Martin Halliwell, Therapeutic Revolutions: Medicine, Psychiatry, and American Culture, 1945-19 !

, Rutgers University Press: Brunswick, NJ, and London, 20 !, vi " !#2 $$%: &'#0# !()0)*&, +(!%&( ,-.k/ Martin Halliwell0s -istory o1 U%2% $syc-iatry and culture $osits t-ree distinct .ut overla$$ing stages 1or t-e $ost3war decades: t-e 1rag4entation o1 earlier t-eoretical verities i44ediately a1ter 5orld 5ar 66, 1ollowed .y t-e institutional e7$ansion o1 t-e &(0s, and a reorgani8ation along 4ore -olistic lines in t-e &)0s% 9-roug-out an e:ual nu4.er o1 sections, Halliwell 4oves across 4ental -ealt$olicy and 1il4, $syc-oanalysis and $o$ular 1iction, advice colu4ns and t-era$eutic co44unities wit- an analytic .readt- and a4.ition t-at continually i4$resses% ;long t-e way, -e o11ers readings o1 1il4 noir as a narrative o1 de4o.ili8ation, argues 1or t-e centrality o1 t-e <orean 5ar as a waters-ed in U%2% -ealt-care, and $ositions t-e -u4anistic social $syc-ology o1 =arl Rogers and ;.ra-a4 Maslow as an i4$ortant counterweig-t to institutional $syc-iatry% 6t is t-e i4$ressive sco$e o1 t-ese readings t-at constitutes t-e volu4e0s 4a>or ac-ieve4ent, c-allenging -istorians o1 $syc-iatry and literary sc-olars alike to $ay closer attention to 1ields o1 in:uiry .eyond t-eir i44ediate e7$ertise% 6n co4$arisoncontrast, t-e .ook0s over3all structure and central argu4ents a$$ear less $ersuasive% 9-roug-out, 0reorgani8ation0 1unctions as a kind o1 vaguely Hegeliandialectical 1or4 o1 Au"he#un$synt-esis t-at su.su4es and overco4es t-e o$$osition .etween 1rag4entation and organi8ation in t-e i44ediate $ost3war era% But is reorgani8ation really an a$$ro$riate ter4 1or a decade s-a$ed as 4uc- .y 4ilitary e7cesses in ?ietna4 and anti3$syc-iatry as .y t-e re1or4s o1 t-e <ennedy ad4inistration@ Halliwell writes t-at t-e 0revolutionary di4ension0 ,(/ o1 t-e c-anges -e o.serves is 4ost visi.le in t-e late 0)0s% Later

-e descri.es 0t-e $olitici8ation o1 illness0 ,2&(/ as t-e decade0s 4ost i4$ortant tra>ectory% Neit-er o.servation 1its $articularly well witt-e ter4 reorgani8ation .ut t-is discre$ancy 4ay .e e7$lained witre1erence to t-e .ook0s title% Halliwell de1ines 0t-era$eutic revolutions0 as enco4$assing 04edical t-oug-t, $ractice, and AculturalB re$resentation0 ,(/% Cnly in t-e conclusion does -e li4it t-is socio3cultural conce$tion to t-e discursive .reaks 1a4ously t-eori8ed .y 9-o4as <u-n in The %tructure o" %cienti"ic Revolutions D a reversal slig-tly at odds wit- t-e .road swee$ o1 -is argu4ent% Eiven eit-er de1inition, w-at are t-e 0$syc-iatric revolutions0 $ut 1orward .y Halliwell@ 9-e 1irst is descri.ed as a 0nor4ative 4odel o1 4edical science0 ,2#&/ t-at rein1orced 04edical and $olitical aut-ority 1ro4 a.ove0 ,(/% 9-e second c-allenges t-is aut-ority, and -ere Halliwell traces t-e i4$act o1 Furo$ean e7istentialis4 on social and countercultural $syc-ology% Flsew-ere, t-e aut-or -as written at greater lengt- on Ludwig Binswanger0s i4$ortance 1or 4id3century ;4erican t-oug-t, and -is analysis -ere is insig-t1ul, 1ocused and cris$% However, Halliwell0s e4$-asis on e7istential $syc-iatry leads -i4 into seeing R% G% Laing as a 1ar 4ore central 1igure in t-e ;4erican counterculture t-an -is -o4e3 grown counter$art 9-o4as 28as8% Laing 4ay -ave sociali8ed wit;llen Eins.erg and 9i4ot-y Leary w-en -e visited t-e U%2% in into t-e late &)*, yet a :uick look at t-e anti3$syc-iatric 4aga8ines t-at 1louris-ed &'0s will con1ir4s t-at critical 4ental -ealt- workers and $atient organi8ations were 1ar 4ore concerned wit- 28as8, w-ose dic-oto4y o1 individual autono4y versus state control 4any o1 t-e4 never overca4e% ; nu4.er o1 :uestions 4ay raised a.out t-ese two s-i1ts in U%2% $syc-iatry, an organi8ational renewal o1 4edical aut-ority and its :uestioning in t-e 2i7ties% May a rein1orce4ent o1 e7isting -ierarc-ies 1ruit1ully .e descri.ed as revolutionary@ ;nd can t-e sa4e .e asserted o1 an essentially li.eral -u4anistic $syc-ology, 2

w-en t-e volu4e o11ers 1ar less analysis o1 4ore radical c-allenges to 4ental -ealt- institutions D 1ro4 1e4inist $syc-ot-era$y to t-e 4ental $atients li.eration 4ove4ent@ Halliwell argues 1or t-e continuing wort- o1 4id3century social $syc-ology and t-era$eutic co44unities against Hreudianis4 and a now do4inant .io34edical $aradig4, $raising t-eir -olistic e4$-asis on $atient e7$erience and e7$ression% 9-is is a welco4e reconsideration, and it goes -and in -and wit- a $ositive evaluation o1 $syc-iatric re1or4 in t-e &)0s% However, one is led to wonder i1 Halliwell0s view o1 t-e latter would .e still so o$ti4istic i1 -is account stretc-ed into t-e ne7t two decades and t-e 1ailure o1 co44unity 4ental -ealt- to $rovide 1or large sections o1 t-e seriously 4entally ill% Halliwell sees -ierarc-ical 4edical science and -olistic $syc-ology as 0two o$$osing directions, c-aracteri8ed .y successive -istorical $-ases0 ,2/ in $ost3war ;4erican $syc-iatry% 9-e stage 1or t-e4 is set .y t-e cataclys4 o1 5orld 5ar 66, w-ic- u$ends esta.lis-ed $syc-iatric t-eory and $ractice% 6n contrast, -istorians as diverse as Fllen Her4an and Ro.ert =astel -ave descri.ed t-e tra>ectory o1 U%2% $syc-iatry a1ter 5orld 5ar 66 as a -it-erto uni4agina.le e7$ansion% Hro4 t-is $ers$ective, .ot- 4edical science and li.eral $syc-ology a$$ear as $art o1 t-e sa4e tra>ectory, a $ervasive 4edicali8ation o1 social interaction t-at reac-es into t-e 1inest recess o1 t-e ;4erican $syc-e% Gr% ;le7ander Gunst ;ss% Pro1% o1 ;4erican 2tudies Ge$art4ent o1 Fnglis- and ;4erican 2tudies University o1 Pader.orn 5ar.urger 2traIe 00, !!0&# Pader.orn, Eer4any F4ail: dunstJ4ail%uni3$ader.orn%de 9ele$-one "*&3(2( 3)03!0*' Ha7 "*&3(2( 3)03!(!& !