Psychology and Mental Health
- Author:
Hadfield,
n t t ? T j. A M.A., M.B. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London. 18s.
This book, based on Dr Hadfield’s lectures at the University of London, is intended for the advanced student rather than the specialist. It endeavours to Cover in 435 pages the author’s views and experience ?,n normal mental mechanisms, psychopathological fieoiy antj practice, and the neurotic deviations, st h ear^er chapters are rather tedious and the JUuent may be left with an uneasy feeling at this age that biological and constitutional factors are of ?J.?re paramount importance than the author ntends. The remainder of the book is easy, and en entertaining, to read, though there are irritating annerisms of style such as the author’s use of the Pr?noun ” we ” even in his description of clinical j- aterial. It is odd, too, to find the emasculated ?nn ” bl . . dy ” occurring several timss in a Psychiatric textbook.
th ** *s over auth?r’s psychopathological .??ry that most interest?and controversy? ^ 1 arise. Dr Hadfield, in the first chapter, sch?r^es as ” belonging to no specific n?ol of psychotherapy, though profiting by all”. e accepts many of Freud’s mechanisms but bounces much of his psychopathology whilst it is v-en harder to trace Jungian or Adlerian ews. His final chapter on treatment best illust ates his ideas. He describes his method of direct reductive analysis ” in which the presenting jmptom is linked back by free association with the nuclear incident ” ; transference is not accepted e ^ essential part of the analysis situation and the rg] 10nal content of the nuclear incident ” is teased towards the person or experience to whom nu P,r?Perly belongs This relationship between em ar “lc^ent and presenting symptom is prominsu r?uShout the whole book ; it results in a Perficially satisfying explanation of the symbolism symptom choice, but it does not make it clear jj.y any symptoms at all originated in the first place. c Is explanation of the oedipus situation as a in I??0site early genital stimulation interpreted the light of adolescent sexual feelings and his description of the super-ego apparently as a wholely pathological phenomenon, reveal the same superficial attitude towards mental mechanisms.
Dr Hadfield’s views on Mental Health and delinquency are coloured similarly and little regard is paid to the dynamics of integrating the individual to the community.
This is an interesting book and it contains much of value ; but it does not convince, and one is left with the impression that the psychopathological explanations are all a little too ” easy ” to be true. T.A.R.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.