Lecture by
Professor Robert Jay Lifton
'Beyond the Superpower Syndrome -
Toward a More Humane Future' 2 April 2007
The eminent American psychiatrist Professor
Robert Jay Lifton gave a fascinating lecture to an invited audience
of Fellows and Members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
The event was hosted by Professor Sheila
Hollins, President of the College. Baroness Helena Kennedy
introduced Professor Lifton who discussed the ‘superpower
syndrome’ or national sense of omnipotence and entitlement to world
control which has characterised recent American policy. He used
insights from earlier work on Chinese thought reform
("brainwashing"), Hiroshima survivors, the Vietnam War, and the
Nazi Doctors. He discussed the more hopeful possibilities that
Americans, as survivors, are giving to the war in Iraq -
questioning the unbridled warrior ethos and justification of the
war. The vote of thanks was given by Professor George Ikkos,
Treasurer of the College.
Professor Lifton has written widely on issues
of war and peace, and on the general application of psychology to
history. His books include Death in Life: Survivors of
Hiroshima (winner of the National Book Award), The Nazi
Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, and
more recently, Superpower Syndrome: America's Apocalyptic
Confrontation with the World.
Professor Lifton is a
Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Distinguished
Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York, and Life
Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
This lecture was the first in what we hope
will be an innovative, inspiring and informative series of talks,
events and initiatives taking place as part of the Images of
Psychiatry campaign.
To register your interest in similar future
events, please email Nicola Boyce at nboyce@rcpsych.ac.uk