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“Införlivanden” is a broad term designating a psychic mechanism through which influences from outside and inside the psyche will determine how the individual experiences the world and himself. Clarence Crafoord also speaks about “införlivande” as the phenomenon when a concept, a face or an event assumes a special meaning for a person. This meaning will settle as an internal structure, which will become responsible for how further influences will be perceived and managed. The mechanism will be part of a continual interchange between the individual and his surroundings. This interchange Crafoord calls the development-enhancing dialogue. The book reviewed here represents Crafoord's thoughts about the characteristics and meanings of this dialogue.
The Swedish term “införlivande” seems to me, from a linguistic point of view, suitable for communicating the meaning which Crafoord attributes to this phenomenon. Crafoord has himself compared his term with the psychoanalytic concept of internalisation. However, the use of the Swedish term suggests a broader field of meaning than the more technical concept of internalisation. There may be problems in translating it into other languages. A possible Danish translation might be “tilegnelse”. Perhaps a more everyday appropriate English term could be “assimilation”.
Crafoord's basic idea is that man's psyche is built up through a constant dialogue with his surroundings. This “development-enhancing dialogue” is illustrated by a relatively simple model which Crafoord calls the developing circle. In this model, the dialogue is divided into an exploration into the outside world, and a seeking of response from it. We are, accordingly, dealing with both an active searching, and an active taking answers back. Through this activity, a view of the surrounding world and of oneself in the world is built up and organized in a structure which Crafoord calls the inner reference system. The subject will constantly try to have this system confirmed