Crazy: My Seven Years at Bruno Bettelheim's Orthogenic School

by Roberta Carly Redford

Overview

Roberta Carly Redford spent seven years at the Orthogenic School, trying to resist the pressure to become someone she was not. She wanted to find out who she really was, but was told that she was crazy, incapable of functioning in the world. She felt dichotomized -- trying to be two people at once. It was only with the help of the other patients, years later that she realized she had been right all along, and the best person she could be was herself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781425191764
Publisher:	Trafford Publishing
Publication date:	08/16/2010
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Roberta Carly Redford resided at the Orthogenic School for seven years (1967-1974) and shares her most personal experiences there. Bruno Bettelheim was the Director during her stay and she describes his relationship with her and the other patients. Ms. Redford has a degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Wyoming and is now studying art and music. She also rescues sick and unwanted cats.

Editorial Reviews

Redford seeks to expose and challenge the myth surrounding the late Bruno Bettelheim, famed child psychologist and director of the Orthogenic School at the University of Chicago. One of many children placed by parents into Bettelheim's care, Redford was a student at the Orthogenic School—a residential facility for emotionally disturbed youths—from age 16 to 23. While there, she was, by her own account, beaten regularly, emotionally abused, and subjected to a variety of humiliations. Bettelheim himself was a key part of this treatment. Redford offers a detailed account of her time at the Orthogenic School and includes records of counselors' minutes—complete with commentary and interpretation. The author may have a legitimate grievance, but her account is simplistic, repetitive, and fraught with so much anger and resentment that readers may become uncomfortable and unsympathetic.

Publishers Weekly