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The Mismeasure of Woman
by Carol TavrisTavris unmasks the widespread but invisible custom of treating men as the normal standard, and women as the abnormal. The real differences lie not in gender, but in power, resources, and life experiences.
Misogyny, Projective Identification, and Mentalization: Psychoanalytic, Social, and Institutional Manifestations
by Karyne E. MessinaMisogyny, Projective Identification, and Mentalization looks at how the psychoanalytic concepts of projective identification and mentalization may explain the construction of society and how they have enabled misogyny to be expressed in social, political, and institutional settings. Karyne E. Messina explores how misogyny has affected the perception and treatment of women through analysis of a range of examples of individual women and groups. The first part explores projective identification as a mechanism for the suppression of women, looking at the origins of the concept in psychoanalysis and its expansion. The author examines the story of Clara Thompson as an example, arguing that her virtual disappearance from the history of psychiatry and psychoanalysis itself is a telling example of this process at work. The second part of the book uses four examples of individuals, including the recent election loss by Hillary Clinton in 2016, to show that projective identification can (particularly in political and cultural settings) overtake and motivate groups as well as individuals, and lead to violence, atrocity, humiliation, and dismissal of and against women. Part three then features case studies of four groups of women from the 20th century, including victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, showing how projective identification against groups has occurred. With specific reference to the erasure of women’s contributions in society, both individually and collectively, and the trauma that arises from the many effects of regarding women as a group as "less" or "other", this is a book which sets a new agenda for understanding how misogyny is expressed socially. Misogyny, Projective Identification, and Mentalization will be of interest to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists as well as scholars of politics, gender, and cultural studies.
Misperceptions of the Social World: What We Get Wrong About Sex, Race, Money, and Violence
by Eric BeasleyThis volume elucidates some of the very concrete ways in which Americans misperceive the social world and how we are all subject to biases and illusions. As such, it challenges the assumption in much social science theorizing that people are rational actors by exploring how the machinations of cognition, the effect of our past experiences, the news, and social media feeds all factor into our opinion-making process. The chapters highlight common, and often incorrect, perceptions of population diversity, sexual behavior, the economy, health, and relationships. It shows how correcting these misperceptions of the social world can lead to real behavioral and attitudinal change.
Misplaced Loyalties: History of Ideas
by Anselm L. StraussOriginally published in 1989 as Appointment in Vienna, Esther Menaker's Misplaced Loyalties is a fascinating memoir covering five years of student life in Vienna during the early years of the psychoanalytic movement started by Sigmund Freud. It begins in 1930, when, full of high expectations, the author and her husband left their native America and eagerly embarked on an exhilarating journey that would take them to Austria, where they were to become candidates at the Psychoanalytic Institute.
misReading Plato: Continental and Psychoanalytic Glimpses Beyond the Mask (Psychology and the Other)
by Matthew Clemente Bryan J. Cocchiara William J. HendelThis book reorients the scholarship on Plato by returning readers to his most fundamental insights and reflections on the nature of the human psyche and the human condition. By approaching the dialogue anew, as if for the first time, the book creates new intellectual pathways by opening the conversation to a clash of ideas. The contributors offer nuanced, nontraditional readings of Plato, readings that not only analyze but also build on the dialogues by bringing them into conversation with psychoanalysis, phenomenology, and contemporary continental thought more broadly. It addresses a major gap in the literature caused by reading Plato as a metaphysician or moral or political philosopher and not, primarily, as a psychologist. Psychologists and scholars in philosophy, psychoanalysis, Platonic thought, and other humanities-related disciplines will find this new approach to Plato refreshing, accessible, and uniquely innovative.
