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“We are living in a time when a reestimation of all values is taking place. The world is like a witch's cauldron, fermenting and bubbling. Will the fateful phrase, ‘The Downfall of Western Civilization,’ become a sad truth? Or will humanity arise after its severe illness in renewed youth and capable of new possibilities of good fortune and happiness ? “In these words Stekel introduces his subject matter on the “Education of Parents.” He emphasizes that a long experience has taught physicians that the root of many evils of humanity including nervous disorders must be sought in the family. It is possible for sick humanity to recover and regain its lost ability to enjoy life and its social adaptation, providing a complete regeneration of family life can be accomplished.
According to Stekel, any scheme for reorganizing family life must begin with more attention to the children, as the early impressions determine the future course in life. He concurs with Romain Rolland who said, “Wine always retains the odor of the first vessel into which it was poured. Thus the soul to the end of its days wears the stamp of a ruined youth.” The present book is an attempt to study and explain the disorders in the characters of the parents, and the manner in which their instinctive life affects the descendants. Starting with the concept that nervous children originate in unhappy or inharmonious marriages, the various types of mothers and fathers are described. Separate chapters or sections are thus devoted to the nervous father and mother, to the frigid mother, the mannish and “child” wife types as mother, the dissatisfied mother, the too young and overmature mother, the easily excited and the apathetic mother, and the puritanical mother. As to parent combinations, the author presents interesting material on the frivolous parents, sadistic parents, egotistic parents, divorcement situations, alcoholic types, compulsive characters as parents, overly strict parents, and foster parent reactio