Mental Readjustment
- Author:
Sidonie Reiss. With
a prefatory note by Alexandra Adler, M.D. Translated by Bernard Miall. London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 167 pp. 10s. 6d. net.
The interpretation of a prophet to a succeeding generation presents problems which are not entirely solved in this brief attempt to convey to parents ar>d teachers of small children, to social workers and related professions, the essence of the School ?f Individual Psychology founded by Alfred Adler. Faced with the choice of either explaining at the beginning that the book is a presentation of Adler’s work, and then allowing the text to speak for itself, 0r else continuing throughout to give credit to the Master as each point is made, Miss Reiss chooses the latter, perhaps unwisely. The result is not only a Wnt of adulation, but also that Adler is credited with a great many ” discoveries many of which are mere commonplaces and some are part of traditional wisdom. It is correspondingly difficult to find out from this book exactly what Adler’s eontribution has been to psychological thought. Miss Reiss is clearly happier when presenting ease material than explaining theory ; and the obscurities of the first part?perhaps the translator was uncomfortable too?are not met with later. The case histories are interesting, but it is a comparatively simple world which is described. The bark of childhood, sturdy though it is, sails perilously between the Scylla of parental ” cossetting ” and the Charybdis of parental severity, laden with organ inferiority and steering, not by right and wrong which have been abolished, but by correct behaviour and error. Or perhaps the reviewer in search of a striking metaphor is guilty of over-simplification too.
The recent spate of books explaining psychology to parents, teachers and social workers has left its mark in a certain degree of sophistication, and perhaps Miss Reiss would have been better advised to take her readers more into her confidence. Many of these readers will wish to know in greater detail the relationship between cause and effect in children’s psychological problems, and will not be content any longer with a description of effect and a bare statement of cause. They will want to know in greater detail how these mechanisms work, what governs the final path of a neurotic ^reaction and what is the evidence of this alleged organ ” sensitivity ” to trouble.
Perhaps the most surprising feature of the book is a remark in a prefatory note by Dr Alexandra Adler that ” the author avoids sweeping generalizations On the contrary, the theoretical section of this book is no deeper than the level of generalizations, and the author should consider attempting to satisfy the hunger of this section of the reading public for a more serious exposition of her subject. K.S.
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