Hawaiian Psychology
October 14, 2007
On Brian’s blog and around the house, we have been discussing Freud, feminism, politics, and Hawaiian Psychology - a normal day for us.
At any rate, I am rather interested in the concept of Hawaiian Psychology. Indigenous cultures, specifically Hawaiian culture, often have very interesting and unique ways of looking at problems or ways of living that western culture has too often chosen to ignore. A book on Hawaiian psychology actually exists - Ka Lama Kukui Hawaiian Psychology: An Introduction by William C. Rezentes. The book is primarily for psychologists that are treating Native Hawaiian patients but I think it would be interesting for laymen. I have heard of people (even the courts) performing Ho‘oponopono in order to resolve problems between families, groups, or even inner struggles.
We have also been discussing Freud’s extremely misogynist case study of Dora. I find it disturbing that Freud’s conclusion was that women like to be sexually assaulted by men. He also asserts that Dora really wanted the sexual assault and even further that she should have submitted to it. Freud also seems to assert some kind of empiricism of his method but it is almost as though he never realizes that the entire scenario that he has “derived” are wholly constructed and based on entirely questionable interpolations. Given the history of Dora - her father was having an affair with a family friend, the older [than Dora] husband of the cheating wife comes on to her and sexually assaults her on several occasions, her father becomes distant to her and uses her as a pawn in his sexual games, the cheating wife betrays her trust, her father and creepy husband of cheating wife deny that Dora has been approached by creepy husband, her mother does not really do anything to help her, she’s a Jew living in Germany during a very bad period, and she was subjected to ice-water therapy and shock therapy. If this was not all bad enough, she was sent to Freud who also added insult to injury by telling her that she wanted to kiss him too and asserted that all of the above things were her fault. I do not think that I have to point out any additional reasons why she was not a happy person…
Does anyone have any thoughts on the case study of Dora?
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Your posting about Hawaiian Psychology appears to be on the same wavelength as a regular dream blogger here: http://mybleam.com/2007/10/14/dream-freudian-theory/
I expect you could strike up a meaningful conversation on the subject.
comment by Liara Covert — October 15, 2007 @ 1:51 am
Thanks for the link but I was actually the one commenting on Hawaiian Psychology on that blog.
comment by Katy — October 15, 2007 @ 4:09 am
I think that reading Dora is a wonderful opportunity to see Freudian analysis in action, with all its brilliance and flaws. The revolutionary (and controversial) nature of Freud’s ideas spurred a monumental effort to understand the workings of the human psyche (both genders), on a global scale. That the success of psychoanalysis is one of the reasons why the field moved past treatments such as shock and hydro “therapy” should not be lost on modern critics of his various biases.
comment by Brian — October 15, 2007 @ 9:35 am
Brian - Has psychology really learned its lessons from its past? “Talk through it therapy” seems rather passe in a world that is largely concerned with “how fast” rather than fixing the problem. Many people seem to just want a pill to fix all their problems (and doctors are all too eager to give them pills) rather than understanding the root of the problems and why they continue to make the same mistakes. Are shock treatments and hydro treatments really that much worse than giving people medication they don’t need, ignoring the problem, and subjecting people to side effects and personality changes they may not have foreseen?
And for the sake of precision of language (which you no doubt appreciate) , you surely mean sex rather than gender.
comment by Katy — October 23, 2007 @ 11:58 am