Film history is merged with psychiatric history seamlessly, to show how and why bad depictions of mind doctors (especially hypnotists) occur in early film, long before Hannibal Lecter burst upon the scene. The German Expressionist Dr. Caligari is not cinema's first psychotic charlatan, but he launches the stereotype of screen psychiatrists who are sicker than their patients. Many film psychiatrists function as political metaphors, while many more reflect real life clinical controversies. This book discusses films with diabolical drugging, unethical experimentation, involuntary incarceration, sexual exploitation, lobotomies, "shock schlock," conspiracy theories and military medicine, to show how fact informs fantasy, and when fantasy trumps reality. Traditional asylum thrillers changed after hospital stays shortened and laws protected people against involuntary commitment. Except for six short "golden years" from 1957 to 1963, portrayals of bad psychiatrists far outnumber good ones and this book tells how and why that was.

Evil isn't simply an abstract theological or philosophical talking point. In our society, the idea of evil feeds entertainment, manifests in all sorts of media, and is a root concept in our collective psyche. This accessible and appealing book examines what evil means to us. Evil has been with us since the Garden of Eden, when Eve unleashed evil by biting the apple. Outside of theology, evil remains a highly relevant concept in contemporary times: evil villains in films and literature make these stories entertaining; our criminal justice system decides the fate of convicted criminals based on the determination of their status as "evil" or "insane." This book examines the many manifestations of "evil" in modern media, making it clear how this idea pervades nearly all aspects of life and helping us to reconsider some of the notions about evil that pop culture perpetuates and promotes. Covering screen media such as film, television, and video games; print media that include novels and poetry; visual media like art and comics; music; and political polemics, the essays in this book address an eclectic range of topics. The diverse authors include Americans who left the United States during the Vietnam War era, conservative Christian political pundits, rock musicians, classical linguists, Disney fans, scholars of American slavery, and experts on Holocaust literature and films. From portrayals of evil in the television shows The Wire and 24 to the violent lyrics of the rap duo Insane Clown Posse to the storylines of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter books, readers will find themselves rethinking what evil is—and how they came to hold their beliefs.

As the gap between science fiction and science fact has narrowed, films that were intended as pure fantasy at the time of their premier have taken on deeper meaning. This volume explores neuroscience in science fiction films, focusing on neuroscience and psychiatry as running themes in SF and finding correlations between turning points in "neuroscience fiction" and advances in the scientific field. The films covered include The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Robocop, The Stepford Wives, The Mind Snatchers and iconic franchises like Terminator, Ironman and Planet of the Apes. Examining the parallel histories of psychiatry, neuroscience and cinema, this book shows how science fiction films offer insightful commentary on the scientific and philosophical developments of their times.

Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a staple of the Batman universe, evolving into a franchise comprised of comic books, graphic novels, video games, films, television series and more. The Arkham franchise, supposedly light-weight entertainment, has tackled weighty issues in contemporary psychiatry. Its plotlines reference clinical and ethical controversies that perplex even the most up-to-date professionals. The 25 essays in this collection explore the significance of Arkham's sinister psychiatrists, murderous mental patients, and unethical geneticists. It invites debates about the criminalization of the mentally ill, mental patients who move from defunct state hospitals into expanding prisons, madness versus badness, sociopathy versus psychosis, the "insanity defense" and more. Invoking literary figures from Lovecraft to Poe to Caligari, the 25 essays in this collection are a broad-ranging and thorough assessment of the franchise and its relationship to contemporary psychiatry.

By looking at the interactions between cinema and psychology, Packer offers readers clear and basic insights into some of the most fundamental reasons why film is such an important influence upon our lives today. Movies and the Modern Psyche first describes the basic concepts of psychoanalysis, experimental psychology, behavioral conditioning, and hypnosis, which have all played major roles in the histories of both film and psychiatry. It then goes on to discuss the recent rise in film therapy, drug treatments, treatment for drug abuse, and the closing of asylums, to show how shifts in treatment techniques, theories, and settings are foreshadowed and fossilized by film. Psychology and cinema are kindred cousins, born at the same time and developing together, so that each influences the other. From the mind-controlling villains that occupy early horror films and Cold War thrillers (like Caligari, Mabuse, and The Ipcress File), to the asylums that house numberless political allegories and personal dramas (in Shock Corridor, Spellbound, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Girl Interrupted), to the drugs, phobias, and disorders that pervade so many of our favorite films (including, as a small sample, Vertigo, Night of the Hunter, Psycho, Rainman, Fight Club, Requiem for a Dream, and Batman Begins), there is no escaping either psychology in the movies, or the movies in psychology. By looking at the interactions between cinema and psychology, this book offers readers clear and basic insights into some of the most fundamental reasons why film is such an important influence upon our lives today. Movies and the Modern Psyche first describes the basic concepts of psychoanalysis, experimental psychology, behavioral conditioning, and hypnosis, which have all played major roles in the histories of both film and psychiatry. It then goes on to discuss the recent rise in film therapy, drug treatments, treatment for drug abuse, and the closing of asylums, to show how shifts in treatment techniques, theories, and settings are foreshadowed and fossilized by film.

Psychotherapy is an indispensable approach in the treatment of mental disorders and, for some mental disorders, it is the most effective treatment. Yet, psychotherapy is abound with ethical issues. In psychotherapy ethics, numerous fundamental ethical issues converge, including self-determination/autonomy, decision-making capacity and freedom of choice, coercion and constraint, medical paternalism, the fine line between healthiness and illness, insight into illness and need of therapy, dignity, under- and overtreatment, and much more. The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics explores a whole range of ethical issues in the heterogenous field of psychotherapy thereby closing a widespread perceived gap between ethical sensitivity, technical language, and knowledge among psychotherapists. The book is intended not only for a clinical audience, but also for a philosophical/ethical audience - linking the two disciplines by fostering a productive dialogue between them, thereby enriching both the psychotherapeutic encounter and the ethical analysis and sensitivity in and outside the clinic. An essential book for psychotherapists in clinical practice, it will also be valuable for those professionals providing mental health services beyond psychology and medicine, including counsellors, social workers, nurses, and ministers.

Perhaps because of the wisdom received from our Romantic forbears about the purity of the child, depictions of children as monsters have held a tremendous fascination for film audiences for decades. Numerous social factors have influenced the popularity and longevity of the monster-child trope but its appeal is also rooted in the dual concepts of the child-like (innocent, angelic) and the childish (selfish, mischievous). This collection of fresh essays discusses the representation of monstrous children in popular cinema since the 1950s, with a focus on the relationship between monstrosity and "childness," a term whose implications the contributors explore.