the two-year diploma teachers largely because, at the time they were in training, the ideal qualifying course was not in existence. Unless students about to begin two-year courses are given a reassurance that they will be able to transfer to a College of Education to complete a final year and emerge fully qualified, it is unlikely that enough students will come forward in 1970-71 to make the Training Council's courses viable. Potential students are more likely to wait until there are enough places available on threeyear courses and, while there are only a few such courses, the competition for places is going to be stiff. The consequences of this situation are that there will be a lull in recruitment into an already badly understaffed profession until all applicants can be accommodated in three-year courses. The other likelihood is that, while they are waiting for places, the potential teachers may change their minds about their careers and be lost for
penalise
course
Outside the House of Commons, John Ellis, MP for Bristol N.W., talks with (I. to r.) Diana Mantell, Jackie Andrews, Mrs. L. de Jong, Judith Hodges and Mary Barnes from the NAMH college in Bristol for trainee teachers of mentally subnormal children. Together with about 300 students, they were protesting about a plan to make them wait 5 years for full qualification. Diana, Jackie and Judith orPhoto: The Times ganised the lobby.
Dismay
at
5-year wait plan
Edward Short, Minisfor Education and Science, caused dismay to those concerned with the training of teachers of the mentally subnormal and, particularly, to the studentteachers themselves. At a dinner arranged by the National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children, Mr. Short gave a first indication of the policy on the future pattern of teacher qualification when his Department accepts responsibility for the education of the subnormal at a date yet to be announced. Apart from the anticipated statement that eventually all training should be of three years' duration, the Minister said that after receiving the diploma of the Training Council for Teachers of the Menin November ter
22
tally Handicapped, students would have to complete five years in the profession before they could be recognised as being fully qualified. In
common
NAMH
with
many
concerned,
organisations had
recommended
other the two
years' post-diploma teaching experience before full recognition. Mr. Short's suggestion means that students
on
courses
must
the current two-year wait seven years
before achieving qualified status whereas students on the three-year courses, a few of which are now beginning, will be fully qualified once they have completed their three years' academic study. Educational requirements for applicants of the two- and threeyear courses are the same and it would seem to be an injustice to
good. A few days after Mr. Short's announcement, a letter to him froifl Lord Balniel, chairman of the NAMH, expressing the Association's unease and disappointment about his policy decision was re' leased to the press. At the same time, students on the two-year diploma course in Bristol* run by the NAMH, 'mobilised' and organised a lobby to put their case (and that of students all over the country) to MPs in Bristol and i" each student's home constituency' Every student wrote to his oWf MP and, on December 4th, ove' 200 course members from Bristol Leeds and Preston came to tb* House of Commons to make re; presentations to the MPs they ha^ contacted and to all Membe^ interested in education or menta'
handicap. Despite
an
important debate of
pensions,
many MPs made a poif of coming out of the chamber meet the students and listen
their case which received a goo1 deal of support. During the Chris' mas holiday members of tbl course all made appointments tl their constituency Membe see
personally in order to interest as many MPs as possible in the issue. At present the Training Council,
the NAMH and all groups concerned are involved in attempts to discuss the issue with the Department of Education and Science in the hope that the intended policy on qualifications of teachers can be modified.
Uneasy GPs wary
of
psychiatry
Attitudes
illness
of GPs to psychiatric have been under examina-
tion by an Edinburgh psychiatrist, ?r. H. J. Walton. In a paper pre-
sented at a symposium organised by the World Psychiatric Association, he suggested that what happens to a mentally ill patient when
he presents himself to his GP delargely on what the doctor feels about psychiatrists, what he feels about the patient as a person and what sort of personality the doctor has himself. It seems that a GP's method of referring patients for treatment is n?t always logical. He is more likely to do so if the patient is young?although mental illness is a problem in middle and ?ld age; if he is a man?yet it has been estimated that twice as many Women seek treatment for mental pends
frequently
Alness.
Dr. Walton suggested that the GP is not happy accepting a Patient who is an alcoholic, snicidal or psychotic. The better the s?cial class of the patient the better *be quality of treatment the GP will
arrange for him and it seems that lot depends on the way the patient Presents himself. There is a dis-
a
eernible
hierarchy
acceptability'
and
of Dr.
