Customer Reviews

The Power Tactics of Jesus Christ and Other Essays

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The title essay, "The Power Tactics of Jesus Christ," is the most obviously shocking work in this collection. Haley proposes one of the most original interpretations of the Bible I've seen: a psychological analysis of Jesus' actions, assuming only that he was a man trying to build a mass movement to topple a power structure. He discusses the "surrender tactic" of turning the other cheek, which is actually a subtle way of forcing one's enemy to capitulate (although he notes that although Jesus instructed his disciples on the value of this tactic, he never used it himself.) I won't spoil the other revelations; suffice to say that Haley grounds all of his conclusions on the literal text of the Bible. His writing is lucid and full of wry humor. Other essays include "The Art of Being a Schizophrenic" and "The Art of Being a Failure as a Therapist". He takes potshots at the new paradigm of drugging mentally patients until "their eyeballs float and they are unsure of what is up and what is down," and he gently mocks the pompousness of the erstwhile psychoanalytic community. During their meetings: "Attempting to outdo one another in explanations of the bizarre insides of patients, each speaker is constantly interrupted by shouts from the back of the hall such as, 'Not at all! You're confusing an id impulse with a weak ego boundary!' or 'Heaven help your patients if you call THAT cathexis!' Even the most alert analyst soon develops an oceanic feeling as he gets lost in flurries of energy theories, libidinal drives, instinctual forces, and super ego barriers." Haley has an incisive mind, is not afraid to poke fun at himself, and this book reveals him as one of those "kindly, benign humanists" of analysts that he admires so much.

This deceivingly small book is very profound, and impacts professionals and Scholars alike, leaving the Psychoanalysis student to a precarious decision: Should I act on What I Just Read? Certainly Top Honors go to Power Tactics, since this book is a compilation of loosly associated Essays, with a distinct Psychoanalitic Focus, and depicts the life of Christ, from Charirside, and analyses "historical" data as well as Bible quotations, that when interpreted from a Psychoanalytic point of view, the author, makes interesting observations and explanations while exploring Christ's behaviour and responses, which effectively takes him, (Or Mr. Haley would have us believe)through the self-imposed role of Trial and later Immolation. Deductions are similar to those of the Bible, but the "Motivation" as I understood from the author is a Formula for Revolution. The last essay in this book, Entitled "The Art Of Being a Schizophrenic" is particularly interesting reading, and gives an insight into a Chronic, Mental Illness that can have such an impact on the family, Community, and Society at large. A difficult book made easy, thanks to the elocuence of Dr. Haley. and I believe any College student or Mental Health Professional will benefit from his insights. Have read it several times, and would like to acquire an original Harcover, if it was ever published.

Haley's collection of Essays is difficult to evaluate because the material is so varied. Let's go right to the meat - his essay on the "Power Tactics of Jesus Christ" for which the entire book is named (though it is a mere 36 of 160 pages). This is a provocative and insightful essay which should be read by any student of Jesus, regardless of their degree of scholarship. It clearly rates a "5" and makes one wish that Haley had spent more time expanding this essay than adding the others.

Readers of this essay will make the mistake that Haley is offering a "psychological" or "psychoanalytic" interpretation of Jesus' behavior. Nothing could be further from the truth. Haley's essay focuses on what he calls "power tactics" and his treatise is about Jesus "as an organizer and a leader of men." He then proceeds to describe how Jesus attained prominence and "power" (which Haley defines as the ability to influence your destiny), and he offers paralells to other mass movements (e.g., Lenin, Hitler, Martin Luther King). Haley's point of view is unique, and he provides many illustrations which speak to the validity of his approach.

There are two weaknesses in Haley's work. First, he takes the Gospels as if they were historical biographies, and many of his illustrations are based on passages that almost every scholar recognizes to be later additions (e.g., Matthew 10:16 - "Behold, I send you forth as sheep..."; Matthew 16:17 "...thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church..."). Because these passages do not reflect the historical Jesus, Haley's illustrations and conclusions tell us more about the Gospel writers than they do about Jesus. Second, Haley's work is merely descriptive, with no attempt to develop a theoretical structure with which to view the behaviors he identifies. A more valuable essay would have offered the behaviors and then related them to personality dynamics (e.g., Jesus acted in this manner due to his early childhood experiences having been born a mamzer in a strict Essene environment...).

