Comment on Stevens & Price

• Information on an evolutionary perspective on transvestism? by Dr Brian Robinson, 4/12/97
  • Transvestism: A couple more thoughts by James Brody, 4/23/97
    
    

Thank you for your most thought-provoking comments on transvestism, which represent a totally new angle to me, hitherto trying to understand it in terms of a combination of psychoanalytic object relations theory and social learning theory, ideas from self-theory, and harking back to James' ideas on multiple selves, Hilgard's subordinate cognitive control subsystems & gender identity. I always felt however that there must be something more archetypally fundamental for any of these to be based on..........................I can't ignore your request for a comment on Stevens A & Price J (1996) Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning, Routledge, London & NY. I'm afraid this has to be a very quick comment because I'm trying to leave for the annual conference of the British Society of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis. Anyone reading this note must understand that I am very new to this subject, apart from a few Dawkins books, EO Wilson abridged, a few others, and it's because I was looking for an intro that I got this book. It's easy to read, useful glossary, 10-page bibliography, has - to me - new ways of classifying mental illness, e.g. Disorders of Attachment & Rank, Spacing Disorders, interesting ideas about possible origins of schizophrenia and sadomachism, and useful chapter on dreams. My biggest feelingagainst is their constantly saying how much EP validates Jung in his conception of archetypes. Stevens is a Jungian analyst and I think he actually misrepresents Jung here, and I guess too, EP. There is, to my mind, only the most slight resemblance between the kind of patterns which you & your colleagues talk about here, and the vague abstractions of the totally unknown which is what Jung & followers waffle on about. In this sense only, I could imagine that some readers would even think the book fraudulent, but that could be a matter of opinion. I wouldn't necessarily not recommend it to people with enough background to sort wheat from chaff, but I had been about to photocopy sections for trainees, but I'm afraid I changed my mind as I thought bits were misleading................Sorry for rush -- I'm off to Sheffield!

• The Role of the Transvestite in Native American Culture by Ed Riemann MSW LCSW, 4/24/97
  • Further thought on Transvestism by Dr Brian Robinson, 5/26/97
    • Spandrels by James Brody, 6/8/97
      • Noodle Node by Ed Riemann BS MSW LCSW, 6/26/97
        • Welcome: I was worried by James Brody, 6/28/97
• Thanks for the info; Jung may have something going! by James Brody, 4/24/97
• Jung and Adapted Mind by James Brody, 4/24/97
  • Archetypes by John Fentress, 10/5/97
    • Arch tripe ... by Brian Robinson, 2/14/98
      • Tripe Trip by John Fentress, 2/15/98
        • John and Brian, Meet One Another by James Brody, 2/15/98
          • Hi Brian - Thanks Jim by John, 2/19/98
      • wondering by amy harrington, 4/16/98
        • Transpersonal Psych by James Brody, 4/21/98
        • The Naropa Institute by John Fentress, 4/24/98