Kazimierz Dąbrowski (1 September 1902 – 26 November 1980) was a Polish psychologist, psychiatrist and physician. He is known for his theory of " positive disintegration" as a mechanism in personality development. He was also a poet who used the pen name "Paul Cienin, Paweł Cienin".

Biography

Kazimierz Dąbrowski was born into a Catholic family on a country estate near Lublin, in the Russian sector of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, the third son of four children to Antoni, an estate administrator, and his wife. When he was six, the youngest child, a daughter aged three, died of

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

. Kazimierz was initially schooled at home. Later he attended "Stefan Batory" secondary school in Lublin. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was deeply shocked by the sight of the bodies of fallen soldiers strewn across a battlefield. At 16, having falsified his age, he gained access to the newly opened University of Lublin, where he attended the Polish language programme. At 18, he was admitted to Warsaw University to study Medicine. After two years he transferred to the University of Poznan where he attained a medical degree and had begun studies in psychology. He next moved on to the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

where he worked with Édouard Claparède and

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

and where in 1929 he gained a Phd with a thesis on suicide, under professor F. Naville. He gained a second Phd in psychology at the University of Poznan in 1931 as a broader development on the theme of self-harm, including

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

and sadomasochism. Around 1930 he had married for the first time. The marriage was short-lived as his wife died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in the mid-1930s. With help from the Rockefeller Foundation he was able to travel for post-doctoral studies in Europe and North America. From 1932 Dąbrowski spent about two years in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

undergoing an abbreviated

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

with Wilhelm Stekel, a former collaborator of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

. At the same time he did post-graduate studies in

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

with Otto Marburg, in

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

with Karl Ludwig Bühler and his wife, Charlotte Bühler, also a psychology professor, and in Neurophysiology with the Austrian physician, Wilhelm Schlesinger. Circa 1935, after the death of his wife, he went to the USA. In 1937 when he returned to Poland he opened an ''Institute for Mental Hygiene'' inspired by the movement in the USA and offered courses in the field. In 1940 Dąbrowski married for a second time. With his wife, Eugenia also a psychologist, he had two daughters. The marriage lasted to his death in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1980. In 1942 Dąbrowski was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

and briefly held in Warsaw's Pawiak prison. From there he was taken to the Montelupich Prison in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

for several months until his release was negotiated by colleagues and he returned to Warsaw. He continued his clinical work as a sanatorium superintendent. The Germans restricted his work under close supervision. After the war, he resumed his psychiatric work and was able to travel once more to the USA. On his return in 1949 he was accredited as a clinical psychologist by the University of Wrocław. However the Stalinist authorities closed down his Institute of Mental Hygiene that year on the grounds that it was the product of dangerous Western ideology. He and his wife were brought to trial and sentenced to a two year prison term. After the death of Stalin they were released and he returned to more modest clinical work and teaching. With a partial thaw in Soviet-Western relations, in 1964 he travelled to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with his family on a one year visiting professorship at the University of Alberta. He continued publishing and travelling abroad until forced to stop through ill-health in his late 70s.

Career

Dąbrowski developed the theory of positive disintegration, which attempts to describe how personality development can progress as a result of accumulated difficult experiences. "Disintegration" refers to the abandonment of clusters of prior sensitivities and attitudes, based on learning from these events and perceptions. The resulting shift, if there is one, may be regarded as positive when the process has moved the personality to an increased capacity to contain such experiences and gain new perspectives. Dąbrowski had a lifelong dedication to the field of psychology. He established a rehabilitation centre in Zagórze (near Warsaw) for patients who suffered mental disorders after experiencing difficult life situations. Research at the facility supplied him with observations and data that helped shape his concepts.

Concepts

Dąbrowski developed the theory of positive disintegration from a number of assumptions and concepts. His approach is philosophically based on Plato, reflecting his bias towards essence — an individual's essence is a critical determinant of his or her developmental course in life. Dąbrowski was also influenced by the existential belief that one depends upon anxieties felt and the manner of resolving day to day challenges. One's essence needs to be realized through an existential and experiential process of development. Dąbrowski's idea of the "autonomous individual" may be compared to the characterization advanced by Kierkegaard of his " Knights of faith". Dąbrowski's concept of positive disintegration should not be confused with the Jungian concepts of "De-integration and re-integration" coined by his British contemporary, Michael Fordham. Although they may appear somewhat analogous, they are based on different personality hypotheses and there is no evidence they knew about each other.

