This book, which proposes a developmental view of short-term inpatient treatment for severely disturbed children, is much needed in our field. It is particularly relevant, emotionally engaging, and a pleasure to read because the writers who are the actual participants and leaders in the milieu program, discuss their own experiences with a variety of children. The principles of milieu therapy are beautifully described and its application to a diverse ethnic population of sick children is clearly delineated. I congratulate Leon Hoffman and his co-workers for bringing to the field of child psychiatry a timely and helpful work. Irving N. Berlin, M. D. Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics Director, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Director, Children's Psychiatric Center, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico PREFACE Children who require hospital or residential treatment need an environment that provides a structure to their daily activities. Much of the literature on milieu treatment is inadequate because of a lack of integration between the various theoretical frames of reference and their practical application. Berlin has stressed the importance of a developmental frame of reference in the organization of a hospital child psychiatry unit. * The Mount Sinai Medical Center is a large urban institution located on the fringes of a New York City ghetto.