Miss Irwin
by Allen SayMiss Irwin is a luminous and heartwarming story about the importance of capturing the light of precious memories before all is forgotten, from Caldecott Medalist Allen Say.As a young woman, Miss Irwin was a kindergarten teacher who loved introducing the world of discovery to her students. As a grandmother, she often reflects on her wonderful days exploring with her students. When her grandson asks her about a mysterious box on the shelf, she gets lost in memory and her mind transports her back in time to when she was Miss Irwin. At first her grandson is confused, but remembers his grandmother's forgetfulness and plays along as the student who made the bird's nest inside the white box.Allen Say's breathtaking artwork and emotionally powerful and thoughtful text gently weave a touching story about memory and family. Together, the grandmother and grandson rejoice in the meaning and beauty of memory before all is lost.Miss Irwin helps readers of all ages better understand and interact with loved ones who are experiencing memory loss.AUTHOR'S NOTEThe teachers I loved and admired are figures of light in my memory. Miss Irwin is especially luminous. She was my daughter's kindergarten teacher. The children's words and drawings and dancing made her blush with excitement. And by trying to keep her blushing, the children learned the astonishment of discovering.I hope she will forgive me for casting her as a forgetful grandmother in this story -- it's an attempt to capture her light before all is forgotten. -- Allen SayAlzheimer's changes the lives of everyone it touches. You are not alone.When a friend or family member has Alzheimer's disease, you may feel upset, confused or scared. Some people with early-stage Alzheimer's may forget words or not remember your name from time to time. But, when you spend time with people with late-stage Alzheimer's, it is easy to see that something serious is going on. People with Alzheimer's disease are not acting like this because they don't care about you. Changes deep inside their brains are destroying the centers that control remembering, thinking, and feeling. Learning about Alzheimer's disease can help you understand what to expect and how to connect with the person you care about. -- Alzheimer’s Association
Miss Take
by Will Browning Réjean DucharmeSixteen-year-old Miles has run away from home, inviting his childhood companion, the fourteen-year-old Inuit orphan Chateaugué, to join him in a rented flat opposite Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours in Montreal. There they construct a chaste life for themselves, living as brother and sister. They spend their days riding bicycles wildly through the streets of the city, dodging the automobiles that symbolize for them the adult world they despise, a world that has dominated the landscape with its roadmaps of social discourse. They spend hours at the library, laughing with disdain at how the classics have become venerated, how their authors' words and turns of phrase have become confused with the things and actions they signify. Enthralled by the works of the "mad" poet Nelligan, Miles begins a journal, determined to free language from the constraints of convention, but finds he cannot write anything without immediately conjuring up its opposite.To escape the boredom that history seems to have decreed shall be re-enacted endlessly by all grown-ups, Miles and Chateaugué enter into a suicide pact to preserve their childhood freedom and purity from the debasement of the adult roles pre-ordained for them.Destitute after spending what little money they have, Miles goes to a bar in search of a drink, where he is seduced by an older woman, and suddenly finds himself both attracted and repelled by the pleasures and debasements of the flesh. Having stepped out of their world of childhood innocence, can he return to Chateaugué and consummate their vows, or is this brush with experience irrevocable?Written in a style that echoes the work of Arthur Rimbaud and William S. Burroughs, Ducharme's vision is darkly prophetic of a world that has lost its innocence, and on which "our lady of good help" now only gazes with an inscrutable Mona Lisa smile.
Missed and Dismissed Voices: Living with Hidden Chronic Health Problems
by Alexander Segall PhDThere is a complex relationship between illness and identity. Missed and Dismissed Voices aims to expose the impact of hidden health problems on the daily lives of a growing number of adults who live with chronic conditions and repeatedly face the challenge of trying to maintain their personal sense of healthiness across the life course. The book focuses on the meaning and management of both medically diagnosed chronic diseases and medically unexplained physical conditions or syndromes. In each case, people must decide whether to make their private suffering public. The book includes analysis derived from research literature, combined with illness narrative accounts of people in qualitative interviews and blog posts, to create fictional exemplary case studies for each of the chronic conditions examined. The common issues raised in these stories provide important insights into the process by which people manage to adapt to their changing health status and life circumstances. In this book, Alexander Segall, PhD, gives voice to chronically ill people who often have their life stories either missed or dismissed.
**Missing**: Psychoanalysis and Social Formation (Studies in the Psychosocial)
by D. Hook(Post)apartheid Conditions: Psychoanalysis and Social Formation advances a series of psychoanalytic perspectives on contemporary South Africa, exploring key psychosocial topics such as space-identity, social fantasy, the body, whiteness, memory and nostalgia.
**Missing**: Formal and Conceptual Issues of Language (Language, Cognition, and Mind #10)
by Manuel Rebuschi Michel Musiol Maxime AmblardThis present book explores recent advances in modeling discourse processes, in particular, new approaches aimed at understanding pathological language behavior specific to schizophrenia. The contributors examine the modeling paradigm of formal semantics, which falls within the scope of both linguistics and logic while providing overlapping links with other fields such as philosophy of language and cognitive psychology. This book is based on results presented during the series of workshops on (In)Coherence and Discourse organized by SLAM (Schizophrenia and Language: Analysis and Modeling), a project developed to systemize the study of pathological language processing by taking an overarching interdisciplinary approach combining psychology, linguistics, computer science and philosophy. The principle focus is on conversations produced by people with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. The contributions come from young and experienced researchers, and invited speakers. The book appeals to likeminded students and researchers.
