[Certain reflections of a child psychiatrist on school failure]

School failure is an important phenomenon about which not only the teachers are very much concerned, but also the sociologists and the political authorities. As it is the main reason why people consult them, child psychiatrists, psychologists and professionals in mental health are led to consider, beside the specific psychopathological factors, the socio-cultural and pedagogical aspects involved in different ways everytime a child meets difficulties at school. The programs of intervention resulting from this dynamic approach raise the question of the limits of the psychiatrists' competence and practice. The cooperation with the school in particular should take into account the risks arising from any confusion between therapeutic and pedagogic responsibilities. Finally, serious school failure leads us to question how special education works, when considering inadaptation only as a consequence of deficits. We should compare the advantages of such a system in connection with the possibilities-still to be imagined- of integration through the channel of ordinary school teaching.