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The article reports on a number of activities being engaged by the Center for Exceptional Children, as it carries out projects for the development of information analysis. These activities will help identify current significant projects, program trends, and issues. Although a variety of projects were identified, the procedure produced a convergence on several topics and individuals. The results of the survey showed that one of the key topic areas of focus was behavior modification, and this will be a priority area for product development in the center.

A one-year follow-up of two hundred psychiatric outpatients was conducted in order to determine the relative efficacy of various treatment modalities in a crisis service unit within the Emergency Room of the Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. It was discovered that improvement at follow-up was related to the amount of medication taken, as well as the duration and type of psychotherapy. Additionally, it is argued that improvement consisted not only in the absence of symptoms at follow-up, but also in "conversion" to more socially acceptable symptoms. Some implications and limitations of the data for the utility of crisis services in general are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a coordinated program utilizing a team approach to care of discharged psychiatric patients is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

A report is presented on emergency services in community mental health. Clarification of such services is discussed as is crisis intervention. Recommendations are made for the operation of crisis intervention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Description and discussion are presented of a program for more than 76,000 employees to deal with mental health problems that have an effect on employment, work habits, and related matters. The broader significance of such activities is stressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was made to see what categories of cases were referred to mental health consultants by health agencies, and to see whether in the course of time there was any change in the distribution of cases among the categories. Findings are reported. Although the original intent was not completely fulfilled, the discussion of the problems encountered will be of value to other investigators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites a study which aims to examine the relationship between attitudes toward the use of authority in interviewing and rigidity in everyday life and the selection of nuns for training as mental health counselors. It uses the data collected from the responses 190 Catholic nuns to the questions containing instruments measuring authority and rigidity. The study found significant relationship between authority scores and number of counseling courses taken. It suggests that nuns are appropriate individuals for counseling.

The article focuses on the study of a university-based comprehensive community mental health center operating as a multi-disciplinary training facility, which involved psychologists and psychiatrists. The training program focused on the history and conditions of cooperative works between university-based comprehensive community mental health centers and university departments for multi-disciplinary training program developments. It credits a study of the Orange-Person-Chatham Mental Health Center. The institution developed several effective strategies, like joint seminars and trainee participation which exposed students to mental health practices.

The article discusses the investigation on the implementation and evaluation of a clergy in-service training program on personal counseling. The intervention had three specific objectives like increase knowledge of counseling models and community resources, develop and upgrade empathic listening skills, and followed five methods such as recruitment and entry, as well as instrumentation. The results demonstrated the positive impact of consultation intervention on the participants and its increased inter-agency cooperation for delivering mental health services.

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 discusses a study that determines whether therapists and patients who use tokens in group psychotherapy would elicit a higher proportion of patient-patient (P-P) interactions than those therapists and patients who are not using tokens. There were 4 male and 2 female distributed outpatients who underwent regular treatment in a local community mental health center. Investigations showed that tokens accurately reflect the proportions of positive and negative feedbacks administered, increased the proportion of P-P interactions and may increase therapists' use of negative feedbacks. The use of tokens as a recording device evoked that a specific therapist behavior change from negative feedback increases P-P interactions.

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.

This article focuses on the problem of mental health care in India. In a country like India with a very high level of illiteracy and a great shortage of mental health facilities, quacks naturally thrive and exploit the situation. This is an important feature which is unlikely to be eliminated before adequate facilities come into being, which may not be for decades yet. A compromise may therefore have to be made with substandard services over the short term. Many workers in developing countries have been discussing the role of indigenous mental-health workers and their role. There is even a trend to glorify this role and compare it with that of psychiatrists. Even if given priority and accepted in principle, organizing mental-health services would remain a gigantic problem and it would be necessary in the beginning to utilize the services of indigenous mental-health personnel of all types for such tasks as they may most suitably discharge. Under supervision and proper control and with better co-operation and co-ordination this group is likely to be an asset in view of the very high prestige it enjoys in local communities.

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 presents an abstract of the academic paper "Psychiatric Problems in the Wake of the War," by G. Zilboorg published in a scholarly periodical. The psychology of destruction affects civilians as well as military personnel, and stimulates intergroup conflict and social disintegration. Psychiatry has a role in rescuing human beings from judicial forms of revenge.

