Chapter One
INTRODUCTION TO CHILD PSYCHOPATHOLOGY: DEVELOPMENT, THEORIES, AND INFLUENCES

Recognition of clinical child psychology as a unique discipline has only emerged in the past 30 years, despite auspicious beginnings. The end of the 19th century ushered in an era of social reform that addressed the need to protect children's rights concerning health and education, to provide protection within the judicial system, and to free children from working within the adult workforce (Culbertson, 1991). In the wake of this movement, child labor laws and mandatory education became a reality. At the turn of the century, Lightner Witmer established the first psychology clinic to treat children with learning disabilities, and by 1909 more than 450 cases had been seen at the clinic. However, Witmer fell out of favor with colleagues, due to his refusal to adopt Terman's revision of the Stanford Binet tests of intelligence and his reluctance to accept Freud's theories on behavior disorders.
William Healey, an Engl ... read full excerpt from Essentials of Child Psychopathology ebook