Patterns of Psychosexual Infantilism [Hardcover]

Wilhelm Stekel (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np) (June 1952)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871408406
• ISBN-13: 978-0871408402
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,812,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Follow up on my Previous Review, November 30, 2002

By 

J. Davidoff (Fort Lee, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patterns of Psychosexual Infantilism (Hardcover)

My earlier review of this book has generated many e-mails and it is my hope to address them here by elaborating upon and clarifying my previous review.

Please understand that the purpose of my previous review of Stekel's book was to serve as a warning to other AB/DL's that it contained absolutely nothing of interest to the casual reader and had almost no relevance to the average AB/DL. For those who don't know, AB/DL is an abbreviation of Adult Baby or Diaper Lover, a term in common usage by the infantilist community to refer to ourselves in much the same way GLT is used by the gay, lesbian and transgender community.

Diapers are an integral component of any infant's life and this is true for Adult Babies as well. In most of the modern world there is no other object more strongly associated with infancy - such that even though they have not been widely used for more than a quarter of a century, the diaper pin is still an extremely common symbol for anything having to do with babies.

Keeping in mind that Stekel's book was written 50 years ago, my remarks were really not intended to be a critique of the book's research, conclusions or scientific validity. The doctor uses the term infantilism in a much, much broader way than do most of us in the AB/DL community. Although what we AB's do would certainly be considered by Stekel a clear case of infantilism he uses the term to define a wide range of regressive behaviors, most of which do not include diapers or any of the practices or items common to AB behavior as our community usually defines it. That's why I included the fact that the word diaper appears in this several hundred page volume only three times.

I suppose as a historical document Patterns of Psychosexual Infantilism may have value to a mental health professional. My opinion however was written from the standpoint of an Adult Baby and written for other ABs seeking information that is relevant or useful to him or herself - or for the spouse, friend or family of such a person.

Many people have also e-mailed me for information about Thomas Speaker and where they might find his books. The writings of his that I referred to in my earlier review is a relatively brief paper purported to be published by a university student named Thomas Speaker. He has not, to my knowledge, published any other books or papers on the subject.

If you have read my previous review my opinion regarding Speaker's paper may surprise you. It is exactly the opposite of my comments on Steckel's book but that is not as complimentary as it at first seems. In my opinion as a supposedly scientific publication Speaker's paper is, from a scholarly point of view, quite poor but it would probably be enjoyed by the average AB/DL reader. I will not go into great detail about why I feel this way, but rather I will tell you where to find his paper and let you judge for yourself.

My only other comments regarding Speaker's paper is that I have heard reports from several sources that Speaker is himself an adult baby. While it is understandable why he would not want to disclose this in his paper, its omission invalidates it as a presentation based upon objective research. To be fair that Speaker is reportedly part of the infantilist community is anecdotal and unsubstantiated however I find that the publisher of this paper is DPF (Diaper Pail Friends an Adult Baby and Diaper Lover club that sells adult baby fetish wear and erotica) to be very telling.

I want to clarify my first statement where I referred to myself "As an individual that suffers from Psychosexual Infantilism". This was the first (and only) book review I had ever submitted to Amazon.com. I did not know if it was subject to review by Amazon[.com] staff and did not want it deleted because of some editor was freaked out by a post from someone with a diaper fetish.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with being an adult baby. Like most things in life it has it's good points and bad points. One of the bad points is that it can complicate romantic and other personal relations and is often very isolating. But like most things in life, whatever your situation, good or bad, life is what you make of it and being an adult baby is probably one of the aspect of myself that I am most comfortable with....

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One book, two infantilisms, May 4, 2006

By 

B. Terrance Grey "B. Terrance Grey" (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Patterns of Psychosexual Infantilism (Hardcover)

This is a good book, but a misunderstanding of the title may give false expectations: Dr. Stekel wrote about psychosexual infantilism, not paraphilic infantilism. The former includes the latter, and much else.

The term 'psychosexual infantilism' is rooted in the Freudian notion that individuals went through various stages as they matured into heterosexuality. Anything other than heterosexuality was thought to be due to an arrested development; a psychosexual infantilism. To advocate this view, Stekel emphasized cases that involved regression or diapers.

The vast majority of these cases are not what would later be called 'paraphilic infantilism.' Paraphilic infantilism is a variation, a range of desires that have a common theme; diapers and babyhood. In books written specifically about more popular paraphilias, these cases would need to be filtered or biased to that paraphilia. For example, Roy F. Baumeister's "Masochism and the Self" emphasized only one aspect; the baby humiliations. Dr. Stekel didn't need to bias the few cases of paraphilic infantilism dramatically in order to fit them into his book on psychosexual infantilism.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Complete and Utter Waste of Time and Money!!!!!, March 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Patterns of Psychosexual Infantilism (Hardcover)

As an individual that suffers from Psychosexual Infantilism, I purchased this book hoping to learn more about myself and the condition of Infantilism. The book was a great disappointment and a complete waste of time. I shipped it back the same day I received it. The various case histories were way too brief and very, very dated. Adults who are psychologically unable to give up their diapers or achieve potty training make up the vast majority of Infantilists yet the book contains surprisingly little information regarding this. In all you would do better to turn to works by authors who have researched the subject such as Thomas Speaker.