Clio’s Psyche Understanding the "Why" of Culture, Current Events, History, and Society
Volume 8, Number 2 September, 2001 A Conversation with Crime, Punishment and Charles B. Strozier on Heinz Kohut Incarceration Bob Lentz and Paul H. Elovitz Special Issue Clio's Psyche Fantasies and Realities of In May, Charles B. Strozier’s biography of psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut, Heinz Kohut: The Crime, Courts, and Prison Making of a Psychoanalyst (New York: Farrar, Paul H. Elovitz Straus & Giroux, 2001, ISBN 0374168806; xiii, Ramapo College and the Psychohistory Forum 495 pp.; $35.00), was released to critical acclaim. The New York Times Book Review (June 3, 2001) Americans are fascinated, and often ob- called it "a deeply informed, absorbing biogra- sessed, by crime, punishment, and violence. phy"and "an exemplary study." See Maria The local news on television emphasizes Miliora's review of Heinz Kohut on page 90 of this murder, child abuse, kidnappings, pedophilia, (Continued on page 85) criminal court cases, and other activities feeding
Comments in Response to "The Prison Band" ...... 76 IN THIS ISSUE Kevin J. McCamant Sexual Visitation Reduces Prison Rape in Brazil...... 77 Crime, Punishment and Incarceration Fernando Salla Fantasies and Realities of Crime, Courts, and Prison..49 America's Prisons: Corrections or Rehabilitation?...... 78 Paul H. Elovitz Alan Jacobs In the Penal Colony: Sadomasochistic Dynamics ...... 55 The Effects of Education on Recidivism...... 80 Kevin J. McCamant Edryce Reynolds Prisoners: Milgram Experiments Are About Sadism ..58 Using the Reality of Myth to Reduce Recidivism...... 82 C. Fred Alford Ed de St. Aubin The Rational Irrationality of Punishment ...... 60 Law in America...... 84 Joel D. Lieberman and Jeff Greenberg Letter to the Editor by Margaret McLaughlin Reflections on Police Violence in Brazil...... 62 A Conversation with Charles B. Strozier On Kohut.... 49 Junia Vilhena with Maria Helen Zamora Bob Lentz and Paul H. Elovitz Videotaped Interrogations and Confessions ...... 63 Strozier's Kohut...... 90 G. Daniel Lassiter Book Review by Maria Miliora Women Victims' Emotion in the Courtroom...... 65 The Creativity of Anthony Storr (1920-2001)...... 93 Julie Anne Blackwell Young Andrew Brink The Dangers of Invalid "Scientific" Evidence...... 66 Drinking in Russia: One for the Soul ...... 97 Michael Brock Caroline Scielzo When Emotion Takes Control of Jury Verdicts...... 68 In Search of Butterflies...... 99 David A. Bright and Kipling D. Williams Book Review by Jay Sherry The Execution of Timothy McVeigh...... 70 Keyword for Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial ...... 101 Howard F. Stein Film Review by Jerry Kroth The Prison Band ...... 74 In Memoriam: Chaim Shatan (1924-2001)...... 102 H. John Rogers Paul H. Elovitz Page 50 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001 the viewers’ voyeuristic desire to catch a glimpse cutor, the defense attorney, the jury, and the judge. of mayhem and to punish those responsible. Net- This issue of Clio’s Psyche is devoted to work television programs on crime proliferate the psychohistorical and historical understanding enormously. Even suspected crimes grab our atten- of crime, punishment and incarceration. As a psy- tion. In the spring and summer of 2001 there has chohistorian I start with the difference between been a national obsession and media circus revolv- appearance and reality. In appearance, Americans ing around the disappearance of Washington intern are opposed to the very existence of crime, but the Chandra Levy. This is despite the absence of any reality is that we are fascinated by crime and focus evidence that Congressman Gary Condit or anyone on it enormously. In theory we want to do every- else has committed a crime. thing to decrease crime, while in reality we in- Activities not previously seen as criminal crease the number of activities deemed to be crimi- are increasingly brought within the scope of crimi- nal, thus increasing “crime.” We also send large nality. An example of this was President Clinton's numbers of young men to prison, where they in- being charged by the Senate with “high crimes and cline to form a criminal identity and to focus on misdemeanors” for lying about his private sexual crime for the next 20 or 30 years of their lives -- life with an intern. In early August the U.S. House thus the revolving door of recidivism. of Representatives passed Bill 265-162 banning As psychohistorians we look to the fanta- both private and public human cloning for any pur- sies and emotions that people have about crime. pose whatsoever. Penalties included are a 10-year The United States has vast multi-billion dollar in- prison term and a one million dollar fine. (Gia dustries within the worlds of cinema, print, and Fenoglio, “Human Cloning: Is it Inevitable?” The television, which thrive by serving our fantasies Bergen [New Jersey] Record, Aug. 12, 2001, pp. about crime. Some common crime fantasies we RO 1 & 4) share are of: While statistics showed a consistent de- Catching the cunning but deranged killer who crease in major crime in the 1990s, Americans act threatens our lives and tranquility as if crime is increasing, pouring more and more The master detective who outsmarts the resources into the “fight against crime.” Further- criminals more, they act as if they stand a greater chance of The hard-bitten private detective who some- being murdered by some anonymous criminal than how catches the criminals, often despite his of killing themselves while the reality is that sui- client cide is the seventh greatest cause of death com- The lawyer who defends the innocent and pared to tenth for homicide. (In 1998 there were points the finger at the guilty 293,000 suicides compared to 174,000 homicides.) The innocent who somehow gets caught up in It is noteworthy that disease and accidents are the the middle of crime most significant killers of Americans. (The Statisti- International crime and espionage, including cal Abstract of the United States 2000, pp. 90 & the international mastermind 92) The traitor within Greed and passion are the prime motiva- As psychohistorians, we follow emotion, tions of fictional television criminals who tend to especially changes in feelings and their focus. be extraordinarily one dimensional in their person- Consciously, Americans seek a safe environment alities and motivations. In cases of premeditated and world. We diet, exercise, get more medical murder, there is no sense as to the real psychologi- care, have safer sex, spend fortunes on alarm sys- cal obstacles that must be overcome for most peo- tems, and wear car seat belts and bicycle helmets -- ple to kill another human being, often a friend or all to live safer and longer lives. Suburban children loved one. (Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psy- are sent to all the right places and driven there be- chological Costs of Learning to Kill in War and cause we dare not let them walk far in the danger- Society, 1995) ous world. While building a wall of safety around The voyeuristic pleasures involved in our loved ones and selves, indeed even living in watching television crime and punishment are gated, guarded communities (“Violence in Our enormous. Sitting at home in the comfort of a liv- Midst,” Clio’s Psyche, June, 1995, pp. 15-17), our ing room the viewer can simultaneously have the fantasies proliferate. Our emotions are focused on pleasure and “pain” of identifying with the crimi- dangerous and violent pursuits. For example, NAS- nal, the victim, the police, the detective, the prose- CAR auto racing, once a southern pursuit, has re- September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 51 cently become popular even in the New York met- stand the processes of criminalization and de- ropolitan region. Video games are so violent that criminalization that is continuous in society. As they are rated like movies, with children clamoring someone who was born and raised in the state of to play the forbidden ones. "Tough Enough" and Connecticut at a time when there were numerous "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" on cable “blue laws,” I am especially aware of this process. television are quite brutal. There have been a num- For example, it was illegal to have sexual relations ber of deaths lately of children killed while they with anyone but your spouse. Furthermore, no were re-enacting what they viewed on the screen. birth control could be legally used and the Television is the great medium for feeding our vio- “missionary position” (genital sex with the male on lent fantasies because it reaches into our homes top) was the only way to stay within the law. and our lives more than any other instrument of the Naturally, these laws were not enforced, except imagination and communication. Within the safety occasionally against vocal advocates of birth con- of our homes we want to enjoy all sorts of vio- trol and homosexuals. This selective enforcement lence. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 of the law is one of the great dangers of the prolif- left us without a credible enemy in the larger eration of criminal activities -- by decree -- in our world, causing us to look for danger within. society. The abysmal failure of Prohibition (of A historical perspective helps us to under- alcohol from 1920-1933) serves as a reminder that it is governments that make and enforce laws.
Also, it is governments and not individuals that are the terrible killers in modern history. See R.J. Clio’s Psyche Rummel, Death by Government (2000), should you
Vol. 8, No. 2 September, 2001 have any doubt as to this reality. There are times when the public cannot ISSN 1080-2622 seem to get enough of crime, criminology, and the Published Quarterly by The Psychohistory Forum courts. "COPS," "C.I.E.," "Diagnosis Murder," 627 Dakota Trail, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417 "The Division," "Law and Order Special Victims Telephone: (201) 891-7486 e-mail: [email protected] Unit," "Miami Vice," "Mystery," "Nero Wolf Mys- teries," "NYPD Blue," and "Walker, Texas Editor: Paul H. Elovitz, PhD Associate Editor: Bob Lentz Ranger" are but some of the television programs Internet Co-ordinator: Stan Pope filling this need for criminals, police, detectives, and forensic detectives. Famous trials are often the Editorial Board headliners of newspapers. In recent history the C. Fred Alford, PhD University of Maryland • David print medium mostly has been pre-empted by tele- Beisel, PhD RCC-SUNY • Rudolph Binion, PhD Brandeis University • Andrew Brink, PhD Formerly vised crime and trials. Much of the nation watched of McMaster University and The University of the O.J. Simpson trial on "Court TV." The every- Toronto • Ralph Colp, MD Columbia University • day demand for court and trial drama is fed not Joseph Dowling, PhD Lehigh University • Glen only by programs such as "Attorney," "Divorce Jeansonne, PhD University of Wisconsin • Peter Court," "Family Court," "Judging Amy," "L.A. Loewenberg, PhD UCLA • Peter Petschauer, PhD Law," "Law and Order," "Night Court," and Appalachian State University • Leon Rappoport, "Moral Court," but also real courts that are de- PhD Kansas State University signed for television audiences such as "Judge Joe
Advisory Council of the Psychohistory Forum Brown," "Judge Judy," "Judge Mathis," and "The John Caulfield, MDiv, Apopka, FL • Melvin Kalfus, People’s Court" (Judge Milian). My comments be- PhD Boca Raton, FL • Mena Potts, PhD Wintersville, low are based mostly on the last program. OH • Jerome Wolf, Larchmont, NY Overt signs of a judicial temperament are a Subscription Rate: Free to members of the Psychohistory Forum disqualification for becoming a television judge. $25 yearly to non-members People bring disputes of the type that would qual- $40 yearly to institutions ify for small claims court, there is a $3,000 limit on (Both add $10 outside U.S.A. & Canada) "The People’s Court," with the understanding that
Single Issue Price: $10 they must abide by the decision of the judge who
We welcome articles of psychohistorical interest hears the case on television and makes the decision that are 500 - 1500 words. during the commercial break. Judge Mathis, Judge Judy, and Judge Milian are in fact judges in the Copyright © 2001 The Psychohistory Forum Page 52 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001 states of Illinois, California, and New York, whose purely economic, dollars-and-cents-oriented ap- decisions are binding. The usual format is for the proach to crime and measured this prison industry plaintiffs’ claims to be spelled out by an announcer by what it produced rather than by its prospectus -- and then stated to a judge notorious for a bullying after all, we are the stockholders of our country -- attitude. Bystanders on the street, watching "The we would find the results to be contradictory and People’s Court" proceedings on a monitor, are en- shocking. The contradiction stems from two fac- couraged to pass their judgment on the merits of tors. First, prisons definitely take people off the the case. After the judicial decision is rendered, streets, most of whom we would not like to meet in again based upon the judge’s “contemplation” dur- the course of our day. Second, prisons are places ing the commercial break, the winner and loser are that do a remarkable job of schooling young mis- interviewed on camera. The amazing thing is that creants into criminals for the next 20 or 30 years of people volunteer to subject themselves to this sys- their life rather than returning them to society as tem and that this travesty of justice is legal. Yet, it productive citizens. While this may be quite good does make for bemusing entertainment in this age for the business of warehousing those who have of reality television where the distinction between broken certain laws, it certainly is a very poor in- fantasy and reality is blurred. Today’s cases in- vestment for the U.S. Were the same money spent cluded a mother suing her adult son for $872.50 in on sending young people to college the results telephone bills he incurred on her cell phone. She would be much better for society. It is true that won. Next a tenant sued her former landlord for a Harvard and Yale cost more per capita than a year larger share of her security deposit and he won. in prison, but state colleges and universities can What is amazing is how many of the rather ordi- compete nicely in terms of cost with state and fed- nary people who come before these judges do not eral penitentiaries. The statistically-proven result bother seeking to get proof. It is as if they think of a college education is a productive, tax-paying their own fantasies and the fantasy world of televi- citizen and of a penitentiary is a person the state sion have come together and all they must do is to will likely be supporting for the next 20 or 30 show up. Yet even a television judge must pay years. When, in July, I heard a news item that Por- some attention to the facts before s/he rules. tugal will not jail anyone for the violation of drug A former colleague at Temple University laws, beyond major dealers in drugs, I felt that Por- liked to quote the motto of a crime writer’s asso- tugal will probably would end up in a better place ciation, “crime does not pay -- enough!” This is vis-à-vis drug enforcement than the United States, accurate. From a monetary perspective, crime is with its endless failed “wars on drugs” and tens of normally a very poorly remunerated enterprise. thousands jailed as users and minor dealers. The bank robber who pats himself on the back for Our call for papers resulted in submissions making $5,000 dollars for an afternoon’s work is from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, the Neth- not so happy when he has to pay his legal bills and erlands, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, the spend the next five years of his life in jail. Most United States, and elsewhere. It is interesting that real life criminals, unlike the romanticized versions the primary focus of the articles we received was provided by Hollywood and television, are indi- on punishment and incarceration rather than upon viduals with limited economic prospects, who have crime. The partial exception is Junia Vilhena’s trouble with impulse control. Kevin McCamant, a “Reflections on Police Violence in Brazil.” Yet well-respected psychologist who works in the even this article focuses primarily on the police's prison system in Maryland, informs me that many dehumanized treatment of the poor and the dark- also have psychological problems. skinned lower classes of their society, from which Our current theme issue is a natural out- they are drawn, which leads to the underprivileged growth of this past June’s Psychology and the Law being seen as fitting targets for police assault, ex- Special Issue. America’s obsession with law results tortion, illegal search and seizure, rape, and theft. not simply in the proliferation of attorneys and po- As a proud Brazilian, Dr. Vilhena is not comfort- licemen, but also in the creation of a multi-billion able exposing the underside for society, however, dollar prison industry. While people in cities try to as a psychoanalyst, psychologist, and educator, she get rid of their criminals, rural towns compete to knows that this is a prerequisite for reform involv- have prisons built in their communities, overcom- ing the police humanization of the “dangerous ing local opposition by arguing that this growth classes.” Her usage of the term dangerous classes industry is virtually recession proof because there reminds me that as a historian I have read this will always be crime. If we Americans took a phrase in the literature of France and England in September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 53 the 19th century. Daniel Lassiter of Ohio Univer- American men have been executed compared to sity provides an interesting article about the psy- 1,971 white men. (Statistical Abstract, p. 223) chology of videotaped interrogations and confes- Texas has led the way in executions in recent sions, making the point that videotaping the inter- years. In Texas on August 15, a black man was rogators also helps in the process of understanding scheduled to be executed until an appeals court why there have been so many exonerations of postponed the case because of the issue of the legal death row inmates who confessed to crimes they incompetence of the defense attorney. He was one never committed. Howard Stein cuts through cul- of three teenage killers of the father of a Texas tural mystification to examine some psychohistori- judge whose Mercedes Benz automobile they were cal clues regarding the ultimate punishment (death) stealing. The case has been in the news exten- meted out by our justice system for what many sively for several reasons. One, three U.S. Supreme have called the ultimate crime -- the Oklahoma Court justices reclused themselves from an appeal City Bombing. Despite his own abode being because of personal connections with the family. shaken by the blast, Howard has always been able Two, because it involves the possible execution of to keep an open mind in probing society’s reaction a 25-year-old man who was only 17 at the time of to Timothy McVeigh and the desire to avoid facing the crime, this would be in violation of an interna- violence within our midst by demonizing and oblit- tional agreement not to execute anyone who was erating an individual who mistakenly thought he under 18 when the crime was committed. Three, was a solder fighting for the American people the fact that he jury was all white, and that at least against the government. one juror was so racist that he said, “That nigger Turning to the complex issue of the courts got what he deserved.” Four, the inequality of the and the determination of punishment, we find a justice meted out for the same crime in the same variety of articles. Julia Anne Blackwell Young of community at close to the same time. For exam- the University of Leicester describes the dilemma ple, three young white men, known for their preju- of women witnesses in a traditionally male- dices and “Hitler fetish,” randomly killed a home- dominated system. Unlike men, they tend to be less black man of the same age as the judge’s fa- seen as irrational if they are emotional and unsym- ther. It occurred in the same East Texas city, two pathetic if they are simply factual. David Bright years after the previous crime, but the murderers and Kipling Williams of Australia offer evidence will probably be out of jail in less than 20 years. that juries are inclined to be much more severe in Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor ac- their punishments when a crime is viewed as hei- knowledged that “serious questions are being nous. Joel Lieberman and Jeff Greenberg, "The raised about whether the death penalty is being Rational Irrationality of Punishment," point out fairly administered in this coun- how the decisions of judges and other people are try.” (
