Arno Gruen (en)

(* Berlin 1923)

Arno Gruen was born in Berlin in 1923. He emigrated in 1936 with his parents to the United States. Studied psychology in New York attaining a Doctorate in 1961 as a Psychoanalist under Theodor Reik. Activities at different universities and hospitals, professorship of psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He last led the psychology department of a psychatric clinic in Harlem. In 1979 he returned to Europe and now lives in Zurich, where he still practices psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. He has written extensively about the struggle to maintain self and empathy in a civilization out to undo both. Two of his books on this issue have appeared in English: The Betrayal of the Self (Grove, 1988) and The Insanity of Normality: Realism as Sickness (Grove, 1992). He was teacher at the Institut fur Lerntherapie (Institute for Learning Therapy) in Schaffhausen.

In the autumn of 2001 he was honored for his book Der Fremde in uns (The Stranger Within Us)with the Geschwister-Scholl price. His most recent book appeared in 2003 Verratene Liebe - Falsche Götter (Betrayed Love/False Gods) In his books Arno Gruen argues again and again the question of how the collective illusion in individuals can lead to blind obedience, cruelty and hate.

About this Page

This is an ongoing translation/correction of the German page (Arno Gruen) of the Google (Translate This Page) version. (It is so poor you probably will prefer to translate directly from the German homepage until this rough version is completely replaced. I made an attempt at "translating" it.

October 2004 update.

Unfortunately none of our German-speaking proofreaders have responded to my requests to correctly translate this home page. I have, therefore, made another attempt to make it more readable and useful. I make no claims for the literalness of my "translations" as my aim was simply to improve some more on the "Googlespeak". As not everything on the German home page is worth inclusion in ours I have suggested we delete some items. I have also created some new ones.

Dr. Gruen has recently provided a draft of his upcoming article: "Mother-Child Attachment, Neanderthal and Consciousness: A Quest for Paradigmatic Change." The paper will appear in the December 2004/January 2005 issue Of Mind and Human Interaction, a publication of the University of Virginia; and hopefully will be on line here soon after.

At the end of the article he gives his biography, books (with English translations of titles) and a list of the English language journals he has appeared in. I have placed all this material at the bottom of this page; and used the book information to both correct the English translations of some titles and to separate them as follows: Books and Articles will eventually replace Publications which combine both.

News

We are proofreading some scanned english texts by Arno Gruen. See http://proofread.coforum.net

If you would like to join this effort please subscribe to the mailing list arno gruen-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Articles

• The Need to Punish

Important topics of Arno Gruen:

• Autonomie (Autonomy)

• Empathie (Empathy)

• Gehorsam (Obedience)

• Identification with the Agressor

• Identitaet (Identities

• Gewalt, (Force as it is passed on unconsciously by one generation to the next.)

• Terrorismus (Terrorism)

Books

Dr. Arno Gruen’s books have been translated into 14 languages

German: All in print continuously (= English translation of titles)

• (1984) Der Verrat am Selbst: Die Angst vor Autonomie bei Mann und Frau The Betrayal of the Self - published 1988

• (1987) Der Wahnsinn der Normalität Realismus als Krankheit: eine grundlegende Theorie zur menschlichen Destruktivitä The Insanity of Normality - published 1992)

• (1997) Der Verlust des Mitgefühls Über die Politik der Gleichgültigkeit. (The Loss of Compassion)

• (1999) Ein früher Abschied (A Study of SID) See related English paper: The Relation of SID and parental unconscious conflict (1987) (coming soon)

• (2000) Der Fremde in uns (The Stranger Within Us) See English papers based on: The Hitler Myth (2001), The Need to Punish (2002)

• (2001) Hass in der Seele, with D. Weber (Hatred in the Sole)

• (2002) Der Kampf um die Demokratie (The Struggle for Democracy: extremism, violence and terror)

• (2003) Verratene Liebe - Falsche Götter (Betrayed Love/False Gods)

English: (Some editions out of print – Introductions available on-line – click on title)

• (1988 Grove Press OP) The Betrayal of the Self: The Fear of Autonomy in Men and Women; (Der Verrat am Selbst - (1984)

• (1992 Grove Weidenfeld OP) The Insanity of Normality: Realism as Sickness: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness; (Der Wahnsinn der Normalität-(1987)

• (2007 paperback reprint) The Insanity of Normality: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness; (Der Wahnsinn der Normalität-(1987) Arno Gruen Web Page / Human Development Books, Berkeley, CA http://www.arnogruen.net]

• The Betrayal of the Self will be re-issued as a paperback in fall of 2007 by Human Development Books.

Articles

• (1968) Autonomy and Identification: The Paradox of their Opposition, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 49 1968 (4), pp. 648- 655 http://proofread.coforum.net/moin.cgi/Gruen1968]

• (1976) Autonomy and Compliance: The Fundamental Antithesis, J. Humanistic Psychology Vol. 16, No. 3, Summer 1976, pp. 61-66 http://proofread.coforum.net/moin.cgi/Gruen1976]

• (1978) On Abstraction: The Reduction and Destruction of Human Experience, J. Humanistic Psychology Vol. 18. No. 1, Winter 1978, pp. 37-45.http://proofread.coforum.net/moin.cgi/Gruen1978]

• (1998) Reductionistic Biological Thinking and the Denial of Experience and Pain in Developmental Theories,] J. Humanistic Psychology Vol. 38, No. 2, Spring 1998, pp. 84-102 http://proofread.coforum.net/moin.cgi/Gruen1988/084 (sic.)