'patient Walton to be
noted, 'Rejection starts apparent in the cases of patients
are unco-operative |yho be doctor
and whom to dislike.' could be improved
comes
11
The situation
more GPs studied at least some but Dr. Walton sugthat 'the general practitioners themselves for psychiaric training are often disabled by factors from benefiting training.' He admits that ere is not easy answer. If patients ,.ere allowed to refer themselves lrect to psychiatrists the facilities
Psychiatry gests
fleeting
Personality th?m
would collapse under the demand. He suggests an investigation to establish how GPs could best be trained for their responsibilities in psychiatry. Possibly a collaborative venture between and doctors psychiatrists is needed, it would have to be on a large scale and would involve evaluative research to assess how the GP can best be equipped to cope with this aspect of his work. In the meantime medical schools should impress on doctors that many of their colleagues are still under the impression that psychological illness should not be considered until all chances of physical illness have been eliminated?that, in every case, physical, psychological and social factors should be considered in turn.
Inquiry suggested
been reported that an into be held by the Department of Health and Social Security into the 'disclosure' that some mental and subnormality hospitals use communal graves to reduce burial costs. It is also intended to investigate the prevalence of giving bodies of patients with no known relatives to anatomy departments at medical schools. The continued existence of both methods of disposing of bodies has 'horrified' a junior Minister who suggested the inquiry. No statistics on the subject seem to be readily available although, presumably, each hospital keeps its own record of burials. it
has
quiry is
Backlash of
teaching
tolerence
education designed
to lessen race
prejudice may be serving only to make prejudice more entrenched. This cated
disturbing possibility by the
is indi-
findings of a lecturer at West Ham College of Further Education, Mr. Harold Miller, who observed a course on race relations for 1,000 printing apprentices at another large London college in 1965. The apprentices on day-release course received one hour a day research
of general studies during which discussions about racial attitudes were
deliberately encouraged by
the lecturers. The students, aged from 16 to 21, completed attitude tests at the beginning and the end. Mr. Miller concluded that the experiments showed a 'very high increase' in attitudes prejudicial to coloured people. Attitudes hardened in periods of up to three hours' discussion about race, spread over three weeks, but if the course was extended this effect was less noticeable. But prejudice did not seem to grow so noticeably in small classes as in large ones. The more liberal the attitude of the lecturer the less effective he was in removing prejudice. Discussion of race issues encouraged the vocalisers of prejudice to win attention of others; while the liberal teacher was outside the student group the racialist was inside it. These experiments also tied in with 'inoculation' theories by which small attacks on an entrenched viewpoint merely encourage the person concerned to develop his own counter-arguments to the point when he can
successfully withstand
a
full-scale
assault. On this basis the gentle doubts the lecturers thought they were provoking merely worsened the position. Mr. Miller accepts that his
sample of apprentices may be eccentric but thinks the attitude experiments should be tried elsewhere. He thinks three methods should be considered for handling race prejudice in places of education. First, young people should be taught enough basic psychology to be able to appreciate that their hostility towards other individuals or groups might be only a reflection of their own inadequacies.
Second, group psychotherapy might be possible to reduce prejudice and third, some methods of commercial advertising might be used to help change attitudes.
T-group
members risk
breakdown WARNING of the ger of the
A
potential danfashionable
increasingly
23
T-groups has come from two American psychiatrists recently. A T-group ('T' for treatment) is a unstructured small, relatively group of people who meet for about two hours every day over a fairly short period of time?a week or a fortnight?to discuss and criticise their own attitudes and motives with great candour. The aim of the group is to stimulate and support each member while he is learning, through uninhibited discussion, about the impact he makes on others and gaining insight into his own personality. Many individuals and organisations have claimed that T-groups
have
had a beneficial effect on members but there has also been some stiff opposition to the technique. Now Dr. S. L. Jaffe and Dr.
mentioned two participants who had to be admitted to mental hospital for a period after taking part in T-groups, and who were both
D. J. Scherl, psychiatrists at the Community Mental Health Centre, Boston, Massachusetts, have issued a serious warning on the
diagnosed
risks that group members may be
running. They have produced evidence that, in certain cases, the T-group may precipitate acute psychotic breakdown in some participants. one group, six of the eleven members had 'psychopathological reactions'. In another, five out of ten had 'acute pathological emotional responses'. Dr. laffe also
In
as
psychotic.