The Rational Irrationality of mals) also possess a natural instinct for self- preservation. The awareness of unavoidable mor- Punishment – A Terror tality in a creature driven to survive creates an Management Perspective ever-present potential for existential terror. To manage this intense anxiety, people develop, invest Joel D. Lieberman in, and identify with a “cultural worldview.” University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Cultural worldviews are social construc- tions that imbue reality with a sense of meaning, Jeff Greenberg order, and permanence. In turn, they provide hope University of Arizona for individuals to overcome the threat of a fleeting The punishment of criminal offenders is existence and transcend their mortality by living up intended to serve a variety of purposes including to standards of value of the worldview. Thus we removal from society, deterrence, and rehabilita- live in a world of clocks and calendars, with pro- tion. The accomplishment of such punishment fessional titles and national identifications. goals may prevent offenders from committing fu- Achieving a sense of immortality can occur liter- ture crimes. However, it is very important that pun- ally if one subscribes to certain religious world- ishment of criminal defendants also assuages the views (e.g., religious promise of an afterlife), or sense of moral outrage society feels when crimes symbolically, even if one does not (e.g., by doing are committed. heroic deeds which are remembered by others, be- ing memorialized, creating art, writing books or Indeed, the need to deliver a punishment identifying with enduring groups or causes). that expresses moral outrage may be the goal of paramount importance from a societal perspective. In short, to manage the existential anxiety, For example, approximately two-thirds of Ameri- individuals must feel that they are significant con- cans support the death penalty (only 27 percent tributors to a meaningful reality. Of course, the oppose it), and in certain specific crimes of excep- standards by which we can obtain this sense of tional moral reprehensibility that figure is even self-worth vary greatly from culture to culture. higher. From a rational perspective, such strong Further, cultural worldviews are fragile social con- support for the death penalty is puzzling for a num- structions that must constantly be validated ber of reasons. First, the death penalty has been through the approval of others. As a result, it im- repeatedly shown to be an ineffective deterrent to perative that individuals surround themselves with crime. Second, it creates the paradoxical and il- others who will support and reinforce their belief logical situation of teaching a person (and society) and values. that an act is wrong and will not be tolerated by Over the last 15 years, terror management having the state commit the act itself. Although theory has been supported in over 100 empirical legally accurate, it is ironic that on Timothy studies. The basic hypothesis that has been tested McVeigh’s death certificate, the manner of death in this work is that if people’s cultural worldviews was listed as homicide. The motivations underly- protect them from their fears regarding mortality, ing this apparently powerful desire to severely pun- then a reminder of their mortality should amplify ish law-breakers can be explained by Terror Man- people’s desires to bolster and defend the values of agement Theory. their worldview. The typical finding has been that The theory is based largely on the work of after participants have been reminded of their mor- cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker. According tality, which is known as “mortality salience”, they to this perspective, humans possess advanced cog- exhibit enhanced positive reactions to anyone who nitive abilities that allow them to think abstractly, supports their beliefs and increased negative reac- temporally, and symbolically. Although these abili- tions to anyone who threatens them. For example, ties have helped humans adapt and thrive through- individuals who have been asked to reflect upon out the world, they have also led to a unique capac- their own death (compared to those asked to con- ity for humans to be aware of the fragility of exis- template other topics) have devalued the work of, tence and the inevitability of their own mortality. and attributed negative traits to, people with differ- No matter how hard we try to protect ourselves and ent beliefs, and have attempted to physically harm avoid various menacing hazards throughout our such worldview threatening others. lives, we know that ultimately we will succumb to There is a strong relationship between cul- certain death. However, humans (like other ani- tural values and laws. Generally, outlawed activi- September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 61 ties are those considered immoral by a society. terms, they were more lenient to hate crime offend- Because an augmented sense of mortality creates a ers when attacks were committed against victims need to uphold cultural morals and punish those who threatened the values of their worldview. who threaten them, it should also motivate indi- Similar results occurred when we exam- viduals to enforce legal standards and punish law- ined reactions of white Americans to targets es- breakers. Several terror management studies have pousing white racist beliefs. In the past decade, the examined this possibility. United States has seen a rise in neo-Nazi and other In the very first terror management study, white supremacist groups. It is unlikely that in gen- municipal court judges from Tucson, Arizona, ei- eral, whites would overtly endorse such racist ther had their sense of mortality increased or not groups. Indeed, an initial study found that without and were asked to make a bail recommendation for enlarging mortality awareness, if a white or a black a hypothetical case involving a woman accused of expresses racial pride, the white is viewed as more prostitution. Individuals were provided with infor- racist. mation typically available to judges when making However, in two subsequent studies, mor- bail decisions (e.g., community ties, prior record tality awareness aroused sympathetic reactions to information, prior failures to appear in court, etc.). white targets who espoused white racist beliefs. In On average, control condition judges recom- addition, when participants were informed that the mended bail in the amount of $50, but judges with target’s racist views had led them to engage in em- an enlarged sense of mortality recommended that ployment discrimination, mortality augmented par- bail be set at $455! Of course, such reactions as- ticipants recommended less severe punishment for sume that the study’s participants possess negative the racist. Thus, even when the defendant’s actions attitudes toward prostitution, and less punitive re- are viewed as reprehensible in general, if they also actions would be expected from individuals who serve the individual’s worldview, an increased believe that prostitution should be decriminalized. awareness of mortality encourages leniency toward A second study supported this point and along with the transgressor. further research, established that these punitive reactions result from the intensified concern with Taken together, the work described in this upholding the worldview activated by thoughts of paper paints a clear picture of how psychological mortality. needs affect legal decisions. Augmented awareness of mortality creates a need to invest in and defend Although reminders of mortality generally subjective cultural worldviews. Moral, ethical, and increase punitive reactions to moral transgressors, legal standards are components of these world- it may also motivate leniency if the defendant sup- views. The activation of death-related thoughts ports the judge or jury’s worldview. For example, generally leads to more punitive reactions to indi- one study found that when individuals are made viduals who commit crimes, but more lenient reac- more mortality aware and asked about their support tions when the defendant is viewed as upholding for hate crime legislation in general, they are more the prevailing worldview. These tendencies may in favor of hate crime laws than control partici- play a role in racial bias in judgments and sentenc- pants. However, in a second study, instead of ask- ing, leading to both harsher sentences for blacks by ing participants about their general beliefs regard- white juries, and more lenient judgments for same ing hate crimes, we presented them with a vignette race defendants, as in the O.J. Simpson and origi- describing an attack committed against either a nal Rodney King trials. Ultimately, then, this body neutral victim or a victim who posed a worldview of work suggests that the psychological need peo- threat (e.g., a victim with a different religious or ple have to strengthen the faith in their worldviews sexual orientation than the participant). Consistent contributes a host of irrational and harmful biases with previous research, participants with an ampli- into the criminal justice system. fied sense of mortality were more punitive than control participants toward individuals who at- Joel D. Lieberman, PhD, is Assistant tacked “neutral” victims. In contrast, when the Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of victim was a worldview violator, mortality aug- Nevada, Las Vegas. His research focuses on jury- mented participants were actually less punitive to- decision making, prejudice, aggression, and other ward the attacker. Thus, although “mortality sali- psychological factors associated with legal issues. ent” individuals expressed strong support for hate Professor Lieberman may be reached at crime legislation when it was described in abstract
Arizona. His research is primarily focused on the in acts performed to cause humiliation, pain, and role of existential concerns about mortality in suffering to another human being. Not withstand- prejudice, social justice, and mental health. ing the recent tendency to find biological causes Professor Greenberg may be reached at for human behavior, violence is not an instinct, it is
Many mistakes in the judicial process that In this age of psychologically oriented in- lead to wrongful convictions occur during the in- terrogation approaches, videotaping interrogations terrogation phase of criminal investigations where and confessions may not be a surefire preventive coerced or false confessions are sometimes ex- against convicting the truly innocent. In the United tracted from detained crime suspects. Numerous States and in many other countries (such as Can- legal scholars, criminal justice practitioners, politi- ada, Australia, and the United Kingdom) video- cal leaders, and social scientists have called for the taped interrogations and confessions are customar- videotaping of all police interrogations as a "quick ily recorded with the camera lens zeroed in on the fix" for the problem of some innocent people being suspect. One reason for this particular positioning induced to incriminate themselves when con- of the camera is likely the belief that a careful ex- fronted by standard police interrogation tactics. amination of not only suspects' words, but also Those who advocate videotaping interrogations their less conspicuous actions or expressions, will argue that the presence of the camera will deter the ultimately reveal the truth of the matter. use of coercive methods to induce confessions and The empirical validity of such beliefs will provide a complete and objective record of the aside, I have found in my research that focusing interrogation so that judges and jurors can evaluate the video camera primarily on the suspect in an thoroughly and accurately the voluntariness and interrogation has the effect of impressing upon veracity of any confession. I am aware of at least viewers the notion that his or her statements are one proponent who is so sure of the soundness of more likely freely and intentionally given and not the videotaping procedure, that he has gone as far the result of some form of coercion. Moreover, a as to argue that legally required Miranda warnings comparison of judgments derived from suspect- to suspects concerning their rights to silence and focus videotapes with judgments based on counsel can be dispensed with if interrogations are "control" media -- transcripts and audiotapes -- routinely videotaped. leads to the conclusion that the greater perception Under certain circumstances I have no of voluntariness associated with suspect-focus doubt that more accurate assessments of the volun- videotapes is an unmistakable bias of the most seri- tariness and reliability of confessions can be ob- ous kind -- one that runs contrary to the corner- tained via the videotape method. Certainly, if in- stone of our system of justice, the presumption of terrogators use obviously assaultive coercion, any innocence. The camera may "never blink," but that reasonable observer will recognize the illegitimacy doesn't mean what it "sees" can be considered an of the confession. However, such third-degree in- unadulterated view of reality. As the celebrated timidation has been replaced by non-assaultive communications theorist Marshall McLuhan psychological manipulation that is not always rec- (Understanding Media, 1964) maintained, the in- ognized as coercive but, as research has shown, formation being conveyed is not entirely independ- can nonetheless lead to false admissions of guilt. ent of the method of conveyance. For example, in the case of Peter Reilly, Am I thus recommending that videotaped police interrogators lied about the evidence they interrogation and confession evidence not be used possessed that linked the 18-year-old Reilly to the at all in courts of law? No, because my data indi- murder of his mother. They followed this up with cate that when the camera perspective allows for repeated suggestions to Reilly that he could have the suspect and interrogator to be viewed equally committed the crime without remembering it. Fi- well, there appears to be no discernible bias associ- nally, they impressed upon the youth that his ac- ated with the videotaping procedure. Interestingly, tions were in fact justifiable given his mother’s this very approach to preventing the point-of-view constant antagonisms. After 16 hours of interroga- bias in videotaped confessions has already been tion, Reilly formally confessed. His signed state- established in one country. New Zealand made it a ment closely followed the scenario laid out by his national policy that police interrogations be video- interrogators -- a scenario Reilly had been manipu- taped from an equal-focus perspective based only lated into believing was accurate, yet later was on the first study conducted in our research pro- demonstrated to be completely without merit. Al- gram. With the greater wealth of data that we now though eventually exonerated, Reilly spent two have on this topic, I do not hesitate to recommend years of his young life as a wrongfully convicted that a similar policy be adopted in the United man on account of a police-induced false confes- States as well as in the other aforementioned coun- sion. tries. September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 65
However, those who must make policy de- both displaying emotion and restraining emotion cisions regarding the implementation of the video- may be used against women victims. tape method should not rule out the possibility of Historically female witnesses were often directing the camera primarily at the interrogator(s) treated with suspicion. Even as late as 1971, Bai- whom a detained suspect must face. This camera ley and Rothblatt, Successful Techniques for perspective would allow those charged with evalu- Criminal Trials, state: ating the voluntary status of a confession the maxi- mum opportunity to spot coercive influences Women are contrary witnesses..... should they be at work. Although most criminal Women, like children, are prone to exag- justice practitioners, and even the average person geration; they generally have poor memories on the street might condemn this approach as cock- as to previous fabrications and exaggera- eyed, its logic is borne out in the psychological tions. They are also stubborn. (pp. 190-191) literature. Having the opportunity to literally "put Feminism brought forth the ideal that yourself in another's place" enables one to better women are to be treated no differently than men. appreciate the external forces experienced by that Regrettably, the courtroom remains a male- person because those forces are now more dominated arena. Researchers such as Gregory "exposed" and thus more likely to be detected. Matoesian (see, for example, Reproducing Rape: A real-life case that centers on a disputed Domination through Talk in the Courtroom, 1993) videotaped confession was recently brought to my argue that the court system and its expectation of attention. A woman involved in an effort to sup- witnesses reinforces the patriarchal nature of soci- press a coerced “confession” given by her son ety by making female victim witnesses comply to noted that when her son first viewed the videotape male-oriented stereotypes of victim behavior. (which focused only on him), he remarked that it In order to come across to the jury as credi- did not accurately convey the tension in the room ble, witnesses should be calm and composed, and or the demeanor of the interrogator. The woman able to give their evidence in a rational manner. communicated to me that it is her hope that psy- For example, in Britain, police courtroom training chological research “will be instrumental in abol- emphasizes how police officers should not become ishing the suspect-focus videotaping that currently ruffled or angry by questioning, especially by in- seems to be the standard.” I couldn’t agree more. sinuations put forward by the defense. The advice G. Daniel Lassiter, PhD, is Professor of is also given to expert witnesses and in court Psychology at Ohio University. In addition to preparation courses for witnesses verifying facts . research on videotaped confessions, his scholarly However, a female victim of crime faces a interests lie in the area of social perception, conflict about how she should credibly present her- especially the way in which people segment self in court. If she takes the stand in a calm, col- ongoing behavior into meaningful actions. He may lected manner, without emotion, she appears less be contacted at
