Freudian Fraud: The Malignant Effect of Freud's Theory on American Thought and Culture [Paperback]

E. Fuller Torrey MD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1999

During a period of prolonged cocaine usage in the 1890s, Sigmund Freud developed a theory of human behavior which asserted that early childhood experiences, especially those of a sexual nature, are crucial determinants in later personality development. The theory first came to America as part of the sexual revolution in the early years of this century, then became attached to the liberal forces of nurture in the ongoing nature-nurture debate. When Hitler resolved that debate in Europe by permanently discrediting nature, he simultaneously drove many of Freud's supporters to America, where the theory finally evolved into a symbol of liberalism and humanism in the post-World War II period.

This book is an account of Freud's rise in America and the crucial roles played by Margaret Mead, Benjamin Spock, and Karl Menninger. Others who played important roes in disseminating Freud's theory include Emma Goldman, Abraham Brill, Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, Walter Lippmann, Mabel Dodge, Clarence Darrow, Mary McCarthy, Lionel Trilling, Edmund Wilson, Herbert Marcuse, Norman Brown, Paul Goodman, and Fritz Perls.

The book closes with an assessment of Freud's theory and its effect on America, from the perversion of child rearing, criminology, and liberal politics to the shaping of theater and film and psychotherapy for everyone, McFreud in America. Childhood experiences are now known to be comparatively unimportant antecedents of personality, and thus Freud's theory is virtually without any scientific foundation. It is acknowledged that some good has come out of it (the unconscious, humanism, psychotherapy) but that its debits are much greater (narcissism, irresponsibility, denigration of women, misallocated resources). Given what we now know, the perpetuation of the Freudian paradigm is a fraud.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Torrey caricatures psychoanalysis in this blistering, one-sided, sometimes shrill polemic. Reviewing the evidence, he finds Freud's theory of early childhood traumas' purported effects on personality development to be devoid of scientifc support. In his view, psychoanalysis caught on in the U.S. because it fused with impulses toward sexual freedom and social reform. Bisexual Margaret Mead, who "blamed her culture for causing her to feel like a deviant," embraced Freudianism, as did her lover, Ruth Benedict, under the influence of their mentor, Franz Boas. Political liberals and Greenwich Village intellectuals used Freudian theory to further their own agendas, argues psychiatrist Torrey ( Nowhere to Go ). In his scenario, the Holocaust spurred American Jews to undergo psychoanalysis, Freud's ideas infiltrated childrearing practices through Benjamin Spock, and the Freudianization of our prison system altered the concept of criminal responsibility. Rejecting Freud, Torrey puts forward the thesis that genetic factors play a major role in shaping personality.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A Washington, D.C., psychiatrist, a specialist in schizophrenia and the author of several books on mental illness, discusses the theories of Sigmund Freud as they apply to the ongoing debate over whether people's inherited nature or their early childhood nurturing have the most effect on their adult personalities. Freud's idea that childhood experiences play a key role in personality development has now been largely discredited, Torrey argues, but it had--and continues to have--a disproportionately strong negative impact in America. Appendixes analyze Freudian influence on America's intellectual elite and summarize 26 research studies on toilet training as related to "anal" personality traits. The text also includes 75 pages of notes. Written for students of history, psychology, and psychiatry, this will find its primary audience in academic rather than public libraries.
- Marguerite Mroz, Baltimore Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 362 pages
• Publisher: Lucas Books (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929636008
• ISBN-13: 978-1929636006
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Freudian Fraud., January 23, 2006

By 

New Age of Barbarism "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freudian Fraud: The Malignant Effect of Freud's Theory on American Thought and Culture (Paperback)

If I had to live over again I should devote myself to psychical research rather than psychoanalysis. -Sigmund Freud

_Freudian Fraud: The Malignant Effect of Freud's Theory on American Thought and Culture_ by psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey traces the role of Freudian theory (particularly that concerning the role of sex in childhood development) in American culture and thought. Freud postulated that the behavior of children was sexual in nature and maintained a highly dogmatic position about such notions as the Oedipus complex throughout his life. This book examines the harmful role of Freudian theory in American culture. Torrey argues that Freudian theory is not only unscientific but has been harmful leading to a culture of narcissism and irresponsibility.

