Your City Tomorrow. by Guy GreerReview by: N. J. DemerathSocial Forces, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Oct., 1947), pp. 112-113Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2572626 .

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112 SOCIAL FORCES

true, the authors have attempted to limit them- selves to what they call the "somatopsychological relation," the psychological and sociological sig- nificance of physique. They have further limited themselves to aspects of the problem which have recently been under investigation-to a critical review of the present state of knowledge. The study contains chapters dealing with the physical factors of size, muscular strength, motor ability, auditory impairment, tuberculosis, orthopedic dis- abilities, and acute illness. Such other factors as age, race, sex, cosmetic defect, blindness, heart disease, diabetes, rheumatism, leprosy, and cancer are mentioned only in passing. This rather arbi- trary limitation of the field of study is unfortunate, for the authors have abstracted some general prin- ciples which, in all justification to themselves, they should test against the widest possible variety of available material.

Essentially the authors report that persons with various physical disabilities often find themselves in ambiguous situations. Some people will treat those with deficiencies with special deference whereas other people will expect normal behavior of them, and yet others will retain something of the primitive's contempt for the physically defective. Any of these attitudes, but especially a mixture of them in the environment of the handicapped, is liable to be a source of emotional insecurity. As the authors put it: "We suggest that when a person is in a marginal position between an underprivi- leged and a privileged social position, conflict and 'maladjustment' will result ... disabilities and ex- periences that place the individual in marginal situations are in many respects less desirable than those that place an individual in restricted but unambiguous situations."

It is, of course, well known that the physically handicapped present many special problems for the social psychologist. The authors point out that the validity of personality schedules depends upon the extent to which the life situations of the tested individuals are comparable to those of the standard groups. Thus when those with impaired hearing "less often heckle or question a public speaker," one must consider that the significance of this item on the Bernreuter Inventory is different for the deaf than for other individuals. Curiously, the authors fail to consider the possible involve- ment of direct neurological mechanisms in disease. Thus, encephalitis is not rare in severe polyomye- litis, and personality changes in cripples canoften

be ascribed to the sequelae of organic central neural lesions.

If the authors had developed their theories more fully and had tested their chief hypotheses in the light of the evidence from the hundreds of studies which are reviewed, this would have served as a thread to tie their work together. As it is, the presentation lacks adequate unity. Despite re- ports of interesting studies on nearly every page and a critical approach to the enormous mass of material, the reader will find the going difficult. However, the diligent student who is willing to excuse occasional wandering, repetitiousness, and loose editing will find this work filled with interest- ing speculations and stimulating suggestions. Psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists will find in the situation of the disabled a new op- portunity for testing their own theories. Those engaged in vocational rehabilitation will need this book for reference. They will be particularly interested in the final chapter which reviews studies on employment of the disabled, and will appreciate the bibliography of over 1,000 items from a wide variety of sources, dealing primarily with physical disability in America.

Another special value of this work is that it will stimulate new studies. For example, some among the readers may be inspired to investigate the problem of the effects on the reactions of the handi- capped of social and psychological situations oper- ating prior to the onset of disease.

GABRIEL LASKER Wayne University College of Medicine

YOUR CITY TomooRRow. By Guy Greer. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1947. 210 pp. $2.50. This is the best popular account of modern city

planning, its philosophy and procedure, now avail- able. It is in large part a revision and expansion of the articles which Greer wrote for Fortune in 1943 and 1944. For introducing the educated citizen and college student to the complexities of urban redevelopment, planning and housing, it is without peer.

Greer is no radical, though his espousal of such essentially conservative measures as the WXagner- Ellender-Taft bill will no doubt brand him as such in some circles. He favors extensive financial aid, federal and state, to municipalities but he wants decentralization of planning and program execu-

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LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP 113

tion. His references to TVA as a precedent are suggestive. He recognizes that the nationalization of land is unlikely and undesirable here for some time to come, in contrast with Britain. The im- portance of organized citizen support is empha- sized in Chapter X, "Program for Action," under such topical headings as the weakness of official planning, organizing the citizens, a prize contest as sparkplug, imagination, and common sense. Excellent chapters relate housing and urban plan- ning (the longest chapter in the book), set forth planning research requirements, describe the blight problem, and evaluate the redevelopment activities of such insurance companies as the Met- ropolitan Life. The Boston contest, won by a team which incIuded sociologist Talcott Parsons, is described along with the prize plan. More books like this are needed, especially in the schools where the skeletons in our urban closets are carefully con- cealed from the young, and the urban citizen is depicted as a fortunate fellow in a consumers' paradise.

N. J. DEMERATH

University of North Carolina

AMERICAN PLANNING. By Cleveland Rodgers. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1947. 290 pp. $3.00. An appreciation of history in relation to the

nation's geography is essential to an understanding of planning in America-its past development, its present status, and its future prospects. This is the approach to planning used in this volume. Documenting material is presented to show that planning, viewed in historical perspective, has played a vital role in the development of the coun- try's resources. Indeed, Mr. Rodgers' interpreta- tive comments on the work of Washington, Frank- lin, Jefferson, and other great figures up to present times present convincing evidence that the study of American planning is a study of the growth of this country.

The evolution of planning as a process of demo- cratic government has not been without contro- versy. The author significantly records several instances of great advances in resource develop- ment which, though long since accepted without question, were once embroiled in public contro- versy. However, his comments connote the importance of distinguishing between the objec- tives of these measures and the analytical processes

used in arriving at plans for the development of resources. He uses history to show that while re- source development objectives have legitimately become subjects of political debate, the process of planning which is employed in the achievement of the selected objectives repeatedly survives con- troversy.

A reminder of these historical precedents is a timely contribution. In these days when "isms" are often loosely used, political medicine men can easily make an accepted democratic process-one as tried as planning-appear as a dangerous politi- cal tool or even an evil subversive element. American Planning demonstrates that democratic planning has no political affiliation nor does it im- pose any particular system or ideology on people. However, Mr. Rodgers warns that "democratic planning is difficult because it must start from the premise that only plans which promise maximum benefits and freedoms to the maximum number of people" will be acceptable to and consistent with the beliefs of the American people.

Although this volume will be interesting to those who are professionally active in the field of plan- ning, particularly in its capacity for ferreting out numerous historical precedents and parallels for many current day planning problems, it possesses special appeal for the layman. From his vantage point as a member of New York City's Planning Commission Mr. Rodgers is in an excellent position to translate technical problems and trends of planning into terms understandable to the reading public.

The book is a commentary on American plan- ning as viewed by an airman of World War II returning to the U. S. A. We are introduced to the young aviator while he is in flight pondering many questions about the world to which he is returning. As the geography of the country so familiar from long hours of training flights takes shape, we experience with him an avalanche of questions as to the growth and development of a nation occupying this terrain. Mr. Rodgers thus uses this aviator's dilemma as a device for roughing out his own concepts of American planning. Al- though the incidental story of the airman making convenient stop-over tours of various cities and sections of the country will seem somewhat improb- able, the use of this device simplifies the author's task of presenting the evolution of planning in terms of geography and history and of developing

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