A Case Study of Social Embeddedness and Social Responsibility: Alfred and Raissa Epshtein Adler's Movement From Minus to Plus

Abstract

It was not lost on Adler that there were strong connections between his early life experiences and the principles and perspectives that became the foundation for Individual Psychology. This article focuses on three aspects of his theory—movement from feelings of inferiority to the striving for significance, social equality and cooperation between the sexes, and social justice through social engagement—tracing these ideas back to the life experiences that almost certainly informed them. Using Adler's memories, personal interviews with family members, external biographies, and systemic tools (e.g., genograms) both new and old, the relationship between Alfred and Raissa provides a foundational guide to Adler's postwar theoretical formulations. Although much of Adler's early work was greatly influenced by his parallel experiences with his older brother, Sigmund, and Adler's own early association with Sigmund Freud, the transformative relationship for his later work was that with Raissa Epshtein Adler.