Anatomy of malice : the enigma of the Nazi war criminals / Joel E. Dimsdale.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dimsdale, Joel E., 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946.

War criminals--Germany--Psychology.

War criminals.

Nazis--Psychology.

Nazis.

Germany.

Psychology.

Nazis--Psychological testing.

World War, 1939-1945--Germany--Psychological aspects.

World War, 1939-1945.

National Socialism--history.

Violence--history.

Criminals--psychology.

Medical Subjects:

National Socialism--history.

Violence--history.

Criminals--psychology.

Physical Description:

xi, 243 pages : black and white illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2016]

Summary:

When the ashes had settled after World War II and the Allies convened an international war crimes trial in Nuremberg, a psychiatrist, Douglas Kelley, and a psychologist, Gustave Gilbert, tried to fathom the psychology of the Nazi leaders, using extensive psychiatric interviews, IQ tests, and Rorschach inkblot tests. Never before nor since has there been such a detailed study of governmental leaders who orchestrated mass killings. Before the war crimes trial began, it was self-evident to most people that the Nazi leaders were demonic maniacs. But when the interviews and psychological tests were completed, the answer was no longer so clear. The findings were so disconcerting that portions of the data were hidden away for decades and the research became a topic for vituperative disputes. Gilbert thought the war criminals' malice stemmed from depraved psychopathology. Kelley viewed them as ordinary men who were creatures of their environment. Who was right? Drawing on his decades of experience as a psychiatrist and the dramatic advances within psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience since Nuremberg, Joel E. Dimsdale looks anew at the findings and examines in detail four of the war criminals, Robert Ley, Hermann Goering, Julius Streicher, and Rudolf Hess. Using increasingly precise diagnostic tools, he discovers a remarkably broad spectrum of pathology. Anatomy of Malice takes us on a complex and troubling quest to make sense of the most extreme evil.

Contents:

Part One: Run-Up To Nuremberg

The Holocaust: How Was This Genocide Different from All the Rest?

The Gathering at Ashcan

Part Two: Nuremberg

The War Crimes Trial: What Do We Do with the Criminals?

War Criminals with Psychiatrists and Psychologists?

Part Three: Faces Of Malice

Defendant Robert Ley: "Bad Brain"

Defendant Hermann Goring: "Amiable Psychopath"

Defendant Julius Streicher: "Bad Man"

Defendant Rudolf Hess: "So Plainly Mad"

Part Four: Coda To Nuremberg: Rorschachs and Recriminations

Douglas Kelley and Gustave Gilbert: A Collaboration from Hell

A Message in the Rorschachs?

Malice on a Continuum: The Social Psychologists' Perspective

Malice as Categorically Different: Encounters with "the Other"

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780300213225

0300213220

OCLC:

930798140