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The legal definition of “emotional disturbance” proposed by the Federal Government under PL 94–142 is Bower's 1957 definition with some modifications. The modifications do serious damage to the integrity of the research and conceptual base from which the definition is drawn. The difficulties inherent in a definition of this type of handicapped are delineated. It is suggested that where policy makers and researchers join together, such relationships are best enhanced when each respects the assumptions and concepts of the other.

The fo llow-up studies of children seen at the Dallas Child Guidance Clinic (9, 10) produced results of sufficient variance with the consensus of research to warrant discussion later in the paper. 712This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.ment, and Personality Ch aracteristics of Psychotic, Psychoneurotic, Delinquent and Normally Adjusted Te en-age Yo uths.

Prevention is seen as a magic word that has had little action implementation in the field of mental and emotional disorders. Moreover, lay and professional groups appear to have a desultory defeatist attitude toward such activity. In part, this is the result of an inability to conceptualize a usable and meaningful theoretical structure from which research and demonstration programs can be developed. A conceptualization of primary prevention and programs of research and demonstration are presented and discussed.

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