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This book approaches the problem of neurosis from a unique angle. No attempt is made to draw a diagnostic picture of any neurosis, but rather the subject is approached from a study of character traits common to neurotics in general. The neurotic is presented from the outside in, so to speak. He is shown primarily as an individual reacting in inter-personal relations, that is, reacting to the institutions of his culture and its individuals. He is described as struggling with anxieties and hostilities in relation to people and situations. The author traces the anxieties back to a basic anxiety which is the feeling of a small helpless being in a hostile world. Defensive hostility is developed from this, and this hostility in turn creates new fears and so on through ramifications to the adult picture where anxiety finds expression in fear of loss of love and competitive fears of failure. The anxiety is roused by any impulse from within which violates vital interests in the cultural setting. So the adult strives to master the situation neurotically, on the one hand, by a compulsive need for affection, and, on the other, by a striving for power, prestige and possessions, or there may be a neurotic withdrawal from all striving. This in very meagre outline is the theme of the book.
Because of the difference of accent in the author's approach to the problem of neurosis from the usual psycho-analytical one, she tends to diverge from the strict Freudian theories at some points. Neurotic guilt and masochism are seen more in relation to the cultural picture than as concepts with a biological basis in the individual. The author also raises the question whether the Oedipus complex can be proved to be universal, whether we shall find it in all cultures no matter what the family structure is, or even whether we shall find that it exists in all individuals in this culture. She suggests that it may be found to grow out of a neurotic family situation. In short, the author v