Therefore, in order to fulfil the stereotype, female of giving evidence in court. She may be reached at victims must stray from the usual behaviours in
[literally, by force and arms] than one's wish to including some prison staff and inmates who have come out of the closet. It is hard to quantify the significant antisocial components in their personal- psychological damage resulting from being forced ity structures, the power gradient or place in the into several years of "situational homosexuality." hierarchy appears to be the fundamental force that Some may be scathed, some may suffer no lasting drives their mode of relating, attachment being a damage. secondary consideration, and sometimes not a con- On an afternoon in the old North Hall at sideration at all. Moundsville, I had a conversation with a young Sex for most people tends to occur within inmate about the yellow stripes on his pantlegs. the context of an attachment relationship. How- "Nah, it doesn't bother me," he said. "Everybody ever, the picture may be different for people in- knows that I'm so-and-so's 'punk'." But what about volved in the “street life” and in prison. A woman when his family comes to visit? "Oh, I just tell 'em in the “street life,” devalued as property and as a that I'm in the prison band." sex object, has a lower position in the power hier- H. John Rogers, Esq., worked as a prison archy. A man in prison who is relegated to the role guard prior to graduating from Harvard of “bitch” or “punk” is feminized and thus deval- University. This West Virginia attorney has some ued within the framework of the prison worldview. psychoanalytic training and a strong interest in It makes no difference if he arrived at this state as a politics. Recently, he became a Protestant minister. consensual homosexual or by the more common route of caving into intimidation or to coercion. Rape in prison, like rape outside of prison, Comments in Response to may in some cases serve the purpose of gratifying sexual desire, but certainly involves issues of “The Prison Band” power, control, and aggression. Significantly, ty- Kevin J. McCamant pologies of rapists developed by clinicians working Patuxent Institution, Maryland with sexual assailants commonly differentiate meanings of aggression and of sexuality within the I would like to respond to two specific is- greater phenomenon of rape. sues raised in “The Prison Band.” The first has to For some rapists the aim of aggression is do with the phenomenon of rape in relation to primarily to obtain compliance of a partner “normative” prison sexuality. The second has to do (victim) for the purpose of sexual gratification, and with administrative and societal attitudes about only so much force as is necessary to achieve com- prison rape. Specifically, that denial of the very pliance will be employed. The sexual behavior existence of rape in prison, or its acceptance and may often be an expression of a romanticized sex- rationalization as part of prison’s harshness, may ual fantasy, or it may be an impulsive, situationally be acting out of unconscious (or perhaps even con- determined predatory act. For other rapists, sex scious) sadism on the part of administrators and appears to be the exquisite vehicle for hurting and society. humiliating the victim, for expressing anger or rage Sex is a powerful human desire that is or sexually sadistic fantasies. In “The Prison hardly extinguished by incarceration. In prison it Band,” there is allusion to some if not all of these surfaces in complex and various forms. These run categories of rapists. the gamut from homemade faux vaginas called “fi With regard to societal and administrative fi’s” used for masturbation by male inmates, attitudes toward rape in prison, people in society through contact between opposite-sex staff and view homosexual rape as a particularly terrifying inmates, contact between opposite-sex inmates and humiliating aspect of the “mythology” of the (when they are housed in the same compound), and prison experience at large. Yet, as the author of contact between same-sex inmates that is either “The Prison Band” points out, prison rape is statis- incidental or occurs in the context of some sort of tically underrepresented, and to the extent that it is longer term relationship. acknowledged, it seems to be accepted and ration- Attachment and power appear to be ubiqui- alized as part of the harshness of prison life. tous forces in relationships. For most people it ap- I would interpret this as acting out toward pears that attachment is the fundamental force that inmates, and as having meaning analogous to that connects them to others and power is at play within which is the case when the rape by one inmate that fundamental context. However, for others, September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 77 against another is expressive of sexually sadistic ity of society. The government is embarrassed by fantasies. Other unsavory aspects of prison life the rape of prisoners in their custody. Indeed, such as crowding, minimal medical care, unsani- prison assaults, rapes, and homicides are gross hu- tary living conditions, and bad food may also be man rights violations. The prison administrators aspects of conscious and unconscious sadism to- know that potential victims are usually young, non- ward inmates. However, in a society that tends to violent, first-time offenders from the middle class be homophobic and to view sex as dirty, tacit com- (without gang affiliations), but almost nothing is plicity in sexual assault becomes an especial form done to protect these likely victims from the ag- of exquisite humiliation and punishment. gressors. My commentary on these two issues raised A partial solution to prison rape was intro- by “The Prison Band” is a gross oversimplifica- duced in the late 1980s in the State of São Paulo, tion. This is true not only for the issue of rape in Brazil. In this program, adult male prisoners are the context of prison sexuality and the prison allowed to have sexual relations with female visi- power hierarchy. It is also true of the way in which tors. The prison staff only register and search the society and prison administration may act toward women visitors who are wives, mistresses, and inmates as some inmates act toward each other in girlfriends. It is the responsibility of prisoners to order to obtain the gratification of control and hu- prepare cells for the weekly sexual visits. Visits are miliation. Nevertheless, I hope it may stimulate regulated by severe rules created by the prisoners: consideration of how we relate to these issues there is harsh punishment for any lapse, such as within ourselves. My belief is that, if we can iden- annoying a woman or staring at a fellow inmate’s tify, acknowledge, and work with our own issues wife or girlfriend. around these matters, it will lessen the impetus to At the time of its initiation, sexual visita- act them out institutionally. This, in turn might tion was strongly criticized by prison staff and con- contribute to more humane prisons, which might servative groups. Predictably, the results are much have a better chance of reclaiming the lives of more positive than negative. Firstly, prison rape some of the incarcerated. has decreased enormously. Secondly, some pris- See profile of the author on page 58. oners are maintaining family ties and intimate rela- tionships, alleviating the tensions of incarceration. Sexual Visitation Reduces Naturally, general prison violence has not stopped: homicide, assault, and stabbing remain common- Prison Rape in Brazil place in Brazilian prisons. Yet rape has been re- Fernando Salla duced in prisons where prisoners are allowed to Center for the Study of Violence of have sexual relations with female visitors. São Paulo University, Brazil The House of Detention of São Paulo is one of the largest and most violent prisons in South Prison rape is an extremely violent, damag- America, with an average of 7,000 prisoners who ing aspect of prison life, yet researchers and prison are detained, awaiting trial, or sentenced. In a sur- staff do not have good data on it, nor has there vey published in 1991, 90 percent of the prisoners been consistent analysis of it. The number of cases interviewed thought that sexual visits reduced sex- is underestimated because victims are ashamed and ual violence among prisoners. Although 64 percent fearful of retaliation from the rapists and their of the prisoners interviewed didn’t have any sexual friends. Nor do they believe their custodians are visits and only 25 percent had sexual visits weekly, willing and able to effectively deal with the prob- this impressive majority judged that these visits lem. Frequently, guards and administrators con- had positive effects on prison life. The warden con- sider the sexual victimization of vulnerable prison- curred that sexual visitation had reduced prison ers to be inevitable. Prison staff uses rape, or the rape. threat of rape, to control inmates: manage gangs, contain aggressive inmates, and recruit informers. Fernando Salla, PhD, is a sociologist and Senior Researcher at the Center for the Study of Rarely does public opinion focus on this Violence of São Paulo University in Brazil. He is violent practice. Prisoners are seen as deserving author of the book, As Prisoes em São Paulo: the bad food, repugnant odors, and violence associ- 1822-1940. He may be reached at ated with incarceration. Rape is perceived as part
the difficulties of rehabilitating criminals. I have been a psychological consultant at the toughest America’s Prisons: prison in the United States, the Federal Peniten- tiary at Marion, Illinois, the prison that was built Corrections or Rehabilitation? to, and did, replace Alcatraz and that was known as Alan Jacobs "the end of the line." I have also consulted at sev- IDEA and H-Genocide eral other federal and state prisons. From my experience, I would estimate that Any observer of the current state of crimi- about 20 percent of the men and women in prison nal imprisonment in the United States can easily could be rehabilitated long-term. Unfortunately, conclude that the system is desperately in need of many of them resume lives of crime upon their re- reform. Many prisoners, perhaps even hundreds of lease because of the paucity of rehabilitation pro- thousands, can be rehabilitated and become law- grams in prisons. Part of the problem, it is said, is abiding citizens. As a former consultant to an ex- that it is too expensive and time consuming to re- tremely successful rehabilitation program, I partici- habilitate criminals and that the amount of return pated in its successes. And I witnessed the ulti- on the investment is not large enough. In other mate rejection of the program by a prison system words, a lot of money has to be spent to rehabili- leaning heavily toward punishment and warehous- tate only a small percentage of prisoners. This was ing of criminal offenders. and is true, and it does present a realistic problem. This article is an attempt to convince the It is my observation that the recent problem reader that effective rehabilitation is possible, al- of emphasizing sentencing to incarceration rather beit not easy -- therapeutically, socially or politi- than rehabilitating developed in the 1970s under cally. It describes briefly some of the climate in then Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the prison system and then a successful rehabilita- Norman Carlson (Director, 1970-1987), an advo- tion program -- its treatment philosophy and suc- cate of corrections even at the expense of function- cesses, and its political and social failures. ing, successful rehabilitation programs. At that It is no secret that in the past 20 years, the time, large though varying percentages of the pub- U.S. prison system has grown from about 400,000 lic, the press, and corrections professionals sup- incarcerated individuals to 1.8 million in 1998. ported Carlson's position of emphasizing correc- (National Center for Policy Analysis Idea House, tions over rehabilitation. Supporters of corrections
Education can make a difference in the life ing information, I plunged into developing my cur- of prisoners and greatly reduce recidivism. I will riculum and looking for grant money. ("Using Re- describe some of this process based upon my own cidivism to Evaluate Effectiveness in Prison Edu- recent experiences. In 1994, seeking to make a cation Programs," Journal of Correctional Educa- difference as an educator, I began a new career tion, 1996, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 74-85) teaching prison inmates about computers. As an Soon I discovered that grant money is all instructor for Pierce College in Tacoma, Washing- but nonexistent to support prison education pro- ton, my assignment is to teach male inmates incar- jects. Moreover, despite the literature showing the cerated at McNeil Island Corrections Center. For negative correlation between prison education and 25-30 hours per week, I teach and supervise in- recidivism, departments of corrections all over the mates who range in age from 18 to over 60 years. U.S. refuse to accept the results, declaring the re- Usually there are 16 students (each at his own search to be “inconclusive.” Furthermore, anytime computer), two inmate teaching assistants, and there is a budget shortfall, prison education is cut. three inmate tutors. These inmate helpers are the My attempt to educate Washington State legisla- most loyal staff I have ever worked with. tors and the leaders of the Department of Correc- Though the formal content of my curricu- tions about the research were fruitless. Neither lum is “computer applications,” the informal con- group was open to encouraging education. How- tent is human development. Our learning environ- ever, they find new sources of revenue to increase ment is cheerful and looks like a college class- security even at our minimum-security prison. room. Inmates are not allowed on the Internet, but Clearly, education and mental health services for I often look things up for them and give them the inmates are the orphans of the system. printouts for various projects. I spend considerable At a Corrections Education Association time with the prisoners. Classes run for 10 weeks, conference in 1999, a European speaker pointed starting at 8:00 a.m. and finishing at 9:00 p.m. out that in several European countries, prisoners Over six years in this position has provided me take courses in life-enriching subjects such as art, with many opportunities to see that I have indeed philosophy, and music with outstanding success. made a difference in some inmates' lives. I also Ironically, the idea for this approach came from an have met the families of a few inmates and ob- innovative U.S. warden. In Prisoners Are People served their determined efforts to keep their fami- (1952), Kenyon Judson Scudder wrote about his lies together. Over 90 percent of the prisoners I California experiment with minimum- and me- work with will go back into the community, so it is dium-security inmates housed without barbed wire important for us to help them rebuild their lives. or cellblocks. The prisoners organized themselves Prior to taking this position, I knew nothing into work groups that kept the prison managed ef- about prisoners or prisons. (Though I feel that in a fectively and efficiently. It was a great success, sense we are all imprisoned by our prejudices, our generating a movement to apply Scudder’s ideas blind spots, our belief systems, and our dark side.) elsewhere, but World War II intervened and now Within the corrections center, I have found the the California prison that housed his model for re- prisoners to be cooperative and I have almost al- form is just another institution focused on ware- ways felt safe. I have had one or two vague threats, housing prisoners. but after growing up with an angry mother, I am In coming to understand the problem of not intimidated by anyone. A number of inmates incarceration, I have reached the following conclu- assured me that should there ever be “trouble” in sion: prisons do not rehabilitate, rather they en- the institution, that I would be protected. courage brutality and create more criminals. De- As I began my new job, I wanted to know partments of Corrections keep increasing staff and if achieving a college education in prison lessened facilities, and more inmates come to prison every recidivism rates. Several months of research re- year -- and the problem grows worse. Though his- vealed that education does reduce recidivism, torically the U. S. has been a leader in prison re- though scholars differ on the details. Steven form, in 2001 we have the highest incarceration Duguid's 1996 research in Canadian prisons clearly rate in the world, recently passing both Russia and demonstrated that the higher the education attained China. The U.S. is the only developed nation to while in prison, the lower the recidivism rate. have the death penalty. (China does execute more Those who were able to obtain a master's degree people, but China's population is about four and had zero recidivism! Fortified with such encourag- one half times that of the U.S.) Page 82 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
The Washington State Department of Cor- seems to resist. Rehabilitation gets lip service only, rections' mission statement is "Working Together resulting in an increasing prison population. The for Safe Communities." Regrettably, this laudable motivation for this seems deeper than simple job goal does not include rehabilitation. We need to security. It is my sense that society may be project- rethink the idea of prison as merely a short-term ing our unacknowledged guilt, shame, and negative way of maintaining community safety and look to feelings onto prisoners, using them as scapegoats. the long-term betterment of society and the prison- This would help explain why after a century of ers. Education continues to be the least expensive "reform" there is no real progress. But prisoners approach for helping offenders to rehabilitate are people just like us. Hope for the future lies in themselves. When an inmate begins to learn and our awakening to the value of searching within discovers he has a good mind, his life begins to ourselves to find our humanity, of connecting with change. He also discovers that he is in charge of the feared and despised other we lock behind bars, the process. Many inmates express their gratitude in supportive ways. I have hope for that future. to me for helping them learn. Edryce Reynolds, EdD, obtained a Two cases stand out in my mind. I remem- doctorate in counseling psychology after working ber a 20-year-old black man I will call "Ben," who in the computer field for many years. In her prison received one of the last associate’s degrees we job as an instructor for Pierre College at McNeil were allowed to grant before the legislature prohib- Island Corrections Center, she combines the two ited this in 1996. In one of my classes he told his disciplines for a fulfilling teaching experience. Dr. story: After dropping out of high school to help Reynolds may be reached at support his family, Ben had sold drugs and was
