The monograph looks at changing perceptions of maladjusted children in the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1981. In 1945 these children were first recognized as a category of handicapped pupils in the law and in 1981 the Education Act replaced specified categories of handicap with a concept of special educational provision based on the special educational needs of individual children. Topics considered in the monograph include the following: the 1945 definition of maladjusted children; perceptions of maladjusted children from 1945 to 1970; perceptions of maladjusted children as being ill; maladjustment and emotional disturbance; the Underwood Report (1955) of the Committee on Maladjusted Children; the concept of psychiatric disorder; the Department of Education and Science Circular of March 1975; the behavioral model; the Warnock Report of 1978 by the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People. An appendix reviews means of identifying maladjusted children. (DB)