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This small book is an outgrowth of the Issac Ray Lectures given by the author at Yale under the joint auspices of the Schools of Law and Medicine. The volume also won the Issac Ray Award of the American Psychiatric Association. There is always a distinct pleasure in reading something written by Dr. Zilboorg because he has the gift of clarity and concision. In a volume by Dr. Zilboorg we can always be certain of something fresh for our reflection. He has been spared in his writings from that professional deformation of psychiatry—logorrhea.
In seven chapters the author briefly devotes himself to the psychology of all those who participate in the complex called “criminal justice”-the crime, the criminal, the judge, the lawyer, and public. This well worn and knotty problem is approached from the standpoint of modern psychology and psychiatry. It is not settled, and will not be for a long time. Modern advances in the psychology of the criminal act, the attitudes of ourselves and others toward the criminal, and above all, the relationship of transgression and aggression are outlined. The author's real point is made, however, in highlighting the psychology of those around the criminal—judges, lawyers, the public, and medical experts. He makes a strong case for the important role of psychiatry in modern criminal justice. There is some very well deserved criticism of the medical witness as well as of the lawyer, based on an exposure of their psychological attitudes toward the crime and the criminal. Once again Dr. Zilboorg notes what is common enough knowledge to psychiatrists and crimonologists—that punishment is no deterrent of crime.
In a final and very fundamental chapter, Dr. Zilboorg makes a plea for the reform of the relationship of all concerned in criminal justice which will also free the psychiatric profession from the evils of psychiatric testimony—a consummation devoutly to be wished for. Criminals, he states, should be classified on the basis of their psychologic