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Biomedical subjects

I W Charny

Publications and source records attributed to I W Charny.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

A personality disorder of excessive power strivings.

None of the existing formal diagnostic categories in psychiatry today addresses adequately the issues of excessive power-seeking, corruption and destructiveness. Excessive power strivings both poison the personality of the individual who is obsessed in his spirit and mind with power and do unacceptable harm to other peoples' lives. The present proposal of a diagnostic category of a Personality Disorder of Excessive Power Strivings is intended to fit into current diagnostic schema of DSM as well as into an earlier proposal (1) to examine in all psychopathology not only the burdens and damage people do and impose on their own selves and their own functioning, but also the harm they do to other peoples' lives and functioning. The diagnosis is to be used when the individual displays prolonged and severe manifestations of the following listed criteria: The basic feature which is always present in this personality disorder is: 1. Intense and extensive power strivings. In addition, at least three other of the following characteristics should be present; 2. Lack of empathy for people, and indifference to the suffering of others; 3. "Street smart" alertness and remarkable cunning committed to seizing and expanding power; 4. Ruthlessness in cultivation of power; 5. Scapegoating and projection of blame on to targeted individuals or a group, an insistent need to identify certain others as lowly, worthless and intended victims; 6. Corruption by power and addiction to power; 7. Demands of other people to be dependent on one's powerful personality, or that they become one's obedient followers; 8. Emphasis on symbolisms of pure vs. impure, holy vs. infidel, chosen vs. condemned; 9. A basic disrespect for the lives of others evidenced in callous or indifferent exposure of others to undue risks; 10. An absence of conscience in contexts of self-interest and opportunity; 11. A homicide/suicide orientation.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1995

The impact of extramarital relationships on the continuation of marriages.

Two groups of practicing therapists were asked to describe in depth a specific extramarital affair with which they were very familiar--whether as therapist, relative, or friend or were themselves involved. Of 62 cases, 21, or 34%, ended in divorce--in the therapists' judgments as a consequence of the infidelity. In 27 cases, or 43.5%, the marriages were preserved, but in an overall dysphoric or negative atmosphere. In 4 cases, or 6%, the marriages were intact but either the marriage was "blah" or empty in quality or the future of the marriage was judged as still in doubt. Only in 9 cases, or 14.5%, were the marriages reported intact and characterized by improvement and growth. Of these, 4 were cases of one-time affairs. Analysis of the direct impact of the affair on the betrayed spouses showed that the majority of the betrayed husbands and wives suffered significant damage to their self-image, personal confidence, or sexual confidence, feelings of abandonment, attacks on their sense of belonging, betrayals of trust, enraged feelings, and/or a surge of justification to leave their spouses. The judgments of the therapists reporting the cases were that fully 89% of the betrayed spouses either were consciously aware of the infidelity or, even if not acknowledging, really knew, and that even the majority of the betrayed spouses who claimed consciously that they opposed their spouses' behavior were unconsciously in collusion with them.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

The readiness of health profession students to comply with a hypothetical program of forced migration of a minority population.

The readiness of Jewish Israeli medical, psychology, and social work students to cooperate in a hypothetical government program involving expulsion of Arabs from Israel was explored via research scenarios that pointedly used terms reminiscent of Holocaust events. Strong moral sensitivity was expected on the part of the study subjects as both Jewish Israelis and vocationally committed to human welfare. The authors argue that the readiness of as many as one-third of the sample to "follow orders" is a disturbing sign, calling for greater vigilance in defense of human rights and values.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1986

Genocide and mass destruction: doing harm to others as a missing dimension in psychopathology.

Psychology and psychiatry lose much of their common-sense credibility so long as they offer no way of defining execution of and participation in mass murder and genocide as pathological. This paper proposes an expansion of the standard classification system in psychopathology to include abuses and destruction of other people, so that persons who terminate the lives of others are defined as "disturbed."

Child↗
PubMed1986

An existential/dialectical model for analyzing marital functioning and interaction.

Many experienced marital therapists will acknowledge that it is difficult for them to really understand the dynamics of a couple's interaction and to plan the direction of couple therapy. This article presents a new tool, a Profile of Marital Functioning and Interaction, for developing a broad, many-faceted, but still concise picture of a couple's strengths and weaknesses. The profile is based on an existential/dialectal model for analyzing marital functioning and interaction. It is intended to assist the therapist in selecting a systematic focus in marital therapy.

Family↗