Observations on giftedness

In an appendix to Dąbrowski (1967), results of investigations conducted in 1962 with Polish youth are reported. Specifically, "a group of gifted children and young people aged 8 to 23" were examined (p. 251). Of the 80 young people studied, 30 were "intellectually gifted" and 50 were from "drama, ballet, or art schools" (p. 251). Dąbrowski found that every one of the children displayed what he called his factor of '' overexcitability'', OE, "which constituted the foundation for the emergence of neurotic and psychoneurotic sets. Moreover, it turned out that these children also showed sets of nervousness, neurosis, and psychoneurosis of various kinds and intensities, from light vegetative symptoms, or anxiety symptoms, to distinctly and highly intensive psychasthenic or hysterical sets" (p. 253). Dąbrowski asked why these children should display such "states of nervousness or psychoneurosis" and suggested that it was due to the presence of OE (p. 255). "Probably the cause is more than average sensitivity which not only permits one to achieve outstanding results in learning and work, but at the same time increases the number of points sensitive to all experiences that may accelerate anomalous reactions revealing themselves in psychoneurotic sets" (p. 255). Dąbrowski's posited association between OE and "giftedness" appears to be supported in other research, conducted primarily by Michael Piechowski and his colleagues. It appears that at the least OE is a marker of potential for giftedness/creativity. OEs can help teachers and others spot a gifted person. Dąbrowski's basic message is that giftedness might be disproportionately associated with a process of positive disintegration and personality growth.

Main works

* ''Nerwowość dzieci i młodzieży'' (1935) (''Nervousness of children and adolescents'') * ''Społeczno-wychowawcza psychiatria dziecięca'' (1959) (''Socio-educational child psychiatry'') * ''O dezintegracji pozytywnej'' (1964) (''About positive disintegration'') * ''Positive Disintegration'' (1964) * ''Personality-Shaping through Positive Disintegration'' (1967) * ''Mental Growth through Positive Disintegration'' (1970) * ''Psychoneurosis Is Not an Illness'' (1972) * ''Existential Thoughts and Aphorisms'' (1972) (as Paul Cienin) * ''Fragments from the Diary of a Madman'' (1972) (as Pawel Cienin ) poetry collection * ''Myśli i aforyzmy egzystencjalne'' (1972) (as Paweł Cienin) (''Thoughts and existential aphorisms'') * ''The Dynamics of Concepts'' (1973) * ''Trud istnienia'' (1975) (''The Effort to exist'') * ''Dezintegracja pozytywna'' (1979) (''Positive Disintegration'') * ''W poszukiwaniu zdrowia psychicznego'' (1989) (''In Search of Mental Health'')

References

Bibliography

*R. Zaborowski, ''Kazimierz Dąbrowski – l’homme et son œuvre'' in: ''Annales du Centre Scientifique à Paris de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences'' 9, 2006, pp. 105–12
DEZINTEGRACJA.PL - the Polish website dedicated to Kazimierz Dąbrowski and his Theory of Positive Disintegration
*Kobierzycki, Tadeusz. 'Kazimierz Dąbrowski' - biography in English, ''Heksis'' 1/3 (22-24) 200

*Quarterly Heksis, Issue 1/2010 dedicated Kazimierz Dąbrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration - http://www.heksis.com
Be Greeted; a poem written by Dąbrowski
* A. A. Zych, Higiena psychiczna w Polsce. Słownik biograficzny. (Mental Hygiene in Poland. Biographical Dictionary), Wrocław: Wyd. Nauk. DSW, 2013, pp. 60–67. * Dąbrowski, K. (1964). ''Positive Disintegration''. Maurice Bassett, 2016 * Tillier, William. ''Personality Development through Positive Disintegration: The Work of Kazimierz Dabrowski''. Maurice Bassett, 2018