Review of The Two Psychiatries: The Transformation of Psychiatric Work in Saskatchewan, 1905-1984

The Great Plains region has a history of producing innovations in mental health. This book, an historical account and sociological analysis of the evolution of the Saskatchewan public mental health system, describes one Great Plains phenomenon that at times during this century has been remarkably progressive. The book began as the author\u27s dissertation in the sociology of health care and was made possible by his fortuitous access to confidential government archives, primarily in the form of interoffice correspondence, in addition to the public historical record. Dickenson evaluates several hypotheses generated by sociologies of labor and professions. The brief and succinct appendix offers a focused and systematic comparison of classical, Marxist, and more recent hypotheses about labor processes, and the reader unfamiliar with the sociology of work is advised to read it first. Most of the book is historical account and anecdote, interspersed with commentary on implications for one or another point in this evaluation