Are Social Psychiatry and Community Pshchiatry Subsepecialties of Psychiatry

Exploration of social systems and cultures and their impact on individuals is an interdisciplinary endeavor; psychiatry is only one of many disciplines that have made important contributions. Social scientists and dynamic psychiatrists can learn from each other as well as from the other people they relate to. To call the new applied science of groups and organizations "social psychiatry" or "community psychiatry" seems to the authors somewhat presumptuous. A bold interdisciplinary approach in training and research may be necessary to develop a needed new applied science.