Atkinson (1971), in his chapter studying the role which coroners and research workers play in defining suicide, noted that by 1927 Hans Rost's bibliography of suicide cited nearly 4,000 works on the subject, while 2,000 further publications were listed by Schneidmann and Farberow between 1927 and 1961. He had personally traced another 300 studies subsequently. In the face of this vast output one hesitates to add yet another paper. However, historical surveys of popular views on suicide have received relatively scant attention, much of the most valuable work being carried out by historians.

BOOK REVIEWS family. It is heartening that her initialdata suggests that, despitesomeadjustment problemsin afewfamiliesfor a few children,the impactofthese adoptionsispredomi nantly positive.Sheherselfaddsanappropriatenoteof caution. Although the researchis longitudinal, it has still examined only relatively short-term outcomes and weawaitwith interestlatermaterial. A final chapter discussesa preventative model highlightingthe importanceofexternal supportsin the post-placement period. This is basedon a theoretical conceptualisation of the phases of adjustment that the family mayexperience during this period. This is a most interestingand readablebook, par ticularly for thoseengaged eitherin researchor clinical practice relating to the adoption of children with disabilities.

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BOOK REVIEWS many connections and hidden meanings which, in reality, disguise their true loneliness and isolation in their inner world where their sense of object constancy is so precarious. This is a book that is helpful for all those concerned with treating paranoid patients by psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Oscar Wilde said, â€oe¿ There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about―(1891). For the para noid patient such a silence on the part of the world would, in psychoanalytic terms, be seen as at best an indifference and at worst a repetition of all the isolation of childhood and its consequences in adult life. This predicament of the paranoid patient is well explored in this short but rich account of the subject.

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