ABSTRACT
A sudden and drastic deterioration of the body is likely to result in a changed conception of the self. If Rose’s hypothesis, stated in the preceding chapter, is correct — if the change results in a negative conception of the self — the individual becomes neurotic in the sense that he is unable to engage in effective action leading to his rehabilitation. If his conception of self remains positive, and yet realistically takes into account (“accepts”) the physical deterioration, the individual is able to undertake the rigorous and often painful rehabilitation program, even when he knows he will never be physically whole again. In verifying these hypotheses, Theodor Litman demonstrates that interactionist theory has value for the practice of medicine. His study, in the methodological tradition of Alfred R. Lindesmith’s study of drug addiction and Donald Cressey’s study of embezzlement, makes a contribution to Mead’s hypotheses concerning self-conception, as well as giving support to Rose’s hypotheses about neurosis and self-acceptance. The parallel should also be noted between the 551present chapter and Irwin Deutscher’s earlier chapter on delinquency, where the point was made that in order to solve a social problem one has to be concerned with popular definitions of the problem as well as with the behavior of the people who have or present the problem.
