Sexuality and Psychoanalysis. Edward T. Adelson (Ed.). New York:  Brunner/Mazel, 1975.  312 pp.

Sexuality and Psychoanalysis is a compilation of papers delivered at the Society of Medical Psychoanalysts. Clear, lively, and informative, they cover a portion of scientific vanguard research ranging over many fields which interrelate with psychoanalysis and sexuality, such as physiology, experimental primatology, endocrinology, sociology, and behavioristic sex therapy. Knowledge of phsysiology, anatomy, and endocrinology has vastly broadened since Freud first began theorizing on the etiology of the neuroses and human sexuality. Because Freud used scientific information from these fields which was prevalent during his lifetime, his theory is inextricably bound up with some of it. Therefore, reading this volume can update a psychoanalyst's information.

Since each paper makes a unique contribution, it is impossible to give an idea of all. However, for those of us concerned with developmental psychology and ego psychology, enthusiasm will be aroused by exposure to the material introduced by Wm. T. McKinney, Jr., which is followed by the superior commentary of Richard G. Van Gelder. Entitled “Psychoanalysis Revisited in Terms of Experimental Primatology,” the paper poses parallel questions which are asked by both psychoanalysis and experimental primatology. (Parenthetically, Mahler's latest work, The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant, explores these questions, using human subjects.)

1. What are the important variables in the development of a reciprocal mother-infant attachment bond? 2. What are the short term and long term differential effects of various rearing conditions on primate social behavior? 3. What role does separation have in the production of abnormal behavior and what are the short and long term effects of separation from various affectional and environmental situations … 4. What is the nature of the interaction between social and biological factors in producing abnormal behavior? 5. What rehabilitative approaches are effective in reversing syndromes o