|
Thomas Szasz has been railing against the practice
of "expert" analysis and diagnosis of public figures for decades. The practice
is certainly not new. For example, Judith Herman ("Trauma and Recovery",
1992) documents diagnoses of socially active (and
therefore problematic) women in the late 19th Century as
hysterical. These
pronouncements are particularly galling when it
appears that they have been written with political
motivations. On the other hand, Erik Erikson's
psycho-biographies of Ghandi and Martin Luther, for example, are classics
of both neo-psychoanalytic and historical writing. Similar to those
who villified others, Erikson's writings are also based on using public
record and interviews of persons who knew the subject rather than testing
and interviewing the actual person.
In terms of ethics, it is unethical for a
psychologist to claim (say, for billing purposes) that a client has a disorder
that he or she does not actually suffer from. Psychiatric/psychological
diagnoses and analyses are unreliable enough even when the subject of the
diagnosis submits to tests and interviews. If Dr. Frank has been Mr.
Bush's psychiatrist, then his opinion, after careful assessment of
GWB, might be valid, but the book, if without Bush's consent, would
be unethical. If Frank has had no professional relationship with Mr.
Bush, then his psychiatric opinion of him as an individual is worthless,
and the publication of the book as coming from an "expert" in these matters is,
in my opinion, unethical. If Mr. Bush were not such a public figure
the book would possibly be libelous.
While I have enjoyed Erikson's psycho-biographies,
I would not encourage the same method being applied to a living
person.
I think this is true even though I believe (
in my opinion as a voting citizen) Mr. Bush is not psychologically capable of
being a competent President of the United States of America.
Bill Scott
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 5:20
PM
Subject: Re: ETHICAL ISSUE? "Bush on the
Couch" by Justin Frank, M.D.
Trisha,
I don�t see what the concern is. Whether he did it
for �fast cash� or some other motivation, I am sure it would be
interesting reading. It, like any other book, will stand or fall in the
general public�s mind depending on the quality of its contents. I don�t see
any ethical concern at all. Lots of books have been written by �experts�
about living and dead historical figures.
Todd
Todd D. Nelson,
Ph.D.
Gemperle Foundation Distinguished Professor
Department of
Psychology
California State University
801 W. Monte Vista
Ave.
Turlock, California 95382
------------------------------------------------------------
I just purchased this book, partly out of curiosity
but mostly because I think it may make an interesting discussion in the
third edition, in progress, of my ethics textbook (with Gerry Koocher).
Should such a book be written (diagnoses and all) by
a professional (psychiatrist at George Washington--so it's not one of our
own)? Is this exploiting one's professional expertise for a potboiler
that will generate fast cash or is it a fascinating analysis based on
publicly available documents and therefore free speech and beyond
criticism?
Has anyone
read it? The colleagues I talke to are not of one mind as to
whether such a book was ethical to write. I would be interested to see
what Tipsters think.
If you
haven't read it, the company's blurb apears below. It gives you a good
idea.
Tricia Keith-Spiegel
Bush On the
Couch
Inside the Mind of the President
by Justin A. Frank,
M.D
"I don't spend a lot of time trying to figure me out. ... I'm
just not into
psychobabble."
-- George W. Bush
For all his
simplicity and affability, George W. Bush has remained, to paraphrase Sir
Winston Churchill, "a mystery wrapped in an enigma." In Bush on the Couch,
Dr. Justin A. Frank, a well-respected Washington, D.C.�based psychoanalyst
and professor of psychiatry, unwraps that mystery, assembling a
comprehensive psychological profile of President Bush. Using the principles
of applied psychoanalysis -- the discipline of psychoanalyzing
public and
historical figures pioneered by Freud -- Frank fearlessly builds his case
... and reaches conclusions that are at once highly persuasive and deeply
disturbing.
Through a close analysis of Bush's public statements and
behavior, as well as the historical record provided by journalists,
biographers, and those who have known the president well, Frank traces the
development of Bush's character from childhood to the present day. Examining
closely the role of the president's parents -- especially Barbara Bush, an
acknowledged disciplinarian whose own insecurities may have prevented her
from adequately
nurturing her son -- Frank finds in Bush's childhood the
roots of a dramatic psychic split that remains a dominant influence on his
adult worldview. Frank argues that this split has inevitably hampered Bush's
ability to manage his emotions, charging his psyche with restless anxiety,
and conditioning him to view the world in the black-and-white terms that
have so evidently shaped his administration.
Among the other subjects
Frank explores:
* Bush's false sense of
omnipotence, instilled within him during
childhood and emboldened by his
deep investment in fundamentalist religion
* The
president's history of untreated alcohol abuse, and the questions it raises
about denial, impairment, and the enabling streak in our culture
*
The growing anecdotal evidence that Bush may suffer from
dyslexia,ADHD, and other thought disorders
* His
comfort living outside the law, defying international law in his presidency
as boldly as he once defied DUI statutes and military
reporting
requirements
* His love-hate relationship
with his father, and how it triggered a complex and dangerous mix of
feelings including yearning, rivalry, anger,] and sadism
*
Bush's rigid and simplistic thought patterns, paranoia,
and megalomania-- and how they have driven him to invent adversaries so that
he can destroy
them
At once a compelling portrait of George W.
Bush and a damning indictment of his policies, Bush on the Couch sheds
startling new light on an administration whose record of violence and
cruelty seems increasingly dependent on the unstable psyche of the man at
its center. Insightful and accessible, courageous and controversial, Bush on
the Couch tackles the question no one seems willing to ask: Is our president
psychologically fit to run the
country?
---------------------------------------------------
Imprint:
ReganBooks; ISBN: 0060736704; On Sale: 06/15/2004;
Format: Hardcover;
Subformat: ; Length: ; Trimsize: 6 x 9; Pages: 272;
$24.95;
$34.95(CAN)
---
You
are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To
unsubscribe send a blank email to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
---
You are currently subscribed to
tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
