Response: The Use and Legal Misuse of Psychohistory

response article

Paul H. Elovitz

Intro

A basic principle of my work in the last twenty-eight years is that psychohistory should be applied to a large variety of problems of the modem world. When H. John Rogers wrote me indicating he was using psychohistory in his legal struggle against the application of the death penalty I was pleased at the thought. However, by the time I read attorney Rogers’ article, I became concerned.

Keywords:

character assassination, death penalty, Gaston Caperton, H. John Rogers, legal process, long-distance analysis, modern world problems, Oliver Goldsmith, psychobiography, psychohistory

In my opinion, it is a misuse of psychobiography to use scant and hypothetical information in the effort to make the case that Governor Caperton is not competent to extradite a murderer to another state to be executed. Yes, it is tempting to look for pathology, a common form of calling someone “crazy,” because we do not agree with a person’s ideas or actions. In effect, it borders on being a modern form of character assassination. It is insufficient to get two people with some medical or psychological credentials to make a long distance analysis of a public figure they have never met and who they have never really studied! As a biographer of political candidates and leaders, I think it essential that we use empathy in our work and strive to avoid psychological jargon and labeling.

H. John Rogers shows empathy for his former client, “‘the cop killer,’ escape artist, ‘Ten Most Wanted’” murderer who committed only “thirty or forty minutes of depravity during his lifetime” (we edited this quote out of the final version and it is referred to with Rogers’ permission), but no empathy for the Governor whom he belittles. One small indication of this lack of empathy is the failure to mention Caperton’s first name in an article where everyone else’s full name is given. I think he knows at some level that he is treading on thin ice. After all, he begins his article with the Goldsmith quote, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” The attorney should devote his considerable talents and humanity to fighting the death penalty in other ways.

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About the author

Paul H. Elovitz

Dr. Paul H. Elovitz, PhD, began organizing scholarly meetings when he started as a faculty member at Ramapo College and then as convener of the Institute for Psychohistory Saturday Workshops (1975-1982). In 1982, he founded the Psychohistory Forum to nurture psychohistorical research and continues to lead its Executive Council. In 1994, he created Clio’s Psyche (cliospsyche.org) to publish its scholarship, of which he is Editor-in-Chief. Prof. Elovitz is a historian, psychoanalytic researcher, and author of well over 400 publications, covering presidential psychobiography, teaching, documenting the field of psychohistory, and much more. After taking his doctoral degree in history, he trained and practiced as a psychoanalyst for three decades, and in 2019 was made the first Research Psychoanalyst by the New Jersey Institute for Psychoanalysis. Elovitz is the author of The Making of Psychohistory, editor of The Many Roads of the Builders of Psychohistory, and edited or wrote eight other books. He is a founding member and past president of the International Psychohistorical Association (1978-) who held all but one of its offices and continues to serve on its leadership council. He is the sole founder of the IPhA who has attended and presented at all of its annual meetings. In recent years, he has devoted himself to editing, publishing, and writing psychobiography. Prof. Elovitz was a founding faculty member at Ramapo College who previously taught at Temple, Rutgers, and Fairleigh Dickinson universities. Aside from teaching Western and World Civilizations, his focus on teaching was on American, English, and European history; childhood; gender; genocide; the Holocaust; identity; leadership; psychobiography; psychohistory; the psychology of creativity and innovation; and war and peace. Presently, he teaches post-graduate courses on creativity, psychoanalysis, psychobiography, and other aspects of psychohistory online at psychoanalytic institutes. A Festschrift honoring him is scheduled for publication in Clio’s Psyche in 2024. He may be contacted at .

How to cite this article

Elovitz, P. H. (1996). Response: The use and legal misuse of psychohistory. Clio’s Psyche, 2(4), 96.

https://doi.org/10.70763/514f94b7b871de0eacb221709d341aec

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