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Dirty Mirror Or Focal Lens: the Role of Literary Journalism in the Public Understanding of Psychological Science

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Dirty Mirror Or Focal Lens: the Role of Literary Journalism in the Public Understanding of Psychological Science This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, Australia October 2016 Dirty mirror or focal lens: The role of literary journalism in the public understanding of psychological science. Gina Perry ORCID: 0000-0002-3007-0996 School of Culture and Communications and School of History and Philosophy of Science Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (by creative work and dissertation). Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own original work towards the Doctor of Philosophy. I have made due acknowledgement in the text to all other material used. The thesis is 80,000 words as approved by the Research Higher Degrees Committee. 2 Abstract The overarching question posed by my research and explored from both an academic and creative perspective is to what extent can literary journalism transform its ‘dirty mirror’ reputation in communicating and commenting on the psychological sciences for a general reading public. Theories of the popularization and communication of science have largely focused on the ‘hard’ sciences and frequently conceptualize journalism as a subordinate discipline and an often unreliable ‘dirty mirror’ in the dissemination of knowledge to the public. In the scholarly component of my thesis I will argue for a new ‘focal lens’ model that recognises the relationship between the psychological sciences and journalism as a symbiotic one between two equal spheres of influence. The model I propose will conceptualise a conversation in which literary journalism can make a range of important contributions. These include celebrating psychological science and its achievements to offering alternative truths, new interpretations, raising new ethical issues, stimulating new knowledge and new ways of understanding psychological research. Just as the psychological sciences can focus a lens upon questions of human behavior and our mental life, journalism can focus its lens back upon the psychological sciences as a human phenomenon requiring the insights that journalism is designed to bring forward. I will apply this model to three case studies of literary journalistic accounts of psychological research to test the effectiveness of the model. The creative component of my thesis will apply the model and techniques identified in the scholarly component to the retelling of a classic psychological study - Muzafer Sherif's Robbers Cave experiment. 3 Acknowledgments Thanks first and foremost to my supervisors Dr. Kevin Brophy and Dr. Rod Buchanan who inspired and encouraged me and helped me over the inevitable hurdles associated with a project like this. Your commitment and belief in this project was fantastic and I learned so much from you both. I am grateful too to Dr Eddie Paterson whose insights really helped me take a fresh approach. Many people have helped me complete this project but I would particularly like to thank my husband Dan for his unflagging good spirits and support. Thanks Jane Perry for your eagle-eyed proofreading and regular check-ins and my daughter Georgia for helping me relax and making me laugh. The following were, in a variety of ways, of great help to me in writing and researching this thesis: the staff at Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Akron and in particular Dr David Baker and Lizette Barton, Sue Sherif, OJ Harvey, Cath and Jerry Felknor, Professor Herbert Kelman, John and Cathy Reich, Sertan Batur, Professor Joseph Trimble, Rupert Huse and Howie Becker and research participants including Doug Griset, Walt Burkhard, Bill Snipes, Smut Smith and their families. I could not have undertaken my studies without the financial assistance of an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA). I am also very grateful to have been the recipient of the following scholarships that enabled me to conduct the international research required for this project. I would like to thank the donors of the following awards for their generosity—Lizette Bentwitch Scholarship, Alma Hansen Scholarship and the Felix Meyer Scholarship. 4 Table of contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ 4 Table of contents .......................................................................................................... 5 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 7 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 7 Aims of my research ............................................................................................... 14 Research questions ................................................................................................. 16 Overall Methodological Approach and Outline ............................................................. 17 My Journey into PhD Candidacy and Key Intellectual Influences ............................ 17 Research strategies employed and sources of data ................................................. 19 Case Study 1 ‘On Being Sane in Insane Places’ .................................................... 20 Case Study 2 The Stanford Prison Experiment ...................................................... 21 Case Study 3 The Bystander Study ........................................................................ 21 Theoretical approach .............................................................................................. 22 Creative component ................................................................................................ 23 Part 1—Dissertation ....................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 1 One Flew into the Cuckoo’s Nest .................................................................. 25 'On Being Sane in Insane Places' ............................................................................ 25 ‘On Being Sane in Insane Places. Experimenting with Psychiatric Diagnosis’ ..... 35 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 45 Summary ................................................................................................................. 52 Chapter 2 Lucifer Let Loose ........................................................................................... 53 The Stanford Prison Experiment ............................................................................ 53 Impact of the SPE ................................................................................................... 54 ‘The Mind is a Formidable Jailer: A Pirandellian Prison’ ...................................... 55 Media interest in the SPE ....................................................................................... 60 Disarming critics ..................................................................................................... 65 Unauthorised performances .................................................................................... 66 ‘The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil’ ................................................ 70 ‘The Menace Within’ .............................................................................................. 74 Summary ................................................................................................................. 79 Chapter 3 The Bad Samaritan ......................................................................................... 84 5 ‘Bystander Intervention in Emergencies’ ............................................................... 86 'Missing the Story. How Turning the Story of Kitty Genovese into a Parable Erased its Particulars' .......................................................................................................... 98 Summary ............................................................................................................... 105 Chapter 4 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 109 Bridging Statement ................................................................................................... 114 Part 2 — Creative work ................................................................................................ 115 Chapter 1 Prologue ....................................................................................................... 115 Chapter 2 Smyrna ......................................................................................................... 120 Chapter 3 America ........................................................................................................ 135 Chapter 4 Cold War ...................................................................................................... 149 Chapter 5 Camp Talualac Part 1 ................................................................................... 165 Chapter 6 Camp Talualac Part 2 ................................................................................... 177 Chapter 7 Camp Talualac Part 3 ................................................................................... 189 Chapter 8 Robbers Cave ..............................................................................................
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