www.familiesinsociety.

org

younger populations, and prevention. The following
chapter, by Eloise Rathbone-McCuan, Sandra M.
Schiff, and Joseph Resch, discusses alcoholism in the
elderly and describes the result of a specific treatment
program. This worthwhile subject would benefit from
further examination.
Family care and family relationships are explored
from differing perspectives in Chapters 27 and 28, by
Sheldon Tobin and John Poertner, respectively. As the
authors note, many elderly persons either live with
family members or receive a great deal of care from
them. This dependency places strains upon family
relationships that often can be made more stable and
satisfying by professional intervention and respite
care. Some family relationships, however, involve
abuse and neglect of the elderly. Both chapters ad-
dress very real and pervasive problems that deserve
considerably more attention in social work education.
Clearly, our society needs to expand the concept of
the American family from the nuclear to the extended
with dependents.
A strength of this book is the breadth of the topics
presented. It is a worthwhile tool for an interdisciplin-
ary educational program that trains persons who ex-
pect to work with the elderly. The references at the
end of the chapters offer an excellent compilation of
articles, studies, and books on the elderly. However.
the lack of rigorous examination of many of the topics
presented is a limitation of this book. Although depth
has often been sacrificed for breadth, most of the
chapters do highlight the salient topics as well as the
need for further study. Readers who are well versed in
applied gerontology may use this book as a point of
departure for further study. In addition, this book is
an interesting and worthwhile collection of readings
for the person entering the field of gerontology. It also
may serve as a quick reference for persons who work
with the elderly. As the title correctly notes, it is a
handbook rather than an all-inclusive information
source.
William E. Powell
Social Work Department
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Oshkosh. Wisconsin
The Psychdogy of Child Firesetting: Detection
and Intervention. By Jessica Gaynor and Chris
Hatcher. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1987. 220 pp.
$34.95.
This book is recommended to anyone engaged in
clinical work with children. The title notwithstand-
ing, it is about much more than the psychology of
child firesetting. The authors also discuss the com-
plex interplay of developmental, contextual, and situ-
ational factors that social workers must understand in

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Book Reviews 125

 www.familiesinsociety.org
order to help children whose behavior demands atten-
tion, as firesetting does. The scope of the book ex-
tends to include neighborhoods and communities as
well, providing examples of how to organize pro-
grams to prevent the development of pathological
firesetting.
Jessica Gaynor and Chris Hatcher have done an
admirable job of summarizing and illustrating psy-
chodynamic, behavioral, and cognitive-emotional
approaches to the treatment of firesetting. The second
half of the book - on interventions - covers both
outpatient and inpatient settings and the uses of indi-
vidual and family modalities within each. Nearly all
of the summaries of interventions are based on reports
published in the clinical research literature.
The heart of the book is Chapter 3, in which the
authors set forth a comprehensive psychosocial model
for understanding and helping children who become
firesetters. The model is developed carefully, drawing
upon both theoretical and empirical investigations
from the psychoanalytic, social learning, and behav-
ioral traditions. This section is written in a fair-mind-
ed and highly readable way that practitioners will
appreciate regardless of their theoretical persuasion.
In brief, the model divides the child firesetter’s
world into three sectors: one organized around his or
her individual characteristics (demographic, phys-
ical, cognitive, emotional, and so forth), one around
social circumstances (family, peers, school), and one
around the environmental conditions more proximate
to the act of firesetting (antecedent stressors, nature of
the behavioral expression, and consequences). Vari-
able clusters are listed for each and then related to
whether the firesetting is a single episode or a recur-
ring event; planned or spontaneous; committed with
available materials or with combustible materials
brought to the scene; with a specific target versus a
general interest in fire; and followed by attempts to
extinguish the fire, run away, or watch it burn.
Thus, although the model clearly is derived from
existing theoretical and diagnostic perspectives, it
succeeds in avoiding the oversimplification upon
which those contributing perspectives often founder.
In addition, the model has the potential to bring clini-
cians and researchers together. The level of specifica-
tion within the model is similar to that pursued by
both the clinician and the researcher in their attempts
to target interventions and measure their effects. Suc-
ceeding chapters illustrate how the model can be used
to conduct a clinical interview, direct serial interven-
tions, and organize community-based programs for
prevention.
In general, the book is well organized and refresh-
126 Social Casework: The Journal of Conrernporary Social Work (February 1989)
ingly clear in its presentation. It begins with a chapter
that provides an overview of the problem of child
firesetting, including the problem of obtaining reli-
able estimates of its incidence. Fire play is a fairly
common occurrence among many, perhaps even a
majority, of children. But these events are not record-
ed systematically unless they can be considered ar-
son. The second chapter of the book, therefore, is a
discussion of the crime of arson and a description of
how it is perceived and processed within the juvenile
justice system. Then the authors present the conceptu-
al model discussed above and follow it with the chap-
ters on intervention. Each chapter begins with a suc-
cinct introductory paragraph summarizing its
contents.
This reviewer’s only disappointment was that the
conceptual model had not been tested in clinical trials.
In all fairness to the authors, however, such testing
could constitute a separate book that would serve as a
logical sequel to this one. To their credit, they have
presented their work to date in a way that allows both
clinicians and researchers to apply and extend it. In-
deed, the long-term influence of the book probably
will extend far beyond the problem of child fireset-
ting.
Thomas M. Young
Portland State University
Graduate School of Social Work
Portland, Oregon
Have You Seen These?
Families in Transition: Primary Prevention Programs
That WorL. Edited by Lynne A. Bond and Barry M.
Wagner. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1988. 384 pp.
$35.00.
This book discusses a variety of prevention programs
dealing with disparate subjects and populations. To-
pics include parenting, the elderly, widows, and men-
tal health. Different programs are reviewed and eval-
uated. The book emphasizes the results of preventive
programs rather than of programs that provide treat-
ment after the fact and discusses factors that help
programs to work rather than fail.
Law for the Psychotherapist. By Robert G . Meyer, E.
Rhett Landis, and J. Ray Hays. New York: W. W. Norton,
1988. 366 pp, $34.95.
This book is a psychotherapists’ guide for surviving
in out legal system. It discusses legal issues that influ-
ence the practice of psychotherapy. Topics such as