In this second monograph in the Sage Studies in Community Mental Health, Cary Cherniss shows us how the perceptiveness of a humane scientist can bring understanding and clarity to the problem of staff burnout in community mental health. Cherniss accomplishes this task in a number of ways. First, he helps us to recognize that to understand the problem we must go beyond exploration of the individual characteristics of either the mental health worker or the client. Organizational factors, job design, social support by one's colleagues, and the role expectations communicated in the course of professional training all play a part. Cherniss broadens our vision of the meaning of the term "burnout" and places it in the context of already existing social science knowledge.