Citation

Boisen AT. Am. J. Sociol. 1932; 38(1): 51-63.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1932, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/215980

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A study of the ethical and religious factors in 176 cases of dementia praecox in the Worcester State Hospital indicates that moral self-judgment is among the most important causative factors. This is shown in the case of a patient who in his acutely disturbed period was occupied with the idea of effecting a reconciliation between God and Satan. The standards by which this man judged himself appear to have been functions of his social relationships, particularly to those whom he accounted supremely worthy of love and honor. Like the others in this group he was one of those who accept the standards implanted by their early guides and have succeeded neither in conforming to them nor in growing into a larger loyalty or a more comprehensive understanding. His religious concern was associated with his attempt to face his difficulties and to bring himself into accord with those loyalties and to realize those loyalties and to realize those values which he felt to be of cosmic importance.