Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 February 2018
Recent improvements in the treatment of psychotic patients (Ministry of Health, 1960; Registrar General 1957 and 1958) have, by contrast, drawn attention to the non-psychotic population of mental hospitals. This paper deals with this latter group. Their self-referent attitudes have been chosen for study as there is a persistent tradition in psychology which asserts their importance. This can be traced through McDougall (1923), the writings of Jung on Individuation (1939), Hilgard (1954), Sherif and Cantril (1947), Symonds (1951) and Carl Rogers (1951). Associated with this tradition is the concept that an important change in the attitude of a person to himself may lead to important changes in behaviour. This, if true, holds out hopes of therapeutic advance. This paper therefore studies the self-referent attitudes found in a characteristic sample population of non-psychotic patients in mental hospitals.
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