BOOK REVIEWS 543

and presumably directed at relatively naive groups of staff. but the impression is given that after this course individuals will be equipped to go into houses and deal with a vast range of problem behaviours, which to say the least is rather simplistic.

J.~NCE LEGGEI-I

M. HERSEN (Ed.): Innovations in Child Behavior Therapy. Springer, New York (1989). xiii + 434 pp.

This book is Vol. 21 in the Springer Series on Behavior Therapy and Behavioral Medicine. It is presented as an overview of current innovations in the field of child behaviour therapy. The volume is directed at graduate students in clinical psychology as well as other mental health professionals who want to bring themselves up to date with developments in this field, in the United States.

The sixteen chapters are divided into four parts: The introduction (Part I) briefly places recent trends in child behaviour therapy in their historical context and summarises recent developments. Innovations in assessment are considered in Part 2 and include the relationship of behavioural assessment and psychiatric diagnosis, developmental factors, and the roles of intelligence testing and neuropsychological factors in a comprehensive assessment. Part 3 attends to more general innovations in treatment including primary and secondary prevention, paediatric behavioural medicine, drugs and behaviour therapy. Part 4 concentrates on innovations in treating eight specific disorders and problems. Each of the eight chapters is presented in an identical format which provides a description of the disorder, developmental factors involved, behavioural treatment innovations, research findings, drugs and behaviour therapy (where applicable), and a summary for each disorder. While this makes it easier to compare across chapters, some problems (such as child abuse and neglect) are not adequately covered by such a format-for example, psychosocial interventions are not discussed.

The relatively new field of paediattic behavioural medicine is well-covered throughout the volume, and of particular interest are the chapters on innovations in preventive interventions for behavioural problems. A British version would be most welcome. Being an American textbook, there is a stronger emphasis on pharmacological interventions; however, behavioural therapists in Britain will find this book an informative critique of recent trends in child behaviour therapy.

MICHELLE NEW

M. HUMPHREY: Back Pain. Routledge, London (1989). viii + 132 pp. f8.95.

This book forms part of The Experience of Illness series in which each volume takes a psychological focus on a specific major health problem. The intractability of back pain is renowned. In this book the medical aspects are discussed including an enlightening account of the structure of the spine, the aetiology of back pain, its incidence and an extremely brief outline of physical treatments.

The social aspects affected by back pain are well covered in regard to marital and family life together with work, leisure activities and social ife. Due weight is given to the attitudes and behaviour of the spouse or partner, since frequently successful outcome depends on their active involvement in the treatment.

The psychological aspects focus on pain as a distress signal. There is an increasing trend for psychologists to become directors of Pain Clinics and with it comes the opportunity to implement psychological approaches to treatment of cases which have hitherto been viewed only within the framework of the medical model. The author draws on his own considerable experience and uses clinical vignettes to illustrate his points. He highlights the difficulty patients have in accepting a psychological explanation of their symptoms. His descriptions of psychological treatments are extremely brief-most receiving one page, although cognitive therapy receives two. However, one whole chapter is devoted to self-help, which he sees as vitally important, given the passivity of many chronic patients.

The author states that his aim is not to consider the quality of pain as a more general phenomenon. but to limit himself to back pain. However, much of what he writes in regard to this specific area can be applied to other presentations of pain. This short, informative book is not a manual to guide the health professional through successful treatment of this difficult problem, but as an introduction to the study of back pain it is excellent.

MAUREES WILLIAMS