Neither doctor suggested that Tgroups should be discouraged but both do insist that leaders of the groups should exercise stricter control to reduce the inherent dangers. They also recommend that participants should be carefully screened so as to exclude anyone who is in need of psychotherapy and that, since so little is known of the long-term consequences, all participants should be 'followed up' after their series of group meetings comes to an end.
penalise
course
Outside the House of Commons, John Ellis, MP for Bristol N.W., talks with (I. to r.) Diana Mantell, Jackie Andrews, Mrs. L. de Jong, Judith Hodges and Mary Barnes from the NAMH college in Bristol for trainee teachers of mentally subnormal children. Together with about 300 students, they were protesting about a plan to make them wait 5 years for full qualification. Diana, Jackie and Judith orPhoto: The Times ganised the lobby.
Dismay
at
5-year wait plan
Edward Short, Minisfor Education and Science, caused dismay to those concerned with the training of teachers of the mentally subnormal and, particularly, to the studentteachers themselves. At a dinner arranged by the National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children, Mr. Short gave a first indication of the policy on the future pattern of teacher qualification when his Department accepts responsibility for the education of the subnormal at a date yet to be announced. Apart from the anticipated statement that eventually all training should be of three years' duration, the Minister said that after receiving the diploma of the Training Council for Teachers of the Menin November ter
22
tally Handicapped, students would have to complete five years in the profession before they could be recognised as being fully qualified. In
common
NAMH
with
many
concerned,
organisations had
recommended
other the two
years' post-diploma teaching experience before full recognition. Mr. Short's suggestion means that students
on
courses
must
the current two-year wait seven years
before achieving qualified status whereas students on the three-year courses, a few of which are now beginning, will be fully qualified once they have completed their three years' academic study. Educational requirements for applicants of the two- and threeyear courses are the same and it would seem to be an injustice to
good. A few days after Mr. Short's announcement, a letter to him froifl Lord Balniel, chairman of the NAMH, expressing the Association's unease and disappointment about his policy decision was re' leased to the press. At the same time, students on the two-year diploma course in Bristol* run by the NAMH, 'mobilised' and organised a lobby to put their case (and that of students all over the country) to MPs in Bristol and i" each student's home constituency' Every student wrote to his oWf MP and, on December 4th, ove' 200 course members from Bristol Leeds and Preston came to tb* House of Commons to make re; presentations to the MPs they ha^ contacted and to all Membe^ interested in education or menta'
handicap. Despite
an
important debate of
pensions,
many MPs made a poif of coming out of the chamber meet the students and listen
their case which received a goo1 deal of support. During the Chris' mas holiday members of tbl course all made appointments tl their constituency Membe see
personally in order to interest as many MPs as possible in the issue. At present the Training Council,
the NAMH and all groups concerned are involved in attempts to discuss the issue with the Department of Education and Science in the hope that the intended policy on qualifications of teachers can be modified.
Uneasy GPs wary
of
psychiatry
Attitudes
illness
of GPs to psychiatric have been under examina-
tion by an Edinburgh psychiatrist, ?r. H. J. Walton. In a paper pre-
sented at a symposium organised by the World Psychiatric Association, he suggested that what happens to a mentally ill patient when
he presents himself to his GP delargely on what the doctor feels about psychiatrists, what he feels about the patient as a person and what sort of personality the doctor has himself. It seems that a GP's method of referring patients for treatment is n?t always logical. He is more likely to do so if the patient is young?although mental illness is a problem in middle and ?ld age; if he is a man?yet it has been estimated that twice as many Women seek treatment for mental pends
frequently
Alness.
Dr. Walton suggested that the GP is not happy accepting a Patient who is an alcoholic, snicidal or psychotic. The better the s?cial class of the patient the better *be quality of treatment the GP will
arrange for him and it seems that lot depends on the way the patient Presents himself. There is a dis-
a
eernible
hierarchy
acceptability'
and
of Dr.
