_By_ WALTER B. JAMES, M.D.
(Reprinted by permission from the _American Architect_
of January 28, 1920)
It is many years since men began to realize that their diseases were
not the result of a divine purpose, and so they have attempted, first,
to understand their origin, through study and analysis, and then from
these to discover means of prevention and cure. As a result of these
efforts, the prolongation of human life has more than doubled, and
the disease and suffering rate has markedly diminished and is still
diminishing.
To-day, resignation and patient submission in the presence of disease
of the body are no longer virtues. Mental disease has only more
recently been looked at from this same viewpoint, and gratifying
headway is being made in this direction. The world is just beginning to
realize that misbehavior or anti-social behavior presents to society a
problem somewhat similar to that of physical and mental disease.
I do not mean that misbehavior is necessarily the result of or
associated with disease, either physical or mental, although this is
often the case, but that it presents an analogous problem to society,
and that it should be attacked in the same manner, that is, through
scientific analysis and classification, the discovery of causes,
probably very complex, and the application of remedies, probably
chiefly preventive, and based upon these causes. Only in this way can
it be hoped to turn this costly waste product of social life into a
useful by-product.