Abstract
Throughout history, the Jewish people have been despised and abused. As with other large groups subjected to trauma, they have developed deep psychological scars as well as defense mechanisms for coping with it. One manifestation of this trauma is Jewish self-hatred, which though considered common has been largely ignored by clinical social workers, including those who are Jewish. Understanding the etiology and psychodynamics of this self-hatred initially requires an examination of the history and large group psychology of the Jewish people. Only then can this form of self-hatred be understood in the individual. Two case examples from the author’s practice are offered along with an explanation as to why this form of self-hatred has been overlooked by psychotherapists.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Diaspora Jews refers to Jews living outside Israel.
For group therapists, a large group is 50–100 people gathered for therapy; for large-group psychologists, it is “any aggregate of hundreds of thousands or millions of people forming a cultural or political unity or both—e.g., an ethnic, national or religious group” (Volkan et al. 2002, p. 4).
Trauma here refers to a historical event in which the large group experiences catastrophic loss, humiliation, or helplessness at the hands of its enemies (Volkan 2009).
For examples of these negative feelings about being Jewish, see the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society minutes (Federn and Nunberg 1962–1975), in which the early patriarchs of psychoanalysis described Jews in derogatory stereotypes, and the Kohut biography by Strozier (2001), who wrote that Kohut was ashamed of his Jewish heritage and tried to keep it secret.
In reflecting on his training at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, Ostow (1997) wrote, “There was an unspoken gentleman’s agreement that in psychoanalysis one does not discuss Jewishness, except to demonstrate to an occasional religious patient that his piety is a sign of neurosis” (p. 150).
References
Allport, G. W. (1979). The nature of prejudice. New York: Basic Books.
Anti-Defamation League. (2009). American attitudes toward Jews in America. Washington, DC: Marttila Communications.
Aron, L., & Starr, K. (2013). A psychotherapy for the people: Toward a progressive psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge.
Astin, A. W., Astin, H. S., & Lindholm, J. A. (2011). Cultivating the spirit: How college can enhance students’ inner lives. San Francisco: Wiley.
Aviram, R. B. (2009). The relational origins of prejudice: A convergence of psychoanalytic and social cognitive perspectives. New York: Jason Aronson.
Bodnar, S. (2004). Remember where you came from: Dissociative process in multicultural individuals. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 14, 581–603.
Brenner, I. (2007). Contemporary anti-Semitism: Variations on an ancient theme. In H. Parens, A. Mahfouz, S. Twemlow, & D. Scharff (Eds.), The future of prejudice: Psychoanalysis and the prevention of prejudice (pp. 141–161). Latham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Brody, D. (1956). American Jewry, the refugees and immigration restriction (1932–1942). American Jewish Historical Society, 45, 219–247.
Cooper, M. G., & Lesser, J. (2008). Clinical social work practice: An integrated approach (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Demakovsky, R. (1978). Jewish anti-Semitism and the psychopathology of self-hatred. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International.
Ettinger, S. (1976). The modern period. In H. H. Ben-Sasson (Ed.), A history of the Jewish people (pp. 725–1096). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Federn, P., & Nunberg, H. (1962–1975). Minutes of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society (4 Vols.). New York: International Universities Press.
Frankel, J. (2004). Identification with the aggressor and the ‘normal traumas’: Clinical implications. International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 13, 78–83.
Freeman, M. P. (2012). The narrative unconscious. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 48, 344–366.
Frie, R. (2011). Culture and context: From individualism to situated experience. In R. Frie & W. J. Coburn (Eds.), Persons in context: The challenge of individuality in theory and practice (pp. 3–20). New York: Routledge.
Gallup, G, Jr, & Lindsay, D. M. (1999). Surveying the religious landscape. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse.
Gilman, S. L. (1986). Jewish self-hatred: Anti-Semitism and the hidden language of the Jews. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
Greenberg, C. (1950). Self-hatred and Jewish chauvinism: Some reflections on “positive Jewishness”. Commentary, 10, 426–433.
Herron, W. (1995). Development of the ethnic unconscious. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 12, 521–532.
Hurvich, M. (2003). The place of annihilation anxieties in psychoanalytic theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 51, 579–616.
Johnson, P. (1987). A history of the Jews. New York: Harper Perennial.
Kavaler-Adler, S. (2013). The anatomy of regret: From death instinct to reparation and symbolization through vivid case studies. London: Karnac.
Knafo, D. (1999). Anti-Semitism in the clinical setting: Transference and countertransference dimensions. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 47, 35–63.
Lee, E. (2012). A working model of cross-cultural clinical practice (CCCP). Clinical Social Work Journal, 40, 23–36.
Lerman, A. (2008). Jewish self-hatred: Myth or reality? Jewish Quarterly, 210.
Levin, K. (2005). The Oslo syndrome: Delusions of a people under siege. Hanover, NH: Smith & Kraus.
Lewin, K. (1941). Self-hatred among Jews. Contemporary Jewish Record, IV, 219–232. Republished in Lewin, K. (1948). Resolving social conflicts: Selected papers on group dynamics (pp. 186–200). New York: Harper & Row.
Liebman, C. S. (1973). The ambivalent American Jew: Politics, religion, and family in American Jewish life. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society of America.
Mishne, J. (2002). Multiculturalism and the therapeutic process. New York: Guilford Press.
Mooney, M. (2005). Religion at America’s most selective colleges: Some findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, Office of Population Research.
Ostow, M. (1996). Myth and madness: The psychodynamics of anti-Semitism. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Ostow, M. (1997). Judaism and psychoanalysis. London: Karnac.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. (2008). U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Religious beliefs and practices: Diverse and politically relevant. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.
Rubin, B. (1995). Assimilation and its discontents. New York: Random House.
Sachar, H. M. (1992). A history of the Jews in America. New York: Knopf.
Strenger, C. (2005). The designed self: Psychoanalysis and contemporary identities. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
Strozier, C. B. (2001). Heinz Kohut: The making of a psychoanalyst. New York: Other Press.
Volkan, V. D. (2004). Chosen trauma, the political ideology of entitlement and violence [On-line]. http://www.vamikvolkan.com/Chosen-Trauma%2C-the-Political-Ideology-of-Entitlement-and-Violence.php.
Volkan, V. D. (2009). Large-group identity, international relations and psychoanalysis. International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 18, 206–213.
Volkan, V. D., Ast, G., & Greer, W. (2002). The Third Reich in the unconscious: Transgenerational transmission and its consequences. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
White, K. P. (2002). Surviving hating and being hated: Some personal thoughts about racism from a psychoanalytic perspective. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 38, 401–422.
Wuthnow, R. (1982). Anti-Semitism and stereotyping. In A. G. Miller (Ed.), In the eye of the beholder: Contemporary issues in stereotyping (pp. 137–187). New York: Praeger.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is an expanded version of a paper presented at a Scientific Meeting of the New Jersey Institute for Training in Psychoanalysis, March 1, 2013. The author would like to thank Leah Slivko, L.C.S.W. for her profound and heartfelt discussion of this paper.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alperin, R.M. Jewish Self-Hatred: The Internalization of Prejudice. Clin Soc Work J 44, 221–230 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-016-0577-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-016-0577-2