**Missing** (The Palgrave Lacan Series)
by Robert SamuelsThis book sets out to clarify five key Freudian concepts (the pleasure principle, the primary processes, the unconscious, transference, and the reality principle) elaborated early on in Freud’s work but, it is argued, rarely understood—even by psychoanalysts themselves. It examines in turn the post-Freudian paradigms employed in neuropsychoanalysis, Lacan, Zizek, object relations, and psychoanalytic approaches to identity politics, and in doing so reveals the extent to which they have been distorted and repressed in these new contexts. Over the course of the book the author demonstrates how Freud’s unpublished Project for a Scientific Psychology can be seen as a complete system of core concepts that both ground psychoanalysis in neurology and also introduce a vital challenge to the brain sciences. This book will appeal to students and scholars of psychoanalysis, clinical psychology, and psychoanalytic theory.
**Missing**: Einstellungen zu Migranten in Deutschland und Europa (Blickpunkt Gesellschaft)
by Sonja Schulz Pascal Siegers Bettina Westle Oshrat HochmanDieser Band versammelt verschiedene Untersuchungen zu Einstellungen zu Migranten und zu nationalistischem Wahlverhalten, die alle auf repräsentativen Bevölkerungsumfragen beruhen. Insgesamt verdeutlicht die Gesamtschau der in diesem Band versammelten Beiträge die Bedeutsamkeit von (positiven) Kontakten zwischen der deutschen Aufnahmegesellschaft und der Migrantenpopulation. Hinweise auf eine allgemeine Verschlechterung des Meinungsklimas gegenüber ethnischen Minderheiten ergeben sich aus den Studien nicht. Sofern Migration nicht als Bedrohung für den eigenen Status wahrgenommen wird, kann verstärkter Kontakt dazu führen, dass die deutsche Bevölkerung insgesamt toleranter und offener wird. Im Gegenschluss kann eine wahrgenommene Bedrohung des eigenen Status und der eigenen Ressourcen zu einer gesellschaftlichen Polarisierung führen. Der Wandel hin zu einer größeren Akzeptanz Zugewanderter ist also nicht irreversibel: Die „offene Gesellschaft“ in der Bundesrepublik muss ständig aktiv erarbeitet werden.
Missing Data
by Patrick Mcknight Katherine McknightWhile most books on missing data focus on applying sophisticated statistical techniques to deal with the problem after it has occurred, this volume provides a methodology for the control and prevention of missing data. In clear, nontechnical language, the authors help the reader understand the different types of missing data and their implications for the reliability, validity, and generalizability of a study's conclusions. They provide practical recommendations for designing studies that decrease the likelihood of missing data, and for addressing this important issue when reporting study results. When statistical remedies are needed--such as deletion procedures, augmentation methods, and single imputation and multiple imputation procedures--the book also explains how to make sound decisions about their use. Patrick E. McKnight's website offers a periodically updated annotated bibliography on missing data and links to other Web resources that address missing data.
Missing Each Other: How to Cultivate Meaningful Connections
by Edward Brodkin Ashley PallathraThe ability to connect with another person and truly be in tune with their physical and emotional state is one of the most elusive interpersonal skills to develop. This book shows you how.In our fast-paced, tech-obsessed lives, rarely do we pay genuine, close attention to one another. With all that&’s going on in the world and the never-ending demands of our daily lives, most of us are too stressed and preoccupied to be able to really listen to each other. Often, we misunderstand or talk past each other. Many of us are left wishing that the people in our lives could really listen, understand, and genuinely connect with us.Based on cutting-edge neuroscience research and years of clinical work, psychiatrist Edward Brodkin and therapist Ashley Pallathra take us on a wide-ranging and surprising journey through fields as diverse as social neuroscience and autism research, music performance, pro basketball, and tai chi. They use these stories to introduce the four pillars of human connection: Relaxed Awareness, Listening, Understanding, and Mutual Responsiveness. Accessible and engaging, Missing Each Other explains the science, research, and biology underlying these pillars of human connection and provides exercises through which readers can improve their own skills and abilities in each.
