the logic of that world. Once acquired it is an invaluable aid to genuine understanding and sensitive response. Criticism Criticism has largely centred around the lack of availability of the HSSF for peer review. The copyright that was meant to protect it from abuse in the hands of non-practitioners had the effect of removing it from the critical analysis of those who use psychometric tools. Despite considerable interest and research in its earlier years, this restrictive copyright has continued to prevent appropriate scrutiny. The Eugene Heimler Literary Trust (EHLT) has now accepted this and is taking steps, albeit belatedly to permit the scale to be disseminated more widely for the purpose of such examination. Another area for concern has been the response range to the questions: "Yes", "Perhaps" and "No" have been thought to be too limited and it has been suggested that a Likert scale with a range between 1 and 5 might give more accurate results. Van Breda, a moderate critic of the HSSF, attempted to test this out, using a large number of scales, but found that similar results were obtained when the original scale and the Likert scale were used. References Eugene Heimler Heimler, E. (1955), Psychiatric social work with National Assistance Board cases, The Medical Officer, 25, 351–353. Heimler, E. (1957), The emotional significance of work 96-98, The Medical Officer, 60, 96–98. Heimler, E. (1958), New roads in psychiatric community care, The Medical Officer, 100, 295–296. Heimler, E. (1959), Night of the Mist, New York, Gefen Books. Heimler, E. (1960), A course in human relations, The Medical Officer, 103, 346–347. Heimler, E. (1962), A Link in the Chain, London, The Bodley Head Ltd. Heimler, E. (1967), The Hendon Experiment: on being one's brother's keeper – community care with a difference, Pulse, 15 13–14. Heimler, E. (1975), Survival in Society, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Heimler, E. (1980), Possibilities of treatment out of psychiatric hospitals, in World Health Organisation, Gent, Belgium, WHO. Heimler, E. (2010), Survival in Society, Edinburgh, BASF Publications (re-published with editorial changes) Davis, N. & Heimler, E. (1957), Mental health in General Practice: an experimental joint approach, British Journal of Psychiatric Social Work, 4, p. 11–15. Davis, N. & Heimler, E. (1967), An experiment in the assessment of social functioning, The Medical Officer, 117, 31–32. Heimler, E. (1989) Work with the Unemployed, in Counselling Diverse Client Groups: an international perspective on Human Social Functioning,