A hermeneutic historical study of Kazimierz Dabrowski and his theory of positive disintegration / Marjorie M. Kaminski Battaglia.

The inquiry is a hermeneutic historical study of the historical factors in the life of Kazimierz Dabrowski which contributed to the shaping of his Theory of Positive Disintegration. Relatively little information has been written on the life and theory of Kazimierz Dabrowski. The researcher contends that knowledge of Dabrowski, the man, will aid in an understanding of his theory. The journey in which an individual "develops" to the level at which "the other" becomes a higher concern than the self, is the "stuff" of Kazimierz Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration. It is a paradoxical theory of human development, based on the premise that "good can follow from bad." Crisis and suffering act as the propellents into an internal as well as external battle with self and environment to move out of the "what is" and travel to the "what ought to be." Illuminated within this study, is how the life of Dabrowski demonstrates this moral and psychic struggle.