Review of A new psychotherapy for traditional men.

Reviews the book, A new psychotherapy for traditional men by Gary R. Brooks (see record 1998-06013-000). Gary Brooks spent 6 years writing this book in which he presents a therapeutic model for working with "traditional men." The text's quality—reflected in its organization, structure, and content—demonstrates the success of this very thorough labor. The therapy discussed is a gender-aware model, oriented and very empathetic to the needs and special perspective of contemporary males. Brooks makes the reader aware of the dilemma facing traditional man. Brooks's compassionate and sensitive presentation makes the pain and distress of the traditional man very real and palpable for the reader. The men for whom the model is targeted are those individuals who are closely attached to the traditional definition of manhood; they are emotionally stoic, prefer action to reflection, are shame-bound by any sense of incompetence or hint of failure, and do not ask for help. Brooks is very complete, comprehensive, and convinced about his gender-sensitive therapy for traditional men. His comprehensive intervention is intriguing. The compassionate and compelling manner in which he presents his total model is provocative. It challenges readers to consider or at least reexamine many of their concepts and attitudes regarding men, the process of therapy, and their behaviors as therapists. Brooks's many clinical insights should prove useful to therapists of all experiential levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A Dialectical Psychology.

Reviews the book, A Dialectical Psychology by Allan R. Buss (1979). This collection of papers, most of them previously published, covers topics as diverse as attribution theory, life-span development, humanistic psychology, history of differential psychology, interactionism, the relations of fact and theory and of individual and society, and the future of psychology in general. Those who seek in this book a dialectical psychology will find it neither explained nor exemplified. While interesting connections are drawn from time to time between psychological theory and the social-historical context, it is not clear what is so "critical" about the way in which they are drawn, nor does one ever attain the feeling of having been led very far beyond "mere surface appearance." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A History of Western Psychology.

Reviews the book, A History of Western Psychology by David Murray (No Year Specified). According to Marshall, this book is intended as a text for a full-year course on history, systems, and twentieth century developments in psychology. The 400-page book covers psychological ideas "from Plato through NATO," and it does so briskly. Two chapters are devoted to ancient and medieval ideas, two to subsequent events until the nineteenth century, and four to nineteenth century developments; Gestalt, behaviourism, and psychoanalysis are given separate chapters; and two terminal chapters are devoted, respectively, to new directions until 1940 and eclectic psychological developments up to 1980. There are two salient features which distinguish the book in addition to its attention to both ancient and contemporary psychology. The first is that, throughout, it relies strongly on an interpretation and presentation of primary sources rather than on a gathering of already published compendia. Another example is Murray's treatment of Spencer, Lewes, Carpenter, Lubbock, and Romanes. Murray's work and frequent quotations from original sources leave the reader with the lively sense of being in touch with the original authors' intents and styles. A shortcoming which stems from this same insistence on original interpretation of primary sources is that the reader sometimes does not benefit from the work of other recent and more detailed scholarly interpretations. The second salient feature of the textbook is that it is unabashedly internalistic. It refers only superficially to the contextual features of the intellectual and sociopolitical cultures which, variously, fostered or retarded psychology, first when it existed only as a bundle of ideas, then later when it emerged as a disciplinary institution. There are no references to historical methodology, and this illustrates the fact that Murray's book is just not methodologically self-conscious at all. Without apology, Murray is interested in showing the succession of psychological ideas, with little concern for explaining how they happened that way. However, Marshall notes that this book also provides some excellent learning and memory aids for students untutored in history and, perhaps, uninterested in history for its own sake. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A history of modern psychology: Third edition.

Reviews the book, A history of modern psychology: Third edition by C. James Goodwin (see record 2008-14615-000). This text is an excellent introduction to the history of Western psychology, in terms of both tracing the discipline’s lineage through milestone events and in demonstrating how historians approach the subject. As the primary goal of the book is to attract the interest of students who perhaps are only taking a course in the history of psychology because it is required of them, the major strength of this text is its readability. The author’s ability to render complicated material comprehensible for introductory level students and laymen, as well as the affable tone used throughout the work makes it suitable for any reader interested in the foundations of the discipline. Its success is in the framework it provides, which graduate or even undergraduate level instructors can flesh out with supplementary readings and in-class discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Psychology of Sex Differences.

