REVIEW OF SCHOLARLY BOOKS, THE HISTORY OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY IN THE ARGENTINE (ALEJANDRO PARRA)
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The document is a review of various scholarly books on the topics of religion, mental health, and parapsychology. It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each book and provides recommended readings for those interested in the subjects. The document also mentions a comprehensive survey of Argentine parapsychology, which is described as a significant contribution to the field.
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Body: 74 Journal of the A>rtent~argved For Release 2000/08/11: CIA-RDP96-00792R000700290001-9
ty for Psychical Research Reviews of Scholarly Books
sentation is attractive and largely free from typographical errors. There is
a combined subject and name index; this seems to be less detailed than it
could be, particularly in regard to the indexing of authors. These reserva-
tions notwithstanding, Wings of Illusion is highly recommended.
REFERENCES
ARGYLE, M., & BEIT-HALLAHMI, B. (1975). The Social Psychology of
Religion (rev. ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
BERGIN, A. E. (1983). Religiosity and mental health: A critical reevalu-
ation and meta-analysis. Professional Psychology: Research & Prac-
tice, 14, 170-184.
GORSUCH, R. L. (1988). Psychology of religion. Annual Review of Psy-
chology, 39, 201-221.
IRWIN, H. J. (1991). A study of paranormal belief, psychological adjust-
ment and fantasy proneness. Journal of the American Society for Psy-
chical Research, 85, 317-331.
ROSENBERG, M. (1979). Conceiving the Self. New York: Basic Books.
SANUA, V. D. (1969). Religion, mental health, and personality: A review
of empirical studies. In H. N. Malony (Ed.), Current Perspectives in the
Psychology of Religion (pp. 173-190). Grand Rapids, MI: W. B.
Eerdmans.
SCHUMAKER, J. F. (1987). Mental health, belief deficit compensation, and
paranormal beliefs. Journal of Psychology, 121, 451-457.
TAYLOR, S. E., & BROWN, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social
psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin,
103, 193-210.
TRIGG, R. (1985). Understanding Social Science: A Philosophical Intro-
duction to the Social Sciences. Oxford: Blackwell.
Department of Psychology
University of New England
Armidale NSW 2351
Australia
and nonexperimental research has been carried out either in English-
speaking countries or in countries where the authors have a command of
English fluent enough to place their articles in the major parapsychological
journals. In addition, these countries represent the industrial, technologi-
cal, "developed" nations where at least a few people have enough job
security to pursue parapsychological interests on either a part-time or full-
time basis. However, some key parapsychological research studies have
been carried out in non-English speaking and/or "developing" countries as
well. In addition, historians of parapsychology need information about the
worldwide development of the field. Therefore, Alejandro Parra's com-
prehensive survey of Argentine parapsychology comes as a pleasant-and
important-surprise.
The History of Parapsychology in the Argentine serves three key func-
tions. It surveys the history of Argentine parapsychology; it discusses the
social milieu in which Argentine parapsychology developed; and it under-
scores key investigators and their findings.
Parra divides his historical survey into four general periods: spiritism
(1869-1896), mesmerism (1896-1924), "metapsychics" (which can be
translated as "psychical studies") (1924-1953), and parapsychology (be-
ginning about 1953). The parapsychological era has three subdivisions:
parapsychology in private institutions (1953-1960), in university settings
(1960-1970), and in various settings outside of universities (beginning
about 1970).
Parra claims that there were two subdivisions in the spiritism era: 1869
to 1877 and 1877 to 1896. The first phase was marked by the impact of
Allan Kardec's writings, which made an even greater impression in neigh-
boring Brazil. Kardec was a French educator whose best known works,
The Spirit's Book and The Medium's Book, provided a world view as well
as a pair of manuals for "spiritists" (a term that was coined to distinguish
them from the "spiritualists" operating in the United States). Spiritism
was highly organized by 1877 and eventually registered some 15,000
followers. But an Argentine Society of Magnetism was formed in 1896,
which sponsored research on purported psychic phenomena produced by
the "magnetic passes" developed by another French practitioner-Franz
Anton Mesmer. The society had its own laboratory and eventually meta-
morphosized into the Scientific Society of Psychic Studies (i.e., "Meta-
psychics"), which began to interfere with the European psychical research
societies. "Psychic photography" was scrutinized in the first decade of the
1900s, as were physical mediumship and telepathic communication.
From a sociological point of view, Western European movements, es-
pecially those of France, strongly influenced various aspects of Argentine
life. Another organization, the Scientific Society for Psychical Studies,
was established in 1912 with the French Nobel laureate (and psychical
researcher) Charles Richet as honorary president. According to Parra,
Richet used the term "metapsychics" or "psychical studies" to refer to
"the science that studies phenomena which seem to operate as a result of
CIA-RDP96-00792R000700290001-9
HISTORIA DE LA PARAPSICOLOGfA EN LA AR
;I [THE
HISTORY OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY IN THE ARGENT E By Ale-
jandro Parra. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Author, 1990. Pp. 91. [Avail-
able from author at Muiiiz 539, Segundo Piso, Departamento A, Buenos
Aires, Argentina.] $10.00, paper.
The parapsychological literature is basically an English-language liter-
ature. In part, this is justifiable because most of the rigorous experimental
The Journal of the American Society for
Psychical Research Vol. 86, January 1992
Approved For Release 2000/08/11
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