DR. ADLER SPEAKS ON CHILD GUIDANCE
Parents' Council of Philadelphia Addressed by Viennese Psychoanalyst
Early Co-operation Can Make Boys and Girls Surmount Inferiority Feeling
Elimination of the feeling of inferiority from which a majority of children suffer is attainable through co-operation of parents and teachers in guiding the child to a realization of his innate equality, or even to an attitude of superiority.
This is the view of Dr. Alfred Adler, Viennese psychoanalyst, as expressed last night to a meeting under the auspices of the Parents' Council of Philadelphia in the auditorium of the Social Building, 311 South Juniper street.
"The feeling of inferiority in children is traceable to the normal physical condition of all infants at birth," said Dr. Adler. "Every child has weak organs and a comparatively feeble body when born, as well as for a considerable time thereafter.
"Naturally, it is dependent upon its mother to sustain its life and increase its physical strength. This initial element of dependency is certain to linger after the infantile mind is succeeded by the normal juvenile perspective unless the parents guard against its continuance.
"The first, and possibly the more important duty, lies with the parents. They should seek to eliminate the feeling of inferiority, that is a sequential product of the realization of dependency, in a gentle, but thoroughly effective way.
"The child should be guided into the belief that he is wholly self-sustaining, as far as physical vigor is concerned, and that his health or lack of it rests solely with him.
Encouragement of Strength
"When the juvenile mind begins to grope vaguely into the realm of actual life, the child should be encouaged in his spontaneous and wholly normal desires to become a soldier, a blacksmith, or any of those things which have strength and physical vigor of a high order as their background. If the child is a girl, she should be encouraged in her juvenile determination to attain a place in the sharply defined feminine sphere.
"A boy wants to become a blacksmith because the visualization of a robust, strong man, which to a child is a symbol of great animal strength and vigor, appeals to his imagination. It is normal for him to admire such mastery and to want to accomplish it hilmself. If the parent disabuses him of his desire, his feeling of inferiority is stimulated. If the parent encourages him, his feeling of inferiority is thrust a great distance into the background, greatly to the child's benefit.
"When thr boy or girl enters school, the teacher should carry on the work the parent has done toward eliminating the feeling of inferiority inherent in most children. Thus the two should co-operate in this important task. If they do, the inferiority complex in the average child can be eliminated at an early age. If they do not, and this complex is allowed to prevail, his chance of success in life is lessened to an unfortunate degree.
"With many children the goal should be to inculcate in him a feeling of superiority. The parents' own practical experience in life, coupled with an impartial analysis of the child's temperament, should determine in what instances this is necessary.
Fuente: The Philadelphia Inquirer (Filadelfia), jueves 7 de abril de 1927, p. 2; crónica sin firma. Transcripción hecha sobre la imagen de la página (fultonhistory.com, «Philadelphia PA Inquirer 1927 - 3212.pdf»), cotejada con el OCR de la plataforma. El titular completo es «Dr. Adler Speaks on Child Guidance» (el inventario lo abreviaba). Se respetan las erratas «encouaged», «hilmself» y «thr», y «Social Building» (por Social Service Building); el periódico no cierra las comillas de la última cita. Associated Press difundió un resumen más breve de la misma conferencia (Buffalo Evening News, 7-4-1927).