REVIEWS AND CRITICISM.
- Author:
Richard C. Cabot, M.D.
Xew York: Moffat, Yard & Co., 1909.
Dr Cabot’s book is dedicated to tlie social workers of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and it is the wide possibilities which are being
opened to the social worker, which engages much of Dr Cabot’s attention. His central theme, however, is team work, of doctor and social
worker, and of doctor and patient.
In the first and last chapters Dr Cabot points out the absentmindedness, even the partial blindness of the busy hospital physician. “What
is there in the waiting-room?” he asks. “A pretty good lot of material,”
his assistant replies briskly. “There’s a couple of good hearts, a big liver
with jaundice, a floating kidney, three pernicious anemias, and a flat
foot.” With this varied collection awaiting him the doctor has little
time to see anything but the foreground of the picture, the immediate
physical need. Dr Cabot believes that it is necessary for the physician
to see the background too, not only to diagnose the disease and prescribe
the remedy, but also to find the underlying cause and root it out. This
he cannot do without the help of the social worker, and in order to help
him properly, she must be adequately trained.
Social work as a profession is new. Dr Cabot says, “Philanthropy
and Charity were its poor but honest parents.” He defines the function
of the social worker, not as friend (“friends are not made in a day or
a month”), not as neighbor, though both are sometimes possible, but as
expert. And the essence and center of social work, corresponding to
diagnosis and treatment in the science of medicine, is, in Dr Cabot’s
opinion, “the study of character and of the influences that mold it for
good or ill.” One of the strongest influences of course is poverty,?poverty, which Dr Cabot says is “to social work as pain is to medical work.”
As to the question whether it is possible to teach this psychical diagnosis and treatment, Dr Cabot believes it is, and he very practically
maps out for the student the kind of book on character study which
could be written and could form the basis for lectures. In default of
proper teacher and text books, Dr Cabot makes valuable suggestions of
books to be read and conditions to be studied.
Dr Cabot sees no reason why social work should be confined to the
poor. Once thoroughly equipped and recognized as an expert, he thinks
the social worker should have office hours, a private practice, and be
consulted “in all sorts of moral and domestic difficulties, by parents of
difficult children, and by children of difficult parents,” etc. He adds with
a solemnity which we feel must conceal a smile, that his own most intimate knowledge of the topic has been gained from the work done on him
by his wife, and he believes “the understanding and molding of faulty
character is possible,” because he has “experienced it in the hands of an
expert.” Apparently another case of “what every woman knows,” but
with the man fully conscious of his indebtedness.
Team work between the educator, the doctor, the social worker, and
the patient,?this is the keynote of Dr Cabot’s book. He objects to
Professor Munsterberg’s plea in “Psychotherapy” for armed neutrality,
believing that no such sharp boundaries can be maintained. He points
out the changes in the medical profession and in the professions of social
work and teaching in the last ten years, and shows the increasing evidence
of their interpenetration and closer cooperation.
To get the best team work between doctor and patient, Dr Cabot
believes means the elimination of all lying. He offers many examples
to prove his contention that there is no circumstance which can arise
between doctor and patient where the truth is not preferable to a lie. It
seems to us that here Dr Cabot is a trifle fanatical, believing as he
does that even if one can save a life by a lie, it is better to tell the truth
and sacrifice one life rather than turn a lie loose on society. It looks
as if Dr Cabot’s domesticated social worker had omitted to point out
through a course on Ibsen and other modern ethical writers, how dangerous it is to have hide-bound rules of morality, and how necessary it is
to judge each separate case on its individual merits, with a mind unprejudiced even by high ideals. Dr Cabot’s idealism leads him also to make
the astonishing statement, “Very few Americans like to lie.” If nations
differ at all morally, which seems very doubtful, on what grounds, I
wonder, are we Americans picked out for this special encomium? Is it
the subconscious influence of George Washington and the cherry tree?
This, however, is only a small part of a most interesting and helpful
book, one which shows not only the value of individual work, but reveals
an endless chain of team work, which if effectually carried out might link
the whole world in brotherhood. E. P. W.
