The development of the material in this volume began with a realization by the staff at The Cambridge-Somerville Mental Health and Retardation Center (in the Massachusetts cities of Cambridge and Somerville) that an increasing num ber of people were entering the mental health system with problems related to the very nature of their personalities. A significant number of these people presented issues that had not been identified previously within the spectrum of psychiatric treatment. Such issues as marital discord in volving impulsive and violent behavior toward spouses or children, drug...