Having said this, the essay demands to be read.

What about the rest of the book? Forget it! Haley ranges from boring to absurd. His claim that psychiatric patients are systematically beaten makes one wonder if he is merely being cute or whether he really believes this, in which case we have to wonder why Haley's name was not more prominent in the reform movement.

Read the Jesus essay. Ignore the rest. Send Haley a letter or an e-mail and ask him to expand on this essay.

This excellent little book, is composed of several chapters, most appear to only have a superficial relationship with the topic, only to realize at the end, the possible implications of following behaviour as Christ did two millenia ago. This is interpreted by the author, pointing correlations with the esscence of Freudian Psychoanalisis, the author skillfully interpreting Christ's behaviour before crucifixion, in a Psychoanalytic interpretation, and the intentional maneuvers that gave Christ an advantage over his Roman captors. This in turn, reveals amazing insights for Contemporary Judeo-Christian philosophy, and meshes seamlessly with the topics, offering Psychoanalytic theoretical relations, and the impact such behaviour would have in current society, as described in the last Chapter: "The Art of Being Schizophrenic". Each chapter is an excellent small story that stands on its own merit. However, to appreciate this thought provoking book, it is necessary to have an open mind as well as the ability to discern nuances otherwise lost in obscure religious rhetoric.

On one hand I was tempted to give this book a 5-star rating because of it's clear, penetrating analysis of the power tactics people use to gain control of interpersonal situations. That these essays deal primarily with the power struggle between patients and mental health therapists, or in the case of the headline essay, 'The Power Tactics of Jesus Christ', with the techniques with which an individual gains control of a revolutionary movement, does not mean that the same tactics aren't constantly practiced on some level in everyday life.

But the fact is, that in order to give us such a sharply focused critique of these tactics, Jay Haley resorts to a sardonic, sarcastic humor, which, in its function of exposing the self-serving cynicism behind these ploys, seems at times to verge on a contempt for humanity in general. This somewhat distasteful impression can be attributed to the very nature of satirical studies which must focus on flaws, rather than a comprehensive view, to achieve it's effect.

The most attention-grabbing of these essays is ,of course, the one dealing with the stratagems of the founder of Christianity. If you choose to overlook the spiritual aims of this remarkable person, as Haley has, and concentrate solely on the political intents implied by his actions, an astonishing tactical campaign on the part of Jesus is indeed seen to be very probable. Taking the scriptures as a reliable account of Jesus' career, Haley identifies several different elements of his strategy, which, if successful, would have totally discredited the prevailing Hebrew power structure, and established the upstart and his followers as their successors. According to Haley, it was a good tactical campaign which failed due to a miscalculation. The basic tactics first practiced by the Man from Galilee, Haley says, have been adapted and used by revolutionaries ever since, including Lenin, Mao-Tse-Tung, and Black Power leaders.

The essays into which Haley pours most of his caustic humor are the ones dealing with psychiatric techniques. One can only conclude that Haley regarded the mental health establishment in general of that time (around the 1960's) as self-serving, counterproductive, and downright harmful to the best interests of patients. Particularly shocking and chilling was his graphic description of the treatment of schizophrenics in mental hospitals. The humor of this essay was grim indeed. I have to think that the hackles of most mental health professional must have been standing at full arousal if they read this.

By comparison, his description of the patient-analyst relationship was light-hearted, although here,too, we see the consumer being abused for the benefit of the professional dispenser of supposed assistance. Fortified by his credentials and training, the analyst is usually able to overcome the patient in the contests of one-upmanship, which are the very essence of psycho-analysis. The analyst is able to remain impersonal and uninvolved while extracting money from the patient, which already places that unfortunate down two pegs in the game of one-upmanship. Some of the principles of one-upmanship which Haley brings to light in this situation are probably equally applicable to everyday life, as well.

