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Diagnosing from a Distance

Diagnosing from a Distance

Diagnosing from a Distance

Debates over Libel Law, Media, and Psychiatric Ethics from Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump
John Martin-Joy , Harvard Medical School
April 2020
In stock
Hardback
9781108486583

    Ever since the rise of Adolf Hitler, mental health professionals have sought to use their knowledge of human psychology to understand - and intervene in - political developments. From Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump, psychiatrists have commented, sometimes brashly, on public figures' mental health. But is the practice ethical? While the American Psychiatric Association prohibits psychiatric comment on public figures under its 'Goldwater Rule', others disagree. Diagnosing from a Distance is the first in-depth exploration of this controversy. Making extensive use of archival sources and original interviews, John Martin-Joy reconstructs the historical debates between psychiatrists, journalists, and politicians in an era when libel law and professional standards have undergone dramatic change. Charting the Goldwater Rule's crucial role in the current furor over Trump's fitness for office, Martin-Joy assesses the Rule's impact and offers a more liberal alternative. This remarkable book will change the way we think about psychiatric ethics and public life.

    • A lively and engaging narration of a series of historical episodes in which psychiatric ethics and libel were vigorously and publicly debated
    • The first book to examine the still-raging ethics debate over psychiatric comment on President Donald Trump, using numerous original interviews with the participants
    • Makes extensive use of archival sources that have rarely been explored in detail before
    • Advances a philosophically supported case for a more liberal approach to the ethics of psychiatric comment

    Awards

    Finalist, 2021 PROSE Award - Biological and Life Sciences Finalists, Clinical Medicine, Association of American Publishers

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    Reviews & endorsements

    'Psychiatrists are often asked in casual conversation for a diagnosis without a personal examination. Using many primary sources rarely discussed in previous surveys, John Martin-Joy provides a detailed and far-reaching analysis of the implications of such a scenario. Fascinating, thought-provoking, and highly recommended.' Thomas G. Gutheil, Harvard University

    'With compelling prose, page-turning narrative, and sophisticated analysis, John Martin-Joy uses a little-known, but important, libel case to discuss an issue of great political significance: the ethical, professional, social, and legal ramifications of psychiatrists commenting publicly on the mental health of public figures.' Samantha Barbas, University of Buffalo

    'What do Adolf Hitler, Barry Goldwater, Saddam Hussein, and Donald Trump have in common? John Martin-Joy shows how psychiatrists and psychoanalysts had strong views about these men’s mental health and very different opinions about whether they could share these views. Part media history and part ethical study, this book may change how you think about professionalism, politics, and the First Amendment.' James T. Hamilton, Hearst Professor of Communication, Chair of the Department of Communication, and Director of the Journalism Program, Stanford University

    'With extraordinary historical detail and a remarkable sensitivity to rational, moral disagreement, this volume is now the book of record for understanding the ethical implications of the Goldwater Rule. Policymakers, clinicians, scholars, and concerned citizens interested in the nexus of politics and psychiatry - especially during our current, perilous moment - must read this book.' Dominic A. Sisti, Director, The Scattergood Program for Applied Ethics of Behavioral Health Care, University of Pennsylvania

    'John Martin-Joy is a meticulous researcher and writer, making his book a pleasure to read. Mixing the disciplines of law, psychiatry, and history, the book describes the impact of the ‘Goldwater Rule’ with the detail and analytic precision that no scholar has provided before. This book is sure to be regarded as a classic in the years ahead.' Lawrence J. Friedman, Professor of History Emeritus, Harvard University and Indiana University

    ‘… historically detailed and well referenced … legally and philosophically sophisticated …’ Allen R. Dyer, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association

    ‘Diagnosing from a Distance is a wonderful read that CL psychiatrists could be easily swept up in. The book speaks to the intellectually curious detective that resides inside each of us.’ Flannery Merideth, Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

    ‘Martin-Joy’s study rightly focuses on the dialectics animating the recent of history of the helping professions…This book focuses on how psychiatric knowledge travels through mass media and the legal system and how these encounters transformed psychiatric ethics.’ Michael Pettit, American Historical Review

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    Product details

    April 2020
    Hardback
    9781108486583
    348 pages
    235 × 158 × 23 mm
    0.68kg
    14 b/w illus.
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Introduction. An ethical dilemma
    • 1. Psychoanalysis, media, and politics from the rise of Hitler to the 1950s
    • Part I. Diagnosis from a Distance and Libel Law in the 1960s: Goldwater v. Ginzburg:
    • 2. Ralph Ginzburg: provocateur
    • 3. 'To remove this precedent': Barry Goldwater sues for libel
    • 4. Ginzburg, Goldwater, and the Supreme Court
    • Part II. Professionalization and the Rise of the Goldwater Rule
    • 5. 'To protect public figures': the APA and the Goldwater Rule
    • 6. The CIA and the White House: adventures in assessment
    • 7. Furor: the debate over Donald Trump
    • Conclusion. On history, ethics, and pluralism
    • Appendix. The Goldwater Rule in 1973 and today
    • Acknowledgments
    • Notes
    • Works cited
    • Index.
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      Author
    • John Martin-Joy , Harvard Medical School

      John Martin-Joy, M.D., is a psychiatrist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a part-time lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts.

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