TREATMENT, PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC, NEED FOR CRITERIA OF NORMALITY,
Samenvatting
In a literature on psychol'al normality which is much too rare, the established criterion of normality is often paradoxical or contradictory, leading to a negative approach. Where normality is discussed in a positive sense, definitions vary greatly. The need for a positive criterion, esp in analytical treatment of neurotic patients, calls for definition not only of normality but also of what is considered normal activity. Definitions depend on the established cultural & soc norms, & on the group or individual adjustments made to a society. This holds esp true in an industr society, as in the US, in which adjustment & integration are considered necessary to the pursuit of definite aims. Pathological studies revealed, however, that often what is considered normal in an adjusted individual is attained at the loss of spontaneity &/or creativity. The need is discussed for individual determination of what adjustments to make to the society's required normality, suggesting that personal value judgments will have to play a decisive role in the choice between soc stability, ie normality, & the freedom to be unconventional, ie abnormal, but to obtain the feeling of making a definite contribution to certain envisaged ideals. Normality is further examined in its relationship to talent & genius. The points are made: (1) that an exceptional talent is often paid with a deviation from normality; (2) a complex personality, as evidenced in geniuses, runs a greater risk of deterioration than the average person; (3) it is more difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile great interior contrasts than those of a less complex, less contradictory nature; (4) while a pathological disposition need not produce something valuable, it can act as a stimulant toward increased productivity; (5) a number of geniuses have functioned perfectly normally within the realm of their proper pathologies, & even despite them, by establishing their own norms; (6) in some geniuses pathological abnormality is a means to expand their proper functioning. The conclusion is reached that a society depends as much on its `normally' functioning members as on those who transcend this normality. M. Farber.
