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The article shares the author's thoughts on the review of the papers presented to the Association of Mental Deficiency in the U.S. in the past ten years. He relates that it has seemed best to present abstracts of the papers without adding special comments. He expresses his gratitude to the librarian, Hazel Catlin, for helping him prepare the abstracts.

The article presents a discussion of the orientation of mental health professionals toward human services in the U.S. The author in this paper has traced the development of ideology among mental health professionals and has concluded that a more inclusive human service belief system is developing among mental health and other community caregivers. Growing out of the community mental health ideology which gained prominence during the nineteen sixties, the human service orientation is seen as potentially playing a major role in rationalizing and justifying an even more expanded pattern for organizing comprehensive integrated programs of service for the nineteen-seventies.

Hospitalized mental patients are increasingly being discharged into the community. Yet, despite the construction of hundreds of community mental health centers, readmission rates continue to rise. This paper analyzes the reasons for this problem and provides suggestions for its solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a report of a study by Horizon Noun, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aimed at reactivating dropouts from a psychiatric rehabilitation program. The experiment's goals were twofold: (1) to reach the dropouts by using two forms of contact--the telephone conversation and the home visit---and (2) to determine whether a differentiation could be made between the dropouts and a control group of active clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the issues concerning the training and deployment of social work manpower in the U.S. Manpower problems involved in providing health and medical care services to the total population of the country has, for the first, been recognized by health professionals, the consumers of services and policy-makers. Another concern in the country's health system is the significant changes in the organization and structure of the health and mental health services, which will have great impact on the ultimate delivery of service.

The article presents several activities that deal with exceptional children in the U.S. In the mentally handicapped art class, the teacher demonstrated a step by step process of creating a picture. Though simple, the finished drawings brought satisfaction to the children. To deal the problem of distributing the toys fairly so that school children would be able to enjoy them, a toy library was organized at the Oregon State School. Ann Harvey, director of pre-school, kindergarten, and primary education at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota has developed three phonograph records of coordination rhythm for nursery school children.

The article presents a study which aims to distinguish criminals from mentally ill among individuals exhibiting lawbreaking deviant behavior in the U.S. Law students, general college students, and mental health professionals investigate lawbreaking acts and attempt to identify whether the act was committed maliciously or as a result from mentally illness. The results indicate that mental health professionals applied the mentally ill label more broadly than college students. It was also found out that mental health professionals restricted the criminal label a narrow range of deviancies. It is suggested that the results are useful in reflecting the tendency of the studied professionals to apply broadly level.

The article presents a study which aims to investigate the agreement of professional mental health workers and laymen regarding the effective and socially appropriate solutions in dealing with hypothetical real-life problems in the U.S. Results indicate that there is a substantial agreement among professionals regarding the effective solution to real-life problems. The study concluded that effective solutions to real-life problems was common to normal persons regardless of educational degree of expertise in mental health aspects.

The article presents a behavioral-analytic case study which aims to compare the behavioral observations of a male attendant in his employment at an institution for mentally retarded children in the U.S. The study used a reliable and systematic method to asses the aide-resident interactions with personal interview and behavioral changes. The findings suggest that the attendant engaged in less ward routine tasks and more resident-initiated and social activities. It was also found out that the self-report data describe the pressure to conform in custodial oriented interactions and decision to terminate his employment.

The article presents an organizational development study which aims to evaluate the changes in management structure of the community Mental Health Center in the U.S. The researchers gathered data from employees regarding their feelings on the administrative structure and interpersonal concerns of the professional and clerical staffs through an organization workshop. The findings indicated that there are significant changes in intra-staff communication, decision-making and control process in the Center.

The article provides an overview of the psychological consultation program in school systems in the U.S. The consultation program was carried out in a parochial school system in Rockford, Illinois. It was said that consultation efforts were most efficiently and effectively used in strengthening the abilities of personnel such as educators to handle the mental health problems of their children. The role of consultants had changed from direct service to client-centered consultation then to the more technical and sophisticated consultee-centered consultation, training, and programmatic consultation.

Eight conceptual models of community are presented with brief outlines of the implications of each model for several characteristics of community mental health centers: characteristics of the target population and mental health staff, staff awareness of community needs, the effect of programming on the community, and the roles of citizens and staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of an information system for a state health department is considered in terms of cybernetic and information theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the level of mental health services offered at hospitals and health departments in the U.S. It assess the interest of health planners and administrartors in the development of mental health services. The author has identified the significant community, organization, and personal variables associated with different implementation levels. Services and activities selected for study include outpatient diagnosis, treatment services, inpatient diagnosis and treatment services, follow-up care after hospitalization, integration of mental health services with other health services and the use of indigenous workers for case-finding and information dissemination.

The article examines relevant policy issues in context of citizen participation from a cross-cultural perspective, specifically in relation to community mental health centers, which are actively invoked with this process. The Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963 addressed the problem of the availability of services to those persons who could not afford private psychiatric care and it developed a highly decentralized network of services tailored to suit local conditions and meet local needs. Citizen participation, which was viewed as desirable and was frequently part of the planning and design process, was mandated in 1972 to take place on a continuing basis. The Yugoslav programs described have special implications for community mental health centers in Yugoslavia, and findings can be generalized to other health and welfare services. The Yugoslav experience is examined in light of its philosophy and objectives, with little attention being given to problems and dilemmas within the political system; the material is descriptive rather than analytic. It is important to recognize that a different set of problems exists in the United States, where self-management and citizen participation are the exception rather than the rule.

