Politics and Psychology: Contemporary Psychodynamic Perspectives

314 Pages·1991·8.47 MB·English

by  Leanne Domash Ph.D.

Politics and
Psychology
Contemporary Psychodynamic
Perspectives
Politics and
Psychology
Contemporary Psychodynamic
Perspectives
Edited by
Joan Offerman-Zuckerberg
Brooklyn, New York
Plenum Press • N ew York and London
Library of Congress Cataloglng-In-Publlcatlon Data
Politics and psychology: conte.porary psychodynamic perspectives /
edited by Joan Offerman-Zuckerberg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
[SBN-13: 978-1-4684-5921-0 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-5919-7
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-5919-7
1. Political psychology. I. Offerman-zucKeroerg, ~oan.
JA74.5.P643 1991
320' .01'9--dc20 91-28033
CIP
ISBN-13: 978-[-4684-5921-0
© 1991 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1991
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
To my father
BERNARD OFFERMAN
a traditional man with a heart of gold
In memoriam
Cont ribut ors
HERBERT BARRY III, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Pittsburgh
School of Dental Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261; President of the International
Psychohistorical Association (1991- ).
LLOYD DEMAUSE, Director, The Institute for Psychohistory, New York, New York; editor, Journal
of Psychohistory; author, Foundations of Psychohistory and Reagan's America.
LEANNE DOMASH, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, New York
University, New York, New York 10003; Private Practice, 12 East 10th Street, New York,
New York 10003.
PAUL H. ELOVITZ, Ph.D., Former President of the International Psychohistorical Association
(1988-1990); Founder and Director of the Psychohistory Forum (1983- ); a founding fac
ulty member at Ramapo College in New Jersey; a psychotherapist in private practice;
editor of Historical and Psychological Inquiry (1990).
BETTY GLAD, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Department of Government and International
Studies, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208.
GLEN JEANSONNE, Ph.D., Professor of History, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
53201; currently a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation grant to write Women of the Far
Right: The Mother's Movement in World War II; author of Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta (1977),
Gerald L. K. Smith: Minister of Hate (1988), and Messiah of the Masses: Huey P. Long, An
American Dissenter (forthcoming).
OLGA MARLIN, Ph.D., Supervisor, William Alanson White Institute, New York, New York;
Faculty, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, New York, New York; Faculty, Brooklyn
Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, Brooklyn, New York; Private Practice, 110
East End Avenue, New York, New York 10028.
vii
viii CONTRIBUTORS
DOMENICO ARTURO NESCI, M.D., Associate Member of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society and of
the International Psychoanalytic Association; Researcher for the Department of Psychiatry
and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
JOAN OFFERMAN-ZUCKERBERG, Ph.D., Member, Psychoanalytic Society of the Postdoctoral Pro
gram, Inc., New York, New York; Faculty and Supervisor, Brooklyn Institute for Psycho
therapy and Psychoanalysis, Brooklyn, New York; Supervisor, Yeshiva University Clinical
Program and National Institute for the Psychotherapies, New York, New York 10033.
SAMUEL P. OLINER, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology; Project Director, Altruistic Personality and
Prosocial Behavior Institute, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California 9552l.
SPYROS D. ORFANOS, Ph.D., Faculty and Supervisor, New York University School of Medicine,
New York, New York 10016; Co-Director, Greek American Research Project, Center for
Byzantine and Modem Greek Studies of Queens College, City University of New York,
Queens, New York 11367.
RITA R. ROGERS, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles,
Los Angeles, California 90024; Private Practice, 36 Malaga Cove, Suite 203, Palos Verdes
Estates, California 90274.
LOWELL J. RUBIN, M.D., Faculty, The Boston Psychoanalytic Institute, Boston, Massachusetts;
Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
02912.
MOHAMMED SHAALAN, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Al Azhar UniverSity, Cairo, Egypt; Private
Practice, 10 Abdel Hamid Lotfi Street, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.
NANCY SMITH, Author, 271 East 78th Street, New York, New York 1002l.
MARTIN WANGH, M.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, New York, New York; Professor
Emeritus, Clinical Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
10461; Training Analyst, Israel Psychoanalytical Institute, Jerusalem, Israel; Scholar, Freud
Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel.
BRIAN WHITMORE, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Government and International Studies,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208.
THEODORE OTTO WINDT, JR., Ph.D., Professor of Political Rhetoric, University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260.
LUITGARD N. WUNDHEILER, Ph.D., Faculty and Supervisor, Brooklyn Institute for Psychotherapy
and Psychoanalysis, Brooklyn, New York; Private Practice, 925 Union Street, Brooklyn,
New York 11215.
RICHARD M. ZUCKERBERG, Ph.D., Cofounder, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Brooklyn
Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, Brooklyn, New York; Coordinator, Mental
Health Clinic, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York.
Preface
The world is a different place today.* Much of this has to do with the increasing
volume and clarity of the people's collective voice. The power and pressing desire
in man for autonomy, self-determination, and change are emerging as a demand.
As a consequence, Communist governments are giving way to democratic re
structuring, Europe is being recrafted, and the Cold War is slowly thawing.
Simultaneously, back home, our government is becoming increasingly bogged
