Bettelheim, << BEHT tehl hym, >> Bruno (1903-1990), became famous during his life for his work with emotionally disturbed children and children with autism. From 1944 to 1973, he served as director of the University of Chicago’s Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School for severely troubled children. He also taught psychology and psychiatry at the university.
Bettelheim was born on Aug. 28, 1903, in Vienna, Austria. In 1938, he was one of many Jews imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. He was released in 1939 and came to the United States. In 1944, he became a U. S. citizen. Bettelheim died on March 13, 1990.
After Bettelheim’s death, biographers discovered that Bettelheim had exaggerated some of his achievements. For example, he received only one of several advanced degrees he claimed to have earned at the University of Vienna. He also made a false claim that he had studied with the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Bettelheim often described the atmosphere that he created at the Orthogenic School as gentle and healing. But former patients and co-workers said that he abused some children with spankings and other harsh treatment.
Analysis of Bettelheim’s books shows that he apparently copied extensively from the work of others. Even The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, which won a National Book Award in 1977, appears based on borrowed ideas. Mental health experts have since dismissed nearly all of Bettelheim’s ideas and methods for treating children.
