THE BOOK OPENS WITH AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM OF CHILD NEGLECT--HISTORY, RELATIONSHIP TO CHILD ABUSE, DEFINITION, IDENTIFICATION, CAUSES. GUIDELINES FOR MAKING A PSYCHODIAGNOSIS OF THE NEGLECTFUL MOTHER ARE OFFERED, WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE ASSESSMENT OF VERBAL ACCESSIBILITY--THE READINESS OF THE CLIENT TO TALK OPENLY AND DIRECTLY ABOUT HER ATTITUDES AND FEELINGS. CHARACTERISTICS OF INFANTILE PERSONALITIES IN NEGLECTFUL MOTHERS ARE DISCUSSED. FIVE TYPES OF NEGECTFUL MOTHERS ARE IDENTIFIED: THE APATHETIC-FUTILE MOTHER, THE IMPULSE-RIDDEN MOTHER, THE MENTALLY RETARDED MOTHER, THE MOTHER IN A REACTIVE DEPRESSION (DEPRESSION IN RESPONSE TO A SPECIFIC EXTERNAL STIMULUS), AND THE PSYCHOTIC MOTHER. FOR EACH TYPE, CLUES TO IDENTIFICATION ARE CITED, ETIOLOGY IS DISCUSSED, EFFECTS ON CHILDREN ARE DESCRIBED, AND TREATMENT GUIDELINES ARE OFFERED--ALL WITH REFERENCE TO CASE EXAMPLES. A SEPARATE CHAPTER ON PROCESSES OF TREATMENT TOUCHES ON THE AIMS OF CASEWORK TREATMENT, MAKING THE INITIAL CONTACT WITH THE CLIENT, CRITICAL DECISIONS IN THE TREATMENT PROCESS, THE USE OF AUTHORITY, FOSTERING DEPENDENCY, AND PROMOTING VERBAL ACCESSIBILITY. AN INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE CONDITIONS OF CARE UNDER WHICH CHILDREN ARE BEING REARED, TOGETHER WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE INSTRUMENT, IS APPENDED, AS IS A MATERNAL CHARACTERISTICS SCALE USED IN OBSERVING THE PERSONALITIES OF RURAL APPALACHIAN MOTHERS AND THE LEVEL OF CARE THEY WERE PROVIDING THEIR CHILDREN. BIBLIOGRAPHIES ACCOMPANY THE INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS. (LKM)