Book Review: The Psychiatrists
| Author | Allen A. Bartholomew |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486587100400414 |
| Published date | 01 December 1971 |
| Date | 01 December 1971 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
260 AUST. &N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY (Dec., 1971): 4, 4
intelligent conjecture. Surely as most of
this iceberg of police interrogation is
under water,
the
exposed portion should
imply some observation on
the
extent
of
the unseen bulk? This book is an historical
survey, presenting asomewhat disjointed
batch of instances indicating the application
and various means of
"third
degree". Its
survey of
many
countries shows these
methods as
the
common denominator of
the
police systems and leaves the
reader
with the frustration of "how" and "why".
So much for
the
general
structure
of
the book,
but
what
can be uncovered for
the
reader
not
content
to suffer
the
frustra-
tion of unanswered questions? Those suffi-
ciently perceptive will discover comments
by
the
author
which provoke food for
thought. He states: "The U.S. policeman
is generally disliked and is scorned socially,
merely because of his job." (p. 40).
"The police.
were
working
under
exceed-
ingly provocative circumstances, said
the
report." (National Commission on Chicago
disorders of 1968). (p. 71). It is
not
difficult
to appreciate
the
tensions and resentments
of an alienated body of law enforcers, sub-
jected to public ridicule and humiliation;
neither is it difficult to anticipate
the
consequences.
"There will, of course, always be a pro-
portion of bad policemen
...
a police
career
does
not
hold
many
attractions for
an
educated man." (p. 116). Here is a danger-
ous nexus,
that
of a poorly educated
authoritarian. Is
not
improved education
compatible
with
a
greater
social respons-
ibility and awareness, which would lead
to a reciprocal union with the community?
Further
to this, one can surmise how
the
frustrations of educational inadequacies
may be manifested.
Possibly
the
most thought-provoking
inference to be drawn comes from
the
following excerpts: "The
modem
privilege
of silence is of inestimable value
to
the
criminal . . . All this is greatly to
the
detriment of
the
community and
the
discomforture of
the
police." (p. 190).
"Restrictions on
the
police powers of
investigating crime
are
equally
harsh
and
frustrating, and for
that
reason they
are
frequently broken." (p. 94). Does this
not
stir
some suspicion
that
the
ideals of
personal freedom entrenched in
the
Com-
mon Law
are
being undermined by an
unrealistic philosophy which fails to ack-
nowledge human nature?
What
is
the
use
of idealistic procedures which cannot be
effectively
and
impartially supervised?
Would it
not
be
better
to
attempt
to solve
problems of interrogation with realistic
rules
that
aim to minimize
the
problems of
human confrontation,
rather
than a
set
of
procedures
that
demand to be compromised
and abused?
Mr. Franklin
has
presented abook
that
will open
the
eyes of
the
reader. It is
regrettable.
that
he did
not
make more
positive endeavours to simultaneously open
the
mind. T. K. HASSARD,
Melbourne.
The Psychiatrists, Arnold A. Rogow,
George Allen and Unwin, 1971, 315 pp,
with appendices, notes, bibliography and
index.
THE
author
has attempted to investigate
both the "values of psychiatrists and
psychoanalysts and
the
role of these values
in psychotherapy" and, because as
the
study progressed it became necessary,
"the
nature, problems, and goals of psychiatry
itself" (p.9). The methodology used was
that
of a postal questionnaire: "The
questionnaire
was
mailed to
eve
r y
thirtieth name in
the
directories of
the
Associations; the
total
number of question-
naires mailed was 490. About 30 of these
could
not
be delivered because of
the
intended recipient's
death
or incorrect
address. Of
the
remaining 460, 184
questionnaires
were
returned filled
out
(although not completely filled out in all
cases), for a percentile return of 40.0.
Members of
the
American Psychiatric
Association accounted for, 149 question-
naires; members of the American
Psychoanalytic Association for 35."
This most interesting book, although
written with reference to the American
scene, is well
worth
reading by anyone
interested in
the
subject against
the
Australian setting. Indeed, there is more
than agrain of
truth
in the comment
that
the psychiatrist is for
man
y (both
American and Australian) "a surrogate
father, mother, rabbi, priest, minister,
political leader,
pol
icy
maker and
psychological soul
brother
. . ."
It is
true
that
to
date
the members of
the
Australian and New Zealand College
of Psychiatrists have
not
been asked for an
opinion regarding
the
mental health of
outstanding aspirants to political office
as happened in America in 1964 in regard
to Mr. Barry Goldwater (p.16). Further,
there
is no evidence
that
Australian
psychiatrists are concerned with passing
judgment on
such
persons as Jacqueline
Kennedy in relation to
her
marriage to
Mr. Aristotle Onassis (p.27). One reads
on p.148
that
The public itself is partly to blame,
says a psychiatrist, for the "emergence
of
the
psychiatrist as political ex-
pert," because
the
public, "like the
patient, thinks
the
psychiatrist is a
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