The therapeutic state
Subtitle: justifying government at century's end
By: James L. Nolan, Jr.
Publisher: New York University
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 395
Subjects: Political culture; Political psychology; Political culture -- United States; Law -- United States -- Psychological aspects
Description: An analysis of the commingling of the therapeutic and political cultures in America. Nolan (anthropology and sociology, Williams College) supplies his background by looking at trends such as the emotivist ethic, the pathologization of human behavior, the rise of a new priestly class, and the legiti.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 381-387) and index.
Table of contents: title: The therapeutic culture. The emancipated self. The emotivist ethic. A new priestly class. The pathologization of human behavior. Victimization. The therapeutic ethos; title: Legitimation of the state. Theoretical considerations. Older sources of legitimation. State expansion. Public disenchantment. The therapeutic alternative; title: Civil case law. Personal injury law. The doctrinal history of emotional damage cases. Recovery of emotional damages in the new legal climate. Psychologists as expert witnesses. Litigation reform : therapeutic and utilitarian defenses; title: Criminal justice. Drugs and crime. The historical antecedents to therapeutic justice. Courtroom therapy. Prison therapy; title: Public education. The colonial period. Universal free education. Compulsory education. The progressive era. The cosmopolitan era. Therapeutic education. In a state of esteem; title: Welfare policy. Congress and the well-being of children. Child labor laws and the Children's Bureau (1906-1912). The Sheppard-Towner Act (1921). Social Security and Emergency Wartime Aid to Children (1939-1945). Head Start and Operation Good Start (1965-1970). Head Start and Child Abuse Bills (1985-1990). Welfare reform : rejection or extension of therapeutic welfare? Excursus : the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill hearings; title: Political rhetoric. The therapeutic president. Political oratory. The Lincoln-Douglas debates. The Kennedy-Nixon debates. The Reagan-Mondale debates. The Clinton-Bush-Perot debates. The talk show debate. The therapeutic candidate. The triumph of therapeutic discourse; title: The therapeutic state. Therapeutic utilitarianism. A postmodern state? An assessment of the continuing dialogue. Therapeutic coercion. Legitimation reconsidered. The problem of consent. The paradox of unintended consequences. Summary.