Bettelheim, Bruno (1903–1990)

Austrian-born US child psychologist. At the University of Chicago he founded a treatment centre for emotionally disturbed children based on the principle of a supportive home environment. Among his books are Love Is Not Enough (1950) and The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976).

Since his death, Bettelheim has been criticized for his autocratic and sometimes violent methods used in the Orthogenic School, Chicago.

He received his PhD from the University of Vienna 1938. With the Nazi occupation of Austria, he was arrested and sent to the concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald, where he began a long-term study of the psychological effects of totalitarianism. He fled Europe 1939 and went to the USA, where he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago.