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.

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.

Originally published in 1984, one of the few facts that emerged clearly in the beleaguered field of psychology and mental health at the time was the extent of poor social skills in psychiatric patients, the mentally handicapped and problem adolescents. As a result, during the 1970s, social skills training – espoused as a form of behaviour therapy – seemed to offer great promise, based on the notion that social skills, like any other skills, are learnt and can be taught if lacking. However, in evaluating social skills training, many investigators found that skills did not endure and generalise. This book attempts a major re-assessment of social skills training. It examines the underlying paradigms, which are shown to be fundamentally behaviourist. Such paradigms, it is argued, severely constrain the aims and method of current types of training. Thus the book develops what is termed an ‘agency’ approach, based on man as a social agent who actively constructs his own experiences and generates his own goal-directed behaviour on the basis of those constructs. This new model is developed in both theoretical and practical ways in the main body of the book and should, even today, be of great interest to all those involved with social skills training.

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.

Originally published in 1984, one of the few facts that emerged clearly in the beleaguered field of psychology and mental health at the time was the extent of poor social skills in psychiatric patients, the mentally handicapped and problem adolescents. As a result, during the 1970s, social skills training – espoused as a form of behaviour therapy – seemed to offer great promise, based on the notion that social skills, like any other skills, are learnt and can be taught if lacking. However, in evaluating social skills training, many investigators found that skills did not endure and generalise. This book attempts a major re-assessment of social skills training. It examines the underlying paradigms, which are shown to be fundamentally behaviourist. Such paradigms, it is argued, severely constrain the aims and method of current types of training. Thus the book develops what is termed an ‘agency’ approach, based on man as a social agent who actively constructs his own experiences and generates his own goal-directed behaviour on the basis of those constructs. This new model is developed in both theoretical and practical ways in the main body of the book and should, even today, be of great interest to all those involved with social skills training.

Originally published in 1992, this title is the last in a series of books on school psychology. It contains diverse contributions relevant to school psychology, research, theory and practice at the time. Including chapters on alternative intervention strategies for the treatment of communication disorders, strategies for developing a preventive intervention for high-risk transfer children, a review of sociometry and temperament research, a review of the recent advances in research in training behavioral consultants at the time, and an overview of school-based consultation to support students with severe behavior problems in integrated education programs.