International Journal of Psychiatry. IX, 1970-1971: With this volume The International Journal of Psychiatry became a hardcover biennial. (Subsequently, however, it was announced that it will continue as a quarterly.) The following is a brief summary of, and commentary on, the issues raised in Volume IX.

In the past fifteen years there has been a dilution, deterioration, and fragmentation of professional standards in the practice of psychiatry and the training of psychiatrists. These developments have been accompanied by diminishing interest in psychoanalytic training among psychiatric residents who have been exposed to powerful seductions. 1, The blandishments of financial grants and instant careers in community mental health, teaching, and private practice; to be effective, these blandishments require antipsychoanalytic and other rationalizations. 2, The regressive trends of the revolutionary turmoil throughout the world that negate the value of history and scholarship, and enshrine adolescent omnipotence. (The abstracter is not saying the revolutionary turmoil is all bad, nor is he pessimistic about it in general.) Regardless of cause, it is obvious that psychiatry today is in a state of agitation, with every psychiatrist encouraged to do his own 'thing'. Jason Aronson, the editor, calls this 'an identity crisis in psychiatry'.

Aronson is to be congratulated for producing an attractive, useful reference work, a guide for the perplexed who seek clarification on such subjects as behavior therapy, sensitivity training, community mental health, and sex reassignment. Leaders