Untouched: The Need for Genuine Affection in an Impersonal World
by Mariana Caplan
344 pages, softback. Prescott, AZ: Hohm Press (1998).
Reviewed by Kathie Arcide
Belleview, Washington

This book should be required reading for all parents, medical professionals, legislators, teachers, psychotherapists--actually anyone involved with children of any age. Ashley Montagu writes a strong Foreword and many notable persons have given the work high praise, including James Prescott, Christiane Northrup, Bernie Siegel, Dolores Krieger, and Stephen and Ondrea Levine.

Mariana Caplan has done an inspirational job describing the current state of physical contact-- or lack of it--among people in our modern world. The first section of the book reveals so vividly just how removed we have become from connecting with each other in openness and love. Instead of doing that, we keep our distance from almost everyone because of fear, mistaken beliefs, and, yes, because of our individual histories of neglect and abuse. It is chilling to consider how lack of loving touch contributes to the current state of violence in our society.

Her ascerbic, critical style helps makes the work provocative and energizing. She presents her views passionately, with a tone of urgency and concern appropriate to the sheer size of this problem and its threat to harmonious relations in our society. She has practical advice for teachers who wonder if it is safe to touch children.

As a psychotherapist working with families and children for 18 years, I have watched the debate ("to touch or not to touch clients") shift dramatically. Ms. Caplan ignites interest in this issue and challenges readers to reclaim a safe and balanced approach to touching.

This book is worth reading and, hopefully, will be a catalyst to new public understanding of touch as an indispensable human nutrient.