#Dabrowski positive disintegration code

Many people reach this stage, tinctured by psychological turmoil, only to fall back to the first level. At this moment, an individual is faced with irreconcilable choices that apparently conflict with the social conventions or biological impulses that guided their behavior during the first level. Moments of major change, such as adolescence, can bring this about. As an example, consider the number of Nazi soldiers who were “just following orders.” People at this first level feel that all their behavior is good and correct, and so they do not experience much internal turmoil.īut this can be interrupted by a crisis, launching an individual into the second level: unilateral disintegration.

However, in a less enlightened society, the majority of people will follow convention and commit heinous acts if it is expected of them.

#Dabrowski positive disintegration code

In a benevolent society, this mindset doesn’t cause any real harm the moral code the society provides may indeed be moral. The rest of humanity operates according to social conventions, accepting social mores without critically examining them. Dąbrowski argued that many criminals and psychopaths operate at this level. Those who rely primarily on instinct and biological imperatives often act selfishly, advancing their own interests over those of others. Here, human beings are guided by two factors: instinct and social conventions. The first level, called primary integration, is where he believed the majority of humanity resided. His model of human development can be divided into five levels. As such, crisis, conflict, and suffering came to inform a great deal of his work. He was active in the resistance effort, and during his imprisonment, Dąbrowski was subjected to torture and starvation. Dąbrowski hid his mentally ill patients, working underground in order to spare them from the Nazis purification programs. Dąbrowski was jailed by both the Nazis and the Communists, and, as a member of both the intelligentsia and psychiatry in general, he was at significant risk under the Nazi regime. His life was one of constant turmoil and crises, largely because he grew up in Poland during the span between the two World Wars. Before we can dive into Dąbrowski’s model, understanding more about Dąbrowski’s life may be helpful.