American psychoanalysis"? CS: There is no question that Kohut obfus- CS: Kohut created the first authentically cated his Jewishness. In part, that reflected his ex- American psychoanalytic theory and movement. perience in emigration, but such an explanation is In saying that, I note the irony of his own Viennese much too simple. He certainly identified with his origins. Self psychology, for one thing, is hopeful mother's negotiation of the spiritual boundaries and has none of Freud's dark pessimism. It is also between Judaism and Catholicism -- even as she pragmatic in its clinical focus on empathy and the remained completely Jewish in Vienna. At the primary goal of entering the experience of the pa- gymnasium [secondary school] between 1924 and tient. It is a psychology of second chances, and 1932, Kohut came to identity passionately with nothing, finally, could be more quintessentially European (Christian) culture as it emerged out of American. the ancient world. Even in medical school in the 1930s he presented as non-Jewish, though he also Kohut's life was a confused but very hu- never directly lied about who he was. man struggle to demarcate his own loose bounda- ries, to live within his protean world of desire, and In emigration, then, Kohut slowly moved to find meaning in his relationship with others away from his Jewishness to make it in America, (including their symbolized meanings). His life having come perilously close to dying in the Holo- extended into his theory; indeed, one might say he caust. People who knew him in Chicago for dec- sacrificed his life to his creativity. Kohut gave up ades, I discovered, always assumed he was not much in his relationships, in his social life, and in Jewish. He didn't quite deny his identity if asked, his deeper commitments to pursue the implications though at times he actually lied about being only of his ideas. He knew he was onto something and half-Jewish. He talked about Jesus, went to the was willing to give over everything in his soul to Unitarian Church (a good cover), and read Chris- make his system of ideas coherent and meaningful. tian Century. His creativity became the point of his life; it be- I detail all this at some length, but I am came consuming. There is a sacrificial quality in most interested in the way he turned his confusions that kind of devotion to ideas. into creative thought. Kohut was a spiritual man. Self psychology is a theory about empathy In the margins of established religions, he found a and the self. It is holistic by definition. The selfob- place for himself that had larger meanings. Relig- ject defines experience. It is of the moment yet ion (and I mean all religions) after the Holocaust imbedded in the past. I think the American self and in the nuclear age is in a state of utter confu- reflects those notions. sion, either fundamentalist or without much integ- rity. Creative souls struggle for meaning. Kohut's CP: What did Kohut think and write about contradictions, if they don't quite light the way for history and psychoanalysis? others to emulate, may at least define one all-too- CS: Kohut always said, only half-jokingly, human way of finding God and self in a dark time. that if he had another life to lead he would have CP: When I [Paul Elovitz] was in psycho- been a historian. He saw the project of history as analytic training in the 1970s in the New York directly parallel to that of the psychoanalyst work- area, at my institute the candidates and many in- ing with an individual patient (though of course the structors felt that it was either Otto F. Kernberg or two differ in terms of method). What needs explor- Kohut. Kernberg was the choice that was made by ing in the past are the goals and ambitions of a cul- almost everyone because Kohut's ideas about nar- ture as they get expressed in the individual. cissism were rejected out of hand. At Chicago did Trauma often intervenes. His particular interest you find that Kernberg was seen as the main critic was Nazi Germany (about which he wrote some of Kohut? very interesting things), but his general point is that historical trauma disrupts self experience in CS: Kernberg, who gave a very generous ways we can gain a lot of understanding of from blurb for my book ["A thoughtful, scholarly, pene- self psychology. He was also very interested in trating biography…."] is the other main theorist of rage, both at the individual level (as with Hitler) narcissism. If you read their cases, it is clear they and the collective, what it means and where it were treating similar patients. Their explanations comes from. for what was going on, on the other hand, could not have been more different. Kernberg is a CP: Please explain Kohut's denial of and Kleinian in the tradition of drive theory, which ambivalence regarding his Jewish origins? looks backward to the 19th century, and seemed Page 88 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001 then safe, respectable, secure. Kohut's is a different March, 1997, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 97, 119-125), you paradigm. That is what my book is all about. referred to "his [Kohut's] reinterpretation of sexu- CP: As a biographer of leaders, do you ality -- that is, sexuality as opposed to sexual drive, find, as I [Paul Elovitz] do, that it is not helpful to the instinct." (p. 123) What was his reinterpreta- necessarily think of narcissism as pathological? tion? Was Kohut sexually ambivalent? If so, how did this affect his thinking about sexuality? CS: Kohut at first distinguished between good and bad narcissism, as he wanted to rescue CS: Sexuality, for all its importance and the self from being pathologized. We wrestle with peremptory quality, can be seriously over- that all the time in history. In time, however, Kohut estimated. There is also much in behavior that can came to feel that it was foolish to talk about "good be disguised as sex, which Kohut called narcissism" (not to mention something of a con- "sexualization." Most so-called perversions, for ceptual contradiction) and that his concern was example, are attempts at union with the archaic really with the self. Around 1973 he thus stopped selfobject and have little to do with desire. Histori- talking altogether about narcissism. His theory is ans could learn a great deal from that. that of "self psychology." CP: Do you see Kohut's sexual ambiva- CP: The somewhat narcissistic analysts I lence as opening him up to new possibilities? How have known have had blind spots with patients and did he respond to the gay rights movement and the more limited empathetic abilities than most ana- successful struggle within psychoanalysis to cease lysts. Is a man as narcissistic as Kohut able to to see homosexuality as a pathological state. really listen to his patients? CS: It was not his ambivalence but his ex- CS: Absolutely. He was a truly gifted perience that opened him up to new ways of seeing therapist. I would not doubt your generalization, in psychoanalysis. His first sexualized love rela- but such things always have exceptions. Heinz Ko- tionship in life was with another man [Ernst hut was an unusual guy and a mix of many things. Morawetz, his tutor], and there may have been Few people are as complex as he was, as gifted, as other men later (though I don't know that). He had full of contradictions, as interesting, indeed, as ex- no response, as far as I could tell, to the gay rights citing and charismatic, and worth studying. movement, but he did talk with selected people openly (like Bert Cohler, then a candidate at the CP: What effect did Kohut have on the Institute with me and now a distinguished profes- role of the Oedipus complex? sor at the University of Chicago, and a professed CS: It was a slow and sometimes tortured homosexual) about how narrow-minded psycho- process for him, but in the end Kohut rejected the analysis had been on this issue. idea that the Oedipus complex is at the center of CP: If it happened today, we would see childhood experience. People want to fuck and kill, Morawetz' sexual activity with young Heinz as he once told me in an interview, but that is not to child abuse. Is Heinz' lifelong favorable view of say the self forms out of drive derivatives. I per- Morawetz a reflection of a desperate need to ideal- sonally feel it is quite anachronistic for historians ize a man who was there for him? to think at all in oedipal terms. CS: I wouldn't say his idealization of CP: What was Kohut's theory about ideali- Morawetz was "desperate." It was quite authentic. zation? Morawetz was the first love of his life. From that CS: Idealization is at the heart of self ex- experience, in part, he moved toward a much more perience. We need idealized figures and their sym- open and interesting understanding of the place of bolized alternatives into whose greatness we can sexuality in life and theory. Now, he may have merge to feel whole and cohesive. That begins with been deluded about Morawetz in his victimization, the very large and enveloping mother. Idealization but I suspect we may have made this issue too forms the core of cultural selfobject needs. It is our ideological and fail, in some cases, to grasp the task as historians to describe those ideals, where possibility of love in deeply unequal relationships. they come from, and the psychological conse- CP: You describe Kohut as "truly charis- quences of having such ideals altered, distorted, matic." How did Kohut view charisma? corrupted. CS: He was ambivalent about his charis- CP: In our 1997 interview ("A Conversa- matic power over his followers, while at the same tion with Charles B. Strozier," Clio’s Psyche , time doing everything possible to nurture it. In that September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 89 subjective experience lay much of his extremely of Self Psychology and at least as many more on important insight into historical leadership, the the fringes of the movement. The ripple effect be- paranoid qualities of the leaders who usually yond that is enormous, though sometimes dis- emerge in times of crisis after collective trauma, guised because grandiose figures like to take exist- and the nature of the fragmented selves of the fol- ing ideas, change a word or two, and pretend they lowers. are the original thinkers. CP: I've read elsewhere that Kohut's crite- CP: How do you evaluate Kohut among all ria of human self-cohesiveness were humor, crea- psychoanalysts? tiveness, and wisdom. How does Kohut rate by his CS: Among the greatest and without a own standards? doubt the most important clinical psychoanalyst CS: Very well, except perhaps for the hu- after Freud. We will have long forgotten Klein, mor. You forgot the most important of the criteria Kernberg, Rank, and the rest when Kohut is still on for what he called "transformed narcissism" -- em- the shelves. pathy. He was a master of empathy -- a gifted Part II -- On Doing Psychobiogrphy therapist -- and his whole theory, in a sense, is about empathy. CP: Your Lincoln's Quest for Union (1982, new and revised edition in 2001) was more a col- CP: What was Kohut’s humor like? Did he lection of essays or, as you said in the 1997 Clio’s use humor as one way of helping him face cancer Psyche interview, "reflections on his [Lincoln's] and death? 'House Divided' speech" (p. 121) than a traditional CS: He could be very funny, loved to narrative biography. How do you view doing biog- laugh at humorous stories, and had a delicious raphy now that you've written a more traditional sense of irony. However, he was basically a very narrative (but also analytic) biography? serious guy and quite focused. It was not basically CS: It is exhausting, because you so thor- humor that helped him face cancer and death. oughly immerse yourself in someone else's life. I CP: In the self psychological community, have come to think of it as vicarious autobiogra- who else has seen the analysis of "Mr. Z." as being phy, which suggests how much I feel it challenges Kohut's disguised autobiography? How do people one's own psychological experience. who knew Kohut well react to this formulation? CP: How do you define psychobiography? CS: There is little doubt Kohut is "Mr. Z.," CS: It is biography sensitive to psychologi- and I have an entire chapter that goes over the evi- cal themes and meanings in your subject's life. dence. At this point, I don't know of anyone who Conventional biography mentions childhood but basically disagrees, even if they are uncomfortable only in a narrative way and for the most part makes with the idea and accept the knowledge with vari- only salacious use out of personal data. In psycho- ous degrees of dissociation and disavowal. biography all aspects of a person's experience are CP: How do you feel your book will be open to scrutiny, as long as they are relevant for received within the self psychology community? understanding the total self. Do you think self psychologists are ready to relin- CP: How would the Kohut biography have quish some of the inevitable idealization of the been different if you had completed it before your Founding Father of the field and accept Kohut with clinical practice? all of his human blemishes and complexities? CS: I have no doubt this is a better book CS: It is hard to say. So far, the Chicago because I became a clinician. Having that experi- people have been extremely enthusiastic, albeit ence vastly deepened my grasp of the theory. My with jaw-dropping astonishment at what this man wife says it also made me a better person. they knew and loved was all about. I am sure there will be some nit picking, but so far I am pleased CP: You write, "The story of the [Kohut] that most people feel the book is sufficiently com- family's relationship to this book, however, is more plex at least to be worthy of the man. complicated. It has ranged from enthusiastic sup- port to guarded caution to outright opposition -- CP: How large is the self psychological and sometimes all three attitudes in the same per- community? son at different time." What advice about working CS: There are about 700 people who attend with a subject's family would you give to other the annual conferences of the International Council psychobiographers? Page 90 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
CS: I can only wish people better luck than you have completed the ten-year-project on the I had! Biography is an essentially intrusive activ- "Ultimate Threats" in the late 1990s and your Ko- ity, especially about someone recently deceased. hut biography recently? You become nosy and, since I, like most histori- CS: I am toying with a historical examina- ans, am pretty good at discovering things, find out tion of the intersection of the religious and political things that family and friends would rather have right in America, which is to say, the making of kept secret. I do empathize with their pain. I can George W. Bush. I was going to write about him, even say I would probably have been annoyed with but I detest him too much as boring and a puppet, me if I were in their position. The only thing that and therefore would not be able to sustain my own kept me going is that I believed my project was empathy, so will instead stick with larger themes. worthwhile. I have often wondered what Kohut would have felt. CP: Is there any possibility that, now in the second half of your sixth decade (born in 1944), CP: Please tell us how you view the role of you will throw yourself into the task of revitalizing empathy in doing psychobiography? psychohistory? CS: It is the heart of the method! One cor- CS: You make me sound so old! I doubt I ollary of this principle is that I really don't think could take on such a grandiose task as revitalizing one should attempt a psychobiography of someone psychohistory, but I certainly believe in it, take you basically don't like or respect. It inevitably pains to present myself always in that light (which makes suspect one's systematic use of psychologi- gives encouragement and support to younger and cal theory and whether it is being used as a stick more vulnerable people), and hope it will find a with which to beat up your figure. That does not more secure place in the academic world in dec- mean one has to sink into fatuous idealization, but ades to come. The research-oriented Center on to do this kind of work you have to be able to sus- Violence and Human Survival that Lifton created tain real empathy with your figure. in 1985, that we worked on together from 1986 CP: Are there other exemplary psycho- until this summer, and which I now run, has al- biographies that you'd recommend to our readers? ways been psychohistorical. Perhaps it will help CS: For good and very subtle exploration build the infrastructure we so need. of psychological themes in narrative form, I like Bob Lentz is Associate Editor and Paul H. Geoffrey Ward's first volume on FDR, Before the Elovitz, PhD, is Editor of Clio’s Psyche . Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1905 (1985), and David McCullough's book on young Theodore Roosevelt, Mornings on Horseback Strozier’s Kohut (1982). Robert Jay Lifton's discussion of Asahara in his book on Aum Shinrikyo, Destroying the Maria T. Miliora World to Save It (1999), is wonderful, as is his por- Suffolk University and Private Practice trayal of Harry Truman in his 1995 book on Hi- Review of Charles B. Strozier, Heinz Kohut: The roshima, Hiroshima in America. Nothing, of Making of a Psychoanalyst. New York: Farrar, course, in this field tops Erik Erikson's Gandhi's Straus & Giroux, 2001. ISBN 0374168806; xiii, Truth and Young Man Luther. Erikson's best work 495 pp.; $35.00. was historical and repays constant re-reading. Charles Strozier takes the personality of Part III -- On Chuck Strozier Heinz Kohut (1913-1981) out from behind the CP: The Psychohistory Review, which you shadows of rumor and myth and brings scholarship founded in 1972 and edited for 14 years, ceased and cogent argument to illumine the psychoana- publication in 1999. How do you view its demise? lytic pioneer’s life, aspects of which he inter- What is the Review's legacy? weaves with Kohut’s theory of the psychology of CS: I was sad to see it die, but it had a the self. good run and served a useful purpose. It takes a lot As a candidate at the Training and Re- of energy to keep these things going. I like to think search Institute of Self Psychology (TRISP) during the Review has been reincarnated in Clio’s Psy- 1989-1993, I was a student of Strozier and the re- che ! cipient of his rich stories about Kohut and the evo- CP: What will be your next project since lution of his theories. In self psychology confer- ences, I was aware of the extreme idealization of September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 91
