ABSTRACT
The view that the individual seeks to obtain control over aspects of a potentially threatening environment might at first seem to portray a self-interested, power-conscious view of the individual as one who exploits his environment. However, the approach taken in this book is that control is a form of stability and predictability which makes it possible for a person to develop and acquire skills and resources. The definition proposed in an earlier book ( Fisher 1984a ) that “control involves knowing that there is a response available which can change a situation” indicates that the main importance of control is as part of the homeostatic balance with the environment. Stresses and threats represent disequilibrium; the knowledge that corrective responses are available provides a basis for the deduction that equilibrium can be restored.
