COMMENT:An analysis of the social, political and scientific history of the American Psychiatric Associations' Diagnostics and Statistics Manual Version III (DSM-III). This manual is widely used by mental health practitioners to assign diagnostic categories to their clients -- largely because such categories are required for third party insurance payments. The authors, both social workers, ask how this came about given that many of the categories have dubious histories and little or no scientific support. They explore the very real legal and medical effects of this book on the practice of mental health.
DATE:19980925
KEYWORDS:critical-thinking science:sociology
MISC:270p.
PUBLISHER:Aldine De Gruyter
SUBMITADDR:sofkam@rpi.edu
SUBMITNAME:Mike Sofka
TITLE:The Selling Of DSM: The Rhetoric of Science in Psychiatry
