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This collection of papers, presented at the 1966 meetings of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, encompasses several subjects: general considerations; mental health and the law; and psychiatry and the law. The authors include psychiatrists, psychologists, a judge, professors of law, sociologists, and one professor of English. While much can be said for an interdisciplinary study, this particular volume remains a collection of essays.
Dr. Rubenstein, in The Mind as a Castle, considers the use of psychological testing by government and industry in their search for candidates. The concern he expresses need not be limited to the testing situation; it could be extended to the invasion of human privacy by government in many other ways. The author's chief concern, and we share it, is with use of technical test material by untrained and nonprofessional personnel. Invasion of privacy is further discussed in a chapter by Alan F. Westin, a lawyer. He examines in some detail the 'surveillance technology', and its impact on social and legal organizations.
The War vs. Poverty by Judge Justine Wise Polier is a challenging exploration of social institutions. She states: 'It may well be necessary to examine the extent to which law and the mental health professions have unwittingly been carriers of the disease of poverty, have helped to perpetuate it, and have prevented recovery from its debilitating effects'. She continues with candid observations of the inertia with which the American Medical Association has become identified, writing: 'As recently as December 1965 it was reported that the AMA House of Delegates voted to defer action on a report by its Committee on Human Reproduction pending conferences with other interested groups, including the American Bar Association. The deferred report noted that forty-four states either ban abortion or permit it only to save the mother's life, and asked only that abortion be allowed when there was "substantial risk" to the p