Prisoners Of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The violence of humans against humans appalls us but continues to take its toll today..." (more)
Key Phrases: reactive offender, primal thinking, stigmatized subgroup, World War, United States, Soviet Union (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Noted as the founder of cognitive psychotherapy, Beck (emeritus, Pennsylvania State Univ.) here applies his work to greater social problems, from domestic violence to bigotry, crime, and war. Focusing on involuntary and usually unnoticed thought patterns, Beck's therapy emphasizes relearning. He wants patientsAand, now, everyone from gang members to world leadersAto examine their cognitions rationally with a view to decreasing hostility. Beck's approach is so sweeping that economic, geographic, and racial issues all can be subsumed under it, and he makes a strong case. However, he oversimplifies when he argues that anger, hate, and hostility are the same whether the conflict is between spouses or nations. Unfortunately, he gives short shrift to the constructive aspects of anger and chooses to ignore the psychology of nonviolence, though his approach is consistent with Gandhi's and King's. Still, Beck's broad scope; valuable summaries on prejudice, altruism, and political psychology; and optimistic, humane, and rational treatment of a vital subject recommend this for lay and professional readers.AE. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A reflective consideration of the dysfunctional thinking that results in acts ranging from verbal abuse on the personal level to mass murder on the societal level, as well as suggestions for remedying these problems. Known as the father of cognitive therapy, Beck, professor emeritus of psychology at the Univ. of Penn. School of Medicine, finds parallels between violent reactions of troubled individuals to presumed wrongs, bombings by extremist militant groups, and acts of genocide perpetrated by states. In his psychotherapeutic work with patients, he observed a pattern of thinking that he describes as ``hostile framing,'' that is, perceiving the person one is in conflict with as dangerous and evil and the self as right and good. Such thinking locks the mind in a ``prison of hate'' in which a false image is mistaken for the real person. Beck calls such cognitive distortion ``primal thinking'' because it occurs in the earliest stage of information processing and also in the early developmental stage of children. When primal thinking pigeonholes adversaries as evil, even subhuman, creatures who deserve to be punished, the moral code against killing is weakened. Beck demonstrates how such cognitive errors have led to wife-beating, group rape, the Salem witch trials, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Holocaust, and genocide in Cambodia, Turkey, and the Soviet Union. The cognitive distortions that led to WWI get special attention. There is hope, however, says Beck, who argues that war is not inevitable and asserts that humans have an innate capacity for altruistic behavior to override hostile tendencies and for rational thinking to correct cognitive distortions. He argues that an understanding of individual psychology can provide the tools for developing corrective political and social programs, and he describes how these might operate in preventing child and spousal abuse, juvenile delinquency, and ethnopolitical violence. A provocative and most timely report in this era of ethnic cleansing abroad and high school shootings at home. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060193778
• ISBN-13: 978-0060193775
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,123,394 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The evil that we do: more understandable than ever, January 14, 2000

By	Todd I. Stark "Cellular Wetware plus Books" (Philadelphia, Pa USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The simple idea that the way we think about something determines how we feel about it, and how we act on it. Widely considered the father of modern cognitive therapy, Dr. Beck didn't invent this idea, nor is he the only one promoting it. Yet his expression of it, especially in this fine book, is elegant and compelling. There are many powerful and immediately recognizable examples from daily life, showing how we turn hurt into anger into hatred. How our beliefs and thinking patterns gradually imprison us in cages of reactivity. This book helps make our capacity for both good and evil more understandable. Readers of this book who want a more complete understanding of the topics would probably also benefit from a number of the books talking about the evolutionary and physiological origins of violence. Yet, for the part of our dark nature that we have some ability to control, this book makes a powerful and promising statement, and is complete unto itself.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling explanation of origins of hate, September 14, 2001

By	Philip Hamilton (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Beck credibly explains and illustrates the origins of hatred acted out by both individuals and groups. While the underlying elements show remarkable similarity, group and leader dynamics, of course, enter into hate by groups. I do agree with another reviewer who commented that Beck produces few new explanations of hatred and the resulting behaviors.

The book, however, easily kept my interest and used many examples to beautifully illustrate the process that Beck explains. And he does provide some direction for helping to combat anger, hostility, and violence.

Anyone interested in this book may benefit from the following notes that I made:

1. I would like to have seen some information about the duration of the benefits from the cognitive studies that Beck refers to.
2. If you're looking for credible evidence to support a belief (that I would love to have) that we're likely to find ways to significantly prevent or eradicate hate by groups of people, you won't find it in this book.
3. While Beck provides thorough explanations of anger, hostility, and violence, you'll find far more useful tools to combat these patterns in both David Burns' "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" (Burns has worked with Beck for more than 15 years) and Albert Ellis' classic "A Guide to Rational Living."

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ideas of cognitive therapy/psychology in practice, October 4, 1999

By A Customer

Beck does a fine job of demonstrating and applying the basic ideas of his therapy to realistic situations that are much too prevalent in America, let alone the world (currently and as history). Beck explores hatred, the making of hatred -- sponsored by societies or governments, and the results of the hatred. The analysis is poignant and acute. Probably the theme of the book can be summed up as "humans find it easier to hate than to love". Some of the historical analysis was tedious, although historians may not find it so. Beck leaves us with a hopeful note, although looking at the state of the world, I am doubtful about optimism. This is an important book for anyone wishing to understand how the mind works in the respect that the mind influences the actions, which produce the tragedies or triumphs. It is important as well for any person in our society who finds themselves hating, whether it be towards a race, a gender, or an individual. Understanding one's hatred is a step towards freeing oneself to lead a happier existence. Looking at hatred in a global sense leads to understanding just how and why men and women can be made to create suffering. For more info, I recommend the Biology of Violence by Niehoff.