This article compares the drop-out rates, the length of psychotherapy and the improvement rates of government aided mental hygiene clinics in the United States. It was found that the curve of the drop-out rate was the same general shape for all clinics and that the small differences found might be a function of the definition of a case and of treatment. The various agencies reported that only 22.9 to 48.8% of the cases referred actually entered treatment. Moreover, there appears to be a strong inverse relationship between the percentage of cases accepted for treatment and the percentage of such patients reported improved.

The article presents several research on the role of classroom interactions and teachers influence in combating mental illness of children in the U.S. The report of the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health contained recommendations in combating mental illness which include balanced portfolio of mental health services and research, suggestion for increasing government spending for all levels of mental health services, encourage towards health and helping professions. Ralph Rabinovitch, director of Hawthorne Center, indicated that schools must offer psychological guide through organize and challenging programs of academic studies and routines for emotionally handicapped children.

A report is presented on the Psychiatric Utilization Review and Evaluation Project, its nature, objectives and accomplishments. Using the developed patient care appraisal mechanism a further study will be carried out in four community mental health centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reorganization of the Illinois Department of Mental Health with revised programming during the period 1960-1970 should have improved patient services in the State of Illinois, and should be reflected in the Department's operating statistics. Several indices bearing on patient services are reviewed together with some speculative comment on the future of mental health services in the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a standardized instrument designed to measure the treatment environment of the mental hospital provided the basis for two separate works of Jay Jackson (1964, 1969). The present study is in part a partial re-analysis of this standardized instrument known as the "Characteristics of the Treatment Environment Scale" (CTE Scale). The analysis is based on a heterogeneous national sample of 18 state mental hospitals and results in the construction of a new instrument called the "Treatment Milieu Scales" (TMS). This present analysis includes shortening of the Jackson CTE instrument, the development of new factors, and a test of their predictive ability with respect to the therapeutic orientation of the treatment environment as measured by hospital effectiveness. These effectiveness measures include in-hospital indicators such as staff morale, quality of over-all care, psychiatric care, patient movement, and net release, as well as in-community measures including social adjustment, and medical (mental status) adjustment. Significant findings are obtained for the patient movement measures, while several partial correlations were found to be significant in all the other in-hospital measures except staff morale. The findings suggest the "humanistic" tradition of therapy is not necessarily the most appropriate when viewed from the perspective of in-community patient rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sample survey using personal interviews was conducted in the Reno, Nevada, area to assess public conceptions of suicide and suicidal actions, attitudes toward the notion of suicide, attitudes toward people personally known to have committed or attempted suicide, and various degrees of familiarity with suicidal behaviors. Suicidal behavior by others was personally familiar to 74 percent of the respondents, and the general conceptions of suicide included shame and social disgrace, but not blame, to the family. Suicide generally was seen as something that happens to a person, rather than something he intentionally brings about. Public health implications of the data are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a study of 1,045 state mental hospital patients released on leave of absence during the calendar year of 1956 to the Oakland California Bureau of Social Work, a large amount of evaluative information was collected on post-hospital adjustment. Data from case records, administrative files, and hospital records were reviewed. They clearly demonstrated that most ex-patients did not possess a sufficient number of social resources to allow them to adapt to the world outside the state hospital. On the basis of these findings, one can easily understand why seven out of ten of these patients returned to the hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study on the need for mental health professionals to participate in an inservice training seminar to become consultants in the U.S. The ten week, goal-focused seminar conducted for professional employees is evaluated in terms of its effectiveness and motivating factors. It was cited that the specific sessions that were found most helpful to the staff were Session III, which dealt with the overall theory of consultation, and Session X in which each member portrayed and discussed how he saw himself in the consulting role.

The article presents information about a program developed for the utilization of psychologists in the rehabilitation of war veterans of the U.S. Army. This program calls for the use of clinical psychologists in connection with the diagnosis and study of veterans needing medical care. Psychologists are also being employed in connection with the vocational rehabilitation activities as vocational advisors. The plan of operation provides for the establishment of Mental Hygiene Clinics at thirty-two Regional Offices of the U.S. Veterans Administration where outpatient neuropsychiatric treatment will be given, for Readjustment Centers in nineteen General Hospitals.

The article focuses on the military mental health care delivery system, the oldest third party payment system in the U.S. Despite its differences from the civilian programs, the military system may be considered a paradigm of a total third party payment system. All payments for mental health care services for active duty personnel are drawn together by the organization, except the employer of both the provider and the recipient of the services. Furthermore, it is necessary in selecting what is beneficial from the experience of existing systems and attempt to offer enlightened guidance to the farmers of National Health Insurance to ensure the inclusion of adequate psychiatric coverage.

The article explores some practical difficulties that have emerged concerning the status of paraprofessionals or lay mental workers in the U.S. These difficulties include their utilization and selection, job roles, identification problems and troubles concerning research and evaluation. In practice, most paraprofessionals are potential consumers of community mental health services like the poor and the black. There do not seem to be very many middle and upper class paraprofessionals. The article also proposes a greater emphasis to be placed on middle class volunteer workers.

Focuses on the problems of providing school mental health services to children in the U.S. Impact of mental health services on children; Details on the pattern of mental health and education; Benefits of developing a school mental health service.