Philip F. Lawler, in his Aug. 13 commentary “A family matter: Artificial birth control root cause of breakdown in family,” maintains that Sigmund Freud was in opposition to contraception. To the contrary, Freud maintained that the lack of adequate contraception contributed to many people’s neurotic ills.
Mr. Lawler is correct that there has been an increase in the “breakdown in family life: the nagging problems of poverty, illiteracy and crime; the steady rise in drug abuse and sexual promiscuity; the frightening increase in child abuse and domestic violence.” But he is incorrect to say that the use of contraception is the root cause of these complex social problems.
As a matter of fact, Freud’s understanding that an individual’s inclination to aggression constituted the greatest impediment to civilization can be very helpful in understanding and addressing many of the problems alluded to by Mr. Lawler, including the increase in violence among our youth.
