hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence /
Alice Miller ; translated by Hildegarde and Hunter Hannum.
New York :
Farrar, Straus, Giroux,
1983.
xvii, 284 pages ;
24 cm
Translation of: Am Anfang war Erziehung.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-284).
[Part 1]: How child-rearing crushes spontaneous feelings : glimpses of a revered tradition. "Poisonous pedagogy" ; Breeding grounds of hatred : guides to child-rearing from two centuries ; The "sacred" values of child-rearing ; The central mechanism of "poisonous pedagogy" : splitting off and projection ; Is there a harmless pedagogy? ; Gentle violence ; Pedagogy fills the needs of parents, not of children -- [Part 2]: The last act of the silent drama : the world reacts with horror. The war of annihilation against the self ; The lost opportunity of puberty ; The search for the self and self-destruction through drugs : the life of Christiane F. ; The hidden logic of absurd behavior ; Adolf Hitler's childhood : from hidden to manifest horror ; Hitler's father : his history and his relationship with his son ; Hitler's mother : her position in the family and her role in Adolf's life ; Jürgen Bartsch : a life seen in retrospect ; "Out of the clear blue sky?" ; What does a murder tell us about the childhood of the murderer? ; The walls of silence -- [Part 3]: Steps on the path to reconciliation : anxiety, anger, and sorrow--but no guilt feelings. Unintentional cruelty hurts, too ; Sylvia Plath : an example of forbidden suffering ; Unlived anger ; The permission to know.
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This contemporary classic by a celebrated Swiss psychoanalyst explores the serious if not gravely dangerous consequences parental cruelty can bring to bear on children everywhere. With her typically lucid, strong, and poetic language, Miller investigates the personal stories and case histories of various self-destructive and/or violent individuals to expand on her theories about the long-term affects of abusive child-rearing. Her conclusions--on what sort of parenting can create a drug addict, or a murderer, or a Hitler--offer much insight, and make a good deal of sense, while also straying far from psychoanalytic dogma about human nature, which Miller vehemently rejects. This important study paints a shocking picture of the violent world--indeed, of the ever-more-violent world--that each generation helps to create when traditional upbringing, with its hidden cruelty, is perpetuated. The book also presents readers with useful solutions in this regard--namely, to resensitize the victimized child who has been trapped within the adult, and to unlock the emotional life that has been frozen in repression.--From amazon.com.