Missing Each Other: How to Cultivate Meaningful Connections
by Edward Brodkin Ashley PallathraIn our fast-paced, tech-obsessed lives, rarely do we pay genuine, close attention to one another. With all that's going on in the world, and the never-ending demands of our daily lives, most of us are too stressed and preoccupied with our own thoughts and worries to be able to really listen to each other for long. Often, we seem to somehow "miss" each other, misunderstand each other, or talk past each other. Our ability to tune in to ourselves and to others seems to be withering. Many of us are left wishing for someone who could really listen, understand, and genuinely connect with us.In Missing Each Other, researchers and clinicians Edward Brodkin and Ashley Pallathra argue that we must find the ability to be in tune with each other again, and they show us how. Based on years of research that they conducted together in a National Institutes of Mental Health-funded clinical study, the authors take a wide-ranging and surprising journey through fields as diverse as social neuroscience and autism research, music performance, pro basketball, and tai chi. They use these stories to introduce the four principal components of attunement: Relaxed Awareness, Listening, Understanding, and Mutual Responsiveness. They outline the science, research, and biology underlying these pillars of human connection, but also providing readers with exercises through which they can improve their own skills and abilities in each.
The Missing Lemur Link An Ancestral Step in the Evolution of Human Behaviour (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology)
by Ivan Norscia Elisabetta PalagiLemurs share a common distant ancestor with humans. Following their own evolutionary pathway, lemurs provide the ideal model to shed light on the behavioural traits of primates including conflict management, communication strategies and society building and how these aspects of social living relate to those found in the anthropoid primates. Adopting a comparative approach throughout, lemur behaviour is cross-examined with that of monkeys, apes and humans. This book reviews and expands upon the newest fields of research in lemur behavioural biology, including recent analytical approaches that have so far been limited to studies of haplorrhine primates. Different methodological approaches are harmonised in this volume to break conceptual walls between both primate taxa and different disciplines. Through a focus on the methodologies behind lemur behaviour and social interactions, future primate researchers will be encouraged to produce directly comparable results.
Missing Pieces: A Chronicle of Living With a Disability
by Irving Kenneth Zolahe personal odyssey of a man with a disability, this passionate book tries to tell as well as analyze what it is like to have a disability in a world that values vigor and health. Zola writes, "Missing Pieces is an unraveling of a social problem in the manner of Black Like Me. Like its author, I, too, am a trained social observer, but for me 'passing' was not an issue. For I already have the stigmata of the disable - the braces, the limp, the cane - though I have spent much of my life denying their existence." The author started out in the role of a social scientist on a seven-day excursion to acquaint himself with an extraordinary experiment in living - Het Dorp, one of the few places in the world designed to promote "the optimum happiness" of those with severe physical disabilities. Neither a medial center nor a nursing home, Het Dorp is a village in the western-most part of the Netherlands. What began as a sociological attempt to describe this unusual setting became, through the author's growing awareness, what can only be called a socio-autobiography. Resuming his prior dependence on a wheelchair, the author experienced his own transformation from someone who is "normal" and "valid" to someone who is "invalid." The routine of Het Dorp became his: he lived in an architecturally modified home, visited the workshops, and shared meals, social events, conversation, and perceptions with the remarkably diverse residents. The author confronts some rarely discussed issues - the self-image of a person with a chronic disability, how one fills one's time, how one deals with authority and dependence, and love and sex. Missing Pieces offers striking insights into an aspect of the human condition shared by nearly 30 million Americans. It is must reading for the general reader, as well as for the rehabilitation counselor, social worker, or social scientist. Author note: Irving Kenneth Zola (1935-1994) was Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University and a founding member and counselor at the Boston Self-Help Center. Nancy Mairs is the author of seven books, including Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Disabled, and most recently, A Troubled Guest: Life and Death Stories. She lives in Tucson with her husband, George.
