Positive Disintegration - Obstacles To The Theory

Obstacles To The Theory

Both Dąbrowski and his work have faced many obstacles. Personally, he was severely affected by both World Wars. His work always went against the grain. One can imagine a humanistic theory promoting personal growth in the political atmosphere of Poland in the 1950s and 1960s. Another problem has been language. Dąbrowski wrote in Polish and translated his works into French and Spanish. English was the last language he learned and likely the most difficult in terms of capturing the subtleties of his ideas. In spite of these problems, Dąbrowski persevered with his studies of human development, developed his theory and practiced psychiatry all his life.

Dąbrowski died in 1980 and his students went on to explore careers of their own. Many of these students continue to study and speak on the theory, most advancing a deeply personal understanding of what the theory means to them. For many, the theory has become a lifelong friend.

Since 1980, there has been a small but consistent demand for Dąbrowski’s works. This demand has largely evolved in the United States where Michael Piechowski applied his vision of the theory to gifted education. Many in education and in gifted education have looked to Dąbrowski’s theory to help provide a context for their students. Although a small part of the overall theory, this aspect has generated a number of Master’s and Ph.D. theses and introduced the theory to a large audience, an audience eager to learn more about Dąbrowski and his theory.

The reader interested in Dąbrowski has faced a serious scarcity of resources, especially of Dąbrowski’s English works. His books are long out of print and rare, and his papers are held by a few people but not circulated. There are also many excellent Polish works by Dąbrowski (about 20 books) on the theory, on psychotherapy, on education and on philosophy that await translation into English. Several efforts are underway to remedy this scarcity, including the Dąbrowski website (see below), a current initiative to reprint Dąbrowski’s English books (they are currently available as pdf files on a CD) and ongoing conferences and workshops.