Kohut who, it seemed to me, had been draped with efficacy of self psychology. Strozier offers consid- the mantle of sainthood. In Heinz Kohut: The Mak- erable data to substantiate his belief that this paper ing of a Psychoanalyst, without devaluing Kohut’s is autobiographical, that is, that “Mr. Z.” is Heinz contributions to psychoanalysis, Strozier exposes Kohut. the imperfections of the charismatic leader. This is Inferences about the pathology of Kohut’s a courageous undertaking, particularly for one mother, Else, and her toxic influence on Kohut’s within the self psychology “family.” personality is derived from the “Mr. Z.” paper. A Professor Strozier combines his gifts as a flavor of Strozier’s approach and thinking can be historian and a psychoanalyst in separating fact gleaned from the following narrative: from fiction and evolving judicious inferences. He … that the most powerful and enduring interviewed people who were close to Kohut and influence in his life was Else.… She was a studied letters and papers that had been protected corrosive presence in his own sense of self. from public view for a number of years. More- … It took a huge effort for him to establish over, in the 1970s Strozier was a candidate at the his separateness from her, to escape from the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and, in gain- long shadow cast, to find his own true center ing a place in an outer ring of Kohut's group, he of authenticity. The father, in turn, was first observed the working of his charisma. absent and then no substitute in the crucial The book is divided into five parts. years; just when Heinz truly connected with Strozier not only chronicles Kohut’s life from birth him as a young man, he died. It is all there in to death but also presents detailed expositions of "Mr. Z.," just as it was in his life. The Kohut’s books -- The Analysis of the Self (1971), struggle is imbedded. (p. 18) The Restoration of the Self (1977), and the posthu- During childhood, as each of his parents mously published How Does Analysis Cure? went his and her own way, satisfying their personal (1984) -- as well as of a number of his papers on needs and, in effect, abandoning their son, Heinz empathy, narcissism, narcissistic rage, charisma, had a close relationship with a tutor named Ernst and other topics, some of which were included in Morawetz. In addition to sharing cultural and in- Self Psychology and the Humanities (1985), edited tellectual pursuits, Heinz and Ernst engaged in ho- and with an introduction by Strozier. mosexual activities over a two-year period. Heinz In Part One, 1913-1939, Strozier reviews was 10 or 11 at the time; Morawetz, a university the history of Kohut’s parents and grandparents student, was between 19 and 23. We are told that and of Heinz’s early life and adolescence in Vi- this tie, although sexualized, provided the lonely enna. Describing him as one “raised in an assimi- Heinz with the emotional connection that he lated Jewish family imbued with European high needed and craved. culture” (p. ix), Strozier characterizes Heinz’s first Strozier takes care to note that today we year as positive, with mirroring provided by his would term his attachment as involving childhood loving parents, Felix and Else. However, Heinz sexual abuse, but he bows to Kohut’s interpretation lost access to his father for the next four years as that the relationship was primarily an Felix left home to fight in World War I. This trau- “affectionate” one in which sex was incidental. In matic loss changed Kohut’s life forever. addition, it claimed that Heinz’s connection to the Strozier reconstructs Kohut’s childhood tutor contributed to the boy’s well-being as well as from material contained in “The Two Analyses of to Kohut’s later theories about empathy and the Mr. Z.” Kohut wrote the paper in 1977 presuma- self. Years later, as Strozier informs us, Kohut’s bly as a case study of his patient, “Mr. Z.” Accord- first application for psychoanalytic training was ing to Kohut, the first analysis was conducted rejected presumably because of his “fluid sexual when he was still a classical analyst, adhering to boundaries.” (p. 80) Moreover, Kohut is described Freudian constructs and techniques. Another analy- as having had close relationships with male sis was undertaken, however, because the patient friends, but as having been “asexual” with women. needed more treatment. In the second analysis, Ko- Kohut did marry, and he fathered a son. We are left hut, who had been evolving the psychology of the to wonder if Kohut’s having been sexually abused self, was thinking differently about the implica- contributed to his problems with boundaries and tions of narcissistic transferences. Unlike the first whether he was conscious about the matter. analysis, the second effected a “cure,” and this pa- Strozier establishes the undeniable fact that per was presented by Kohut as indicative of the Page 92 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
Kohut was a Jew and yet for most of his adult life cidating how Kohut’s early experiences and per- Kohut behaved as though he were a Christian. No sonal psychology influenced his theories. He ar- explanation is offered for Kohut’s obfuscating his gues that extrapolation from his own experience Jewish identity, except that Strozier characterizes led Kohut to “insights about empathy, narcissism, him as having a “deeply conflicted and split-off the selfobject, grandiosity, idealization, sexuality, attitude toward his own identity.… His psycho- self-state dreams, and many other constructs” and logical style … was highly dissociated.” (p. 39) states that “To know the actual Else deepens one’s Part One concludes with Kohut, having understanding of Kohut’s explanation for the de- been awarded the MD from the University of Vi- velopment of splits in the self as a result of failures enna, departing from the Nazi-occupied city after of mirroring.” (p. 260) In addition, Strozier shows the Anschluss. His leaving followed soon after that Kohut’s self-reference included gendered Freud’s. schema in which men and women act roles from his own private script” (p. 262), “Kohut’s mothers Parts Two (1939-1965) and Three (1965- … have the quality of an evil archetype” (p. 264), 1970) focus on Kohut’s becoming a psychoanalyst, and he “makes homosexual [in acts, real or imag- originally as a Freudian and then, later, beginning ined] family dynamics paradigmatic of the cul- to formulate his own theories; forming a self psy- ture” (p. 265). chology group in Chicago; and writing his first book, The Analysis of the Self. The author presents This is a thought-provoking book. The im- a cogent analysis of Kohut’s early theories, ex- plications of a narcissistically-disturbed and disso- plains how these compare with those of Freud, and ciative Kohut -- particularly with regard to his he includes the analysts in Kohut’s circle and the “protean sexuality” and “identity confusion” -- left well-known theorists of the period in his extensive me with unpleasant feelings, even doubts about historical survey of the world of psychoanalysis. some of his clinical observations. I wonder, for example, if Kohut’s attitude about childhood sex- In Part Four, 1971-1977, which covers the ual abuse fell within the realm of material that was period when Kohut learned that he had cancer, dissociated, its meaning disavowed. If so, how this Strozier shows that Kohut tried to hide his terminal emotional blindness might have affected his clini- illness, presumably a blow to his fantasy of his in- cal judgment about abuse. vincibility, and opines that knowing that he had a limited life span spurred Kohut’s efforts to eluci- Because Strozier’s book invites questions date his ideas. During this period, there was con- and inspires truth-seeking, it warrants recognition firmation of Else’s psychosis and this seemed to as a ground-breaking work. Hopefully, these reve- play a role in unlocking Kohut’s creativity. Else lations will spur more thought not only about how died in 1972. Kohut’s psychopathology may have influenced and, perhaps, skewed his clinical observations and In Part Five, 1977-1981, Strozier covers a theories but, also, how he evolved his theories in variety of topics including the subject of heroes spite of his psychology. The self psychology and gurus, the facts and suppositions surrounding movement has matured sufficiently, I believe, that the paper, “The Two Analyses of Mr. Z.,” Kohut’s we can tolerate the questions. ideas about God and religion, and some insightful thoughts on the healing of psychoanalysis. Maria T. Miliora, PhD, MSW, is Professor of Chemistry and Lecturer in Psychology at Suffolk The author makes clear that although Ko- University in Boston, Massachusetts, and a hut had a remarkable capacity for empathy as a psychoanalytic self psychologist in private clinician, he was grossly narcissistic. Eschewing practice. She is a member of the Senior Faculty at idealization, Strozier describes Kohut’s narcissisti- the Training and Research Institute of Self cally-disturbed personality, indicated by his self- centeredness, arrogance, demand for attention that sometimes bordered on the obnoxious, never Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting apologizing for his rage, and his need to dominate Saturday, September 29, 2001 and control. The extent of Kohut’s narcissistic distur- Britton, Felder, and Freund bances raises a question about his awareness of his "Freud, Architecture, and personality issues. Strozier does not address this question. However, he does not disappoint in elu- Urban Planning" September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 93
Psychology (TRISP) in Manhattan and the author psychoanalyst about Storr and, while warmly atten- of Narcissism, the Family, and Madness: A Self- tive to others, he didn’t talk much about himself. Psychological Study of Eugene O’ Neill and His His father was Vernon Faithful Storr, Sub-Dean of Plays (2000), and has completed a Westminster Abbey in London. Anthony was 20 psychobiography of Tennessee Williams. when his father died, leaving the family unable to pay for continuation at Christ’s College, Cam- bridge, where Anthony had gone in 1939 following The Creativity of Anthony Storr a classical preparation at Winchester College. His (1920 - 2001) tutor at Christ’s was the physicist and novelist C.P. Snow, who seems to have taken over as surrogate Andrew Brink father. “I had to go to Snow to seek permission to Psychohistory Forum Research Associate attend my father’s funeral.” Snow saw merit in the “diffident and insecure young man," finding col- The late English psychoanalyst and writer lege funds to help Storr on his way. (His father’s Anthony Storr would have preferred being a musi- friends found further funding for medical school, cian or composer. Storr wrote, “All my ambitions where Anthony followed an elder brother.) When outside psychiatry were concerned with music, and he remarked to Snow that he thought he might like I still regret that I was not gifted enough to pursue to be a psychiatrist, the reply, “I think you’d be music professionally.” (“Psychotherapy,” Perspec- very good at it,” shaped his entire future. (Storr, tive Series, Bulletin of the Royal College of Psy- “C.P. Snow,” Churchill’s Black Dog, Kafka’s chiatrists, Vol. 10, June, 1986, p. 143) Accom- Mice, and Other Phenomena of the Human Mind, plished with piano and viola, Storr had the largest 1988, p. 105; “Psychotherapy,” p. 142) Reflecting collection of classical recordings I have ever seen. on Christ’s College, Storr says, “It was a marvel- At that time, Anthony and his second wife Cath- ously exhilarating and different atmosphere from erine Peters lived in the Vale of Health, Hamp- the Victorian, clerical household in which I had stead, a village now part of London. Later they been reared.” (Churchill's, p. 106) moved to Oxford, where their house was equally welcoming and filled with music. Storr’s personal analysis was Jungian, and he remained loyal to Jung, although moving away Mozart and Handel are appreciated in his from the fractious politics of London Jungians. A first book, The Integrity of the Personality (1960), remark of Storr's on Jung applies equally to him- the creativity of composers is prominent in The self: “Jung ... discovered, in childhood, that he Dynamics of Creation (1972), and his Music and could no longer subscribe to the orthodox Protes- the Mind (1992) is a full enquiry into the nature tant faith in which he had been reared by his father, and meaning of music. To Storr, music was the who was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Church. highest and most healing of the arts: It might be alleged that the whole of Jung’s later We are all deprived; we are all work represents his attempt to find a substitute for disappointed; and therefore we are all, in the faith which he had lost.” (The School of Gen- some sense idealists. The need to link the ius, 1988, p. 192, published as Solitude: Return to real and the ideal is a perpetual tension, the Self in the U.S.) For someone schooled in Latin never resolved so long as life persists, but and Greek, and whose English heritage was ancient always productive of new, attempted Norse (Storr means “big”), the tug of Jungian my- solutions. The pattern of tension followed by thology must have been great. Jung’s ideas of the resolution is perhaps best discerned in psyche as self-regulating, of “individuation” as the music. (Dynamics, p. 237) self’s life task, and especially of the possibility of This statement linking creativity with psy- creative “active imagination” as a way of prevent- chological healing is the essence of what Storr had ing mental illness, are found throughout Storr’s to say about the arts, but it was not very agreeable own writings. to scholars and critics. I remember contacting, for Yet Jung’s obscurity as a writer, his failure an interview, on Anthony’s behalf, an eminent bi- to say much about the childhood origins of emo- ographer of Franz Liszt or Robert Schumann only tional disorder, and his “deep distrust of women”, to be told in effect, “Psychoanalysis has nothing to beginning with his mother, made Storr wary. say about musical genius.” (Storr, Jung, 1973, p. 8) In The Integrity of the There was something of the inscrutable Personality, Storr explained that while he had been Page 94 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001 trained “in the school of Jung,” “It has long estingly, both Churchill and Hitler were skilled seemed to me probable that the analytical attitude painters); Franz Kafka’s struggle, through writing to the patient is far more important than the school fiction, with his sense of victimhood; and physicist to which the analyst belongs....” (p. 20) The intel- Isaac Newton’s schizoid detachment and compen- lectual freedom of Cambridge and the empiricism satory refuge in the realm of numbers. Admirable of medical training set up critical habits of mind. for changing the educated layperson's perspective Had Jung written more positively about music, on these political and cultural heroes, Storr’s psy- Storr might have been less skeptical over all. In- chobiographical essays were probably not devel- stead of entering the great cathedral of Jungian my- oped enough to be given the serious consideration thography, Storr set out to consider fairly every they deserve. The mini-biography method was possible version of psychodynamic theory that used again in evaluating the lives and works of might bear on his profession of psychotherapist -- prophets (ranging from Ignatius of Loyola to and illuminate his lifelong questioning about crea- Freud, Jung, Gurdjieff, and Rajneesh) in Feet of tivity. Clay: A Study of Gurus (1996). Storr’s contribution to the psychobiography Storr probably did not realize that such of creative persons is substantial, yet he never brevity, however clinically exacting, would not wrote a full-scale biography of any creative person. persuade professional biographers to learn from Unlike Erik Erikson on Luther and Gandhi, or John psychoanalysis and psychiatry. While his wife Bowlby on Darwin, Storr shied away from full- Catherine Peters wrote outstanding literary biogra- scale biographical inquiry into any of the figures phies of William Thackeray and Victorian writer who fascinated him. One would have expected a Wilkie Collins, Storr stayed with the psycho- biography of, say, the composer Robert Schumann, biographical vignette in the service of theory, be- whose bipolar affective disorder had been misun- cause it was how he thought. I remember being at derstood. Instead, Storr offered psychobiographical dinner in London’s Saville Club with Anthony vignettes to support his argument about creativity Storr and his friend, the analyst Charles Rycroft. as attempted psychological integration. Many cap- Almost forgetting my presence, they fell to dis- sule biographies are stunningly insightful and stay cussing a patient, only to realize that he was proba- in the reader’s mind better than the general discus- bly recognizable. Having recently read the novels sions. Memorable, for example, is Storr’s estimate of William Golding, I had recognized him but said in The Dynamics of Creation of the novelist Bal- nothing. Their exchange was in brief, cryptic state- zac’s bipolar disorder driving his work, or the ments, undeveloped and without much context, strange saga of Ian Fleming, who grew up without focusing on psychopathology. Later Storr wrote a father to become the creator of the hyper- about Golding’s fiction in “Intimations of Mys- masculine James Bond character. tery”, but he had said much more that evening Deftly constructed psychobiographical about the seriousness of the author’s disorder. sketches abound in Storr’s books. In his acclaimed (Churchill's, Chapter 8) The School of Genius (or, Solitude), there are My relationship with Anthony Storr began more-or-less developed glimpses of the historian when I contacted him shortly after the publication Edward Gibbon, the explorer Admiral Byrd, the of his Dynamics of Creation in 1972. It was ex- painter Goya, the Baptist preacher John Bunyan, actly the book I wanted and needed for my own the writers Dostoevsky and Kafka, the children's understanding of creativity, the major area of my writer Beatrix Potter, and many others. The effect research. Not long after, while my wife and I were is enriching yet frustrating, as many of the psycho- on sabbatical in London, we met and remained in logical insights deserve expansion and documenta- touch ever after. When back in the UK, we found tion. But Storr was writing for an educated general Anthony and Catherine in Oxford and sometimes readership, not for the specialist, and compromises met in London; otherwise the relationship was by were necessary. He was feeding the huge appetite correspondence. When I had difficulties in the Ber- for what psychoanalysis had to say when applied to trand Russell Editorial Project at McMaster Uni- topics of general cultural interest. To be fair, versity, Anthony was a great help to me as a lis- Churchill’s Black Dog, Kafka’s Mice, and Other tener. He always liked and upheld my writings, Phenomena of the Human Mind contains three working to help me find a larger audience. I tried, more extended studies: of Winston Churchill’s without success, to bring Anthony to McMaster as creative management of his depression (inter- a visiting professor of psychiatry. Anthony sup- September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 95 ported my decision to take the Toronto offer to Co- ertheless read many accounts of concentration ordinate the Humanities and Psychoanalytic camps, hoping to find clues to the cruelties he Thought Programme and eventually he came there could hardly believe. The book is therefore some- and lectured my students on Freud. He would have what labored, dutifully considering meanings for accepted other invitations had his health allowed. the term “aggression,” and drawing on the writings Storr made repeated efforts to think and of others to make his case. Deciding that write psychohistorically, but with debatable results. “aggression” is necessary