'patient Walton to be
noted, 'Rejection starts apparent in the cases of patients
are unco-operative |yho be doctor
and whom to dislike.' could be improved
comes
11
The situation
more GPs studied at least some but Dr. Walton sugthat 'the general practitioners themselves for psychiaric training are often disabled by factors from benefiting training.' He admits that ere is not easy answer. If patients ,.ere allowed to refer themselves lrect to psychiatrists the facilities
Psychiatry gests
fleeting
Personality th?m
would collapse under the demand. He suggests an investigation to establish how GPs could best be trained for their responsibilities in psychiatry. Possibly a collaborative venture between and doctors psychiatrists is needed, it would have to be on a large scale and would involve evaluative research to assess how the GP can best be equipped to cope with this aspect of his work. In the meantime medical schools should impress on doctors that many of their colleagues are still under the impression that psychological illness should not be considered until all chances of physical illness have been eliminated?that, in every case, physical, psychological and social factors should be considered in turn.
Inquiry suggested
been reported that an into be held by the Department of Health and Social Security into the 'disclosure' that some mental and subnormality hospitals use communal graves to reduce burial costs. It is also intended to investigate the prevalence of giving bodies of patients with no known relatives to anatomy departments at medical schools. The continued existence of both methods of disposing of bodies has 'horrified' a junior Minister who suggested the inquiry. No statistics on the subject seem to be readily available although, presumably, each hospital keeps its own record of burials. it
has
quiry is
Backlash of
teaching
tolerence
education designed
to lessen race
prejudice may be serving only to make prejudice more entrenched. This cated
disturbing possibility by the
is indi-
findings of a lecturer at West Ham College of Further Education, Mr. Harold Miller, who observed a course on race relations for 1,000 printing apprentices at another large London college in 1965. The apprentices on day-release course received one hour a day research
of general studies during which discussions about racial attitudes were
deliberately encouraged by
the lecturers. The students, aged from 16 to 21, completed attitude tests at the beginning and the end. Mr. Miller concluded that the experiments showed a 'very high increase' in attitudes prejudicial to coloured people. Attitudes hardened in periods of up to three hours' discussion about race, spread over three weeks, but if the course was extended this effect was less noticeable. But prejudice did not seem to grow so noticeably in small classes as in large ones. The more liberal the attitude of the lecturer the less effective he was in removing prejudice. Discussion of race issues encouraged the vocalisers of prejudice to win attention of others; while the liberal teacher was outside the student group the racialist was inside it. These experiments also tied in with 'inoculation' theories by which small attacks on an entrenched viewpoint merely encourage the person concerned to develop his own counter-arguments to the point when he can
successfully withstand
a
full-scale
assault. On this basis the gentle doubts the lecturers thought they were provoking merely worsened the position. Mr. Miller accepts that his
sample of apprentices may be eccentric but thinks the attitude experiments should be tried elsewhere. He thinks three methods should be considered for handling race prejudice in places of education. First, young people should be taught enough basic psychology to be able to appreciate that their hostility towards other individuals or groups might be only a reflection of their own inadequacies.
Second, group psychotherapy might be possible to reduce prejudice and third, some methods of commercial advertising might be used to help change attitudes.
T-group
members risk
breakdown WARNING of the ger of the
A
potential danfashionable
increasingly
23
T-groups has come from two American psychiatrists recently. A T-group ('T' for treatment) is a unstructured small, relatively group of people who meet for about two hours every day over a fairly short period of time?a week or a fortnight?to discuss and criticise their own attitudes and motives with great candour. The aim of the group is to stimulate and support each member while he is learning, through uninhibited discussion, about the impact he makes on others and gaining insight into his own personality. Many individuals and organisations have claimed that T-groups
have
had a beneficial effect on members but there has also been some stiff opposition to the technique. Now Dr. S. L. Jaffe and Dr.
mentioned two participants who had to be admitted to mental hospital for a period after taking part in T-groups, and who were both
D. J. Scherl, psychiatrists at the Community Mental Health Centre, Boston, Massachusetts, have issued a serious warning on the
diagnosed
risks that group members may be
running. They have produced evidence that, in certain cases, the T-group may precipitate acute psychotic breakdown in some participants. one group, six of the eleven members had 'psychopathological reactions'. In another, five out of ten had 'acute pathological emotional responses'. Dr. laffe also
In
as
psychotic.
Neither doctor suggested that Tgroups should be discouraged but both do insist that leaders of the groups should exercise stricter control to reduce the inherent dangers. They also recommend that participants should be carefully screened so as to exclude anyone who is in need of psychotherapy and that, since so little is known of the long-term consequences, all participants should be 'followed up' after their series of group meetings comes to an end.