The Missing Pieces of Me: The hopeful, heartbreaking, hugely romantic novel from the bestselling author
by Amelia MandevilleWillow and Dustin are the perfect couple.Or so he thought, until she disappeared . . . 'Amelia Mandeville is an author to watch' EMMA COOPER Meet the couple you'll fall for head over heels, and discover the novel that will break your heart and put it back together again "I felt ALL the emotions reading this book" ***** "The characters were so relatable" ***** "You never want it to end" ***** "Putting this book down will be your only challenge" ***** "The romance was magical" ***** ________________________Willow and Dustin. They're the perfect couple, everyone says so. And since the birth of their baby daughter, Dustin is sure his little family is all he will ever need. So his world is shattered when he arrives home to find that Willow has disappeared, leaving only a cryptic note to say goodbye with no explanation of where she has gone or why she has left.Determined to bring her home, Dustin sets out to find Willow. But the more he learns about the girl he loves most in the world, the more he feels like he's trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. Was Willow really keeping secrets from him? Or was he just not looking closely enough in the first place?________________________ ***WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT AMELIA MANDEVILLE*** 'She has touched my soul and lit up my heart''You feel every emotion on the spectrum with these characters''Simply stunning''Her book is everything I could have hoped for and more''It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it left me wanting more''Easy to read and yet terribly emotive'
The Missing Pieces of Me: The hopeful, heartbreaking, hugely romantic novel from the bestselling author
by Amelia MandevilleWillow and Dustin are the perfect couple.Or so he thought, until she disappeared . . . 'Amelia Mandeville is an author to watch' EMMA COOPER Meet the couple you'll fall for head over heels, and discover the novel that will break your heart and put it back together again "I felt ALL the emotions reading this book" ***** "The characters were so relatable" ***** "You never want it to end" ***** "Putting this book down will be your only challenge" ***** "The romance was magical" ***** ________________________Willow and Dustin. They're the perfect couple, everyone says so. And since the birth of their baby daughter, Dustin is sure his little family is all he will ever need. So his world is shattered when he arrives home to find that Willow has disappeared, leaving only a cryptic note to say goodbye with no explanation of where she has gone or why she has left.Determined to bring her home, Dustin sets out to find Willow. But the more he learns about the girl he loves most in the world, the more he feels like he's trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. Was Willow really keeping secrets from him? Or was he just not looking closely enough in the first place?________________________ ***WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT AMELIA MANDEVILLE*** 'She has touched my soul and lit up my heart''You feel every emotion on the spectrum with these characters''Simply stunning''Her book is everything I could have hoped for and more''It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it left me wanting more''Easy to read and yet terribly emotive'
Mistakes, Errors and Failures across Cultures: Navigating Potentials
by Elisabeth Vanderheiden Claude-Hélène MayerThis volume provides comprehensible, strength-based perspectives on contemporary research and practice related to navigating mistakes, errors and failures across cultures. It addresses these concepts across cultural contexts and explores any or all of these three concepts from a positive psychology or positive organisational perspective, highlighting their potential as resources. The volume further discusses the consequences of errors and failures at individual, organisational and societal levels, ranging from severe personal problems to organisational and collective crises, perspectives how those can be turned into opportunities for contingent and sustainable improvement processes. The book shows that there are significant cultural differences in the understanding, interpretation and handling of errors and failures. This volume provides practical guidance for transcultural understanding of mistakes, errors and failure through new models, ideas for self-reflection, therapeutic and counselling interventions and organisational change management processes. This book is a must for researchers and practitioners working on mistakes, errors and failures across cultures and disciplines!
Mistakes in Clinical Neuropsychology: Learning from a Case-based Approach
by Oliver Turnbull Rudi Coetzer Christian SalasThis innovative book uses a case-based approach to discuss mistakes made in the practice of clinical neuropsychology to form a helpful tool in the training of early career clinicians. By allowing readers space for critical reflection during clinical practice, the book teaches competency in clinical neuropsychology, through the examination of errors as a central part of the learning process. The core of this book is a diverse series of mistakes, each embedded as a patient narrative. Each chapter is based around an example error, typically one that was made, by the authors, as early career clinicians. Early chapters focus on mistakes in neuropsychological assessment, and the diagnostic process. Later chapters focus on errors in rehabilitation and management. Each chapter is framed to reflect the situational context, for example the role of history, what constitutes normal performance, the way that complex tasks rely on foundational skills, or the treatment of patients with dysexecutive impairment. Towards the end of each chapter there is reflection on the nature of each error type. As such, each chapter follows the structure SEER (Situation, Example, Error, Reflection), helping the reader to imagine the situation around the mistake, its nature and relevance. The book especially emphasises small phrases of insight (axioms, or gnomes) that are widely used by experienced clinicians. This is valuable reading for students of clinical neuropsychology, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy as well as professionals in these fields such as neurologists, psychiatrists and other rehabilitation therapists. It is especially appropriate for those in the earlier stages of their career in clinical neuropsychology, or in related disciplines which involve the assessment and treatment of patients with neurological disorders that impair cognition or disrupt the regulation of emotion. However, experienced clinicians will also find it includes interesting insights to improve their practice.
