Reik, Theodor. The Unknown Murder. Translated from the German by Dr. Katherine Jones. The International Psycho-Analytical Library No. 27. Published by  Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, London, and The Institute of Pscho-Analysis.

An examination of the psychological problems presented by the detection, conviction and punishment of crime. An exceedingly valuable contribution to this subject by a well known psychoanalyst.

It is difficult to understand just how worthwhile reforms can be brought about in the field of criminology, but that the psychoanalytic school has been a valuable contribution there is no longer doubt if one will read this book carefully. It is rich in suggestions of all sorts, and many fundamental principles of importance are offered. In the first place, it would be well to begin in consideration of a criminological problem with the self-appraisement of Goethe, who said: “There is no crime of which I do not deem myself capable.” This fact, which apparently is not at all appreciated as such, gives a key to many of the difficulties of criminology, and particularly to many judicial errors. It is not appreciated, also, that there are judicial errors undoubtedly of considerable frequency, and of course where capital crime is involved, of great seriousness. There is a literature on this subject from which the author draws freely and cites many cases to illustrate his points.

One of the outstanding circumstances surrounding the detection of the criminal and his punishment is that all those who are engaged in this procedure are themselves capable of the crime committed. The crime therefore serves to activate their own tendencies, and these tendencies thus activated, they need to defend themselves from, and the method taken of defense is the method of finding someone who is guilty and punishing him so that the detective and the judge who have had their own instinctive aggressive tendencies activated by the procedure in which they are