for individual antisocial behavior are intrapsychic conflicts, inexperienced and inappropriate attempts at developing relationships with others, and severe early fixation or psychosis. Epidemics of antisocial behavior among adolescents in a hospital setting are not inevitable but reflect an interaction between inner dynamics and outer milieu settings.

The authors have demonstrated a reproducible method for the study of antisocial behavior in a hospital setting. From this study they have made