A Review of Paul and Lentz's Psychological Treatment for Chronic Mental Patients: Milieu Versus Social‐learning Programs1

Combining elegant experimental design with rigorous pursuit of relevant clinical goals, Paul and Lentz have given a precious gift to clini- cians, researchers, and teachers in psychology and psychiatry. Working for more than 6 years with 102 of the most refractory and neglected chronic mental patients, Paul and his colleagues demonstrated the superiority of a systematic, in- patient social learning program over milieu therapy and custodial hospital comparison treat- ments. Although the overall results will replenish the morale of behaviorists who lately have been hard pressed to document the differential effectiveness of their treatment procedures, this monograph more importantly provides-in its comprehensive and complete description of the project's development and execution-a bold and clear model for all clinical researchers to strive to emulate.