Reviews the book, The Psychology of Sex Differences by Hilary M. Lips and Nina Lee Colwill (1978). This small book covers a lot of territory. In 300 pages Lips and Colwill, along with five collaborators, provide a broad summary of the available theory and research on the psychology of sex differences. After an introductory chapter on the problems of studying the topic, the book has orienting chapters on theories of female and male nature, sexual differentiation, hormones, the social process of learning sex roles, and the concepts of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny. Then the areas of ability, achievement, aggression and power are systematically examined for the presence and the correlates of sex differences. Finally, the issues of marriage, family and sexuality are considered. The book is an excellent starting point for the novice who is willing to give 300 pages of reading effort to the current work on sex differences. It is a good book for a psychologist or psychology student who wants a quick overview of what is being done and thought about in a rapidly expanding area of psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A critical psychology: Interpretation of the personal world.

Reviews the book, A critical psychology: Interpretation of the personal world by Edmund V. Sullivan (1984). In this book, the author gives an indication of what an alternative psychology might look like. In doing this he draws on the ideas of a number of European philosophers and social scientists whose work has been generally ignored by North American psychologists. What distinguishes Sullivan's critical psychology from other alternatives to the mainstream is his insistence that the conditions for human action be traced not simply to the intentional activity of individuals but to the social structures of domination in which individual intentions are embedded. These are the structures of ethnicity, gender, and class. What Sullivan criticizes is that "psychologists take structural relationships of power such as capital over labour, men over women, and change them into intrapsychic phenomena." This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on alternatives to mainstream psychology. It is distinguished by its intellectual sophistication and by its marshalling of perspectives that run counter to local cultural traditions. At the very least it is a volume that ought to provoke an expansion of all too narrow disciplinary horizons. Incidentally, the very concept of intellectual "horizon" is one that the author analyses in a particularly constructive way, showing its relevance in the context of psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A history of psychology: Original sources and contemporary research, 3rd edition.

Reviews the book, A history of psychology: Original sources and contemporary research, 3rd edition by Ludy T. Benjamin Jr. (see record 2008-08540-000). This book joins recent scholarship in the history of psychology with an assortment of classic articles and texts in the field. Published primarily as a reader or companion text, it offers a collection of 44 articles, 20 of which are primary source material; the remainder are more recent secondary sources from well-established authors in the area. In this third edition, Benjamin has made some editorial changes from previous versions of this popular text. For example, the number of chapters has been reduced from 16 to 11 in order to make it a more suitable companion to a traditional textbook on the history of psychology. While there are some wonderful articles here, the reviewer notes a general lack of critical perspective in both Benjamin’s narratives and his choice of secondary sources which prevents him from giving this review the glow that one would normally associate with such esteemed authors and scholarship. His main concerns are that, first, the epistemic and ontological perspectives offered are largely those of professional psychologists rather than those of historians, reflecting a field where researchers already struggle with the notions of interpretation and context, all set within a self-imposed framework of empirical science and objectivity. Second, as a result of this, the future of the history of psychology course is in peril because of its own popularity as a capstone course, where it seems to serve, by and large, the ceremonial and disciplinary function of codifying psychology’s scientific identity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A History of Western Psychology.

Reviews the book, A History of Western Psychology by David J. Murray (1982). In two respects this is a highly traditional book. First of all, the parts of the subject that are singled out for serious consideration are the most venerable core areas of experimental psychology--above all, sensation, and to a slightly lesser extent, memory and other aspects of cognition. Social psychology gets less than 1% of the total space and such areas as developmental, applied and personality psychology are hardly glanced at. There is however a whole chapter on psychoanalysis. A second traditional feature of the book is expressed in its commitment to the view that the history of psychology is to be treated purely as intellectual history. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The legacy of Erich Fromm.

Reviews the book, The legacy of Erich Fromm by Daniel Burston (see record 1991-97594-000). In his effort to breathe new life into Fromm's legacy, Burston's employs a critical, developmental perspective, clearly showing both the continuities and the anomalies in Fromm's texts, research, and clinical practice. Writing in a highly readable, lucid style, accented with metaphorical expressions, Burston initially provides some biographical context, discusses Fromm's ambivalent involvement with the Freudian movement, and analyzes Fromm's many original contributions and relation to psychoanalysis, critical theory, existential and humanistic psychology, and social psychology. Throughout Burston's treatment of Fromm, he maintains a balanced yet affectionate perspective, elucidating not only Fromm's strengths but also his contradictions and weaknesses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A critical psychology.

