Robert Jay Lifton
Robert Jay Lifton
Robert Jay Liftonis an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of the techniques of psychohistory...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPsychologist
Date of Birth16 May 1926
CountryUnited States of America
american-psychologist struggled studies together tried uncertain
I struggled with each of these studies and I was uncertain about what they meant, and often confused, and then I tried to put together what I was seeing.
american-psychologist chose create found helped historical people study
What I found was when I started my first study, and then in subsequent studies, is here you have people under some kind of duress, or I chose to study them because they represented some kind of historical event, as it impacted on them or as they helped to create it.
american-psychologist bombarded carry images influences whatever
That is, we are bombarded by all kinds of images and influences and we have to fend some of them off if we're to take in any of them, or to carry through just our ordinary day's work, or really deepen whatever we have to do or say.
american-psychologist doctors frightened might
Sometimes it's said that psychiatrists are doctors who are frightened by the sight of blood. I might have fallen into that category.
american-psychologist astounded concerns nobody nuclear studied
It was because of my deep concerns about nuclear weapons that I went to Hiroshima. And then I was astounded in Hiroshima to find that nobody had really studied it.
survivor
Yes, I've been very preoccupied with the survivor all through my work.