There is also an interesting essay on the original hippies, which sort of stands alone in this collection, since it deals more with a particular lifestyle than with power struggles. Writing at a time when the movement was still fresh in the public mind, Haley clears up many misconceptions about the aims(or lack thereof)of the flower children. He shows it as having been a very brief movement, which blossomed into an amiable acceptance of all kinds of people and which was primarily dedicated to living in the present moment, and enjoying it. Their good nature sowed the seeds of the end of the movement, for they were soon swamped by multitudes who availed themselves of the hospitality, but who did not share the real hippie outlook.

But as fascinating and illuminating as these essays are, I was left with the feeling that there was a certain amount of distortion due to the heavy use of biting, ironic sarcasm in much of the presentation. As a footnote, it was evident in the essay "The Art of Psychoanalysis' that philosopher Alan Watts owed a substantial debt to Jay Haley for some of the ideas Watts developed in his book 'Psychotherapy East and West'.

An insightful and provocative, albeit pseudocynical collection of essays on psychothrapy, factors that facilitate change, and insight into the minds of change agents. I sgrongly recommend this book and Haley's other writings for people interested in careers in helping people. Haley is not like many writers in this field, and has a facinating point of view for the reasons people behave the way they do and how they can best be helped to redefine their own futures. Not for the timid or squeamish, and try not to be put off by Haley's pseudo-sarcasm; his intent is honorable -- to challenge the thinking of the learning "helping professional."

This work was recommended to me by a therapist who thought I might enjoy it.

My first impression was of wonder and question, followed by WONDER and QUESTION. The author masterfully takes the reader on a journey through the evolution of mental health care while leaving those of us (the un-initiated) able to trail along with life lessons the illuminate both the pitfalls and the triumphs of everyday life. The insights into institutional life are both illuminative and tragic, and undoubtedly true, even if self defeating.

This is a work to be shared via 'word of mouth'. Not for everyone, but definitely for those seeking insight into self, and the 'why do we do this?'

Dee

Jay Haley (1923-2007) is one of the founders of family therapy, because he thought it much more effective than treating persons individually who relapse in their social system. He also concluded that Freud's psychoanalysis was a lot of humbug. Psychoanalytic terms are mystical and only used to have the psychoanalyst be in a powerful position in relation to his patients. We see the use of mystical terms still a lot in mentalistic ('cognitive') psychology, philosophy and, of course, religion.
Haley's book consists of several essays of which 'The art of psychoanalysis' and 'The power tactics of Jesus Christ' are the best. He describes how psychoanalysts and christians use vague terms in order to be 'one-up'. The same goes for social scientists who do not specify behavior, but abstract it in vague, multiple interpretive terms. In a very funny way Haley describes the major 'ploys' (moves which gives one an advantage in a relationship) of Freud in organizing psychoanalysis and Jesus in organizing christianity. The other chapters of the book are rather outdated, because of the advances of behavior analysis (the science of behaviorism) in recent decades. But I advise you to read the 45 pages in which he debunkes these previously major forces.
This makes one wonder who will debunk Chomsky's 'debunking' of B.F. Skinner and behaviorism in 1957 so that this effective way of behavioral change will be reinstated as the major science and technology in changing the behavior of individuals, families, organizations and societies.
Dr. Marius Rietdijk, Assistant Professor Strategy and Behavior Change, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

A collection of essays by this allegedly famous figure in modern psychotherapy. He is a funny guy, if nothing else. Unlike other reviewers below, I found the title essay to be a banal, though those who have not thought about the psychology of savior types may find it shocking or insightful. My favorite essay was one detailing the family dynamics of the schizophrenic; "the art of being a schizophrenic." Apparently, he (and others) saw this disease as arising more or less from the failings of the parents; they inevitably sent mixed emotional messages to the child. While he admired the schizos creative lunacy, apparently the parents of such critter followed the same boring pattern, time after time. I found it such a hilarious and insightful essay, I really wish I owned a copy (I read it at a psychotherapist friend's house). There was also a good essay on "tha art of being a failure as a psychotherapist." The failings he pointed out dovetail well with my own criticisms of this profession; he said it better than I could, and more authoritatively.