Reviews the book, A critical psychology by Edmund V. Sullivan (1984). Sullivan examines three metaphors as the basis for developing a proper psychology. He rejects the mechanical and the organic metaphors as reductionistic and too limiting as a basis for understanding man, and advances what he calls the personal metaphor. By this he means personhood-Iness embedded in culture. This has to do with I, the agent and my projects, embedded in a determining social structure in the background. Although there is much discussion about this metaphor, its meaning is never made as explicit as the two he rejects. This book will be difficult for the typical psychologist to read because the author introduces a lot of strange terminology, and he doesn't communicate in the usual way. He writes more like an old-time philosopher or a theologian, or one of the other humanities experts--like someone dealing with the ineffable, which may well be the case. While the reviewer is in agreement with most of the author's criticisms of contemporary psychology, such as it is not a coherent discipline, not enough attention is paid to methodology other than experimental, and more attention should be paid to philosophical issues, the reviewer sees no reason to adopt his alternative. The trouble with critics such as Sullivan is that they don't demonstrate how we should go about the business of doing psychology--they merely talk about it. And until those who want an alternative clearly demonstrate what their alternative looks like, nothing will change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A history of modern experimental psychology: From James and Wundt to cognitive science.

Reviews the book, A history of modern experimental psychology: From James and Wundt to cognitive science by George Mandler (see record 2007-05052-000). George Mandler, a longtime researcher in the area of memory and cognition, has gathered together his notes and selected bits from previous publications to assemble a new book cast as a brief history of the emergence of cognitive psychology. Mandler draws us to the positive impact Behaviourism had on the development of Cognitive Psychology. Mandler's book stands as an outline of the past, not a history. Its value rests with the perspective that comes from someone who has been thinking, researching and writing about topics central to Cognitive Psychology for over 40 years. He has been a witness to change, someone who has even participated in them, so his insights are valuable and directive. I would have enjoyed Mandler's book to a greater extent if, rather than chronologically reporting events, he had attempted to provide a gestalt of the emergence of cognitive psychology, one that would have located the articulate in the inarticulate of research practise and concept development in societies caught in the rift of redefinition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kohut, psychoanalysis, and psychology—A response to Masek.

As a psychologist grounded in and respectful of general psychology, and as a clinician who uses and teaches ego psychological theory, it seems to the author that Masek (1986) overstates the meaning and contribution of Kohut's work. As he points out, the current status of psychoanalysis—as theory and as praxis—is unparalleled for its "creative ferment". Indeed, the metaphor of identity crisis might well apply to the timing and severity of the upheavals confronting the psychoanalytic movement today. But that internal chaos is not wholly attributable to Kohut. Both ego psychology and object relations theory raise questions which jeopardize such fundamental tenets of Freudian theory as the dualistic theory of libidinal and aggressive drives; the primacy of Oedipal conflict in the etiology of psychopathology; the neutrality and impersonal detachment of the analyst. In addition, the limitations of psychoanalysis as a treatment when costed against alternative therapies has radically reduced the client pool, thus raising other questions about theory and practice. From this context, the author reviews Masek's view of the impact of Kohut on the theory and practice of "mainstream" psychoanalytic thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Object Relations Family Therapy.

The authors illustrate the application of the British object relations theory to psychoanalytic work with individuals, couples, and families. The basis for their approach rests primarily on Fairbairn's theoretical constructions, and--to a lesser extent--on some of the contributions of Winnicott, Guntrip, Balint, Klein, and Bion. The authors stress the utilitarian value of object relations theory to interpersonal interactions characteristic of families and couples. In contrast, classical psychoanalytic instinct theory is essentially an intrapsychic frame of reference, useful in individual psychoanalysis, but of limited empirical value in group work. The Scharffs demonstrate how one can apply Fairbairnian principles, with some modifications, to understanding families from theoretical, developmental, and therapeutic perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A primer of Freudian psychology.

