Education for Social Work: An Analysis of Freudian Psychoanalytical Concepts in Fourteen Undergraduate Psychology Textbooks by Catholic Authors, 1930-1964
Abstract
My interest in this study was aroused by two distinct impressions I received as a first-year social work student. The first impression relates to the importance placed upon the psychoanalytic theories of Freud in the theory and practice of social work. The second impression relates to the mixed reaction of some of the students to the Freudian concepts and theories - a reaction expressing itself in the form of skepticism and mental reservation. In reading the history of the American social work movement, I became aware of the reasons for my first impression and the important place psychoanalytical theories have in the field of social work. Granting this importance, I was all the more interested in the background and implications of my second impression - the adverse reaction of some of the student body. I decided to seek the reasons for this reaction. Since the students are functioning on a graduate level, I felt that part of the explanation could be found in the course material of the undergraduate schools. The subject most appropriate as an academic background for graduate work which related to this study is general psychology - a required course. My study, then, would deal with a survey of undergraduate psychology textbooks as to the treatment of Freud’s psychoanalytical concepts and theories.
Subject Area
Mental health
Recommended Citation
Finnerty, Anthony J, "Education for Social Work: An Analysis of Freudian Psychoanalytical Concepts in Fourteen Undergraduate Psychology Textbooks by Catholic Authors, 1930-1964" (1965). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30308745.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30308745
