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This volume results from a four-day discussion of the subject. Dr. Paul Hoch's keynote address on Concepts of Schizophrenia presents a lucid account of the problem but is essentially descriptive and avoids consideration of dynamics. Arieti believes that schizophrenia can be explained by progressive teleologic regression. What this means is not very clear and the ensuing discussion does not clarify the concept. Wexler, following a suggestion by Freud, considers deficiency in internal object representation crucial in schizophrenia. Kanner expresses the view that the psychiatrist should stop searching for the one cause and treatment of the different ailments called schizophrenia. Rado suggests that schizophrenia results from at least two hereditary impairments of the organism: diminished capacity for pleasure, and proneness to disturbed awareness of the bodily self. It becomes the responsibility of the therapist to help the patient accept and make best use of his nature with its limitations.
Several participants, particularly Rado, seem to go out of the way to criticize freudian views, often with comments not pertinent to the symposium. According to Rado, when the patient develops 'resistance', freudian analysts in effect accuse him of being at fault in not wishing to get well. Comments like this give the discussion an occasional unwitting touch of humor. Rado apparently is either unaware of or does not accept the concept of the defensive mechanisms of the ego. Ackerman clashes with Freud's recommendation that relatives not be brought into the treatment. He ignores the fact that Freud was speaking of treatment of the neuroses and was not referring to the psychoses.
The book draws together differing views regarding the outpatient treatment of schizophrenia. Concepts are not developed or worked