Book Reviews : Education and the Concept of Mental Health John Wilson Routledge & Kegan Paul (Students' Library of Education) 16s. cloth, 8s. paper
| Published date | 01 June 1969 |
| Author | D.A. Haxby |
| Date | 01 June 1969 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455056901500216 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
68
Unwillingly
to
School
School
phobia
or
school
refusal:
a
medico-social
problem
(2nd
edition)
Jack
H.
Kahn
and
Jean
P.
Nursten
Pergamon
The
first
edition
of
this
book
was
sub-
titled
&dquo;the
place
of
the
Child
Guidance
Clinic
in
the
treatment
of
school
pho-
bia&dquo;.
The
subtitle
to
the
second
edition
indicates
the
authors’
intention
of
broad-
ening
the
basis
of
discussion.
To
this
end
they
add
a
chapter
which
briefly
considers
the
treatment
approach
of
some
other
professions
who
may
have
to
deal
with
disturbed
school
attendance.
There
is
a
short
account
of
behaviour
therapy
and
its
application
to
problems
of
school
refusal
which
allows
for
some
correction
of
the
exclusively
psychoana-
lytic
slant
of
the
first
edition.
Though
the
scope
is
enlarged,
the
im-
pact
of
the
book
is,
if
anything,
reduced.
There
is
space
to
deal
with
alternative
treatments
only
in
a
cursory
and
tenta-
tive
way.
Some
professional
groups,
for
example
probation
officers,
are
omitted.
The
section
on
behaviour
therapy
is
less
than
convincing.
The
main
value
of
the
book
still
lies
in
its
argument
for
a
multi-disciplinary
approach
to
problems
on
the
model
of
the
Child
Guidance
Clinic
and
in
its
plea
against
rigidity
of
treatment
for
any
form
of
psycho-social
breakdown.
School
phobia
is
a
particular
problem
but
the
methods
advocated
have
a
more
general
validity.
Post-Seebohm
these ideas
have
a
timely
relevance.
Interestingly
Unwill-
ingly
to
School
anticipated
many
of
the
proposals
about
the
Child
Guidance
ser-
vice
contained
in
the
Seebohm
Report
which
also
agrees
with
the
authors
in
recommending
a
co-ordinating
agency
for
all
cases
of
persistent
truancy.
This
edition
contains
a
comprehensive
bibliography
covering
truancy,
school
phobia
and
drop-outs
compiled
by
Charles
Crossley
and
Jean
Nursten.
EILEEN
GABBITAS
Education
and
the
Concept
of
Mental
Health
John
Wilson
Routledge
&
Kegan
Paul
(Students’
Library
of
Education)
16s.
cloth,
8s.
paper
This
is
a
short
book,
aimed
primarily
at
the
teacher
or
student
of
education.
After
examining
some
of
the
concepts
used
in
talking
about
mental
health,
the
author
devotes
the
most
important
chap-
ter
in
the
book
to
a
consideration
of
the
idea
that
most
mental
health
problems,
if
not
the
result
of
physical
causes,
can
be
ascribed
to
mislearning
in
early
child-
hood,
causing
irrationality.
This
irrati-
onality,
sufficient
to
be
considered
as
mental
ill-health,
can
be
overcome
by
&dquo;educating&dquo;
as
much
as
by
&dquo;curing&dquo;.
The
book
does
not
explore
the
concept
of
personality,
of
emotional
develop-
ment
or
retardation,
of
perception,
of
self-perception,
or
many
other
compon-
ents
of
an
adequate
concept
of
mental
health,
and
does
little
to
illustrate
the
kind
of
mental
health
problem
most
commonly
met
by
teachers
and
social
workers.
Although
the
author
raises
the
question
of
how
and
when
schools
should
make
use
of
expert
psychothera-
pists,
he
does
not
acknowledge
that
trained
social
workers
might
have
some
contribution
to
make
to
the
problem
of
the
disturbed
child
- indeed,
the
exist-
ence
of
social
workers
is
not
even
ack-
nowledged.
The
teacher,
however,
is
urged
to
try
to
develop
insight!
D. A.
HAXBY
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