ABSTRACT
THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS book derived from the distinct sense of discovery the authors experienced as participants in the conference held at the University of North Carolina in November 1981. The success of the conference should be credited to the participants’ willingness to reveal their emotional responses, which was facilitated by a forum conducive to the free exchange of ideas and the absence of an audience other than the participants themselves. The autobiographical papers of the participants had been circulated in advance and provided the necessary background information for the discussions that took place. The conference itself was an intimate gathering. As I have observed in this and other comparable situations, the participating scholars experienced a sense of relief from the restrictions of a formal academic exchange and a feeling of camaraderie powerful enough to overcome at least some of their reservations about putting their humanity on the line along with their findings. Under the influence of psychological forces from within and forces operating as a result of the group interchange, the participants partially, and probably only temporarily, disengaged themselves from the self-imposed censorship that ordinarily governs their sense not only of what they ought to write, but what they ought to think as well. Such controls are shaped by the author’s value system, as it pertains to his personal and professional sense of self. At the conference these controls were somewhat relaxed.