to maintaining life, Storr It will be said that he missed the essence of psy- is hard put to explain vicious cruelty and destruc- chohistory in the changing modes of childrearing, tiveness without limits. By arguing that neglect and and that he underestimated the decisive role of disparagement of efforts at self-realization may child abuse and trauma in producing adult destruc- produce excessive aggression, Storr tentatively tiveness. Although aware of Lloyd deMause’s writ- joins the “frustration-aggression” theoretical camp. ings, he made no attempt to engage with them di- The book is strongest in describing aggressive per- rectly. Nonetheless, in his own way, Storr ad- sonality disorders, sadomasochism, and paranoia, dressed the same questions that occupy psychohis- but it lacks an explanation for the prevalence of torians. World War II had jolted Storr into asking paranoiac fantasy in groups such as Nazis which why violence became rampant after the compara- persecute minorities and make war. Hitler was tively tranquil post-World War I England of his diabolically successful in exploiting historic para- youth. As he explains, “My history of asthma pre- noiac fears of Jews, but why did so many Germans cluded my being ‘called up’ to serve in the Forces; go along with him? Storr’s discussion of cruel and but I saw something of one aspect of war by being neglectful childrearing, leading to abuse, is exem- in London for some of the worst air-raids.” Al- plary but too brief. (Human Destructiveness, pp. though finding fire-watching on the roof of West- 102-105) There is no mention of Alice Miller’s minster Hospital exhilarating, “My adolescent brilliant analysis of authoritarian and punitive Ger- pacifism inclined me toward a profession which man childrearing in relation to Hitler’s racist poli- demanded that I should repair and heal rather than tics and war-making. (For Your Own Good: Hid- maim and kill.” (Churchill's, p. 142) From 1941 to den Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Vio- 1944 he therefore remained in medical school, pre- lence appeared in English in 1983.) Nor does Storr paring to be a psychiatrist. mention the many studies of the rise of pathologi- cal politics in Germany that have appeared in the His writings on healing and "repair" are Journal of Psychohistory. The chapter on “Sado- undoubtedly better developed than those on con- masochism” in his Sexual Deviation (1964) would flict and violence, but Human Destructiveness, first have been a good starting point for a historical published in 1972 and updated for re-publication in analysis of what happened in inter-war Germany, 1991, still deserves consideration. As he says at the but there are better studies of human destructive- outset: ness than Storr’s, for instance Felicity De Zulueta’s the original newsreels of Belsen and the From Pain to Violence: The Traumatic Roots of other concentration camps constituted the Destructiveness (1993). De Zulueta’s grasp of the- most shocking experience to which [I] had ory lacks Miller’s historical specificity, but it in- ever been exposed; even more shocking than corporates her thinking and gives us the most con- the photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. vincing guide to psychohistory yet published: Those concentration camp pictures “violence can be seen as the manifestation of at- profoundly altered my view of so-called tachment gone wrong.” (p. 188) civilized human nature. (p. 4f.; see also Even if his formulations were not always "Why Human Beings Become Violent," successful, Storr accurately sought trends in the Churchill’s, Chapter 13) social and cultural applications of psychoanalysis. Since so many men and women were needed to run His discriminating intelligence worked through concentration and extermination camps, it seemed competing theories and claims to help bemused unlikely that all were psychopathic. How could readers. “I am neither temperamentally nor intel- Germany, a cultured nation, perform such barbaric lectually fitted to be a scientist,” he wrote, but cruelty against its Jewish citizens, let alone start a Storr was quick to understand and articulate in lay- world war? man’s terms both psychoanalytic theory and psy- Admitting to “squeamishness,” Storr nev- chiatric research. (Churchill's, p. 142) He was among the first to explain clearly the difficult post- Page 96 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
Freudian psychodynamic theory of Ronald Fair- sexuality. The book resonated with those wearied bairn, and he wrote with sympathetic lucidity about by the “permissive society” but unwilling to affirm both Jung and Freud, from whose differing ideas of right-wing dogmatism about return to a repressive human nature dissent became rife. That “Neither sexual morality and traditional roles in the family. Jung nor the psychoanalysts consider the possibil- In his later years, Storr saw a place for contempla- ity that man’s inner world of myth and fantastic tive enrichment, which didn’t exclude other people image may be both a residue of infancy and also but recognized their need for similar disengaged adaptive in the biological sense....” was a view experiences. Storr expanded in his writings on creativity and Storr’s challenge to the Humanities has therapy. (Jung, p.74) Freud also missed the pri- been largely disregarded. Literary and art critics, macy of developmental adaptations of children to together with biographers, are disinclined to re- parents or caregivers. “With Freud, sex comes first, import questions of personality formation and crea- attachment afterwards. With John Bowlby, now tivity back into the arts, whence they were ban- established as the most important of the object- ished long ago. Not being trained in modern liter- relations theorists, secure attachment comes first, ary or art historical studies, Storr probably did not sex afterwards.” (Freud, 1989, p. 112) Storr re- realize the strength of the ban on states of mind or peatedly paid tribute to Bowlby’s redirection of emotion. From T. S. Eliot who argued that the psychodynamic theory, noting how the research he creative state-of-mind is separable from the poem inspired is giving “a much better idea of how far itself; to The Personal Heresy: A Controversy, a early environmental stresses or deficits are really debate in 1939 between literary critics C.S. Lewis responsible for later psychiatric prob- and E.M.W. Tillyard; to Northrop Frye’s literature lems.” (Churchill's, p. 144) Bowlby is further as an ever differentiating “order of words”; and to commended in The School of Genius (pp. 8-11, Michel Foucault's and Roland Barthes' finally pro- etc.), and when Bowlby died in 1990, Storr wrote a claiming “the death of the author,” the trend has fine appreciation, concluding, “Posterity will rec- been away from psychology of literary creation. ognize that John Bowlby’s contributions to psychi- Backed by psychoanalysis, Storr argued just the atric knowledge and to the care of children mark reverse and, when affirming attachment theory, he him as one of the three or four most important psy- accepted the “personal heresy” without realizing chiatrists of the twentieth century.” (“John his “error.” Had his theory of artistic creativity as Bowlby” typescript for “Munk’s Roll,” p. 2) the artist’s attempted self-integration by symbolic Yet no more than Freud or Jung could means been put in terms familiar to academics, he Bowlby satisfy Storr’s requirements for cultural might have been received more warmly. To assert nourishment. As a rigorous scientist setting out to that “the motive power of much creative activity is prove the power of “attachment” to explain normal emotional tension of one kind or another,” that is, and abnormal development, Bowlby slighted its tension in the creating personality, runs counter to linguistic and symbolic dimension. Bowlby does what is acceptable in the profession where “texts” “less than justice to the importance of work, to the are sovereign. (Dynamics, p. 191) When Freudian emotional significance of what goes on in the mind criticism faded in literary criticism, it was replaced of the individual when he is alone, and, more espe- by the arcane theories of Freudian interpreter cially, to the central place occupied by imagination Jacques Lacan, whose doctrine that the in those who are capable of creative achieve- “unconscious is structured like a language” suited ment.” (School, p. 15) Storr wrote about the im- literary critics far better than psychobiography plications of early parental loss for later creativity could. The flight in the Humanities from affect and did his best to follow attachment research as became so determined and pervasive that Storr’s reported by Mary Main and others, but differential unprofessional protestations were easily evaded. potentialities for creativity in different anxious at- The criticism of David Holbrook in England and tachment styles (ambivalent, avoidant and dismiss- Louise De Salvo in the United States illustrates ing) are not mentioned, leaving the field open for what Storr was after, but it is a rare exception to further study of creativity as an adaptive response the recent reign of “theory,” with its depersonaliza- to anxiety. Instead, Storr followed the lead of tion of art. D.W. Winnicott’s paper on “The Capacity to Be Anthony Storr was a “wounded healer” Alone” (1958) to recommend reflective solitude, in whose life was imperiled by severe asthma. He which aesthetic contemplation is enhanced, over was well aware of psychogenic theories of asthma, excessive concern with good relationships and September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 97 such as D.W. Winnicott’s of an infant’s pointments as Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, Ox- “dangerous breathing,” or bronchial spasm, being ford University (1979-1984) and Fellow of Green linked to anxiety about the mother. (D.W. Winni- College, Oxford (1979f). His independent habit of cott, “The Observation of Infants in a Set Situa- mind had been reinforced in the private practice of tion,” 1941, Through Paediatrics to Psycho- psychotherapy in London from 1950 to 1974. He Analysis, 1975, pp. 59 and 63) Undoubtedly, the was honest to a fault, always ready to listen and ramifications of asthma took Storr into analysis. In reserve judgment until he had thoroughly consid- 1978 Storr published “Asthma as a Personal Ex- ered what was said or written. Having doubts about perience” in Asthma: The Facts. The disorder the Church of England, he moved out boundaries, brought him close to death on several occasions, beyond overly optimistic liberal humanism into forcing him to come to terms with its inevitability psychological realism about human prospects. He from whatever cause. In “The Fear of Death” he was tough and resilient, as successful analysts must wrote: be, but he never lost benign concern for individual A few years ago I came close to death suffering, or that which 20th-century politics pro- during a very severe attack of asthma. As I duced on such a staggering scale. Storr did not was panting away, the thought suddenly retreat into an aesthetic mysticism induced by mu- came to me that, if the attack went on, I sic, instead using it to revive and reconfigure his might actually die, as I knew that I was not sense of meaning. If art was to serve integrative getting enough oxygen to maintain vital therapy, it had to reverberate much beyond imme- functions. For a minute or two, I could diate pleasures. Storr’s best essays, such as “The hardly believe it: then, realizing that it was Concept of Cure” are far richer than a medical true, I became quite calm and detached. In training alone would allow; they are the products fact, I became less distressed than before I of cultural enrichments of many origins. (Charles had realized that death was a real possibility: Rycroft, ed., Psychoanalysis Observed, 1966) It is and watched my own heaving chest as it easy to be critical of shortcomings in Storr’s ambi- were from a distance, wondering how much tious books but, on reflection, it is better to show longer I could last. When, in the event, my gratitude for all he attempted. I hope that there was doctor saved me, I knew that I should never music to ease his passing. fear dying again. (Realities, August, 1973, Andrew Brink, PhD, a scholar who has No. 273, pp. 32-34 and 74) worked in many genres, has made his greatest Surely Storr’s meditative practice of listening to contributions as a student of creativity. He devoted music helped him to the detached relaxation most of his career to literature at McMaster needed to survive this asthma attack. University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, before heading the Humanities and Social Thought Pro- When in 1993 I wrote in concern about his gramme (now the Psychoanalytic Thought Pro- health, the reply was: gramme) at he University of Toronto. Presently, he You need not be distressed about my devotes his energies to research and publication health. I shall be 73 in May. I have already on a full-time basis. His current historical research outlived my father, my brother, and all my on the New Netherlands settlements has resulted in uncles. I have had a great deal of illness in the book, Invading Paradise: Esopus Settlers at my life, and have been close to death on at War with the Natives, 1659-1663. Professor Brink least four occasions. If it were not for may be reached at
Russian Mother has no romantic or sexual partner; their victims. Infantile drunken attachment to a her son, no visible father with whom to identify or peasant maternal imago such as we saw in the leg- emulate or fear. The mother’s whole existence is ends of Ivan Durak will be outgrown only when apparently satisfied by tending to her undifferenti- the historic Russian Mother can be accepted as a ated and drunken son. The bonds between the two “good enough” mother, when adult individuation is stifle as did the swaddling rags that confined body no longer perceived as a betrayal of the culture of and soul with young muscles ill-prepared for spo- the Motherland. I see progress being made in ini- radic bursts of freedom. Life was deprivation and tiatives and expectations. I also see the frustrations then excess, all tolerated and maintained by inebri- experienced along the way. It will take decades ated passivity. Mother’s milk was 80 proof and more to establish security for the new Russians and attempts at personal liberation a betrayal. in the interim there is a generation for whom vodka A fairy tale you say? Yet a significant cul- is the only comfort. A loving woman and son are tural stereotype of the Russian Everyman still still waiting, as Erofeev showed us, and I return to drinks to oblivion. Any number of contemporary Russia each summer hoping a people I feel con- writings continue to focus on drunks, drinking ritu- nected to reach their goals. Emotional growth that als, and life experienced through an alcoholic haze. weans the nation from its poisonous bottle of alco- Venichka, the tragic hero of Victor Erofeev’s Mos- hol would, indeed, be "one for the soul.” cow To the End of the Line (Moskva-Petushki, Caroline Scielzo, PhD, is Professor and written 1968, published 1987) is seriously drunk Coordinator of Russian Area Studies at Montclair from the first to last pages of the novel. He wan- State University. She is a graduate of the Center ders the streets of Moscow, detached from reality for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies in New York. and a Kremlin he claims never to have seen. In a Her research and publications are directed fruitless search for his joyous “trollop” and a son towards a psychoanalytic exploration of Russian waiting for him at “the end of the line” he downs culture and society. She may be contacted at sherry, port, vodka, and beer, accepting even the
Soldiers," helped spark a nationwide Vietnam vet- lems, saw a short, slightly hard-of-hearing, stooped erans self-help movement with over 1,000 rap man, dependent on a cane as a result of a back op- groups established in Operation Outreach. Norma eration that left him with some paralysis. His vigor Shatan, his wife of 46 years, reports a moving inci- surprised those who first met him but not col- dent in Utah. There was such affection for Chaim leagues who knew him well. They saw a man who at a session mostly comprised of veterans he was was determined to keep moving and learning. training to run self-help groups in storefront meet- Chaim Shatan was unembarrassed in his ing centers, that a huge ex-marine picked him up quest to know. He learned some Albanian from on his broad shoulders and carried him around the the immigrant staff of his Central Park West apart- room triumphantly, while the trainees applauded. ment building and biography from the Psychohis- His efforts on veterans’ behalf included tory Forum’s Biography Research Group. Even if working to include PTSD in The Diagnostic and he sometimes had to arrive a half-hour late because Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III, of his slow perambulation, he asked questions and 1980), testifying before a congressional committee made his points, rather than sit quietly in the back on PTSD, and speaking at the Pentagon, law of any room. schools, courts-martial, and international con- He was a lifelong socialist who always had gresses. He saw himself as a multidisciplinary stu- compassion for the underdogs of society and liked dent of combat and war neuroses, giving world- to say, “I love an uphill battle.” Regrettably, just wide presentations on bogus manhood and honor, surviving amidst multiple health problems was combat neurotics, PTSD, grief in soldiers, the sex- making life too much of an uphill battle. His heart ualization of combat, addiction to war, and geno- gave out on August 17. cide. As a founding member in 1985 of the Soci- ety for Traumatic Stress Studies (now the Interna- We wish to extend our condolences to his tional Society for Traumatic Stress Studies) Profes- four children, six grandchildren, and his wife sor Shatan worked with a large variety of groups Norma, who was kind enough to help with this suffering from stress disorders. As recently as July obituary during this time of terrible loss. Col- of last year in Madrid, he gave the keynote address leagues wishing to send their personal condolences at the founding of the Spanish Society of Trau- may contact her at
Call for Papers Psychobiography Special Theme Issue December, 2001 Some possible approaches include: Original psychobiographical vignettes Psychobiography-focused mini- interview with distinguished psycho- biographers such as George, Mack, McAdams, Solomon, Strouse, and Tucker Symposium on Erikson's Young Man Luther Your experience in researching, writing, and publishing psychobiography Developments in psychobiography in the last 15 years Issues in doing psychobiography: pathology and creativity the use of empathy evidence and interpretation, recon- struction, and reductionism countertransference assessing childhood's influence interpreting dreams assessing living individuals alternative approaches Reviews / review essays of psycho- biographies by others Woman's (or Feminist) psychobiogra- phy Your choice(s) for exemplary psycho- biography(ies) Oral history as psychobiography Film and docudrama psychobiographies Anecdotes and legends about historical figures and the group fantasies they re- veal 500-1500 words, due October 15 Contact Bob Lentz, Associate Editor
