Book Report on Viktor' Frankl's
Although Frankl had began a book on his psychological theories prior to his imprisonment in the concentration camps, the manuscripts of which were sewn into the lining of his coat immediately before his detention but subsequently lost when stripped of his belongings in the camp, his observations, examinations and analysis of the behavior of concentration camp prisoners strengthened the foundation on which his theories were based. Because of his background in psychiatry Frankl could not help but to develop findings from his observations of both his own behavior while imprisoned and the behavior of fellow prisoners. In Frankl's two-part book the first part of the book, titled Experiences in a Concentration Camp, offers the reader insight into the turmoil's of the common camp prisoner, its impact and influence on the prisoner's behavior, and Frankl's findings from observation and analysis of those behaviors. Through his personal experiences and observations Frankl found that there were three phases of a prisoner's mental reaction to life in a concentration camp with each period identifiable by its own set of symptoms and characteristics and within each period different self-defense mechanisms were utilized.
In the second part of his book Frankl goes on to summarize, to the extent possible, logotherapy. Although one would expect a released prisoner to be overjoyed, this was not the case of many of the prisoners released from the concentration camps. Whereas at one time one could not bear to see another fellow prisoner being senselessly brutalized, now one watched unmoved and with no affect. Many also returned very hardened from their camp experiences and with the thought that they had the right to be ruthless. After reading Frankl's book I am compelled to say that what Frankl writes about is what some call spirituality and what others perhaps call hope. As a result the majority of the inmates became insensitive and indifferent and the unrelenting struggle to preserve ones own life became the focus for the prisoners. This phase, in my opinion, deserves special attention because not only was it the most disheartening and perhaps the longest of the three phases for the prisoner, but also because it was perhaps the most enlightening for Frankl. Although Frankl and the other prisoner's, after having their first contact with camp prisoners who "looked well fed" initially developed a condition of "delusion of reprieve", this state of mind was quickly dispelled as it was during this first phase that the prisoners, perhaps for the first time in their lives and after having had already been taken from their homes, separated from their families, stripped of all their personal belongings and ultimately stripped of their identities, were exposed and subjected to a highly concentrated world of senseless brutality, humiliation, beatings, dehumanization, deprivation, and death. This thought of his wife and the thoughts of her that would eventually follow served as an impetus for Frankl to take on his suffering and torments as tasks that he would arise to instead not falling victim to. After reading his discussion of logotherapy I feel that it can be even more simply stated. This "relative apathy" that was symptomatic of the second phase of the prisoner's mental reaction to life in the concentration camp was what Frankl referred to as "a kind of emotional death" caused by the prisoner's continuous exposure to the camp's horrors. Hopelessness abounded and as a result suicide came to the minds of many as a way to circumvent the suffering and torment. Frankl went on to observe that within a few days to a few weeks of being submersed in "camp life" that the prisoners developed a symptom characteristic of the second phase of the prisoner's mental reaction ---- that of "relative apathy". Seemingly, the effect of an inmate tapping into his past and making a connection with something had some degree of influence on his attitude.
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Acceptance Essays
