June 26th, we will begin a discussion of The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler, Volume 8, Chapters XXVII-XXVIII. The following chapter summaries were prepared by Manu Jaaskelainen.
Ch. XXVII
Crime and Neurosis (undated) is an unpublished manuscript that is based probably on the proceedings of a meeting for Individual Psychology in Berlin. Adler begins his paper warning once again against too narrow interpretations. What the individual reveals to us, is always only one aspect of his/her personality. Adler says also that it is not possible to make any interpretations on the basis of some presumed hereditary trait. Comparing crime and neurosis, Adler says that both are various forms of failures. According to Adler, the society (=us) should make an utmost effort to prevent crime. The single most important factor here is to develop life styles that are based on social feeling. In order to achieve this, the totality of social relations should be reformed.
Ch. XXVIII
Medical Working Group: Case of a Man with Compulsion Neurosis (1929) is also an unpublished manuscript. The paper contains a case report by Adler before a group of physicians who were practising Individual Psychologists. It is a story of a 48-year-old male university teacher. Although an exceptional specialist, he had never really been recognized. His relationships with his parents had always been tense, because he was never accepted by them. However, Adler finds that in this case the real source of the problems of the client were his real purposes: his goal was always to isolate himself from everyone. So the finalistic perspective brings about a change in the diagnosis. One of his problems was a compulsive need to spit. He even lost a fine academic appointment because of this peculiarity in his behavior. "He was terrified of testing his abilities, so he invented a symptom to gain distance from a world he perceived as hostile." In therapy, it is important that the therapist wins over the client so that he believes the therapist genuinely wants to help him out of his misery, not for financial gain or personal triumph.
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