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The problem of human aggression has become the subject of ever increasing interest and debate in current scientific circles, as evidenced by the number of recent books, scientific papers, panels, and congresses. Still, the quest for an adequate theory of aggression, psychoanalytic or otherwise, goes on largely unfulfilled.
The present volume provides us with some very useful insights into the patterns of hostility that evolve from specific disturbances in childhood development, reflected in far-reaching, lifelong effects. In brief, the authors believe that pathological hostility is the result of failure on the part of parents to provide the two great essentials for normal development: unselfish love, and respect for the child's personhood. The resulting developmental disturbances are described in terms of excessive childish dependency (from lack of necessary balance), insatiable need to be loved (from parents' failure to give real love), envy and rivalry, with demands for prestige (from favoritism or rejection, or projection of parents' ambition onto the child), disordered conscience (from harsh training), and revengefulness (from misguided treatment and especially from sibling rivalry).
Over-all, the book is divided into five major parts: Biological Orientation, Psychological Orientation, Hostilodynamic Mechanisms, Social and Political Attitudes, and Toward Prevention and Cure. Clinically, the categories that are included under the heading of hostilodynamic mechanisms consist of the antisocial (criminal, criminoid), private (neurotic and psychosomatic), and social (sublimated). Each category is copiously illustrated with clinical vignettes detailing the early experiential deficiency and the resulting disorder.
The strength of the presentation lies in the richness of the clinical