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Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry pp 343–359Cite as

Is There a Cure for Anti-Semitism?

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Abstract

Clearly, there is a rise once again in overt Anti-Semitism in many countries around the world. Such eruptions may tend to occur when the historical ambivalence toward the Jewish people swings toward hatred rather than admiration. Although it has not yet met the criteria for being a psychiatric disease, it does seem to be a social pathology and, perhaps more, a kind of “psychopathology of everyday life.” Many interventions have been tried to reduce Anti-Semitism, but this current increase suggests that these interventions are simply not working or are not working well enough. Harm is done not only to the Jewish targets but to the perpetrators and bystanders as well. A metamorphic model of the potluck will be proposed for society and psychiatry. Cooks of distinctive, but overlapping, societal perspectives can contribute to a nourishing potluck meal of intercultural relationships. In particular, psychiatry can not only provide its usual care to those traumatized by Anti-Semitism but also try to provide a new therapeutic dish for the perpetrators based on anger management, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mentalization-based treatment.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Private Community Psychiatrist, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    H. Steven Moffic

Authors
  1. H. Steven Moffic
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Correspondence to H. Steven Moffic .

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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Moffic, H.S. (2020). Is There a Cure for Anti-Semitism?. 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_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37745-8_28

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37744-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37745-8

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