Unit XXXIII

I. Look through the words and expressions and learn them:

• insights of psychotherapy – розуміння психотерапії;

• incest, infanticide and child sacrifice – кровозмішення, дітовбивство та дитяче жертвоприношення;

• abuse and neglect – погане поводження та нехтування;

• self-destructive re-enactment – само руйнівне/знищувальне відтворення;

• unconscious flashbacks to early fears – підсвідомі спогади дитячих страхів;

• to credit with – пов’язувати з;

• to set apart – стояти осторонь/відділятися;

• to cast doubt on – піддавати сумніву;

• the viability of the application of post-mortem psychoanalysis –життєздатність застосування посмертного психоаналізу;

• apologists for incest, infanticide, cannibalism and child sacrifice –поборники кровозмішення, дітовбивства, канібалізму та дитячого жертвоприношення;

• dissociation and magical thinking – розщеплення особистості та магічне мислення

II. Read and translate the text: psychohistory

Psychohistory is the study of the psychological motivations of historical events. It combines the insights of psychotherapy with the research methodology of the social sciences to understand the emotional origin of the social and political behaviour of groups and nations, past and present. This field of study is considered to have significant differences from the mainstream fields of history and psychology.

Psychohistory derives many of its insights from areas that are ignored by conventional historians as shaping factors of human history, in particular, the effects of childbirth, parenting practice, and child abuse. The historical impact of incest, infanticide and child sacrifice are considered. Psychohistory holds that human societies can change between infanticidal and non-infanticidal practices and has coined the term "early infanticidal childrearing" to describe abuse and neglect observed by many anthropologists. Lloyd deMause, the pioneer of psychohistory, has described a system of psychogenic modes which describe the range of styles of parenting he has observed historically and across cultures.

Many political scientists and historians teach that social behaviour is usually for rational reasons rather than irrational ones, and that international violence is often instigated for economic gain. Psychohistorians, on the other hand, suggest that social behaviour may be a self-destructive re-enactment of earlier abuse and neglect; that unconscious flashbacks to early fears and destructive parenting could dominate individual and social behaviour.

Psychohistory has been credited with helping to revitalize the historical biography. Notable examples of psychobiographies are those of Lewis Namier, who wrote about the British House of Commons and Fawn Brodie, who wrote about Thomas Jefferson.

There are three inter-related areas of psychohistorical study:

• The History of Childhood – looks at such questions as:

How have children been raised throughout history?

How has the family been constituted?

How and why have practices changed over time?

How have the place and value of children changed in society over time?

How and why have our views of child abuse and neglect changed?

• Psychobiography - seeks to understand individual historical people and their motivations in history.

• Group Psychohistory - seeks to understand the motivations of large groups, including nations, in history and current affairs. In doing so, psychohistory advances the use of group-fantasy analysis of political speeches, political cartoons and media headlines since the fantasy words therein offer clues to unconscious thinking and behaviours.

Sigmund Freud's well known work Civilization and Its Discontents (1929) included an analysis of history based on his theory of psychoanalysis.

The psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm wrote about the psychological motivation behind political ideology, starting with The Fear of Freedom in 1941.

Psychohistory’s first academic use appeared in Erik Erikson's book Young Man Luther (1958), where the author called for a discipline of "psycho-history" to examine the impact of human character on history.

Lloyd deMause developed a formal psychohistorical approach and continues to be an influential theorist in this field.

DeMause and others have argued that psychohistory is a separate field of scholarly inquiry with its own particular methods, objectives and theories, which set it apart from conventional historical analysis and anthropology. Some historians, social scientists and anthropologists have, however, argued that their disciplines already describe psychological motivation and that Psychohistory is not, therefore, a separate subject. Others have dismissed deMause's theories and motives arguing that the emphasis given by Psychohistory to speculation on the psychological motivations of people in history make it an undisciplined field of study. Doubt has also been cast on the viability of the application of post-mortem psychoanalysis by Freud's followers.

Psychohistorians maintain that the difference is one of emphasis and that, in conventional study, narrative and description are central, while psychological motivation is hardly touched on. For deMause, child abuse takes the centre stage.

Psychohistorians accuse most anthropologists and ethnologists of being apologists for incest, infanticide, cannibalism and child sacrifice. They maintain that what constitutes child abuse is a matter of objective fact, and that some of the practices which mainstream anthropologists apologize for may result in psychosis, dissociation and magical thinking: particularly for the surviving children who had a sacrificed brother or sister by their parents. Psychohistorians also believe that the extreme cultural relativism proposed by many anthropologists is contrary to the letter and spirit of human rights.