REVIEWS
Economic Planning Agency, Japanese Government, Whitepaper on National Life 1973: The Life and Its Quality in Japan, Overseas Data Service Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1973, 259 pp. In contrast to the Japanese government's 1972 Whitepaper which gave a profile of the average Japanese in various areas of national life, the 1973 report attempts to describe some of the more qualitative implications of national problems, inflation, and the price and consumer policies of 1972-73. Part I deals with national problems of family income and social security, health care of the aged and welfare services, higher education, retirement and leisure time activities, housing and land use, pollution and safety. Here we learn more about the increased income and buying power of the Japanese people, and the Westernized pattern their dining, clothing, communication, transportation, entertainment, and housing purchases appear to be taking. The report uses various statistical tables and graphs to describe other national trends. For example, "88% of the people are willing to take personal care of older people" (p. 37); private college enrollments have increased, but are heavily concentrated in cities which has contributed to their 'mammothization'; while there is a decreasing demand for older workers, there is an ever-increasing number of older, available workers whose employment may be prolonged at even lower wages; land and housing costs have increased to the point that the construction of private homes is down, and the Japanese are turning increasingly to smaller, rental units of lower quality at inflated prices. Part I concludes with a general assessment of various sources and forms of environmental accident, crime, and pollution. Also, a brief account of and frequent references to the "Third Minamata Disease" resulting from the mercury poisoning of fish in the Ariake Sea Region in 1973 is given. Part II includes a general discussion of problems generated since 1972 by the information gap between producers and consumers, inflation, and the as yet unclaimed responsibility for social costs resulting from current land use, waste treatment, and public service practices. The report suggests some countermeasures for inflation, but leaves open the question of how much the general welfare of the nation can be improved without increasing dependencies on imports (oil, beef, leather, textiles) and without adding to inflation. Social Indicators Research 1 (1974) 387-388. All Rights Reserved Copyright 9 1974 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Holland
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Part III focuses on some of the policy measures that have been applied to recent consumer problems and specifically to the control of prices in Japan. The report concludes that for many Japanese life has become more painful since 1965 as the costs of food, shelter, and human services have risen. However, the book leaves one with no clear indication beyond a greater concentration of governmental controls on the economy as to what specific steps will be taken to reduce the pain. Quality of life inferences and social analyses are derived almost exclusively from a serial presentation of a few gross statistical indices. Though the establishment of a set of indicators in a 'plan' for social development is mentioned as a governmental goal, no discussion of such a plan or even the details of the OECD Council's 'List of Social Concerns Common to Most Member Countries', June, 1973 is presented in this social report. This book is a rather short, condensed catalog of graphics including some data covering time periods from 1965 to 1973. The reportis sprinkled with typographical errors and a number of unclear references to economic principles (elasticity, parallel imports, internalization of externality), idiographic statistical units (HLM, mats, H.I.), and pollution theory ('Parasol Effect'). The major value of the book can be placed on its direct description and sober representation of contemporary Japanese life, and the many common and increasingly interdependent social, economic, and environmental problems that the nation has shared and will continue to share with the U.S. in the future. Institute of Human Resources
DAVID L. Jom,~SON
REVIEWS
George V. Coelho and E. A. Rubinstein (eds.), Social Change and Human Behavior, Mental Health Challenges of the Seventies, DHEW Publication No. (HSM) 72-9122, 1972. For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. 237 + ix pp., price $ 2.00. *Recommended; rating: Good. SUMMARY
The dynamics of social change, a major concern of governmental administrations and social and behavioral scientists, are viewed from the point of view of the available potentials for individual and institutional modifications. Admittedly, the process of social change requires monitoring by effective social indicators. Since such data are usually unavailable the authors want to explore more deeply the sources, the mechanisms and the direction of social change. Accordingly, the material is divided into three parts: Part I emphasizes the biological evolutionary perspectives, covering the transformation of the human race from biological animal behavior to cultural and social man. A more pragmatic approach is utilized in Part II where questions of public policy for some challenging social problems are raised, such as the American experience with pornography and the response to the drug abuse. The final section, Part III, explores the creation of new social inventions, more specifically, the process of action research and the structuring of new and more aggressive roles for the behavioral scientist. This combination of basic theory and pragmatic processes formulates a symbiotic relationship which serves as a useful reader to the behavioral scientist.
