Originally published in 1926, the aim of this textbook was the ‘interpretation of human behaviour and conduct’. Beatrice Edgell is an important figure in the history of psychology. She was the first British woman to receive a PhD in psychology, the first female psychology professor in Britain and the first woman president of the British Psychological Society (1930-1931), of which she had been a founding member in 1901. As the Head of Psychology at Bedford College, she established one of the first psychological laboratories in the UK. She also taught a number of women who went on to become prominent in the field. One of her many publications this book was thought to be ‘suitable for students training for social work or for the general reader interested in educational and social questions’.

In the 1990s providing mental health services to the elderly and particularly to elderly Native Americans had been an issue of some concern for the last several decades. Despite this, many public decisions made at the time were based on inadequate data. Due to this lack of data, there had been little research devoted to determining the factors associated with mental health among elderly Native Americans. Instead, the growing body of mental health research had "been based on limited samples, primarily of middle-majority Anglos." Originally published in 1994, the purpose of this research was to utilize existing data to close the gap in our understanding of mental health among elderly Native Americans.

With the emphasis in the 1980s on effectiveness and efficiency in health services, evaluation of practice was increasingly important. This was particularly true of mental health, where many practices were poorly evaluated and therefore might have been of questionable validity. Originally published in 1987, this book reviews the state of evaluative research of mental health programmes at the time, showing how practices can be evaluated and hence improved. A multidisciplinary group of authors, covering psychiatry, clinical psychology, psychiatric nursing, social work and other ‘therapies’, describe previous studies and applications in each discipline, before detailing a case study of their own evaluative work. The book will still have something to offer all professionals concerned with improving the quality of their work in the mental health area.

In the 10 years or so prior to original publication in 1978 new theories and discoveries in the social sciences had given a scientific basis and new impetus to the development of social skills training as a form of therapy. This book explores the progress made with this idea and gives practical guidance for therapists based on several years’ experience with the technique. The book provides an account of the latest ideas at the time, about the analysis of social behaviour – non-verbal communication, social skill, rules, analysis of situations, etc. The different techniques for training and modifying social behaviour – some old, some very new – are described and compared, with detailed accounts. There is a careful critical review of follow-up studies of social skills training and other forms of social therapy on in-patients, out-patients and volunteer subjects. The second part of the book consists of a manual for assessing deficits and difficulties, and for training in ten main areas of social deficiency such as observation, listening, speaking, asserting and planning. A rating scale, questionnaire and user’s booklet of training exercises is included. The book should be of interest, not only to psychiatric professionals – psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists – but to many others, such as social and community workers, teachers, prison officers, and lay people who may be interested in forming self-help groups, either on their own or with professional guidance.

Psychiatry regularly comes under attack as a way of caring for and controlling the mentally ill. Originally published in 1986, this title explores the history and theory of psychiatry to illuminate current practice at the time, and shows why mental health services had developed in particular ways. The book was invaluable for all those who needed to understand the problems and processes behind current psychiatric practice at the time – sociologists and psychologists, psychiatrists and doctors, social workers, and health service planners and administrators – and will still be of historical interest today.

The efficiency of an organization and the well-being of those working within it are often dependent to a large extent on the social skills deployed by certain key personnel. The analysis of these skills and the training of people in their use had reached a stage of considerable sophistication. Originally published in 1981, this volume, edited by the foremost authority in the field, presents a wealth of ideas and information on how best to employ social skills training in health and welfare agencies that are still relevant today. The introduction describes the processes of social interaction in which social skills consist, introduces the social-skill model and shows how social competence is assessed and how the most effective social skills are discovered. Subsequent chapters deal with the social skills required of nurses, doctors, psychotherapists, social workers and those charged with child-rearing. There is a chapter which gives an account of the social skill problems of mental patients and the extent to which social inadequacy is responsible for their other problems. The final chapter discusses the main techniques of social skills training, and reviews their success in the light of follow-up studies. The book will be of historical value to all those concerned with the training and performance of personnel within the health related professions and to those with an academic interest in the psychology of human relations.

Psychology has influence in almost every walk of life. Originally published in 1997, A Century of Psychology is a review of where the discipline came from, where it had reached and where the editors anticipated it may go. Ray Fuller, Patricia Noonan Walsh and Patrick McGinley assembled an internationally recognised team of mainly European experts from the major applications and research areas of psychology. They begin with a critical review of methodology and its limitations and plot the course of gender and developmental psychology. They go on to include discussion of learning, intellectual disability, clinical psychology and the emergence of psychotherapy, educational psychology, organizational psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and many other topics, in particular community psychology, perception and alternative medicine. Enlightening, reflective and sometimes provocative, A Century of Psychology is required reading for anyone involved in psychology as a practitioner, researcher or teacher. It is also a lively introduction for those new to the discipline.

First published in 1950, Psychology and Mental Health describes the origin of behaviour disorders and the psychoneuroses especially as regards their causes in early childhood. Most psychologists agree that such disorders as hysteria, sex perversion, the obsessions and anxiety states, as well as many behaviour disorders and delinquencies, find their roots in childhood experiences. If this is the case it should be possible to prevent them from developing into full-blown neurotic disorders which may take years to cure. The purpose of this book is to describe the early causes of these disorders with a view to their treatment, but more particularly with a view to their prevention. As mental health is the concern not only of the doctor but of the parson and the priest, of the teacher and the parent, this book is written in non-technical language as far as the demands of accuracy will allow. It embodies the result of over thirty years’ experience in the treatment of patients suffering from these disorders, and the views here maintained, which differ somewhat from the other analytic schools, are illustrated with clinical examples throughout. This book is a reissue originally published in 1950. The language used reflects its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this republication.