Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - REFERENCE — Social & Behavioral Sciences

Eight years after the publication of the first edition of theAPA Dictionary of Psychology (CH, Feb'07, 44-3029), the second edition has appeared with 200 additional pages and numerous revised entries, 1,000 obsolete entries deleted, and 2,000 new entries added.  In addition, pertinent entries have been harmonized with the 2013Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and theInternational Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems (ICD-10).  Appropriate for use by the general public, students, and researchers in fields outside psychology as well as by professional psychologists, this work retains the prestige and authoritative reputation of the first edition.  In a slight change from that work, the biographical entries have been placed in a separate section at the end of the main body of the work.  Appendixes containing lists of institutional names, testing instruments, and therapeutic treatments follow.  Thorough but concise definitions remain the norm in this update, and the challenge of encompassing the diverse fields of psychology in a single volume makes this a triumph of cooperative composition and outstanding editing.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

Edited by prolific author and counselor-educator Neukrug (Old Dominion Univ.), this authoritative, two-volume work is the first encyclopedia to trace the evolution of theory in counseling and psychotherapy.  The work draws on the knowledge of 327 international scholars who have penned its more than 300 signed contributions.  All of the alphabetically arranged entries (save for the biographical ones) are conveniently and intuitively broken down into segments, offering a description, historical context, theoretical underpinnings, major concepts, techniques, therapeutic process,see-also references to other entries, and further readings.  Volume 1 consists of entries A-I, a reader's guide, and a list of theorists, along with information about the editor and a list of contributors.  Volume 2 continues the alphabetical entries (J-Z) and features a chronology highlighting key developments in the history of counseling and psychotherapy, along with a resource guide listing journals and professional associations.

This work by Ballas (Univ. of Sheffield, UK), Dorling, and Hennig (both, Univ. of Oxford) combines human geography and human cartography to shed light on contemporary Europe in an innovative way.  At the center of the study are cartograms: maps based not on land scale but founded instead on statistical and demographic data.  Hence, a map focused on gross domestic product shows Germany as proportionally much larger than former Soviet-bloc nations.  The book is organized into 13 chapters, the bulk of which focus on measurable social, economic, and political entities such as education, health, environment, employment, and the like.  Each chapter in turn revolves around a series of cartograms, each of which addresses a specific question.  Each cartogram is accompanied by a brief narrative that analyzes the salient aspects and significance of the chart.  The maps are clearly the star here.  The overall effect is of a series of vignettes that breaks down national stereotypes.  Indeed, the authors indicate that they seek to promote a pan-European ideal, claiming that "old nationalisms can appear a little ridiculous when they are viewed dispassionately."