A new generation of physicians, not brought up in the midst of the prejudices of the older, will further the psychologic investigation of the neuroses.

Naturally the high school must change its attitude towards the problem of sex. Departments of Sexology and Psychotherapy are necessary to instruct the young physicians in the essentials of sexual life and its morbid changes, in order to prepare the future practitioner to deal effectively with these troubles, heretofore erroneously looked upon as hopeless. The next volumes in this Series will prove how little the paraphilias are inborn and how much they are the result of training and environment. But what is formulated through faulty training may be corrected by proper reëducation, even though the hold of infantilism appears unconquerable.

I have called the paraphilias the struggle between spinal cord and brain. They are, even more truly, the Struggle of Child against Adult. For at bottom these neuroses are but infantilisms struggling for survival. The adult fights against the child; the adult race, ripe for monosexuality, fights against its childhood manifesting itself in bisexuality and sadism. The physician can see to it that the warfare is carried on in humane fashion and with means worthy of civilization. He can turn the hidden into an open warfare. It means overcoming the evil—or that which the moralists call evil—by meeting it face to face.

He who looks for more than a few words on the subject of the prophylaxis of homosexuality and onanism will be disappointed. I believe it is best that we turn our attention to these themes only when we are called upon to do so in our professional capacity. I advise all parents and educators not to watch whether a child masturbates or not. The child quits the habit when it finds other ways for releasing the tension. And our analyses have abundantly shown us that it is almost impossible to prevent masturbation. The evil effects produced upon the child witnessing marital bickerings, the household inspiration it receives with regard to judgment-feelings about women and men, the decisive manner in which parents affect it when they transfer their conflicts on the child,—these capital facts the life histories of homosexuals given above illustrate very clearly for any one willing to look squarely at the truth. We do not as yet appreciate how careful we must be in our relations with the children. Our educators are still guilty of a serious blunder when they conceive their duty to be to instill goodness in the child through the instrumentality of fear. There are only two educational levers: one’s own example and—love. The healthiest children come from happy marriages. It is love that determines whether a marriage shall be a happy one and whether the offspring will be healthy or weak. The unconscious sexual instinct, manifesting itself in love is the guide for the regeneration of the human race.[[53]] Social conditions favoring early love marriages are the only social reform to which I look for results....

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INDEX OF NAMES

[1]. “Homosexuals who display their inclination clearly only after puberty show an interest in the other sex before and during the period of puberty. For instance, I have been told by a 23-year-old typical homosexual, today a victim of horror feminae, that at 16 and 17 years of age he entertained strong fancies about girls and ran after them, although without any particular sexual feeling desire. This transitory and undefined preoccupation of homosexuals with the opposite sex is a sort of ‘pseudoheterosexuality.’” (Bloch, loc. cit., p. 597.)