In societal terms, psychological treatment may serve purposes quite different than the relief of psychological disorders. If psychopathology had not emerged naturally, society might have needed to engender psychopathogenic conditions to fulfill socially useful purposes and to elicit that subtle mechanism for social regulation that is referred to as psychotherapy. The author constructs his argument by summing up the evidence for two points which apply to all psychotherapeutic practice: that the relief of psychopathology is in no dependable way associated with psychotherapeutic treatment; and that in all schools of psychotherapy, the only clearcut criterion for terminating treatment is the limit of a patient's financial resources. An overview of the historical evolution of deviance and treatment is presented. Notes and references.