These questions will be covered in eight sessions.  (1) How did psychoanalysis take shape in the early career of Sigmund Freud?  (2) Is it a doctrine based on speculation and intuition?  Or can it be viewed as a scientific discipline? What are its theoretical and methodological foundations?  (3) To what extent is it effective or ineffective in promoting emotional health?  Is it useful for individuals who have few or no symptoms of mental illness?  (4) What led to its widespread acceptance in the 1950s and 60s, and its steady decline in more recent decades?  What are the main arguments of neo-Freudians?  (5) Even if psychoanalysis might be beneficial for many people, how can its affordability and accessibility be ensured? (6) To what extent can it benefit senior citizens, young people, and families undergoing severe conflict?  (7) Do public health agencies and the health insurance industry have any responsibility to make it broadly available? Or have they actually marginalized it? Could it be covered by Medicare and Medicaid?  Should it be so covered?  (8) Can sociology and other social sciences benefit from and illuminate psychoanalysis?

Suggested readings:  These recommended works by Sigmund Freud are available in numerous editions but not necessary for purposes of this course: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life;  An Outline of Psychoanalysis;  and  Interpretation of Dreams.  

-  Likewise for these recommended works by Karen Horney: Our Inner Conflicts;  New Ways in Psychoanalysis; and Self-Analysis.   

- Last but not least are sociological works by Erving Goffman:  The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life; and Asylums: Essays on the Social Situations of Mental Patients and Other Inmates.