This article presents an abstract of the academic paper "New Concepts of Disablement and Rehabilitation," by T. Copp published in a scholarly periodical. The Vocational Rehabilitation Act in the U.S. is discussed, including provisions and amendments. The law covers psychiatric care for people with mental disabilities.

Study of 103 families revealed that adequate parental knowledge of their child's condition, together with warm family relations and supportive social situations, are factors associated with adaptation of a family to the presence of a mentally handicapped child in the home. The critical nature of the parents' experiences and reactions during the Initial birth crisis suggests the help fulness of early casework counseling toward sound placement decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a study of the expectations of middle- and lower-class patients on entering psychotherapy. The results showed that although both groups are aware of the subject matter to be covered, they differ in their expectations of treatment techniques. Similarities as well as differences exist, with various explanations offered to account for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on various issues related to social work. The major aim of the study was to enhance knowledge relevant to the total care of fatally ill children, i.e., the extent of their emotional problems. This information is valuable for effective program planning. For example, if a child were aware of or suspected the significance of his illness that is, his impending death, the accompanying anxiety would be highly upsetting to him and would become a concern for staff. More important, perhaps, is how the child is handling his anxiety. The ability to tolerate anxiety is considered a positive mental health value. A guiding principle suggests that treatment of a child with a catastrophic illness should deal with the mental health of the child and his family. Some studies have focused on mothers of children hospitalized with leukemia. The threatened and actual loss of a child can be a traumatic experience for the child, the mother, and the family as a whole. The anxiety present in such a situation is a complex interaction between family members, particularly mother and child.

This article presents information on the importance of effective placement of the adult psychotic into a new family which is, obviously, a clinically difficult step. In essence, the patient is confronted with the anxiety provoking problem of negotiating parental and sibling substitutes in the form of foster parents and other members of the foster family. The patient and his history reveal the significant areas of disorder and distortion in family relationships: his way of relating, his fantasies, his image of parental figures, his efforts at reality testing, and his capacities to handle stress. The issue of placement often resurrects old distorted patterns in turn producing fearful, regressive behavior which, along with other factors involved in placement, must be understood and dealt with by the caseworker to help the patient toward better functioning. The 1500 bed VA neuropsychiatric hospital at Bedford has had over a decade of experience in the VA foster home program. As a teaching hospital, its aim has been to organize and cultivate an intensive foster home treatment program of moderate size. Since 1949, when the program began, the hospital has had ample opportunity to observe in a great many cases the significance of early family experiences in the patient's reaction to placement as revealed through direct communication and reactive behavior.

This article is based on a review of the literature of casework and psychotherapy, with a view toward differentiating between the practice of the two professional methods and formulating for each a definition that may be helpful in establishing a set of defining criteria. The findings reported are based on publications dating from 1935 to 1955, authored by psychiatrists and social workers who addressed themselves to differentiating social casework from psychotherapy as a treatment method. The majority of psychiatrists regard psychotherapy as being identified with the medical profession. Psychiatrists who have worked closely with other professions in the field of mental health express a more liberal view. An important, constructive change in the emotional life of a patient is the goal of psychotherapy. Social caseworkers have been busier attempting to distinguish their practice from psychotherapy than psychotherapists their practice from social casework, however, psychotherapists have defined casework more frequently than social caseworkers have defined psychotherapy.

The article proposes to examine some of the dynamics operating in a staff committees composed of caseworkers and case supervisors and their influence upon the committee's work. Also, discussions taking place between members of a committee set up to formulate a staff development program are presented. At the Baltimore Regional Office of the Veterans Administration such a committee is chosen annually. The chairmanship has alternated each year between the supervisors of the two social service groups and two additional members chosen by rotation, one from the medical and one from the psychiatric group. Structurally, this would seem to provide for the fostering of new program ideas, yet the staff obviously felt a lack of stimulation even though the program content included such diverse elements as case presentations, discussion of administrative problems, summarization and discussion of material from professional journals and addresses by guest speakers. Each successive committee seemed to have an individual quality and considerable originality, yet these did not find as much expression as one might expect.

