Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals: A Psychiatric Evaluation<sup>1</sup>

Lifton, Robert Jay

doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1957.tb02266.x

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…15 Goffman had also connected with the world of research funded by military and CIA money. Lifton's (1956) research on Chinese thought reform had been partially funded by a grant from the Asia Foundation, which he later learned was a CIA front organization (Lifton, 2011: 46). Biderman's (1956) early work was conducted for the U.S. Airforce, and in 1957 he received a 1-year grant from the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology, also a conduit of secret CIA money (Biderman, 1963: 275; on Human Ecology, see Price, 2007).…”

Section: Mccarthyism Brainwashing and Goffman's Asylumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On loyalty and betrayal in postwar social science, mainly in Chicago

Jaworski

2021

Journal of Classical Sociology

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This article examines the writings on loyalty and betrayal of sociologist Erving Goffman and political scientist Morton Grodzins. Both thinkers made unique contributions to the understanding of those topics while simultaneously offering critical appraisals of early Cold War America. Examining these writings in historical and intellectual context, and reading them against each other, reveals important elements of this work that are worthy of a fresh appreciation. Within this analysis, the article reflects on social criticism during treacherous times, from open resistance to subtle intellectual legerdemain.

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Section: Mccarthyism Brainwashing and Goffman's Asylumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On loyalty and betrayal in postwar social science, mainly in Chicago

Jaworski

2021

Journal of Classical Sociology

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“…In Thought Reform, Lifton (1961) approvingly referred to Erikson's ideas of identity and "negative conscience," while Erikson (1958, pp. 96, 134, 272-273) referred to Lifton's (1956) early article on thought reform. Lifton wrote later: "This [meeting in 1956] was for me the beginning of an extraordinary friendship and a profound education" (Lifton, 1970b, p. 15).…”

Section: Lifton and The Psychohistorical Dislocationmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the origins of psychoanalytic psychohistory.

Pietikainen

Ihanus²

2003

History of Psychology

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This article examines the origins and early development of psychoanalytically inspired psychohistory from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. It focuses on Erik H. Erikson, Bruce Mazlish, and Robert Jay Lifton and illustrates their contributions to psychoanalytic psychohistory. Erikson, Mazlish, and Lifton were core members of the Wellfleet group, a research project originally funded by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1965 to conceptualize the foundation of psychohistory. The article gives an account of the early history of the Wellfleet group and argues for specific historical reasons to explain why psychoanalytic psychohistory emerged on the East Coast of the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A critique of the Wellfleet group in unpublished correspondence of Erich Fromm and David Riesman is also discussed.

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“…For example, "criticism" required participants to identify each other's shortcomings, leading to "self-criticism" when each participant went through selfreflection and confession (Dittmer, 1973). The thought reform campaigns were expansive in scope, targeting not only CCP party members, intellectuals, factory workers and farmers, but also marginalized individuals such as prostitutes, beggars, and petty criminals (Barlow, 1981;Chen, 1960;Lifton, 1956;Smith, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradox of Revolution: A Communist Patient’s Management of Neurasthenia on a Spiritual Journey

Wang

Gao

2023

Review of General Psychology

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This article examines the complex, sometimes conflicting, influences of China’s Communist movement on psychotherapy and mental illness. The study is centered around the diary of a Chinese woman who simultaneously received therapeutic treatment of neurasthenia while remolding her consciousness as part of the “thought reform” campaign at the Shanghai Police School. Additionally, the study situates this diary within the broader history of psychotherapy in Communist China with highlight on the eventful life of Jiayin Huang, China’s leading psychotherapist who helped the neurasthenic patient before being forced out of the therapeutic profession. This contextualized case study produces several findings. It is found that psychotherapy and thought reform converged in several aspects, including their diagnostic and interventional functions. Meanwhile, psychotherapy and thought reform also faced irreconcilable theoretical and normative discrepancies that eventually led to the decline of psychotherapy. Finally, it is argued that China’s Communist movement exerted seemingly paradoxical impact on the neurasthenic patient. On the one hand, it pathologized the patient’s psychology on an ideological ground; on the other, it promised the possibility of spiritual salvation through dedication to the revolutionary cause.

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Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals: A Psychiatric Evaluation¹

Cited by 15 publications

References 5 publications

On loyalty and betrayal in postwar social science, mainly in Chicago

On loyalty and betrayal in postwar social science, mainly in Chicago

On the origins of psychoanalytic psychohistory.

Paradox of Revolution: A Communist Patient’s Management of Neurasthenia on a Spiritual Journey

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Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals: A Psychiatric Evaluation1

Cited by 15 publications

References 5 publications

On loyalty and betrayal in postwar social science, mainly in Chicago

On loyalty and betrayal in postwar social science, mainly in Chicago

On the origins of psychoanalytic psychohistory.

Paradox of Revolution: A Communist Patient’s Management of Neurasthenia on a Spiritual Journey

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Product

Resources

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Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals: A Psychiatric Evaluation¹