Preface<br > In xga4 two wel!qmrn Chicago boys const~red to kill an un-<br > ol~nding younger friend for no obvious reason. Partly just becaUSe<br > the crime seemed so senseless， and partly because the families could<br > afford to pay for their services， many prominent American psychia-<br > wists were brought into the limelight of the trial to explain the<br >state of mind of the offenders. These colleagues were arraigned<br >against one another; the opinions sworn to by some were flatly<br >~oatradlcted and denied by others.<br > This awkward and inconclusive exhibition gave rise to wide-<br >spread public comment. It came at a time when in fields other than<br >the law. psychiatry was leaping into a new prominence and prom-<br >ise of usefulness. The outpatient clinic had been created， neoars-<br >phenamine had been discovered， psychological tests were being de-<br >veloped， the child guidance clinic had been born， and psycho-<br >analysis and other forms of psychiatric treatment were inspiring<br >new hope in a field long characterized by cheerlessness and despair.<br >It seemed appropriate， therefore， to William Alanson White， then<br >president of the American Psychiatric Association to appoint j<br >special committ~ of that organization to study the relationl "<br >psychiatry and psychiatrists to the law and lawyersj ，to<br >trol， and to court procedure. To my great surpri~<br >pointed me chairman of that committ~ amt ~~v;n<br >