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The second volume of a series sponsored by the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, this collection of articles, like the first volume, emphasizes the intrapsychic elements of the adolescent process and is essentially, although not entirely, unified through psychoanalytic theory. This volume expands its range of topics to include the impact of ideologies and culture on the adolescent: the adolescent's interactions with people and the external world are highlighted by the editors. There are a total of twenty-seven articles written by forty-one authors. The contents are divided into five parts: general considerations, sexuality, psychopathology, psychotherapy, and the adolescent in the world. Each section has an introduction summarizing the important points to be covered, and most of the articles have summaries or conclusions.
The wide range of studies gives looseness to the volume as a whole. At times there is a tendency to describe psychoanalytically observed phenomena or theory in terms that have limited value to the analyst accustomed to clearer concepts. For instance, Rudolph Ekstein, in an otherwise good paper, The Schizophrenic Adolescent's Struggle toward and against Separation and Individuation, states in his conclusions: 'These patients may benefit immensely from treatment, but [they] struggle with and against Mr. Punishment and Mr. Prudence, the longed-for object that turns into the destroying object, the vampire and the rational object who has no feelings and no empathy …' (pp. 22-23). It is hard to understand Ekstein's terms of explanations regarding these patients about whom he has a wealth of information.
Of special interest are Moses Laufer's description of the studies of the psychopathology of adolescence being conducted in London, and Humberto Nagera's approach to the diagnostic, prognostic, and developmental considerations of adolescence. Admirers