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Social Service and the Art of Healing
REVIEWS AND CRITICISM.
Richard C. Cabot, M.D.
Xew York: Moffat, Yard & Co., 1909. Dr Cabot’s book is dedicated to tlie social workers of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and it is the wide possibilities which are being opened to the social worker, which engages much of Dr Cabot’s attention. His central theme, however, is team work, of doctor and social worker, and of doctor and patient.
In the first and last chapters Dr Cabot points out the absentmindedness, even the partial blindness of the busy hospital physician. “What is there in the waiting-room?” he asks. “A pretty good lot of material,” his assistant replies briskly. “There’s a couple of good hearts, a big liver with jaundice, a floating kidney, three pernicious anemias, and a flat foot.” With this varied collection awaiting him the doctor has little time to see anything but the foreground of the picture, the immediate physical need. Dr Cabot believes that it is necessary for the physician to see the background too, not only to diagnose the disease and prescribe the remedy, but also to find the underlying cause and root it out. This he cannot do without the help of the social worker, and in order to help him properly, she must be adequately trained.
Social work as a profession is new. Dr Cabot says, “Philanthropy and Charity were its poor but honest parents.” He defines the function of the social worker, not as friend (“friends are not made in a day or a month”), not as neighbor, though both are sometimes possible, but as expert. And the essence and center of social work, corresponding to diagnosis and treatment in the science of medicine, is, in Dr Cabot’s opinion, “the study of character and of the influences that mold it for good or ill.” One of the strongest influences of course is poverty,?poverty, which Dr Cabot says is “to social work as pain is to medical work.” As to the question whether it is possible to teach this psychical diagnosis and treatment, Dr Cabot believes it is, and he very practically maps out for the student the kind of book on character study which could be written and could form the basis for lectures. In default of proper teacher and text books, Dr Cabot makes valuable suggestions of books to be read and conditions to be studied.
Dr Cabot sees no reason why social work should be confined to the poor. Once thoroughly equipped and recognized as an expert, he thinks the social worker should have office hours, a private practice, and be consulted “in all sorts of moral and domestic difficulties, by parents of difficult children, and by children of difficult parents,” etc. He adds with a solemnity which we feel must conceal a smile, that his own most intimate knowledge of the topic has been gained from the work done on him by his wife, and he believes “the understanding and molding of faulty character is possible,” because he has “experienced it in the hands of an expert.” Apparently another case of “what every woman knows,” but with the man fully conscious of his indebtedness.
Team work between the educator, the doctor, the social worker, and the patient,?this is the keynote of Dr Cabot’s book. He objects to Professor Munsterberg’s plea in “Psychotherapy” for armed neutrality, believing that no such sharp boundaries can be maintained. He points out the changes in the medical profession and in the professions of social work and teaching in the last ten years, and shows the increasing evidence of their interpenetration and closer cooperation.
To get the best team work between doctor and patient, Dr Cabot believes means the elimination of all lying. He offers many examples to prove his contention that there is no circumstance which can arise between doctor and patient where the truth is not preferable to a lie. It seems to us that here Dr Cabot is a trifle fanatical, believing as he does that even if one can save a life by a lie, it is better to tell the truth and sacrifice one life rather than turn a lie loose on society. It looks as if Dr Cabot’s domesticated social worker had omitted to point out through a course on Ibsen and other modern ethical writers, how dangerous it is to have hide-bound rules of morality, and how necessary it is to judge each separate case on its individual merits, with a mind unprejudiced even by high ideals. Dr Cabot’s idealism leads him also to make the astonishing statement, “Very few Americans like to lie.” If nations differ at all morally, which seems very doubtful, on what grounds, I wonder, are we Americans picked out for this special encomium? Is it the subconscious influence of George Washington and the cherry tree? This, however, is only a small part of a most interesting and helpful book, one which shows not only the value of individual work, but reveals an endless chain of team work, which if effectually carried out might link the whole world in brotherhood. E. P. W.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.
See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/scanning/