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Jewish Stereotypes in Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment

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Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry

Abstract

This chapter will examine possible Jewish stereotypes in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. The stereotypes fall into two categories: those for which there is serious scientific investigation and those which fall into the category of old wives’ tales, based perhaps on insufficient experience or concocted to slander Jews. There will be some discussion of implications for diagnosis and treatment.

There will also be consideration of the over-representation of Jews among British and American psychiatrists, stereotypes of psychiatrists among the lay community and the possible effects of these stereotypes, for example, on help-seeking and treatment adherence.

The chapter concludes with an illustration by Barry Marcus depicting some of the anti-Semitic attitudes to psychiatry which have been noted while preparing this chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK

    Kate Miriam Loewenthal

  2. Bainbridge Island, WA, USA

    Barry Marcus

Authors
  1. Kate Miriam Loewenthal
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  2. Barry Marcus
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kate Miriam Loewenthal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Private Practice and Retired Tenured Professor of Psychiatry Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    H. Steven Moffic

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    John R. Peteet

  3. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Ahmed Hankir

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Mary V. Seeman

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Loewenthal, K.M., Marcus, B. (2020). Jewish Stereotypes in Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment. In: Moffic, H., Peteet, J., Hankir, A., Seeman, M. (eds) Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37745-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37745-8_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37744-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37745-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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