George V. Coelho (ed.), Mental Health and Social Change, An Annotated Bibliography, DHEW Publication No. (HSM) 72-9149, 1972. For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. 458 + ix pp., price $ 3.00. *Recommended; rating: Good. Social Indicators Research 1 (1974) 389-391. All Rights Reserved Copyright O 1974 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Holland
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As indicated in the title, this volume is a readable and useful annotated bibliography. The editor states that the compilation, covering 730 journal abstracts, is designed "to document various mental health aspects of social change." The abstracts, divided into five sections, comprise the following major areas: (I) Biologically oriented approaches, (II) Behavioral and social science approaches, (III) Critical episodes of stress, (IV) Group behavioral disorders, (V) New directions in human services. The unique collection of a wide array of journals and authors should prove useful to researchers in the behavioral sciences who want to explore human adaptation, both in the life cycle as well as in the community context, to the problems of cultural, technological and social change. II. R E V I E W OF T H E T E X T S
The two volumes not only enjoy the same editor but serve to complement each other. The first text is a commendable reader because of its theoretical orientation to behavioral science. Only too frequently are interdisciplinary scholars and researchers banded together to explore the problems of people who are caught in the web of some social breakdown. The rationale for the identified breakdown is usually attributed to some surface symptoms such as inadequate motivation, social disorganization or the culture of poverty. The glaring missing factor is a broad theory that explains the social breakdown. The schema in this reader is in an entirely different direction. The basic theoretical formulation is accentuated suggesting that it might be utilized as causal factors for the identified social problem. Moreover, the developed theory is linked to down-to-earth pragmatic applications. For example, Brunner's paper analyzing animal behavior is related to the socialization of children in human society. This is an imaginative linkage of the biological theory of behavior to the sociological concept of culture. In contrast, the last two papers in the book explore some of the mun-
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dane problems facing the behavioral scientist. Thus, for example, Kelman formulates a unique role definition for the behavioral scientist who is involved in research on social change. This novel approach challenges the currently accepted status quo. In similar fashion, Dupree elucidates a distinctive Government-University partnership. The second volume, Coelho's Annotated Bibliography, is a goldmine of valuable information. The abstracts include diversified concepts in a large number of areas. For example, in sociology the material ranges from acculturation to socialization. In the biological research area, the collected papers vary from a study on the courtship of the arculeatus, the threespinal stick back crustacean to a review of zoosemiotics, or the biological study of behavior.The papers on social change cover from attitudinal and cultural change to social planning and psychotherapy. The mental health field has a wide range of factors, from anxiety and stress to forecasting and race relations. In short, every area is replete with a sizable collection of abstracts which summarizes basic research in that particular discipline. The structured indexes at the end of the text are rather extensive, covering about 77 pages. The author index is concise, simple and easy to read and verify. The subject index is comprehensive and allows for the invariable cross-references. This index reflects the advantages of computerbased information. Essentially this text is more than a bibliography but rather tends to be encyclopedic. Each abstract is carefully and precisely written and includes a summary of the total paper rather than a limited view. In sum, the two volumes cover a wide array of material on social change, mental health and human behavior. Both books are well organized, carefully and competently edited. The behavioral scientist interested in social change and mental health can make good use of both volumes. The first one can be utilized for the formulation of a theoretical frame of reference and the second may supply authoritative, ready-made, primary sources. Added icing is the fantastically low-cost price, an unexpected governmental fringe benefit.
City University of New York Kingsborough Community College
M~TtN E. DANZIG
