--- Title: Psychology To Cut Crime, Dr. Adler Says Description: The Washington Post, Washington (D.C.), Monday, January 11, 1937, p. 13, unsigned. Report of Alfred Adler's lecture at the Town Hall meeting in the Shoreham Hotel, Washington, on January 10, 1937, and of his exchanges with Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan. Author: Periodista sin firma URL: https://adler.school/archivo/adler/cronicas/original/1937-01-11%20Psychology%20To%20Cut%20Crime%2C%20Dr.%20Adler%20Says --- # Psychology To Cut Crime, Dr. Adler Says ## Town Hall Charmed by Famous Viennese in Verbal Duels. ## Says Life's Outlook Is Formed Between Ages of One and Three. Dr. Alfred Adler, famed Viennese pschologist and father of the "inferiority complex," last night at the Town Hall meeting in the Shoreham Hotel told 1,000 of Washington's intelligensia and well-meaning citizens who wanted to learn that their outlook on life had not changed materially since they were 3 years old. "There may be some, but not many," said Dr. Adler, "who can change their preconceived outlook on life without being told what formed that outlook before their third birthday, but there are not many." Children, Dr. Adler explained, develop social interests, or fail to develop them, between the first and third birthdays, and carry antisocial conceptions of life formed in that period through their stay on earth. Dr. Adler, short, bespectacled and speaking with a pronounced Austrian accent, charmed his audience and drew from it prolonged applause with his rapid-fire returns in a verbal duel with Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan, president of the William A. White Psychoanalytic Foundation. ### Answers Dr. Sullivan. After Dr. Adler in intense seriousness had told the audience that many antisocial citizens could be reclaimed as respected members of society and that the Nation's $15,000,000,000 crime bill could be cut in half if sufficient attention was paid to individual psychology in the early grades of public school, Dr. Sullivan asked: "I wonder if Dr. Adler ever read Mark Twain's 'The Mysterious Stranger,' and if he ever thought of destroying most of the human race and starting civilization over again with a group of promising children." "He is just making a joke," smilingly retorted Dr. Adler. "He knows that any group of promising children could eventually produce just as many neurotics as there are in the world today." The audience howled. Dr. Adler had emphasized that "lack of social interest and higher activity" could be traced in neurotic adults to events that had occurred in their babyhood. These persons, he said, invariably were cured when they learned what had given them a distorted view on life and became more active and valuable to society. "There seems to be some difficulty with society right now over the high degree of activity which produces too many tin cans and overproduction generally," said Dr. Sullivan. "How would society survive the great burst of good works if everybody became normal and active?" ### How to Use Leisure. "It seems this also is from Mark Twain," said Dr. Adler. "People could not be damaged if they produced things which people could use. It has ben said that if people worked five hours a day they could produce enough for all mankind." Dr. Sullivan, a psychiatrist, wanted to know what a psychiatrist would tell people after the more abundant life arrived how to occupy their 19 hours of leisure each day. Naively, Dr. Adler replied: "A psychiatrist, for instance, could occupy his time by studying more." The audience clapped for two minutes. Someone in the audience asked Dr. Adler to define an "inferiority complex," which he has made a part of many languages. "It is not actually in the mind of any person, it is only in my mind," Dr. Adler replied. "It is a term I use to define the trouble of a person who shies away from the social solution of a social problem—a person who expresses himself in a way that shows he cannot solve his problem." --- *Fuente:* «Psychology To Cut Crime, Dr. Adler Says. Town Hall Charmed by Famous Viennese in Verbal Duels. Says Life's Outlook Is Formed Between Ages of One and Three», *The Washington Post*, Washington (D.C.), lunes 11 de enero de 1937, p. 13, sin firma. Transcripción hecha sobre la imagen de la página en Fulton History (Washington DC Post 1937-01-11_22124_13), que permite completar las lagunas del OCR del archivo («lack of social interest», «invariably», «in the mind of any person», «a term I use»). Se conservan las erratas del impreso («pschologist», «intelligensia», «ben»). La misma conferencia la reseñó con redacción distinta *The Evening Star* del mismo día («Adler Disputed on 'Life' Theory»). Las palabras partidas a final de línea se unen.