[Are child guidance centers oriented to the middle class? Consequences for psychosocial planning]

The widespread opinion, that child guidance clinics were adapted to the standards of middle-class families is a prejudice. Investigations during the past 15 years have shown, that the percentage of lower-class families at least reaches the average rate of lower-class families in the west-german population. A lot of confusion concerning this question is due to certain investigations using unprecise methods and not clearly defined references. The tendency, that Child- and Adolescent Psychiatrists (working as an independent service or integrated into a multiprofessional team) are frequented slightly more often by lower-class families than child guidance clinics without doctors, is becoming increasingly evident. This however does not in our opinion justify the foundation of independent child-psychiatric-services in the first front. This would also conflict with the recommendations made by the "Psychiatry-Enquete". Instead it is advisable to integrate appropriately qualified doctors in all child guidances clinics. This kind of teamwork helps to overcome misunderstandings as well as narrow minded views and makes mutual understanding and learning possible, it improves the inevitable essential cooperation and through that ameliorates the quality of the auxiliary-service for the clients. To meet the needs of lower-class clients, we have to search for new ways of thinking and coping in child guidance work and these services should be made known through professional public relation work.