Mistakes We Make
by Jenny HarperSometimes you have to dig deep to discover what you really need.Marketing events manager Molly Keir doesn't realise how much she still cares for her ex until she meets him with another woman. Her answer is to seize the chance of a glittering job in London - even though this will mean leaving behind her aging father and pregnant best friend Lexie Gordon.Adam Blair is in the wrong job. Pressured by his father to join the family law firm, the stress of work helped break his marriage. Now Molly is moving to London, and he knows he needs to move on - but events soon overtake his best intentions.A year ago, Caitlyn Murray quit her well-paid job to avoid becoming a whistleblower. Now she is stuck at home with her overworked mother and four needy step-siblings. Tempted by the offer of a good wage, she returns to her old firm - where her nightmare comes back to haunt her.Molly and Adam seem to have gone too far to recover the love they once had, and when Caitlyn finds the courage to speak out, she brings all their worlds tumbling down.
Mistakes We Make
by Jenny HarperSometimes you have to dig deep to discover what you really need.Marketing events manager Molly Keir doesn't realise how much she still cares for her ex until she meets him with another woman. Her answer is to seize the chance of a glittering job in London - even though this will mean leaving behind her aging father and pregnant best friend Lexie Gordon.Adam Blair is in the wrong job. Pressured by his father to join the family law firm, the stress of work helped break his marriage. Now Molly is moving to London, and he knows he needs to move on - but events soon overtake his best intentions.A year ago, Caitlyn Murray quit her well-paid job to avoid becoming a whistleblower. Now she is stuck at home with her overworked mother and four needy step-siblings. Tempted by the offer of a good wage, she returns to her old firm - where her nightmare comes back to haunt her.Molly and Adam seem to have gone too far to recover the love they once had, and when Caitlyn finds the courage to speak out, she brings all their worlds tumbling down.
Mistakes Were Made (but Not By Me) Third Edition: Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
by Elliot Aronson Carol TavrisA NEW EDITION UPDATED IN 2020 • Why is it so hard to say "I made a mistake" — and really believe it? When we make mistakes, cling to outdated attitudes, or mistreat other people, we must calm the cognitive dissonance that jars our feelings of self-worth. And so, unconsciously, we create fictions that absolve us of responsibility, restoring our belief that we are smart, moral, and right—a belief that often keeps us on a course that is dumb, immoral, and wrong. Backed by decades of research, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) offers a fascinating explanation of self-justification—how it works, the damage it can cause, and how we can overcome it. Extensively updated, this third edition has many recent and revealing examples, including the application of dissonance theory to divisive social issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement and he said/she said claims. It also features a new chapter that illuminates how cognitive dissonance is playing a role in the currently polarized political scene, changing the nation&’s values and putting democracy itself at risk. &“Every page sparkles with sharp insight and keen observation. Mistakes were made—but not in this book!&” —Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness &“A revelatory study of how lovers, lawyers, doctors, politicians—and all of us—pull the wool over our own eyes . . . Reading it, we recognize the behavior of our leaders, our loved ones, and—if we&’re honest—ourselves, and some of the more perplexing mysteries of human nature begin to seem a little clearer.&” —Francine Prose, O, The Oprah Magazine
Mistrust: Developmental, Cultural, and Clinical Realms
by Salman AkhtarHumans are weak. Lacking the claws and thick skins of other animals, we are forced to rely on members of our own species to survive and flourish in the world. The fact that the human infant is born in an utterly helpless state also makes others' protective care necessary. Attachment, bonding, concern, and mutuality thus become cornerstones of human existence. Trust also enters this equation. Originating in the early mother-child relationship, trust continues to grow, get contextually refined tempered by reality testing, and gain nuances throughout the subsequent adult life. Its absence (mistrust) or malformation (distrust) contributes to psychopathology and is responsible for much intrapsychic distress and interpersonal strife. Given its formative significance and it crucial role in the therapeutic process, one is surprised by the paucity of psychoanalytic writings specifically devoted to the topic of trust and mistrust. Few, if any, monographs on trust exist. A collection of essays written specifically for this volume, it deals with the ontogenesis, psychopathology, cultural vicissitudes, and technical implications of trust and mistrust.