Torrey begins by discussing Freud's practice as a psychoanalyst. Freud was very influenced by occult ideas, including numerology as well as the idea of his fellow physician Wilhelm Fliess that the nose is linked to human sexuality. This led Freud to operate on the nose of many patients, leading often to permanent disfiguration. In addition, Freud advocated the use of cocaine as a panacea for all physical and mental ills and took the drug heavily himself. Freud's system also was very denigrating towards women viewing the mother as the source of all mental problems and personal unhappiness. Nevertheless, because Freud openly discussed sex as the source of mental problems he became a favorite among those who advocated sexual liberation during the Victorian era. Prime among these figures was the anarchist Emma Goldman who became enthralled by Freudianism and advocated for birth control and sexual freedom. In America, Freud's ideas became linked to leftist political thought after the emigration to this country of anthropologist Franz Boas. Torrey contrasts nature and nurture showing how at the beginning of the Twentieth century rightists were associated with the nature side of the spectrum, often advocating eugenics and biological determinism as well as racialism. In contrast, leftists were associated with the nurture side of the spectrum, often appealing directly to Freud to show that social problems were rooted in child rearing methods. Cultural relativists like Franz Boas came to advocate leftist politics while appealing to both Freud and Marx against rightists such as the racialist Madison Grant. Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, two of the students of Boas, became very famous with their anthropological work supposedly showing that in more "liberated" cultures adolescence was less stressful. Nevertheless, as Torrey shows the work of Mead in particular was heavily biased by faulty methods, she came to see in the cultures she examined exactly what she expected to see because her methods of questioning influenced her informers. Mead was a bisexual and this may have led to her adoption of Freudian theory. With the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler, the nature/nurture question became settled, making it in bad taste to argue that behaviors could be genetically determined. Torrey next devotes a chapter to the influence of Freud among various political radicals and social elites, particularly among a group of leftists in New York City who openly advocated for Trotsky. Torrey also shows how Freudian ideas became influential in both the nursery and the prison system. In the nursery, the ideas of Benjamin Spock, based on Freudian concepts, came to prevail for an entire generation. It should be remembered that before Spock mankind had been successfully raising children since time immemorial. Nevertheless, Spock would come to take a prime place among a generation of individuals. In the prison system, Freudian ideas were used often to argue that criminals were products of a dysfunctional childhood. This frequently allowed criminals such as Leopold and Loeb to be given lighter sentences and led to an abuse of the insanity defense. Indeed, the notion of personal responsibility became untenable in the light of Freudian theory. Torrey next turns his attention to the intellectual elite, including individuals like Marcuse, Goodman, and Brown who often advocated a combined Freudianism and Marxism as part of the New Left. It should be noted that although Freudianism was frequently linked to radical politics in America, that Freud himself was an elitist. Freud looked down upon lower members of society and his services were pretty much uniformly offered to only the wealthy class. Indeed, Freud refused to treat the severely mentally ill. Torrey suggests that Freudianism has led to a massive misallocation of resources, in which the most severely ill are never treated or treated with Freudian nonsense, while those who have only life complaints are given full Freudian analyses. Nevertheless, Freud must be credited for his promotion of the idea of the unconscious. Torrey also notes the similiarity of Freudian analysis to a religion, emphasizing its Jewish influence, something that cannot be overstated. Torrey concludes with two appendices in which he discusses the influence of Freud on intellectuals (...)

After reading this book, I became more convinced than ever that Freudian ideas have been highly harmful to the psychic well-being of many Americans. In addition, the linkage between Freudian ideas and elitist leftist politics has proven disastrous for this country and for man's freedom.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bath of critical acid, April 16, 2009

By 

Kurt J. Acker "bookmuncher" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freudian Fraud: The Malignant Effect of Freud's Theory on American Thought and Culture (Paperback)

Following in the capable footsteps of Frederick Crews ("Skeptical Engagements"), Richard Webster ("Why Freud Was Wrong"), Adolph Grunbaum ("The Foundations of Psychoanalysis"), Frank Cioffi, Frank Sulloway, Elizabeth Thornton and many others - Fuller Torrey chips away at Freud's waning reputation and subjects the "heroic" Freud of myth and legend to another bath of critical acid. It seems more and more plain that Freud was not a bona fide scientist and that his real genius was for self-promotion. As Nobelist, Peter Medawar, has said, psychoanalysis is a "dinosaur or zeppelin in the history of ideas, a vast structure of radically unsound design and with no posterity." In time, Freudism seems fated to go the way of phrenology.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Look Into the Changing American Culture, November 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Freudian Fraud: The Malignant Effect of Freud's Theory on American Thought and Culture (Paperback)

This magnificent work takes a look into the ways in which the works of Freud have affected the way American society has come to view itself over the past century. It deals with the shift in thought in sociology and anthropology and how that has affected American culture and the world as a whole. Good for anyone who hates political correctness