[normal with two spaces between sen- knows it’s real. Each time the learner gets a word tences, without manual adjustments, justified] pair wrong (often), the teacher is told to increase As part of a research project on evil, I spent the shock level. In reality, the learner actually re- three hours once a week for about 15 months with ceives no shocks, but the teacher doesn’t know a group of prisoners at a maximum security prison that. in Patuxent, Maryland, with a small psychological Strapped into his chair with thick leather remediation program. The program combined straps, electrodes attached to his wrist, the learner moderately intense group therapy with a chance to is ready to learn. As the shocks increase, the earn early release. Though not strictly psychoana- teacher can hear the learner scream, yell, kick the lytic, an analytic ethos prevailed in the program. door, demand to be let out, complain of chest pain, Most of the prisoners in the program had killed or and finally fall silent. Before Milgram began his raped a relative or loved one. I report in detail on experiment, he asked some psychiatrists to predict my research in What Evil Means to Us (1997). the percentage of teachers who would actually de- Prisoners are like the rest of us, only more liver the complete sequence of 33 shocks, includ- so. They are more adrift -- morally, psychologi- ing three at 450 volts. A tiny percentage, the psy- cally, personally. If you listen to their stories long chiatrists replied -- no more than a few sadistic in- enough, you will be struck by their lack of place in dividuals. In fact, 65 per cent delivered the full the world. Marriage, family, school, work, and battery of shocks. military -- only a minority of prisoners have made Milgram argues that the experiment has a go at any one of these, let alone more than one. nothing to do with sadism and everything to do Prison is the only place many fit. “Concrete with submission. The teachers don’t want to de- Mama” some call it: it’s cold and it’s hard, but it’s liver the shocks; appear to not enjoy it; frequently always there, and always ready to take you back. ask, even plead, not to administer them; and when What’s the difference between prisoners it’s over, some talk as if they refused, even though and the rest of us as far as evil is concerned? That they didn’t. It is, says Milgram, obedience that is was my research question, one I’m not sure I ever being displayed, man’s potential for slavish obedi- fully answered. In trying to answer it, I asked the ence. Pleasure in hurting has nothing to do with it. prisoners to comment on a number of stories, ex- Almost all free [non-prisoner] informants periments, and studies. In one sessions, I had them interpret the experiment as Milgram does. “People read a short summary of the famous Stanley Mil- are naturally weak, but they are not naturally sadis- gram experiments on obedience to authority con- tic,” is how one puts it. Hardly any of the prison- ducted at Yale University in 1961-1962. (See Mil- ers in my study interpret the experiment this way. gram, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental Consider the response of the prisoner View, 1974.) The summary was titled “If Hitler whom I will call Mr. Acorn. Mr. Acorn is covered Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? with tattoos, some quite artistic, though not to my Probably.” (Philip Meyer, in J. Henslin (ed.), taste: a flaming Death’s Head; a voluptuous Down to Earth Sociology, 1993, pp. 165-171) woman with a skull between her legs; a swastika; Then we talked about it. and a rifle encircled with the words “white power.” In the series of experiments, subjects, He wears a Confederate flag as a bandana. A called "teachers," who are ordinary residents of biker, he wants to open a little tattoo shop when he New Haven, Connecticut, believe they are deliver- gets out. One might argue that all this disqualifies ing electrical shocks to a "learner," who is actually him from understanding the Milgram experiment. an associate of Milgram. The learner is always the Consider the possibility that it eminently qualifies same man, a mild-mannered, vulnerable-looking, him. Mr. Acorn, like most prisoners, lives close to middle-aged fellow with a heart condition. Or so the edge, especially the hard edge of violence. he tells each teacher. The learner is to receive the About some things this makes him obtuse. About shocks when he fails to memorize word pairs. The violence he is a savant: shocks are administered from a shock generator Man, people love violence. Television that runs from 15 to 450 volts, the higher levels and movie companies make millions on it. labeled in big letters “Strong Shock,” “Very Strong People love to watch violence, and they love Shock,” “Intense Shock,” “Extreme Intensity to do violence. They just don’t want to Shock,” “Danger Severe Shock,” and “XXX.” admit it. So, here this dude tells them to do Each teacher gets a sample shock of 45 volts, so he September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 107
[single space between sentences, justified] pair wrong (often), the teacher is told to increase As part of a research project on evil, I spent the shock level. In reality, the learner actually re- three hours once a week for about 15 months with ceives no shocks, but the teacher doesn’t know a group of prisoners at a maximum security prison that. in Patuxent, Maryland, with a small psychological Strapped into his chair with thick leather remediation program. The program combined straps, electrodes attached to his wrist, the learner moderately intense group therapy with a chance to is ready to learn. As the shocks increase, the earn early release. Though not strictly psychoana- teacher can hear the learner scream, yell, kick the lytic, an analytic ethos prevailed in the program. door, demand to be let out, complain of chest pain, Most of the prisoners in the program had killed or and finally fall silent. Before Milgram began his raped a relative or loved one. I report in detail on experiment, he asked some psychiatrists to predict my research in What Evil Means to Us (1997). the percentage of teachers who would actually de- Prisoners are like the rest of us, only more liver the complete sequence of 33 shocks, includ- so. They are more adrift -- morally, psychologi- ing three at 450 volts. A tiny percentage, the psy- cally, personally. If you listen to their stories long chiatrists replied -- no more than a few sadistic in- enough, you will be struck by their lack of place in dividuals. In fact, 65 per cent delivered the full bat- the world. Marriage, family, school, work, and tery of shocks. military -- only a minority of prisoners have made Milgram argues that the experiment has a go at any one of these, let alone more than one. nothing to do with sadism and everything to do Prison is the only place many fit. “Concrete with submission. The teachers don’t want to de- Mama” some call it: it’s cold and it’s hard, but it’s liver the shocks; appear to not enjoy it; frequently always there, and always ready to take you back. ask, even plead, not to administer them; and when What’s the difference between prisoners it’s over, some talk as if they refused, even though and the rest of us as far as evil is concerned? That they didn’t. It is, says Milgram, obedience that is was my research question, one I’m not sure I ever being displayed, man’s potential for slavish obedi- fully answered. In trying to answer it, I asked the ence. Pleasure in hurting has nothing to do with it. prisoners to comment on a number of stories, ex- Almost all free [non-prisoner] informants periments, and studies. In one sessions, I had them interpret the experiment as Milgram does. “People read a short summary of the famous Stanley Mil- are naturally weak, but they are not naturally sadis- gram experiments on obedience to authority con- tic,” is how one puts it. Hardly any of the prisoners ducted at Yale University in 1961-1962. (See Mil- in my study interpret the experiment this way. gram, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental Consider the response of the prisoner View, 1974.) The summary was titled “If Hitler whom I will call Mr. Acorn. Mr. Acorn is covered Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? with tattoos, some quite artistic, though not to my Probably.” (Philip Meyer, in J. Henslin (ed.), taste: a flaming Death’s Head; a voluptuous Down to Earth Sociology, 1993, pp. 165-171) Then woman with a skull between her legs; a swastika; we talked about it. and a rifle encircled with the words “white power.” In the series of experiments, subjects, He wears a Confederate flag as a bandana. A biker, called "teachers," who are ordinary residents of he wants to open a little tattoo shop when he gets New Haven, Connecticut, believe they are deliver- out. One might argue that all this disqualifies him ing electrical shocks to a "learner," who is actually from understanding the Milgram experiment. Con- an associate of Milgram. The learner is always the sider the possibility that it eminently qualifies him. same man, a mild-mannered, vulnerable-looking, Mr. Acorn, like most prisoners, lives close to the middle-aged fellow with a heart condition. Or so edge, especially the hard edge of violence. About he tells each teacher. The learner is to receive the some things this makes him obtuse. About violence shocks when he fails to memorize word pairs. The he is a savant: shocks are administered from a shock generator Man, people love violence. Television that runs from 15 to 450 volts, the higher levels and movie companies make millions on it. labeled in big letters “Strong Shock,” “Very Strong People love to watch violence, and they love Shock,” “Intense Shock,” “Extreme Intensity to do violence. They just don’t want to admit Shock,” “Danger Severe Shock,” and “XXX.” it. So, here this dude tells them to do it, and Each teacher gets a sample shock of 45 volts, so he they must love it, man, a fantasy come true, knows it’s real. Each time the learner gets a word Page 108 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
[two spaces between sentences, without knows it’s real. Each time the learner gets a word manual adjustments, left-aligned] pair wrong (often), the teacher is told to increase As part of a research project on evil, I spent the shock level. In reality, the learner actually re- three hours once a week for about 15 months with ceives no shocks, but the teacher doesn’t know a group of prisoners at a maximum security prison that. in Patuxent, Maryland, with a small psychological Strapped into his chair with thick leather remediation program. The program combined straps, electrodes attached to his wrist, the learner moderately intense group therapy with a chance to is ready to learn. As the shocks increase, the earn early release. Though not strictly psychoana- teacher can hear the learner scream, yell, kick the lytic, an analytic ethos prevailed in the program. door, demand to be let out, complain of chest pain, Most of the prisoners in the program had killed or and finally fall silent. Before Milgram began his raped a relative or loved one. I report in detail on experiment, he asked some psychiatrists to predict my research in What Evil Means to Us (1997). the percentage of teachers who would actually de- Prisoners are like the rest of us, only more liver the complete sequence of 33 shocks, includ- so. They are more adrift -- morally, psychologi- ing three at 450 volts. A tiny percentage, the psy- cally, personally. If you listen to their stories long chiatrists replied -- no more than a few sadistic in- enough, you will be struck by their lack of place in dividuals. In fact, 65 per cent delivered the full the world. Marriage, family, school, work, and battery of shocks. military -- only a minority of prisoners have made Milgram argues that the experiment has a go at any one of these, let alone more than one. nothing to do with sadism and everything to do Prison is the only place many fit. “Concrete with submission. The teachers don’t want to de- Mama” some call it: it’s cold and it’s hard, but it’s liver the shocks; appear to not enjoy it; frequently always there, and always ready to take you back. ask, even plead, not to administer them; and when What’s the difference between prisoners it’s over, some talk as if they refused, even though and the rest of us as far as evil is concerned? That they didn’t. It is, says Milgram, obedience that is was my research question, one I’m not sure I ever being displayed, man’s potential for slavish obedi- fully answered. In trying to answer it, I asked the ence. Pleasure in hurting has nothing to do with it. prisoners to comment on a number of stories, ex- Almost all free [non-prisoner] informants periments, and studies. In one sessions, I had them interpret the experiment as Milgram does. “People read a short summary of the famous Stanley Mil- are naturally weak, but they are not naturally sadis- gram experiments on obedience to authority con- tic,” is how one puts it. Hardly any of the prison- ducted at Yale University in 1961-1962. (See Mil- ers in my study interpret the experiment this way. gram, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental Consider the response of the prisoner View, 1974.) The summary was titled “If Hitler whom I will call Mr. Acorn. Mr. Acorn is covered Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? with tattoos, some quite artistic, though not to my Probably.” (Philip Meyer, in J. Henslin (ed.), taste: a flaming Death’s Head; a voluptuous Down to Earth Sociology, 1993, pp. 165-171) woman with a skull between her legs; a swastika; Then we talked about it. and a rifle encircled with the words “white power.” In the series of experiments, subjects, He wears a Confederate flag as a bandana. A called "teachers," who are ordinary residents of biker, he wants to open a little tattoo shop when he New Haven, Connecticut, believe they are deliver- gets out. One might argue that all this disqualifies ing electrical shocks to a "learner," who is actually him from understanding the Milgram experiment. an associate of Milgram. The learner is always the Consider the possibility that it eminently qualifies same man, a mild-mannered, vulnerable-looking, him. Mr. Acorn, like most prisoners, lives close to middle-aged fellow with a heart condition. Or so the edge, especially the hard edge of violence. he tells each teacher. The learner is to receive the About some things this makes him obtuse. About shocks when he fails to memorize word pairs. The violence he is a savant: shocks are administered from a shock generator Man, people love violence. Television that runs from 15 to 450 volts, the higher levels and movie companies make millions on it. labeled in big letters “Strong Shock,” “Very Strong People love to watch violence, and they love Shock,” “Intense Shock,” “Extreme Intensity to do violence. They just don’t want to Shock,” “Danger Severe Shock,” and “XXX.” admit it. So, here this dude tells them to do Each teacher gets a sample shock of 45 volts, so he September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 109
[single space between sentences, without knows it’s real. Each time the learner gets a word manual adjustments, left-aligned] pair wrong (often), the teacher is told to increase As part of a research project on evil, I spent the shock level. In reality, the learner actually re- three hours once a week for about 15 months with ceives no shocks, but the teacher doesn’t know a group of prisoners at a maximum security prison that. in Patuxent, Maryland, with a small psychological Strapped into his chair with thick leather remediation program. The program combined straps, electrodes attached to his wrist, the learner moderately intense group therapy with a chance to is ready to learn. As the shocks increase, the earn early release. Though not strictly psychoana- teacher can hear the learner scream, yell, kick the lytic, an analytic ethos prevailed in the program. door, demand to be let out, complain of chest pain, Most of the prisoners in the program had killed or and finally fall silent. Before Milgram began his raped a relative or loved one. I report in detail on experiment, he asked some psychiatrists to predict my research in What Evil Means to Us (1997). the percentage of teachers who would actually de- Prisoners are like the rest of us, only more liver the complete sequence of 33 shocks, includ- so. They are more adrift -- morally, psychologi- ing three at 450 volts. A tiny percentage, the psy- cally, personally. If you listen to their stories long chiatrists replied -- no more than a few sadistic in- enough, you will be struck by their lack of place in dividuals. In fact, 65 per cent delivered the full bat- the world. Marriage, family, school, work, and tery of shocks. military -- only a minority of prisoners have made Milgram argues that the experiment has a go at any one of these, let alone more than one. nothing to do with sadism and everything to do Prison is the only place many fit. “Concrete with submission. The teachers don’t want to de- Mama” some call it: it’s cold and it’s hard, but it’s liver the shocks; appear to not enjoy it; frequently always there, and always ready to take you back. ask, even plead, not to administer them; and when What’s the difference between prisoners it’s over, some talk as if they refused, even though and the rest of us as far as evil is concerned? That they didn’t. It is, says Milgram, obedience that is was my research question, one I’m not sure I ever being displayed, man’s potential for slavish obedi- fully answered. In trying to answer it, I asked the ence. Pleasure in hurting has nothing to do with it. prisoners to comment on a number of stories, ex- Almost all free [non-prisoner] informants periments, and studies. In one sessions, I had them interpret the experiment as Milgram does. “People read a short summary of the famous Stanley Mil- are naturally weak, but they are not naturally sadis- gram experiments on obedience to authority con- tic,” is how one puts it. Hardly any of the prisoners ducted at Yale University in 1961-1962. (See Mil- in my study interpret the experiment this way. gram, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental Consider the response of the prisoner View, 1974.) The summary was titled “If Hitler whom I will call Mr. Acorn. Mr. Acorn is covered Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? with tattoos, some quite artistic, though not to my Probably.” (Philip Meyer, in J. Henslin (ed.), taste: a flaming Death’s Head; a voluptuous Down to Earth Sociology, 1993, pp. 165-171) Then woman with a skull between her legs; a swastika; we talked about it. and a rifle encircled with the words “white power.” In the series of experiments, subjects, He wears a Confederate flag as a bandana. A biker, called "teachers," who are ordinary residents of he wants to open a little tattoo shop when he gets New Haven, Connecticut, believe they are deliver- out. One might argue that all this disqualifies him ing electrical shocks to a "learner," who is actually from understanding the Milgram experiment. Con- an associate of Milgram. The learner is always the sider the possibility that it eminently qualifies him. same man, a mild-mannered, vulnerable-looking, Mr. Acorn, like most prisoners, lives close to the middle-aged fellow with a heart condition. Or so edge, especially the hard edge of violence. About he tells each teacher. The learner is to receive the some things this makes him obtuse. About violence shocks when he fails to memorize word pairs. The he is a savant: shocks are administered from a shock generator Man, people love violence. Television that runs from 15 to 450 volts, the higher levels and movie companies make millions on it. labeled in big letters “Strong Shock,” “Very Strong People love to watch violence, and they love Shock,” “Intense Shock,” “Extreme Intensity to do violence. They just don’t want to admit Shock,” “Danger Severe Shock,” and “XXX.” it. So, here this dude tells them to do it, and Each teacher gets a sample shock of 45 volts, so he Page 110 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 111 Page 112 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001 September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 113 Page 114 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001 September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 115 Page 116 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001 September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 117 Page 118 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
