Review of The principles of mental hygiene

Abstract

Reviews the book, The principles of mental hygiene by William A. White (1917). This work is a discussion of such social problems as insanity, crime, feeblemindedness, etc, from the psychoanalytic standpoint, and not only treats of the various factors which unite to create the asocial classes, but also outlines prophylactic measures. While very concisely written, the volume is comprehensive in its scope, including many social phenomena popularly regarded as outside the field of mental hygiene, as alcoholism, vagrancy, divorce, the woman movement, and other minor aberrant forms of social life. The book is an excellent review of the pathological phenomena of present civilization from the sociological and psychoanalytic standpoints, and should prove valuable in spreading a broad general knowledge of the whole mental hygiene movement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)