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This book comprises the papers and discussions presented before the Academy of Psychoanalysis for the two meetings of December 1957 and May 1958. The former investigated the problem of masochism and the latter reviewed the recent studies of the familial, social, and cultural settings of individual behavior.
Salzman reviews the theory and therapy of masochism. He departs from the classical freudian concept which roots it in an instinctual
drive. He prefers the more recent view where it is described as a means for obtaining love in which pain and discomfort appear as unavoidable obstacles.
Kelman presents the views of the school of Karen Horney. The concept of masochism is denied altogether and the observed clinical phenomena are described in terms of pride, self-hate, alienation, and the defense of self-extinction and self-effacement.
Clara Thompson agrees with Salzman that masochism is the ego's payment for love. However, she emphasizes the role of aggression. She ascribes the genesis of the disorder to parents without affection in whom the child can feel neither trust nor security. She advocates some catering to the patient's need for love and recognition before making interpretations, but insists on the predominant role of interpretation and insight in therapeutic success.
May Romm supports both the classical view of masochism as rooted in an instinctual aim and the more modern one that it is the ego's defensive attempt to insure future pleasure by enduring present pain.
Hoch emphasizes that masochism is not a nosological entity but a common manifestation of humanity which may have different roots. Pathology can only be evaluated within the framework of the personality in which it occurs.
Millet agrees with the concept of masochism as a manifestation of the ego's attempt to deal with persistent maternal rejection. The therapist should play the role of a benign and trustworthy parent. This is more important than the impartation of insight.
Robert Mumford affor