This unique work looks at the relationship between psychopathology and world politics. What happens when the brain/mind ceases to function properly? How does this impinge on world affairs? What is to be done, for example, when a leader ceases to act in a seemingly sane fashion and yet still commands the loyalty of those who maintain him or her in office? What is to be done when a leader's advisers seem rational but are clearly not? Indeed, what is to be done when a whole society goes insane? This is to raise more questions than a single work can adequately answer.In lieu of a comprehensive account, which would be beyond the scope of one study, what this book does is first describe psychopathology in general terms and its relationship to world affairs. It then looks at denial in particular and at ?speaking the truth? as a potentially therapeutic antidote, especially in relation to nuclear weapons. It follows this by looking at delusion in general and at what being ?in touch? with reality might entail with regard to a so-called ?failed state?. With topics ranging from Hitler's mental health to the continuing threat of nuclear Armageddon, this book is a valuable contribution to the field of international politics and modern psychology, and will hopefully lead to a better understanding of contemporary world affairs and the global issue of conflict resolution.

First published in 1930, this classic study of personality types remains vital for the understanding of contemporary public figures. Lasswell's pioneering application of the concepts of clinical psychology to the understanding of powerbrokers in politics, business, and even the church offers insights into the careers of leaders as diverse as Adolf Hitler and Richard Nixon.

Inspired by Freud’s The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, this book examines the unconscious processes shaping contemporary political ideologies. Addressing ten fundamental questions, Robert Samuels identifies four basic political ideologies: liberal, conservative, Left, and Right, which are often placed in the structure of a logical square, determined by two binary oppositions, with a fifth structure of centrism complicating the square. He turns to psychoanalysis to explain the unconscious defense mechanisms that structure these political ideologies. Each chapter uses a recent, influential title as a gateway to the analysis of the ideologies and structures identified. Through this analysis, Samuels argues that belief in ideological structures is tied to triumvirates of institutions and ideals; conservatives being tied to premodern institutions of religion, feudalism, and monarchy, while modern liberals are tied to ideals of universality, objectivity, and empiricism. He concludes that this investment in universality shapes the ethics of modern globalization and democratic liberalism. Unlike other books, conclusions are reinforced through examples drawn from current events with an integrated model of different psychopathologies. The Psychopathology of Political Ideologies moves beyond providing an understanding of what drives different political investments, to offer a more rational and conscious comprehension of subjectivity and social organization. This book will be a great resource for those interested in politics, political science psychology, social psychology, globalization, and ideology.

Personology is the study of human character in all of its complexities, covering the range of normal and pathological individuals, from evolutionary development, classification, diagnosis and measurement, to intervention at the individual, family, and societal levels. This volume, sure to become a classic in the field, provides a state-of-the-art overview of the field of personology, including personality theory, taxonomy, and assessment; diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders; and the interface between normal and abnormal personlity. The breadth and depth of this monumental work and the caliber of its contributors is unsurpassed. * Many of the leading clinicians and researchers in psychology are contributors including Otto Kernberg, John Livesley, Robert Bornstein, Jeffrey Magnavita, Drew Westen, Irving Weiner, and Lorna Benjamin * Represents the culmination of a professional career and a capstone to our publishing program in the area of personality and psychopathology

This collection explores the impacts and new ways of treatment of difficult clinical situations, in the uncertainty of a world in crisis, through a phenomenological and aesthetic field-oriented lens. Each author offers a Gestalt-centered perspective on clinical issues – a situational window, which includes the therapist and avails itself of tools configured to modify the entire experiential field. Through clinical case studies and theoretical reflections, the book examines the experience of children, difficult childhood situations (such as separations, abuse, neurodevelopmental disorders, adolescent social closure), the experience of dependency, couples and family therapy, the condition of the elderly and the end of life, interventions for degenerative diseases, and the trauma of loss and mourning, all of which are considered according to two cardinal points: first, the description of the relational ground experiences of patients, and second, the aesthetic relational knowing, a field perspective which allows the presence of the therapist to be modulated. Psychopathology of the Situation in Gestalt Therapy: A Field-oriented Approach is essential reading for Gestalt therapists as well as all clinicians with an interest in phenomenological and aesthetic understanding of the complexity of clinical situations.

This volume offers an innovative set of critical examinations of the field of psychopathology. It investigates the social formation of psychopathology across different cultural, discursive, and political contexts and draws upon theory from two traditional domains of psychology social and abnormal psychology. The diverse topics covered include xenophobia, anorexia nervosa, witch hunting, post-traumatic stress, homosexuality, race categorization, and crosscultural issues. The various topics work in concert to unseat the notion of psychopathology as comprising decontextualized, individualized, essentialist categories of organic illness. "

This book synthesizes psychoanalytic and Marxist techniques in order to illuminate the resistance to a socialization of the American economy, the protectionist discourses of anomalous American capitalism, and the suppression of the capitalist welfare state. After the Second World War, Democrats and Republicans effectively eliminated the communist and socialist parties from the American political spectrum and suppressed their allied labor movements. The right-wing shift of both parties fabricated a false opposition of left and right that does not correspond to political oppositions in the industrialized democracies. Marxist perspectives can account for the massive inequality of the political economy, but they are insufficient for illuminating its preservation. Psychoanalysis is necessary in order to explain why Americans continue to vote within a two-party system that neglects the lower classes, and why the working class tends to vote against its own interests. The psychoanalytic techniques employed include doubling, repetition, displacement, condensation, inversion, denial, fetishizing, and cognitive repression. In examining the fixation upon the proxy binary of Democrat vs. Republican, which suppresses the true opposition of left vs. right and neutralizes alternatives, the work analyses numerous contemporary political issues through applications of Marxist psychoanalytic theory.

First published in 1962, Systematic Politics presents Catlin’s political theories and reviews the work of contemporaries within the field. Divided into two parts, Part One is focused on political science and explores areas such as definitions and functions, the theory of politics as hypothesis, freedom and authority, and different forms of government. Part Two centres on political philosophy, discussing topics such as community, society and the individual, and law and sovereignty. Systematic Politics will appeal to those with an interest in the history of political thought, political theory, and political philosophy.