Subnormal Mind
- Type:
Book Reviews
- Author:
Professor Cyril
^urt. Oxford University Press. 1935. 10/6. rl^is book is an expansion of the third series Health Clark Lectures delivered at the Uni- ersity of London in 1933. Although intended j Warily for doctors, the matter is dealt with such a manner as to form what the Americans an orientation course in the subject of men- u abnormality for all interested in this work, Aether doctors, psychologists, teachers or s?cial workers.
a hi *erm ” sub-normal ” has been consider- y extended. There are chapters on the in- ectually subnormal, both mentally deficient dnd dull or backward, the morally subnormal )r delinquent, and the emotionally subnormal r neurotic. Partly because of his own special , xperience in the field and partly acting on the euef that prevention is better than cure, Pro- cessor Burt has dealt mainly with the wide ,ange of problems as they occur in children. As p says, ” at these younger ages, the nature of e difficulties and of the causes that produce eiri, is presented in a simpler and more trans- ient form.”
, ^n his opening chapter on the normal mind, e Maintains that psychology is to be considered ^ so much a branch of physiology as a branch 1 biology and further, that individual psychol- sy is of most importance for the medical udent and others interested in this problem, e then sets out from the practical psychoi- d’s case-history sheet, to define the various ndencies that can be usefully assessed and to evise a method for the quantitative measure- ent of each. He pays particular attention to e intellectual and temperamental aspects and ^les to indicate the extent to which they are in- ??n or acquired, and general or specific factors. 1 he chapters on intellectual subnormality are ‘ summary of the author’s more extended works ready available on these subjects and serve introduction to those who are not familiar ‘th his larger works and a very useful refresher ,? those who are, and also a foretaste of his ,?ng-awaited book on the backward child. It s important to note his caution that the study a backward group alone is not sufficent. Our n?nplnsions should always be based on the com- parison of such a group with a control group of ormal children taken from the same mass of school population.
He clearly distinguishes between the extrinsic and intrinsic cases of backwardness and shows that while the former are amenable to short periods of tutorial treatment and restorable to ordinary classes, the latter require permanent adjustment of the curriculum to their mental level. He advocates special classes for the juniors and special schools and a complete re- modelling of the curriculum for the seniors.
In discussing the delinquent, he treats crime as a natural psychological reaction and suggests a psychological diagnosis of the underlying causes and a course of treatment rather than punishment in order to re-educate the young delinquent in the hope of producing a law- abiding adult citizen instead of a hardened crim- inal. The chapter on the delinquent along with the four succeeding chapters on the neurotic and their ascertainment and incidence, should serve as an excellent introduction to work in the field usually covered by Child Guidance Clinics.
In his discussions of the neurosis, the author has not adopted a dogmatic position based on the findings of any one system of psychology, but has rather tried to show how each and all of the many varied theories may help to elucidate the actual cases which occur most frequently in clinical work with children. He proposes to distinguish two main groups of neuroses. In the one, the inhibiting emotions ?fear, sorrow, submission and disgust?are pre- dominant; in the other, the aggressive emotions ?anger, self-assertion, curiosity, sex and the like. Teachers would call the former “nervous” and the latter “naughty” and doctors, “neur- asthenic ” and ” hysterical,” but the author suggests the terms ” asthenic ” and ” sthenic.” They are distinguished in the main as follows: the former, less deeply psychological than the latter, are based on more recent causes and are more dependent on physical conditions.
After discussing the different types with much illustrative detail from actual cases, the author gives some tentative figures for the frequency of incidence of the neurotic child. From his own figures obtained in a sample borough in London, he finds as many as 4% in urgent need of special treatment, and another 13% requiring further investigation of the case. He states that if these cases could be dealt with intensively in early life by some such means as child-guidance clinics, we should save countless individuals from definite breakdown in later life and enormously diminish the amount of unhappiness, inefficiency and social friction.
In three appendices are given his Tests of educational attainments, his revised scale of In- telligence Tests and a questionnaire on neurotic symptoms.
Anyone who wants to ascertain the present status of these various types of diagnosis in clinical work with children in England, could not do better than make a careful and thorough study of this book, which requires frequent perusal to realise the full wealth of material which it contains. D.K.F.
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