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Bruno Bettelheim and the concentration camps
Author(s) -
Fleck Christian,
Müller Albert
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6696(199724)33:1<1::aid-jhbs1>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - psychology , divergence (linguistics) , nazism , psychoanalysis , history , philosophy , archaeology , linguistics , german
The paper analyzes the circumstances under which Bruno Bettelheim's (1903–1990) well‐known paper, “Individual and Mass Behavior in Extreme Situations” (1943) came to be written and discusses its central arguments. The authors compare Bettelheim's analysis of the Nazi concentration camps with the interpretations of other authors, particularly those who had experienced the camps themselves, and identify areas of divergence. They also note the later modifications Bettelheim introduced in his own theories on occasions when the original article was reprinted or revised. In conclusion, we investigate the ways in which Bettelheim's analysis of the camps has been received and cited by later scholars. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.