Ander ongerief

Abstract

Inconvenience
Verward van geest en ander ongerief by Harry Oosterhuis and Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra is a voluminous and sound reference work about the history of psychiatry in the Netherlands. Striving for completeness, however, the authors failed to deliver a synthesis in the true sense of the word. They compiled and pasted an impressive amount of (mostly) secondary literature, but left little room for critical reflection and discussion. Their account of the ‘psychologisation’ of Dutch society from the 1960s onwards is exemplary and one of the main themes of the book. Oosterhuis and Gijswijt-Hofstra (only) summarize the relevant sociological studies on this subject, without addressing their problematic nature or the inconsistencies between them. As a result, their ‘sociologised’ description of the supposed process of psychologisation in the Netherlands is rather superficial and stereotypical.

This review is part of the discussion forum 'Verward van geest en ander ongerief' (H. Oosterhuis, M. Gijswijt-Hofstra).