Human Adaptation and its Failures focuses on the nature of psychopathology and its relation to normal behavior. The book first offers information on key concepts, including environmental factors in adaptation, nonadaptive behavior patterns, and a critique of approaches to normal and psychiatrically impaired behaviors. The text then surveys the development from biological organism to adult social being; social competence and societal expectations; and measurement of social competence. Topics include early experience and psychological development, social status as a way of life, social, moral, and intellectual development, and sex differences in social competence. The manuscript takes a look at social competence, adaptive potential, and psychological development and adaptive potential and adaptive failure. The publication also examines the definition and measurement of adaptive failure, conceptual issues in adaptive failure, and pathological behavior style and life-style. The text is a dependable reference for readers wanting to study human adaptation and its failures.