• (2001) The Journal of Psychohistory, Vol. 28, No. 4, Spring 2001: pp. 362-451. Surrendering the Self: The Reduction of Identity to Identification with the Aggressor (The Cases of Hermann Goering and Rudolf Hess

• (2002) The Need to Punish: The Political Consequences of Identifying With the Aggressor: from Martti Siirala's 80th Birthday Seminar Lecture, 30th November 2002, Helsinki. It also appeared in a slightly different form in The Journal of Psychohistory, Vol. 27, No. 2, Fall 1999: pp. 136-154.

• (2002) The Hitler Myth: The Journal of Psychohistory Vol. 29, No.3 Winter 2002, pp. 312-327. http://proofread.coforum.net/moin.cgi/Gruen2002]

• (2003) The Journal of Psychohistory, Vol. 30, No. 3, Winter 2003, pp. 266-272.: An Unrecognized Pathology: "The Mask of Humaneness"

Publications

• (1968) Autonomy and Identification: The Paradox of their Opposition|http://proofread.coforum.net/moin.cgi/Gruen1968]

• (1976) Autonomy and Compliance: The fundamental Antithesis|http://proofread.coforum.net/moin.cgi/Gruen1976]

• (1978) On Abstraction: The Reduction and Destruction of Human Experience

• (1984) (de) Der Verrat am Selbst Die Angst vor Autonomie bei Mann und Frau

• (1987) (de) Der Wahnsinn der Normalität Realismus als Krankheit: eine grundlegende Theorie zur menschlichen Destruktivität

• (1991) (de) Falsche Götter Über Liebe, Hass und die Schwierigkeit des Friedens

• (1992) (en) The Insanity of Normality: Realism As Sickness: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness Preface & coming: Chapter 6 Power Politics as an Expression of Inner Emptiness

• (1997) (de) Der Verlust des Mitgefühls Über die Politik der Gleichgültigkeit.

• (1998) (en) Reductionistic Biological Thinking and the Denial of Experience and Pain in Developmental Theories

• (1999) (de) Ein früher Abschied

• (1999) The Journal of Psychohistory, Vol. 27, No. 2, Fall 1999: "The Need to Punish: The Political Consequences of Identifying With the Aggressor" (pp. 136-154.)This article is already on line from Martti Siirala's 80th Birthday Seminar Lecture, 30th November 2002, Helsinki.

• (2000) (de) Der Fremde in uns
  ("The Foreigner in Us")

• (2001) (de) Hass in der Seele Verstehen, was uns Böse macht.
  ("Hate in the Soul" Understanding, what makes us bad.)

• (2001) The Journal of Psychohistory, Vol. 28, No. 4, Sring 2001: "Surrendering the Self: The Reduction of Identity to Identification with the Aggressor (The Cases of Hermann Goring and Rudolf Hess)" (pp. 362-451.)

• (2002) (de) Der Kampf um die Demokratie
  ("The fight for democracy")

• (2003) The Journal of Psychohistory, Vol. 30, No. 3, Winter 2003: "An Unrecognized Pathology: The Mask of Humaneness" (pp. 266-272.)

• (2003) (de) Verratene Liebe - Falsche Götter Ansichten und Einblicke
  ("Betrayed Love - Wrong Gods" Opinions and Views.)

• (2003) The Journal of Psychohistory, Vol. 30, No. 3, Winter 2003: "An Unrecognized Pathology: The Mask of Humaneness" (pp. 266-272.)

Further texts and links in German

• Autonomie und Liebe (The Need to Punish) http://info.uibk.ac.at/c/c6/bidok/t ... -identifikation.html

• Identität und Unmenschlichkeit, ( Identity and Inhumanity ), A lecture by Arno Gruen on audio cassette from Walter Publishing House is available. This lecture is a very good summary of his theses. Very helpfull as an introduction.

• Die Konsequenzen des Gehorsams (The Consequences of Obedience ) For the Development of Identity and Creativity, a lecture Arno Gruens with the 53. Lindauer Psychotherapiewochen on 12 April 2003.

Einige Audioaufnahmen von Arno Gruen können bei (Audio tapes) of Arno Gruen can be ordered from http://www.auditorium-netzwerk.de.

Biographic data

Biography: Born 1923, Berlin, Germany. USA 1936. Ph.D. 1952, New York University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Diplomate American Board of Clinical Psychology. Senior Psychoanalyst, N.P.A.P.. Editorial Board Psychoanalytic Review. Coordinator of clinical Psychology, Northside Center for Child Development. Research Associate in Neurology, Cornell University Medical College. Consultant in Psychiatry, Maimonides Hospital Center. Visiting Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University. Faculty, Institut fur Lerntherapie, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Private Practice since 1956 - since I978 in Switzerland. US Army, 1943-1946.

Publications - (in English journals): International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Review, American Journal of Psychiatry, Archives of Neurology, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Psychological Monographs, Journal of Psychohistory, and others.

Books: Der Verrat am Selbst, dtv (The Betrayal of the Self, Dover - was in Eng.); Der Wahnsinn der Normalitãt, dtv (The Insanity of Normalcy, Grove - was in Eng.); Falsche Gotter, Econ; Der Verlust des Mitgefuhls (The Loss of Compassion), dtv; Fin Früher Abschied: Objektbeziehungen und psychosomatische Hintergründe beim Plötzlichen Kindstod (A Study of SID), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Der Fremde in uns (The Stranger within), Klett-Cotta ( received the Geschwister Scholl-Preis of the City of München in 2001); Der Kampf um die Demokratie: Der Fxtremismus, die Gewalt und der Terror (The Struggle for Democracy: extremism, violence and terror) Klett-Cotta; Verratene Liebe/ Falsche Gotter (Betrayed Love/False Gods) Klett-Cotta; Hass in der Seele (Hatred in the Soul, with D. Weber) Herder. Arno Gruen’s books have been translated into 14 languages.