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This book differs from most others on psycho-pathology in that it is not written from the standpoint of any one school, nor does it deal with the various schools seriatim; rather is it an ambitious attempt to integrate the findings of a large number of different schools, particularly those of Freud, Adler, Adolf Meyer, the Gestalt school, Goldstein, Pavlov, etc. It is not altogether clear for whom the book is intended, though the authors state that they have tried to make it not only intelligible but plausible to the average college student who is willing to read it carefully; they also state: 'This book attempts to present an integrated picture of what we know of the psychologically disturbed individual. In this attempt we have used contributions from a wide variety of sources—from clinical, experimental, hypnotic, comparative, psychoanalytic and psychobiological observations. … We found that this synthesis could be accomplished best in terms of dynamic psychology.' This seems to indicate a more ambitious aim. The reviewer would commend it to less advanced students, who yet wish to take the subject seriously.
Beginning straight away with a case history, and using it as a text, the authors explain the relevance of the various chapter headings to follow, such as: what is normal and abnormal; the relation of difficulties to personality; the personality as a whole; vital needs and the concept of conflict; psychosomatic relationships; ætiology; psychotherapy. Over 100 pages are devoted to 'psychodynamic processes' such as conflict and frustration; much attention is given to 'disturbances of the evaluation' of the environment and of the self, i.e. security-feeling and self-esteem, and the catastrophic disturbances of these. Twenty-five methods of coping with dangers are described, each being summarized in a formula, e.g. for compromise formation: 'If I strive for the goal in a straightforward manner, I shall not be strong enough to reach it, or dangers will prev