Carl Rogers

Word Count: 1787

Eventually I am going to briefly explain the important parts of these chapters because I need to take up some room and I am not quite sure about what to write. So here is a little description of what, like it or not, this paper is going to contain. I’ll start of with my thoughts and feelings about the structure and uniqueness of The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child, then get into the actual body of the book and talk about what I thought was interesting and what I think is still used today. Of course using my petite knowledge about the psychology of today and modern-day institutions and therapy. After that I am going to delve into Way of Life and do the same thing. The Way of Life section will probably be considerably shorter because of my limited interested in the book and my blatant laziness. Plus we had to have two sources and I decided to pick the two books that he wrote near the beginning of his career and near the end.
    There were a few stylistic things about the book that impressed me enough to include them into this paper. First off, it was written in 1939 when the study of psychology was in its infancy. At the end of every chapter or section throughout the book there is a bibliography showing every source that was cited. I think this is a very clever way to let people know that there is a science behind psychology and it is not all blind conjecture. I think that was very insightful and very much a slap in the face to everyone that didn’t believe in psychology (of course if they put no stock in psychology they would not have read the book, but hey he tried).
Preface
    “The primary purpose of this volume is to describe and discuss the variety of treatment skills actually used in clinical work. These ‘ways of practice,’ which have been evolving over a score of years, are set forth in organized fashion, in hope that their presentation will lead to a better understanding of treatment techniques and a more critical consideration of their use.” This guy seems to genuinely want to establish psychology as a science and I think it is neat how easily he can simultaneously write to an audience of professionals in their field to someone like me with absolutely no background in psychology.
Factors that Influence Behavior
    He mentions the Hereditary Factor, the Organic Influences, the Family, the Cultural and Social Influences, the Needs of the Organism, and the Interaction of Factors. May of the above mentioned Factors we have already discussed in class, which leads to to believe that Carl Rogers was either extremely ahead of his time, or that psychology has not advanced a great deal over the last fifty years. Probably a little bit of both, because Mr. Rogers states several times that he in no way claims to have all of the answers. “This is not to say, of course, that such qualities for any individual can be predicted by measurements of the parents, since the complex process of genes contributed by the parents insures variability as well as similarity” (pg.5). Being humble is always a bonus, especially if you went to college for ten years and know everything.
The Foster Home as a Means of Treatment
    I can’t tell if the author is criticizing the use of Foster Homes or if he is criticizing the reasons children are placed into these dwellings but there is definitely some sarcasm in the way he speaks of the Foster Home. He says “Even the psychiatrist, who more than most is apt to depend on processes that are internal rather than external, falls back with surprising frequency on gross changes of environment to accomplish his purpose” (pg. 63). I personally think that the only reason a child should be put in a foster home is if the parents are deemed unable or unworthy to raise the child. There are much better places for juvenile delinquents than a foster home, like a boot camp or jail.
Types of Institutional Treatment
    This is one area that I think has changed greatly in the past fifty years and yet stayed the same .

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