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The authors of this painstaking and thought-provoking investigation have concerned themselves almost exclusively with the boundary aspect of the body-image concept. Such a limitation is necessary for the sake of setting up a rigorous research procedure, but it can be expected to provide only a partial elucidation of the whole problem.
The authors describe the Body Image Boundary as corresponding'… in some ways to a screen on which is projected the individual's basic feelings about his safety in the world. It is a screen which he interposes between himself and outer situations and which he can carry with him at all times.'
The assessment of degree of Body Image Boundary possessed by a person was evaluated by the authors almost exclusively by means of a special analysis of the Ror-schach responses. This analysis provided a “Barrier Score”, “… the level of positive assertion of boundary definiteness …” and “Penetration of Boundary Score”, designed to reflect'… sensations of boundary breakdown and fragility'.
While the Barrier Score was obtained by counting the number of times responses referred to surface qualities of objects—clothing, armour, things covered or concealed, or their container-like characteristics—the Penetration of Boundary Score was calculated from the number of apperceptions of the surface of things being penetrated, disrupted, or worn away, references to body openings, etc. Examining the sample responses provided I was much struck by the fact that the Penetration of Boundary Score was derived from more clearly pathognomonic responses than was the Barrier Score. Further, the identical score for either Barrier Score or Penetration of Boundary Score could be obtained from predominantly “healthy” or from predominantly “unhealthy” responses. And yet a Penetration of Boundary Score composed of responses like “animal drinking”, “a dog yawning”, “a doorway”, surely reveals, one must suppose, a different psychopathology and a different body image from the identic