down by media-created political images and psychodramas lacking in substance
and value-the degree of exposure somehow determined more by commercial
appeal (inherent sensationalism) than merit. The newborn child (Le., the budding
democracies) is looking eagerly to Uncle Sam as a role model: throughout the
world, people are quoting our political scriptures, our proclamations, our Bill of
Rights, and yet as models we seem sorely lacking.
Given this climate, this book intends to address a number of contemporary
themes: the role of the media-symbolization, idealization, and projection---on
political choice; the roles of group fantasy; and the more rational force of group
II
governance" on political elections; the personalities of our presidents and leaders,
their psychic vulnerabilities, their public versus private personas and how this
division interacts with the complex unraveling of historical events (for example,
Jimmy Carter's response to crises in Afghanistan and Iran, Michael Dukakis and
the 1988 campaign, George Bush's emergence as president, John F. Kennedy and
his private versus public personas, Anwar Sadat as myth and symbol).
We look to the heart of darkness and try to explore and explicate the dy
namics of a very primitive form of leadership in Jim Jones. We look at childhood
'Today refers to the world before the Gulf war, 1990-a time of great hope.
Ix
x PREFACE
patterns and extrapolate possible sources of influence: growing up in Nazi Ger
many, changing Soviet child-rearing practices, and the current "gentle revolu
tion." We tum to the impact of growing up in Czechoslovakia, a totalitarian
regime, on an analyst'S perception of current realities. Finally, we look at the
ingredients that go into making war and making peace. The forces of altruism and
common security are counterbalanced by the voices of adolescents, yesterday and
today, and the politics of peace and war-the reality of what we might still call
a death drive-are explored.
, This is a book of many voices. What is particularly rich are the diverse
backgrounds represented. We have three psychoanalysts who grew up in total
itarian regimes and who examine the impact of this shared history on their
responses to and understanding of the world today (Romanian-born Rita Rogers,
Czechoslovakian-born Olga Marlin, and German-born Luitgard Wundheiler).
Different parts of the globe are further represented by Martin Wangh of Israel,
Domenico Nesci of Italy, Mohammed Shaalan of Egypt, and Spyros Orfanos,
whose roots are Greek. Clearly, in each chapter, the impact of one's ethnicity and
homeland is felt, perceptions and understandings ultimately being derived from
a highly personal base. Lloyd deMause, Paul Elovitz, and Glen Jeansonne are
recognized psychohistorians/historians and add insight and knowledge to the
integration and application of psychological concepts to our understanding of
history. Herbert Barry and Theodore Windt contribute a scholarly, more rational
ist explanation of psychopolitical events. Richard and Joan Zuckerberg, Leanne
Domash, and Lowell Rubin come from a psychoanalytic tradition and seek to
apply psychoanalytic understandings to this increasingly complex world. And
Samuel Oliner and Betty Glad have done extensive empirical research in their
areas and lend further depth to this collection.
As psychoanalysts, psychologists, psychohistorians, political scientists, his
torians, and psychiatrists, we are sharing our views on topics not necessarily or
traditionally belonging to the scope of our daily work. Regardless of our differ
ences in approach and expression (academic versus clinical, research-oriented
versus personal commentary), we share a common need to step out of the con
sulting room and become more actively involved in the real world around us. We
realize that the world is going through a global identity change: we need to raise
awareness within ourselves, tuning in to the inevitable psychological "fallout"
attending such global changes. Our thinking must shift and direction is needed.
From vast emotional investments in cold war, enemy-oriented attitudes, images,
and actions, we must tum our energy inward toward solving our own problems.
We are not lacking in enemies; they are just being redefined. Clearly, the enemy
is us-our shameful homelessness, our saturation in drugs, our damaged en
vironment, our indefensible illiteracy and poverty. Acknowledging this is the first
step.
In compiling these chapters, and in constructing the ideas and organization
of this book, I would like to thank Leanne Domash, who shared enthusiastically
and quite actively in the original and then changing conceptions of this book and
who continued to be a truly supportive colleague; Paul Elovitz, whose passion for
PREFACE xi
psychohistory and many contacts proved invaluable; and my 20-year-old son
Joshua Zuckerberg, whose recent immersion in political activism as it relates to
racism reminded me of a too-dormant, yet preserved part of myself: the part that
wants to care beyond oneself, parents, family, children, students, and patients, to
the world at large. Many thanks to the staff at Plenum Press as well for its
patience. In the few years since the conception of this book, the world has
changed and it took some significant updating to be current and relevant.
Contents
I. POLITICAL LEADERSHIP: MYTH AND REALITY
1. Shifting Images in Politics ......................... . . . . . . . . . 3
Leanne Domash and Joan OfJerman-Zuckerberg
2. Some Reflections on Political Choice in America: Symbol and
Substance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Richard M. Zuckerberg
3. National Group Governance in Presidential Elections: Fact and
Fantasy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 23
Herbert Barry III
4. Collective Suicide at Jonestown: An Ethnopsychoanalytic
Study of Leadership and Group Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Domenico Arturo Nesci
II. PRESIDENTIAL PROFILES: PSYCHIC VULNERABILITIES
AND POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS
(BOTH CATASTROPHIC AND OTHERWISE)
5. The Spelling and Seduction of Michael Dukakis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Spyros D. Orfanos
xiii