REVIEWS | CONTENTS | AUTHOR BIO | SUBJECT CATEGORIES
In achieving self-esteem, or sense of self, we achieve maturity, or psychosocial growth
The Sense of Self
A Guide to How We Mature
Lorene A. Stringer
"This is a lovely book. The author is not only buoyant in her belief but she is rigorous in her intent to test those beliefs by recent research and practical observations."
—Helen Harris Perlman
"Mental health can be purposefully nurtured," writes Lorene A. Stringer. As mental illness arises from the inability to cope with life stresses, so mental health is a matter of managing stress effectively.
The ability to cope with stress can be nurtured by helping people, particularly the young, to develop self-esteem, defined by the author as "a reasonably accurate and realistic apraisal of the self resulting in the finding that self has worth." It is in achieving that self-esteem, or sense of self, that we achieve maturity, or psycosocial growth.
Miss Stringer describes the "sustaining network," which can foster growth from dependent childhood through to the extended relationships of adulthood. She shows how parents and teachers can help children learn, from stress itself, to develop the resources necessary to deal with stress. These resources — of competence, productivity, and responsibility — can be cultivated, as can the power of enjoyment, which the author sees as crucial in promoting growth and replenishing energy.
The Sense of Self has been compared with Bruno Bettelheim's first books on residential treatment. And indeed, the author addresses herself largely to the fostering of mental health in children. But she makes it clear that psychosocial growth is possibile in adulthood, too, and that the capacity to enjoy can be expanded at any age.
Reviews
"Miss Stringer's definition of mental health is an original contribution, clearly explained and well developed. However, her prime substantive contribution is her unique explication of the place and function of enjoyment in personality development."
— John C. Glidewell
Contents
Introduction
1. The Conceptual Framework
2. The Sustaining Network
The Early Relationships
The Extended Relationships
Beyond Contract Terms
3. About Mirrors, Images, and the Self
The Images in the Parents' Eyes
The Observer
The Ego-Ideal
Specifically-Me
On Becoming a Good Parent to Oneself
4. Proof of Worth
Competence
Productivity
Responsibility
A Note on Teachers and Teaching
5. The Fourth Psychosocial resource
About Enjoyment—in Interpersonal Relationsips
About Enjoyment—in One's Self, by One's Self,
and for One's Self
About Enjoyment—in Relation to One's Work
and One's World
A Beginning of Further Exploration
6. A Resource Is What You Have Before You Need It
References
Index
About the Author(s)
Lorene A. Stringer is Community Mental Health Coordinator of the St. Louis County Health Department.