RUTH L. MUNROE. Schools of Psychoanalytic Thought. Pp. xvi, 670. New York: Dryden Press, 1955. $7.50
| Author | Robert A. Clark |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625630400142 |
| Published date | 01 March 1956 |
| Date | 01 March 1956 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
164
uninitiated.
Judge
Ploscowe
is
a
welcome
exception
in
this
respect,
for
he
writes
clearly
and
interestingly.
He
has
given
us
a
most
excellent
work
on
the
legal
as-
pects
of
divorce.
Whether
the
reader
is
a
lawyer,
social
scientist,
or
lay
person,
he
will
find
The
Tyuth
About
Divorce
absorb-
ing
reading,
and
when
he
has
finished
the
book
he
will
be
a
wiser
man.
In
all
like-
lihood
much
of
the
content
matter
will
be
quoted
by
other
writers
for
years
to
come.
Although
he
does
not
write
like
a
lawyer,
the
author
has
organized
his
material
and
presents
his
case
in
the
best
legal
tradition.
Alternatives
to
divorce-annulments,
crimi-
nal
proceedings,
separate
maintenance,
and
judicial
separations-are
fully
discussed,
after
which
the
technical
implications
of
the
more
common
grounds
for
divorce
are
analyzed.
Various
defenses
to
divorce
ac-
tions,
such
as
recrimination,
condonation,
and
connivance,
are
thoroughly
covered,
as
are
the
legal
and
judicial
incongruities
of
migratory
(&dquo;quickie&dquo;)
divorces.
The
author’s
legal
analysis
concludes
with
chap-
ters
on
alimony
and
custody
of
children.
On
all
of
the
foregoing
points
the
author
writes
simply
and
concisely,
cutting
to
the
heart of
the
matter
with
a
penetrating
legal
blade.
When
Judge
Ploscowe
turns
to
nonlegal
matters
his
blade
loses
its
sharpness,
and,
at
least
on
one
occasion,
slips.
Entering
the
never-never
land
of
divorce
causation,
he
states
(p.
6)
that
&dquo;our
lax
marriage
laws
...
are
largely
responsible
for
the
swell-
ing
ranks
of
divorce.&dquo;
This
can
hardly
be
so,
since
any
social
change
(for
example,
an
increase
in
the
divorce
rate)
must
be
explained
not
by
a
constant
(marriage
laws),
but
by
another
variation.
With
regard
to
the
philosophy
of
divorce
the
author
is
seemingly
inconsistent.
He
takes
a
grim
view
of the
legal
machinery
which
permits
out-of-state
or
&dquo;quickie&dquo;
di-
vorces.
He
believes
in
the
integrity
of
marriage,
that
the
bonds
of
matrimony
should
not
be
dissolved
for
trivial
reasons,
and
that
the
state
has
a
vital
concern
with
marriage;
for
example
(p.
248),
&dquo;If
the
judges
took
to
heart the
basic
principle
of
law
that
marriage
is
more
than
a
private
contract
and
that
the
state
has
an
interest
in
every
marriage,
divorce
courts
would
be
be
agencies
for
the
conservation
of
mar-
riage
instead
of
their
interment.&dquo;
At
the
same
time
the
author
feels
that
the
couple
themselves
ought
to
decide
whether
or
not
the
marriage
should
be
legally
terminated!
i
It
is
stated
(p.
261)
that
a
&dquo;change
we
should
like
to
see
adopted
by
our
divorce
law
is
the
universal
enactment
of
a
statute
which
authorizes
a
divorce
to
be
granted
when
the
husband
and
wife
have
lived
physically
separate
and
apart
for
the
period
fixed
by
law.
A
statute
of
this
character
recognizes
that
in
the
last
analysis
a
hus-
band
and
a
wife
themselves
determine
whether
a
marriage
will
survive
or
will
be
permitted
to
die.&dquo;
In
terms
of
the
prin-
ciple
of
divorce,
therefore,
Judge
Ploscowe
would
merely
eliminate
&dquo;quickies&dquo;
in
favor
of
&dquo;slowies.&dquo;
The
author
apparently
reconciles
the
above-noted
inconsistency
by
advocating
&dquo;the
organization
in
each
community
of
a
unified
family
court
adequately
equipped
to
deal
with
all
problems
of
the
family
including
divorce&dquo;
(p.
263).
Actually,
the
setting
up
of
an
&dquo;adequately
equipped&dquo;
family
court
would
cost
the
taxpayers
a
mint,
with
no
guarantee
of
results.
In
fact,
existing
family
courts
don’t
even
pub-
lish
figures
on
the
effects
of
their
so-called
counseling _ and
conciliation
service.
It
is
unfair,
however,
to
assess
Judge
Ploscowe’s
volume
in
terms
of
his
socio-
logical
and
philosophical
perambulations.
Basically,
he
has
written
a
book
about
divorce
law,
and
he
has
written
it
excep-
tionally
well.
Students
of
the
family
will
wait
a
long
time
before
a
better
one
comes.
along.
If
the
Judge
has
overreached
him-
self
on
the
title
of
the
book,
we
forgive
him.
WILLIAM
M.
KEPHART
University
of
Pennsylvania
RUTH
L.
MUNROE.
Schools
of
Psycho-
analytic
Thought.
Pp.
xvi,
670.
New
York:
Dryden
Press,
1955.
$7.50.
The
impartial
student
of
the
human
mind
is
often
bewildered
by
the
variety
of
the-
ories
and
techniques
offered
by
different
schools
of
depth
psychology.
Most
of
them
call
themselves
psychoanalytic,
others
do
not.
Their
practitioners
are
physicians,
psychologists,
social
workers,
teachers,
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