Reviews the book, A primer of Freudian psychology by Calvin S. Hall (see record 1998-06848-000). This small and unpretentious volume is in most respects just what the author and publisher claim it to be-a relatively nontechnical, yet systematic primer of Freud's theory of personality. A second claim-that its material is selected from and reflects Freud's dynamics of normal rather than abnormal psychology- seems to be a bit overdrawn. Although Freud certainly distinguished between normal and abnormal states, it is equally certain that he did not invoke different dynamic constructs to account for each of them. However, the structure of this book is not vitiated by the artificial dichotomy of dynamics which he introduces, nor is its value lessened as a singularly clear, comprehensive, and unadorned account of essential Freudian theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of social psychology.

Reviews the book, Handbook of social psychology edited by Gardner Lindzey (1954). The reviewer notes that the publication of this two-volume Handbook is a truly signal event in social psychology. The text is comprehensive, up to date, balanced. It gives extensive treatment to theory, to methodology, and to research findings and applications. It is sophisticated in its approach and makes no concession to oversimplified presentation, either in content or in style. The reviewer also reports that the editor has demonstrated a high order of intelligence and judgment in the selection and organization of the various chapters. No main area of social psychology is neglected. As contrasted with the more typical compendiums of material in a large field, this book succeeds remarkably in avoiding unnecessary redundancy. The choice of authors in this text is also excellent. Some of the authors have taken this as an occasion for creating something beyond simply a critical review of an area of social psychology; parts of some of the chapters are original contributions to the theory and method of social psychology. Overall, this Handbook offers convincing evidence that social psychology is indeed a field in its own right, continually growing in the extent to which its methods and findings bear intimate relationship with other areas of psychology, and at the same time contributing a steady stream of methods and data which are uniquely to be found in connection with social behavior of individuals and groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A child analysis with Anna Freud.

Reviews the book, A child analysis with Anna Freud by Peter Heller (see record 1990-97274-000). The tension between remembering and forgetting is the daily experience of the psychoanalyst. This takes place not only in the consulting room, but applies to our sense of ourselves and the history of psychoanalysis. Anna Freud died in October 1982. For almost 60 years she had been the heir apparent and then the leader of the international psychoanalytic movement. Yet, not even 10 years after her death, her name seems to have disappeared from psychoanalytic discourse and the contributions of her work and of child analysis to the body of psychoanalytic theory and technique are not discussed. As much as one can learn about the history of child analysis from this book, one must bear in mind the peculiar circumstances surrounding Peter Heller's analysis. Five of his classmates, including his future wife, and his teacher were also in analysis with Anna Freud. He vacationed with the Burlinghams and Anna Freud and wished to have Dorothy Burlingham as his mother. Peter's nanny later became a psychoanalyst and there was talk of Peter's father marrying Anna Freud. Given the multiplicity and complexity of these interrelationships, how could a termination have taken place? This book may be Peter Heller's continuation of his analysis, the exercise of his self-analytic function, and thus finally a termination of his child analysis with Anna Freud. In sharing his termination with us, Peter Heller gives us access to important aspects of our own history and so enables us to shape our future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A World of Difference: Gender Roles in Perspective.

Reviews the book, A World of Difference: Gender Roles in Perspective by Esther R. Greenglass (1982). In A World of Difference, Esther Greenglass has given us an excellent social-psychological perspective on sex, gender, and sex-role differences. Greenglass clearly analyses current research on these topics with the perspective of the culture in which gender-based behaviour occurs. Equally important, however, is the discussion of the social and cultural context of the research itself. Aside from this important and useful discussion of the research in its social context, there is a very thorough review of contemporary issues relating to gender roles. This is a very readable book for students. The collection of pictures and cartoons depicting contemporary male and female roles illustrates the issues while showing their humorous side. Throughout the book, there are examples of Canadian data and Canadian research which will make the book particularly appealing to those who find that U.S. texts are too chauvinistic about the American experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Progress in Self Psychology, Volume 2.

Similar to the 1st volume of Progress in Self Psychology, this 2nd volume is a collection of invited papers and papers from national conferences devoted to this area of psychoanalysis. According to Goldberg, these volumes are intended, perhaps temporarily, to serve as a substitute for a journal in self-psychology. Loosely divided into sections on theory, clinical problems, development, and applied psychoanalysis, the collection serves as a sampler of contemporary issues, but does not provide a unified structure for theory and practice that some readers may expect of want from a cutting-edge book. The one issue that rings clearly throughout the book is how self psychology compares and contrasts to classical psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)