INFERIORITY IDEA HELD CRIME CAUSE
Dr. Adler, Famous Viennese Psychologist Says Complex Is Good Thing to Have, Properly Directed
The murderer, the bandit, the drunkard, and criminals generally are criminals because they suffer from an "inferiority complex," in the opinion of Dr. Albert Adler, noted Viennese psychologist.
Dr. Adler, who lectured before Mills college students and at the University of California, told his audiences that "punishment doesn't do the criminal any good."
"The criminal believes that he has been punished for some mistake he made, and decides that he will be more cunning next time."
Record audiences greeted Dr. Adler at both the University of California and Mills college. He is founder of the school of "individual psychology," a recognized offshoot of psycho-analysis.
ADDRESS TOMORROW
Dr. Adler is to speak again at Wheeler hall on the University of California campus Sunday afternoon on "The Individual and His Place in Society."
As professor in the Pedagogical Institute at Vienna, Dr. Adler is director of twenty-two child clinics in the city.
The "inferiority complex" is an excellent thing to have, said Dr. Adler in his student body lectures here.
"But it must presuppose a 'superiority goal,' the strong desire to overcome inferiority by reaching some place of security in life where you will be nearer to the 'perfect' human being than your present inherent abilities would indicate, he claims.
"The criminals and outcasts of society may have had their superiority goals all right, but they were not those which may be recognized as 'useful to humanity.' For instance, a boy who is convinced early in life that he is handicapped or inferior to others, either by physical disability or environment may turn his goal in the opposite direction. He may say, 'I want to be the best crook in the world.' Had society caught him early enough and directed his feeling of inferiority, he could have said just as easily, 'I want to become the greatest physician in the world!'"
STIMULUS TO GENIUS
The inferiority feeling is the stimulus to all genius, the psychologist has deducted from his experiments.
"That is why many of our left-handed children grow up to be geniuses with their hands. The left-handed child is not necessarily more brilliant at birth. In fact he feels his inferiority more poignantly when he recognizes his abnormalcy. The desire then becomes firmly fixed in his mind that he must overcome the handicap by using his hands in a way that is superior to others. It might happen, on the other hand, that his parents are impatient with him, that his teachers look upon him as handicapped and give him no encouragement. He may then look upon himself as 'different' from others and therefore not capable of following his desire for greatness in a useful profession. His goal takes the direction of avoiding his social responsibilities. He becomes an outcast."
In the same way Dr. Adler explains why some of our greatest artists were physically handicapped in youth. Cross-eyed and color-blind artists are not uncommon. Great musicians often had imperfect hearing as children. Unhealthy children develop into famous physicians.
CITES OWN CASE.
Dr. Adler points to his own experience as a practical example of his theory. Early in life he was confronted with serious illness and given up by doctors. He determined to fight weakness and death by becoming a physician. His success he attributes to his feeling of inferiority, the desire to overcome his weakness.
"However, if a child is too much handicapped by difficulties of body, he develops a too great interest in self, a feeling of hopeless dependency, a refusal to face the problems of life."
The great army of pampered children he places in the "handicapped" class. Their security in youth, their lack of a superiority goal for community service, makes them anti-social. They become the mistaken patterns, the problem children, criminals, suicides and drunkards.
"HOTEL [sic] CHILDREN."
The "hated children" are the most pathetic of all, he points out. These are usually orphans, illegitimate children, children of mixed races, ugly children. They develop a complex of antagonism in defense of their self-pity; they become anti-social.
"If the child is burdened, give him relief in the way of encouragement. Do not limit him; increase his courage and feeling of ability," is Dr. Adler's advice.
"Individual psychology is a very gay, optimistic science," Dr. Adler said in closing. "It shows us that human beings are inherently good from nature; that they only become bad because their early patterns are failures."
The Viennese doctor will speak again this evening at Lisser hall, Mills College, on "The Inferiority Complex."
Fuente: "Inferiority Idea Held Crime Cause", Oakland Tribune, Oakland, Calif., Saturday evening, 9 February 1929, p. 3, col. 8, unsigned. Transcribed from the page image of the California Digital Newspaper Collection (CDNC, OT19290209.1.3); the CDNC OCR, very defective, was used only for orientation. The right edge of the column is darkened by the binding but legible throughout. Printed as such: "Dr. Albert Adler" (for Alfred), the subheading "Hotel Children" (for "Hated Children"), the missing closing quotation mark before "he claims". Not to be confused with the shorter report of the Phi Beta Kappa luncheon on p. 13 of the same issue.