Call for Papers Invitation to Join Join the Psychohistory Forum as a Research PsychoGeography Associate to be on the cutting edge of the Special Theme Issue development of new psychosocial knowledge. For information, e-mail Paul H. Elovitz, PhD, Director, at March, 2001
Insanity and the law Dysfunctional family courts Presidential Election 2000
Call for Participants Book Reviews Role ofCall Law for Papers in Society Psychohistory Forum Psycho-Seminar Halpern Award biography There are no negatives in the The Psychohistory ForumSaturday, has granted January a Sidney 27, 2001, NYC unconscious. Halpern Award to BobSeeking Lentz, participantsFounding Asso- with a legal backgroundof ciate Editor of Clio's Psycheand a, forstrong Outstanding psychodynamic Ralph interest. Work in Psychohistorical Editing. ***** Nader Call for Papers Special Crime andTheme Punishment Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting SpecialMarch, Theme 2001 Issue Saturday, January 27, 2001 Possible approaches:September, 2001 Jay Gonen, Mary Coleman, et al Psychodynamics500-1500 words, and childhooddue July 10 "Role of Law in Society" Contact Nader's Paul appeal Elovitz, to intellectuals
Next Psychohistory Forum Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting Meeting Saturday, March 31, 2001 Saturday, September 15, 2001
David Lotto Britton, Felder, and Freund "Freud's Struggle With Misogyny: An Exploration of Homosexuality and Guilt in "Freud, Architecture, and the Dream of Irma's Injection" Urban Planning" r 10, 2001 Call for Papers Call for Papers m Meeting Psychology and Law Crime, Punishment, and onfront the Special Theme Issue Incarceration ocess June, 2001 Special Theme Issue Possible approaches: September, 2001 The diffusion of law into every aspect of 500-1500 words, due July 10 life (i.e., "the legalization of life") Contact Paul Elovitz,
Call for CORST Grant Applications The Committee on Research and Special Training (CORST) of the American Psychoanalytic Association announces an American Psychoanalytic Foundation research training grant of $10,000 for CORST candidates (full-time academic scholar-teachers) who have been accepted or are currently in training in an American Psychoanalytic Association Institute. The purpose of the grant is to help de- fray the costs of psychoanalytic training. Payments will be made over three years of training in install- ments of $3500, $3500, and $3000 directly to the candidate. The application is: a) A brief statement of 1000 words about the research proposed, b) A letter from a scholar in the field (e.g., department chair, colleague, or dissertation advisor) attesting to the validity and significance of the research, c) A letter of endorsement by the Education Director of the institute certifying the candidate is in, or has been accepted for, full clinical psychoanalytic training at an institute of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and d) An up-to-date Curriculum Vitae. Applications are to be submitted in three (3) copies by April 1, 2001, to Professor Paul Schwaber, 258 Bradley Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Page 120 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
The Psychol- Call for Papers ogy of The Psychology of Crime, Punishment, and Incarceration Special Theme Issue September, 2001 Some possible approaches include: Emotion in the courtroom Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting Jury psychology Children and women in prison Saturday, September Immigrants and the INS 15, 2001 The crime of punishment Comparative international studies Britton, Felder, and Case studies Crime and punishment on TV How cameras change the courtroom The Best of Clio's dynamics Psyche 500-1500 words, due July 10 Contact Paul Elovitz, Editor This 93-page collection of many of the
See Calls for Papers on pages 164 & 165: The Makers-of-Psychohistory Research Project PsychoGeography To write the history of psychohistory, the Forum is interviewing the founders of our field to create Psychobiography of Ralph Nader a record of their challenges and accomplishments. It welcomes participants who will help identify, interview, Psychological Uses of Law and publish accounts of the founding of psychohistory. Crime and Punishment Contact Paul H. Elovitz,
Saturday, November 10, 2001 Psychohistory Forum Meeting The Best of Clio's Psyche This 93-page collection of many of the Psychoanalysts Confront the best and most popular articles from 1994 to the Creative Process September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 121
Clio's Psyche of Volkan Honored the Psychohistory In honor of the retirement of Vamik Forum Volkan and the work of the Center he created, Call for Papers the University of Virginia Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction (CSMHI) con- Violence in ducted a major conference entitled "Identity, American Life and Mass Mur-Mourning and Psychopolitical Processes" on der as Disguised Sui- cide May 25-26. The featured presentations and The Future discussions were on the human processes that of Psychoanalysis in the Third lead to ethnic tension, conflict resolution, and Millennium (June, 2000) the healing process. The speakers came from several disciplines -- psychoanalysis, psychia- Assessing try, psychology, political science, history, and Apocalypticism and Millennial-anthropology -- and hail from the U.S and ism Around the Year 2000 abroad. Peter Loewenberg of UCLA pre- Psycho- sented "The Psychodynamics of a Creative In- Geography stitution: The Bauhaus, Weimar, Dessau, Ber- Election lin, 1919-1933" and Howard Stein of the Uni- 2000: Psycho- biographies versity of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, of Bradley, Bush, Gore, "Mourning and Society: A Study in the History McCain, Buchanan, et al and Philosophy of Science." The Psy-Volkan, who will retire later this year chology of Incarcera- tion and after 38 years on the University of Virginia Crime Legalizing staff, is currently the director of the CSMHI Life: Our Litigious Society and a former president of the International So- ciety of Political Psychology (ISPP). Volkan Psychobiog- founded CSMHI in 1987 as an interdisciplinary raphy Manias and center to specialize in conflict resolution and Depressions in Eco- nomics and peace work, primarily in Eastern Europe and Society subsequently the newly independent countries The Role of from the former Soviet Union. He has devel- the Participant Ob- server in oped theories for caring for severely trauma- Psychohistory Psychohis-tized populations in the wake of ethnic tension. torical Perspectives "At the Center, we study preventive medicine for ethnic issues. In that sense, the Center is very unique," Volkan said. "When large groups are in conflict, people die, they become refu- Call for CORST gees, they lose homes and their loved ones, and Grant Applica- tions so they have to mourn. Without mourning, they cannot adjust. Ethnic identity is related to The Committee mourning. When people do not mourn, their on Research and Spe- cial Training (CORST) identity is different." The Center is on the fore- of the American Psy- choanalytic Association front of studies in large-group dynamics and announces an Ameri- can Psychoanalytic applies a growing theoretical and field-proven Foundation research training grant of $10,000 base of knowledge of issues such as ethnic ten- for CORST candidates (full-time academic sion, racism, national identity, terrorism, socie- scholar-teachers) who have been accepted or tal trauma, leader-follower relationships and are currently in train- ing in an American Psy-other aspects of national and international con- choanalytic Associa- tion Institute. The pur-flict. pose of the grant is to help defray the costs of For further information on Dr. Volkan psychoanalytic train- ing. Payments will be and the Center for the Study of Mind and Hu- made over three years of training in install-man Interaction, visit the Web site,
Clio's Psyche of the Psychohistory Forum Call for Papers
Violence in American Life and Mass Murder as Disguised Suicide Assessing Apocalypticism and Millennialism Around the Year 2000 PsychoGeography Election 2000: Psychobiographies of Bradley, Bush, Gore, McCain, Bu- Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting chanan, et al The Psychology of Incarceration and Michael Britton Crime "Countertransference: Legalizing Life: Our Litigious Society Royal Road Into the Psychology Psychobiography of the Cold War" Manias and Depressions in Economics Saturday, September 23, 2000 and Society Contact Paul Elovitz, Editor The Truth and Reconciliation Commis- See page 51 sion as a Model for Healing The Processes of Peacemaking and Peacekeeping The Psychology of America as the World’s Policeman Entertainment News Television, Radio, and Media as Object Relations in a Lonely Call for Papers The Psychohistory of
Conspiracy Theories Special Theme Issue December, 2000 Possible approaches: Psychodynamics and childhood The Best of Clio's Psyche roots of conspiracy theories This 93-page collection of many of the best and most popular articles from 1994 to the Case studies of conspiracy theo- September, 1999, issue is available for $20 a copy. ries in American history It will be distributed free to Members renewing at the Supporting level and above as well Clio's Survey of the psychohistorical as Subscribers upon their next two-year renewal. and psychological literature on Psyche Contact the Editor (see page three). conspiracy theories Now on Film and television treatment of conspiracy theories Contact Bob Lentz, Associate Editor
September, 2001 Clio’s Psyche Page 123
Letter to the Editor Dreamwork Resources The Historical Dreamwork Method is available to help the biographer better under- stand the dreams of the subject and other as- pects of psychobiography. Clio's Psyche welcomes papers on historical dreamwork for publication and for presentation at Psychohistory Forum meetings. Con- Call for Papers tact Paul H. Elovitz (see page 51). Group Psychohistory (December, 2000) Conspiracy Theories (December, 2000) (See page 100) PsychoGeography (March, 2001)
Legalizing Life: Our Litigious Society Book Reviews (2001) Howard F. The Psychology of Incarceration and Stein Crime (2001) (Editor's Note: Television as Object Relations We welcome Contact Paul Elovitz, Editor scanned pic- See page 51
Life: Our Litigious Society Contact the Editor (see page 3) Letters to the Editor
Nader, Political Nightmares, and Invitation to Join Leaders' Morality Join the Psychohistory Forum as a Research Associate to be on the cutting edge of the
Editorial Policies development of new psychosocial knowledge. For information, e-mail Paul H. Elovitz, PhD, Director, at
Letters to the Editor The History of Psychohistory Clio's Psyche's interviews of outstanding psychohistorians (see "An American in Amsterdam: Arthur Mitzman," page 146) have grown into a full-fledged study of the pioneers and history of our field. Psychohistory as an organized field is less than 25 years old, so most of the innovators are available to tell their stories and give their insights. Last March, the Forum formally launched the Makers of the Psychohistorical Paradigm Research Project to systematically gather material to write the history of psychohistory. We welcome memoirs, letters, and manuscripts as well as volunteers to help with the interviewing. People interested in participating should write, call, or e-mail Paul H. Elovitz (see page 119).
Awards and Honors CORST Essay Prize • Professor Janice M. Coco, Art Award History, University of California-Davis, winner of the First Annual American Psychoanalytic Association Com- The Psychohistory Forum has mittee on Research and Special Training (CORST) granted a Sidney Halpern Award of $300 $1,000 essay prize, will present her paper, "Exploring the to Bob Lentz, Founding Associate Editor Frontier from the Inside Out in John Sloan's Nude Stud- of Clio's Psyche, for Outstanding Work in ies," at a free public lecture at 12 noon, Saturday, De- Psychohistorical Editing. cember 20, Jade Room, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City. Sidney Halpern Award for the Best Psychohistorical Idea • The Psychohistory Forum is granting an award of $200 to Michael Hirohama of San Francisco for starting and maintaining the Psychohistory electronic mailing list (see page 98).
Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting
Saturday, January 30, 1999 THE MAKERS OF PSYCHOHISTORY
Charles Strozier RESEARCH PROJECT
To write the history of psychohistory, the Forum is interviewing the founders of our field to create a record of their challenges and accomplishments. It welcomes participants who P Call for Papers s Special Theme Issues Call for Nominations y 1999 and 2000 c Halpern Award h The Relationship of Academia, Psycho- for the o history, and Psychoanalysis (March, Best Psychohistorical Idea 1999) in a The Psychology of Legalizing Life Book, Article, or Computer Site [What is this???] This Award may be granted at the level of Psychogeography Distinguished Scholar, Graduate, or Un- dergraduate. Meeting the Millenium Contact Paul H. Elovitz, Editor -- see p.
Free Subscription THE MAKERS OF PSYCHOHISTORY For every paid library subscription ($40), RESEARCH PROJECT the person donating or arranging it will receive a year’s subscription to Clio’s Psyche free. Help The Psychohistory Forum is pleased to announce Clio’s Psyche September, 2001The Young Psychohistorian 1998/99 Membership Awards Page 125 John Fanton recently received his medical degree and is doing his five year residency in Providence, Rhode Island. Currently, he is at the Children's Hospital, Women and Infants Hospital, and the Butler Psychiatric Hospital. His goal is to become a child maltreatment expert working in the area of Preventive Psychiatry. At the IPA in 1997 he won the Lorenz AwardTo Join for histhe paper Psychohistory on improving parenting List in Colorado. send e-mail with any subject and message to
Dreamwork Resources The Historical Dreamwork Method is available to help the biographer better under- Call for Nominations stand the dreams of the subject and other as- pects of psychobiography. Clio's Psyche wel- Halpern Award comes papers on historical dreamwork for pub- for the lication and for presentation at Psychohistory Best Psychohistorical Idea Forum meetings. Contact Paul H. Elovitz (see in a page 43). Book, Article, or Computer Site This Award may be granted at the level of Distinguished Scholar, Graduate, or Undergraduate. There are no negatives in the
Call for Papers The Best of Clio's Psyche Special Theme Issues This 93-page collection of many of the best 1999 and 2000 and most popular articles from 1994 to the The Relationship of Academia, Psy- September, 1999, issue is available for $20 a chohistory, and Psychoanalysis copy. (March, 1999) It will be distributed free to Members re- newing at the Supporting level and above as Our Litigious Society well as Subscribers upon their next two-year PsychoGeography renewal. Contact the Editor (see page 51). Meeting the Millennium Manias and Depressions in Econom- ics and Society Letters to the Editor Contact the Editor at
Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting
Saturday, October 2, 1999 Letters to the Editor on Charles Strozier Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr "Putting the Psychoanalyst on the Couch: A Biography of Heinz Kohut" Page 126 Clio’s Psyche September, 2001
Clio's Psyche of the Psychohistory Book Review Essay Forum Call for Papers Next Psychohistory Forum Meeting Future of Psychohistory and Psychoanalysis in Saturday, January 30, 1999 the Light of the Demise of the Psychohistory Charles Strozier Political Personality and "Putting the Psychoanalyst on the Couch: A Biography of Heinz Kohut" CharacterThe Best of Clio's Psyche The Psychohistory Forum is pleased to announce Additionalthe creation of Articles The Best of Clio's Psyche. Are Requested for the Call for Nominations This 94-page collection of many of the best and mostSeptember popular articles Issue from of 1994 to the for the current issue Clio'sis available Psyche: for $20 a copy and to students using it in a course for $12. Best of Clio's Psyche TheIt will bePsychology distributed free to Membersof at By July 1 please list your favorite arti- the OnlineSupporting levelCommunication and above as well as Two- cles, interviews, and Special Issues (no Year Subscribers upon their next renewal. Call for Nominations Clio's Psyche of the Psychohistory Forum Call for Papers Forthcoming in the June Issue Violence in American Life and Mass Murder as Interview with a Distinguished Disguised Suicide Featured Psychohistorian AssessingAdditional Apocalypticism Articlesand Millennialism "The Insane Author of the Oxford aroundAre the RequestedYear 2000 for the English Dictionary" PsychoGeography September Issue of "Jews in Europe After World War II" Election 2000Clio's Psyche: PsychobiographyCall for Papers "A Psychohistorian's Mother and Her ManiasThe and DepressionsPsychology in Economics ofand Legacy" SocietySpecial Theme Issues OnlineThe Psychology Communication of Incarceration and Crime 1999 and 2000 Hayman Fellowships Our Litigious Society The University of California Interdisci- Call for Nominations plinary Psychoanalytic Consortium an- PsychoGeography nounces two $5,000 annual fellowships to for the Meeting the Millennium aid psychoanalytically informed research on the literary, cultural, and humanistic The ManiasBest and Depressions of Clio's in Econom-Psyche expressions of genocide, racism, ethnocen- icsBy and July Society 1, please list your favorite arti- trism, nationalism, inter-ethnic violence, and the Holocaust. Thecles, Psychology interviews, of Americaand Special as the Issues (no World'smore thanPoliceman three in each category) and send the information to the Editor (see Truthpage and 3) for Reconciliation the August publication. in South The History of Psychohistory Africa Clio's Psyche's interviews of outstanding 600-1500 words psychohistorians (see "An American in Amsterdam: Legalizing Life: Our Litigious Society Arthur Mitzman," page 146) have grown into a full-fledged TheContact Truth and Reconciliation Commission as study of the pioneers and history of our field. a ModelPaul for H. Healing Elvoitz, PhD, Editor Psychohistory as an organized field is less than 25 years The Processes of627 Peacemaking Dakota Trail and Peacekeeping old, so most of the innovators are available to tell their The PsychologyFranklin of America Lakes, as NJ the 07417 World’s stories and give their insights. Last March, the Forum