Product Description

This text continues to be one of the most current, authoritative overviews of the theories and research in psychopathology and intervention. Its widely praised scientific clinical approach blends the clinical and empirical/experimental as the authors examine each disorder from multiple perspectives. The text emphasizes different paradigms with a particular emphasis on the diathesis–stress paradigm as necessary for understanding most psychopathologies.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #432323 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 720 pages

Times Higher Educational Supplement, 24th November 2000
"...a thorough and well written textbook..." "would serve well as [an] introductory textbook to abnormal psychology as well as [an] in-depth reference guide for final year students."

From the Back Cover
Over 1,000,000 Students Can’t Be Wrong! There is more than one reason why Davison & Neale’s Abnormal Psychology has remained one of the most popular textbooks on the subject through seven editions, and with more than 1,000,000 students over the last twenty–five years. Now thoroughly updated and revised to reflect the latest thinking and research in the field, this new Eighth Edition continues the tradition of excellence established in each previous edition. Featuring a student—friendly presentation of rigorous, research–based subject matter, the text invites you to participate in a process of discovery and critically consider a variety of approaches and perspectives. Davison and Neale not only present the latest theories and research, they also convey the intellectual excitement that is associated with the search for evidence on the origins of psychopathology and the effectiveness of specific interventions. And throughout the text, numerous extended case studies based on the authors’ actual clinical work, provide a context for complex concepts and demonstrate the real–life implications of the empirical work of psychopathologists and clinicians. New Features in the Eighth Edition

• Discussion of therapies is now fully integrated within the disorder chapters and throughout the text.
• An expanded Chapter 2 presents therapy paradigms earlier than in the previous edition.
• An entirely new Chapter 17 discusses process and outcome research on treatment and controversial issues surrounding the therapy enterprise.
• Many new graphics and tables illustrate and summarize major points.
• Includes more than 1,000 new references.

The reviewers have been raving about this new edition! "I think the thrust of the book is clear from chapter 1. I actually found the historical material inspiring, as there is an interesting story here about how mental illness came to be viewed in an enlightened, humane way. The discussion of paradigms is sophisticated but accessible; the NASA/Mars material is really great. The use of the Langer and Abeson study is clever." —Thomas Bradbury, UCLA "I was impressed with balanced presentation of issues such as the insanity defense, research and treatment ethics, involuntary commitment, privilege, and confidentiality. The authors make clear that these are complicated issues with few straightforward answers." —Judith Le Master, Scripps College "I agree with the authors’ goals for the text. By emphasizing the subjectivity of mental illness along with the historical underpinnings of modern clinical psychology, they set the reader up for a learning experience that emphasizes our Socratic awareness of the limits of our science." —Michael Hufford, University of Montana

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Customer Reviews

Quirky, informative and essential reading
I've owned the book since July 2001 for my mental health nursing course.
The book has been the most used of all my collection of textbooks. The book has so much empirical evidence that to any undergraduate student studying Abnormal Psychology/Mental Health it's a solid gold greatest hit.
The authors are internationally renowned for the work.
The book assumes that the reader has no previous knowledge and guides them gently through the history and how mental disorders are diagnosed.
It covers all the major diseases from anxiety and depression to personality disorders.
Added bonus is the DSM-IV on the inside covers.
The quirkiness of the book comes in the pictures of celebrities who have been afflicted by certain diseases. Many of them American and unknown outside their shores but their many known to us Brits. Couldn't see what it added to the context of the book -but that's America.
It's also fun to read and not to heavy on the professional language.
I would recommend this to anyone studying Clinical Psychology, Mental Health Nursing, Mental Health Social work or any of the related professions.

Good wide ranging coverage of concepts and issues involved.
It had been over ten years since I had studied one of this titles previous incarnations and I found it certainly more readable than that earlier edition. I would recommend this book as a companion for psychologists, counsellers and psychiatrists alongside DSM IV. I would have liked a little more coverage on object relations but what coverage there is on this topic is clear and succint. The pictorial content however looks very dated at this stage being mainly made up of stock photos. This gives the book a somewhat quaint appearance which is contrary to the updated research upon which the text is based. Sometimes the photos are totally unrelated to the content or add nothing to it. For example a photo of a person looking contemplative as part of a discussion on depression does not add much to the understanding of the concepts involved and smacks a little of window dressing.
That reservation aside I would recommend this title to colleagues if they do not already have a recent edition.

A Strange Mix
I found the book sort of mixed up, there didn't seem to be much structure. However! The content is most certainly there, it just may take more time to piece it all together as it seems scattered across the book. The empirical evidence and the DSM-IV content is superb. The book is full of information which will almost certainly be useful not only as a reference but as a book you can pick up and read. I liked mucho!