The Broad Scope of Psychoanalysis: Selected Papers of Leopold Bellak.

The book is a collection of selected papers by Bellak written over a period of two decades. They reflect his wide-ranging interests and his efforts to investigate and apply psychoanalytic concepts and insights. It is carefully edited by Spence with an introduction to each of its five sections and introductory remarks for each chapter. The chief merit of the book is its focus on research methodology in the broad scope of psychoanalysis. There is scientific rigor evident in Bellak's self-critical appraisal of his work. The very breadth of interest, however, exacts its price in limiting the depth of the reported research. The first section sets forth basic psychoanalytic concepts, critically examining them in an effort to integrate psychoanalytic acumen with the training of a research psychologist. It is more successful in conveying the great complexity of human behavior as conceptualized psychoanalytically than in translating the concepts into testable propositions.

Bellak