This article focuses on the life-space management of behavioral crisis. In the later part of 1954 and early months of 1955, six boys between 8 and 11 years of age were admitted to a closed ward in the clinical center of the National Institutes of Health. From the outset their program included four hours a week of individual psychotherapy, special in-hospital school, and intensive milieu therapy with emphasis on life-space interviewing around disturbed behavior. By July 1957, these boys had improved sufficiently to move out of the closed hospital ward into a specially built halfway house, officially called the "Children's Treatment Residence." This structure was located on the hospital grounds and was designed as an intermediate stage in the boys' socialization and treatment. On Friday, February 13, staff of the halfway house announced to the boys that the residence would close that summer and they would be discharged. Some of the boys responded immediately with aggressive remarks, expressing mainly concern about leaving the residence and questions about possible placements.

Community mental health as currently considered assumes a variegated hue, depending upon the professional discipline which views it. Frankly, in most instances when there is reference to mental health at the state level, one is really referring to activities largely confined to the care and treatment of the mentally ill, outpatient as well as inpatient. As efforts of psychiatry have joined with other professional disciplines, the focus of efforts have broadened from the narrow confines of the mental hospital or the clinical psychiatrist's private office to the magnitude of being recognized as the No.1 public health problem of the U.S. concern. The recognition of and publicity attendant on the size of the mental illness problem was crystallized as a matter of national concern twelve years ago with the passage of the National Mental Health Act. Social work programs are conceived and administered through individual and interrelated agency structures which seek to meet identifiable needs of individuals and groups within geographical boundaries. Community organization as such is an integral part of the social work curriculum.

In recent years it has become increasingly apparent to professional persons in the field of social work that the needs of the public far exceed the facilities available. The public is becoming increasingly aware of the nature and implications of emotional disturbance and the part this plays in the life of the individual and of the family. Professional persons in the various helping agencies are recognizing the vast emotional implications of the problems of their clients and are concerned that those needing extensive casework or other service have this available to them. Every agency in the broad field concerned with problems of an emotional nature is faced with the question of how to balance quantity and quality, how to meet demands with services that are effective. Many agencies are making some efforts in this direction. In many mental health agencies where intensive treatment is undertaken, it has become necessary to make some estimate of success of treatment and to put effort into the selection of cases on the basis of prognosis.

This article focuses on innovations of school mental health programs that include comprehensive primary prevention and rehabilitation monitored by systematic evaluation. The prevalence of maladjustment studies should be examined by all school mental health workers. The course approach to teacher mental health training was less than convincing, although courses were shown to influence verbal statements of attitudes to make them coincide with the statements of clinicians. One source of new school mental health programs is through a redeployment and augmentation of present mental health personnel.

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]

Every system of deviance definition and management must address three basic questions: (1) Who shall be defined as deviant and in need of management? (2) Who shall be the legitimate agents in defining and managing the deviant, and what shall be their respective roles? (3) What shall be done to or for the deviant? In contrast to both the legal and traditional mental health systems, which offer delimited responses to these questions, the community mental health system, in both philosophy and practice, offers such all-inclusive responses that it is developing into a boundaryless system of deviance definition and management. The community mental health approach unavoidably, if not deliberately, confronts and breaks down the boundaries of other deviance management systems and appropriates some of their territories. Of particular significance are the implications of these developments for the future articulation of the legal and mental health systems. [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 present study explores socio-cultural and social-psychological factors associated with the voluntary utilization of a psychiatric outpatient clinic among students on a large university campus. Students who sought psychiatric care as compared to those who did not were (1) more likely to come from groups who were less integrated into traditional social institutions in terms of role expectations, (2) more likely to belong to or identify with other students who were more cosmopolitan in value-orientation and less integrated into the general collegiate milieu, and (3) more likely to have friends with social-emotional problems and were more likely to discuss such problems with greater frequency. [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 evaluation of a new community mental health service is discussed in four parts. One, the theoretical, ethical, and practical considerations in designing the described evaluation systems are reviewed. Two, the rationale or goals for the program are specified. Three, the therapy system and built-in evaluation is described. And finally, staff reactions and problems related to the procedures and evaluation in general are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was made to determine consumer attitudes toward health needs in an Appalachian community, and to find out what are the priorities of such consumers for health care. A gap between the priorities of consumers and those of physicians is discussed and its implications for planning and providing services is stressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-risk groups and suicidogenic constituents are identified and the community's responsibility for preventive efforts is discussed. The Suicide Prevention Center's role in a community approach is critically examined with the conclusion that such Centers should function primarily as catalysts and educators rather than 24-hour, telephone referral systems. Suicide prevention efforts which include anything less than total community involvement are doomed to failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The integration of community mental health with the comprehensive community health center is discussed. Reasons for earlier separation are explained and means for achieving integration are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The employment of a nurse within the context of a local health department is the model used to demonstrate the possibility of delivering mental health services despite a critical personnel shortage. Various aspects are discussed operationally. [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 article focuses on the six-year study of the mental health services of a correctional mental hospital conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health Hospital Improvement Program (HIP) grant between 1967 and 1972 in New York. According to the authors, the program was served by a consulting team consisting of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. At the start of the HIP scheme, the Dannemora State Hospital (DSH) was found to be operating in a deteriorated condition. The study also indicated that the HIP staff was instructed to originate recommendations for rehabilitating the entire institutional clinical program.

