You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The authors are to be commended for editing a book that encompasses a broad spectrum of papers pertaining to group therapy. Although this technique is only forty years old, it has grown rapidly and is now practised throughout the world. This book will prove useful as an introduction to the fundamentals of group therapy. The more sophisticated professional will find a profusion of articles that will expand his understanding; the doubtful, the skeptical and the cynical will find much food for thought about a technique that has gained such wide acceptance so rapidly.
The first section, “Social Psychology and Small Group Theory,” contains many excellent papers. Some of the authors represented are Gardner Murphy, Solomon Asch, and Muzafer Sherif. This section delineates cultural influences and their effects on human behavior, and much can also be learned about experimental design and the validation of hypotheses.
Muzafer Sherif's paper deals with experiments in group conflict and the spontaneous formation of group organization. His study points out that the possibility for achieving harmony is greatly enhanced when groups are brought together to work toward a common goal. Hostility gives way when groups pull together.
Our theories and our perceptions of mental illness have been greatly modified and changed over the years. The “Historical Survey” section broadens our perspectives and indicates how much we have clarified theory.
This section contains a paper on Dejerine, a French psychiatrist who was published fifty years ago and achieved a great deal of recognition for his awareness that persuasion and logic are of little use in the treatment of neurosis. He emphasized the constructive forces in the doctor-patient relationship.