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‘IN PURSUIT OF THE NAZI MIND?’ THE DEPLOYMENT OF PSYCHOANALYSIS IN THE ALLIED STRUGGLE AGAINST GERMANY.

Authors :
Pick, Daniel
Source :
Psychoanalysis & History. 2009, Vol. 11 Issue 2, p137-157. 21p.
Publication Year :
2009

Abstract

This paper discusses how psychoanalytic ideas were brought to bear in the Allied struggle against the Third Reich and explores some of the claims that were made about this endeavour. It shows how a variety of studies of Fascist psychopathology, centred on the concept of superego, were mobilized in military intelligence, post-war planning and policy recommendations for ‘denazification’. Freud's ideas were sometimes championed by particular army doctors and government planners; at other times they were combined with, or displaced by, competing, psychiatric and psychological forms of treatment and diverse studies of the Fascist ‘personality’. This is illustrated through a discussion of the treatment and interpretation of the deputy leader of the Nazi Party, Rudolf Hess, after his arrival in Britain in 1941. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14608235
Volume :
11
Issue :
2
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Psychoanalysis & History
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
42967237
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3366/E1460823509000373