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.

This article focuses on the school-community programs with regards to mental health. Furthermore, the article stresses the importance of organization and development of mental health programs in general. The early identification and treatment of the emotionally disturbed are applied through screening procedures and treatment programs. Primary prevention measures are taken to ensure effectively functioning individuals as well as to reduce the incidence of borderline or ineffective functioning. Moreover, analysis were conducted on the problem of teaching the child about human behavior and the interrelationship of teacher and child. Finally, studies should also be made of the effectiveness of different types of home-school-community relationships.

This article focuses on the techniques and instruments in the implementation of mental hygiene diagnosis and therapy. Mental hygiene has already progressed from the earlier pathological emphasis on cure of mental disorders to their prevention. Furthermore, diagnosis and therapy are now interrelated in the process of improving an individual's mental health and several methods are now applied through the application of tests, autobiography, and projective techniques. Advances in medical technology has led to the greater emphasis on the individualization of therapy. There are several therapeutic approaches such as: (1) consultation and suggestion therapy; (2) change of environment as treatment; (3) educational therapy; (4) group activities as a method of psychotherapy; (5) therapy through the medium of play; (6) art therapy; and (7) occupational therapy. Finally, the emphasis on the studying personality as a process, adapting treatment to individual differences, recognizing the subtle influence of the therapist's personality, and understanding developmental trends in adjustment, has been the most important aspects in mental hygiene practices.

Members of 17 psychotherapy groups were asked to rank all their colleagues on five criteria selected for their relevance to status structuring: leadership displayed, contribution to group discussion, dominance of discussion, popularity in the group, friendliness shown to members of the group. Except for Friendliness, men and women did not differ in their mean group assigned ranks, nor in their accuracy of judging the ranks of other group members. Men made smaller absolute errors than women in evaluating their popularity and also their contribution in groups of mixed composition. Absolute errors gave no evidence of a general tendency to misperceive one's own status, nor did the sexes significantly differ in respect of them. Errors of self assessment differentiated into over- and under-estimation, however, do suggest the operation of a general factor of misjudgment, which manifests itself in men in a direction opposite to that in women. Men tend to overestimate their status, women to underrate it. These trends were in evidence whether groups included representatives of both sexes or were homogeneous in their sex composition. Leaders and those ranked highest on other criteria are not better judges of sociometric ratings than others, nor are they more confident about their - own status. Top rankers follow the same differential trend in misperceiving their position as do those lower down the hierarchy, except that sociometric stars are less confident about their friendliness ratings and those of them who are women also about their popularity. The findings are analyzed in terms of norms characteristic of two classes divided according to sex, and some behavioral correlates of self confidence and diffidence are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is an attempt to translate principles and methodology of social psychological group dynamics to the psychotherapeutic sphere, specifically to work with schizophrenics. Research with normal groups had suggested striking differences in the development of group morale with "democratic" (group-centered) or "authoritarian" (leader-centered) social atmospheres. Results indicated that despite an initially greater proportion of relevant comments by patients, the "authoritarian" group declined sharply in this respect in latter sessions. The "democratic" group, although initially less relevant and more disorganized in their communications, surpassed the "authoritarian" group as time passed. In general, in both actions and verbalization, the "democratic" group evidenced signs of higher morale and greater cohesiveness. Extensive application of techniques and theory drawn from the sphere of group dynamics and social research seems called for in, order to refine and extend treatment methods with chronic schizophrenic patients.