From Hohenschönhausen to Guantanamo Bay
Psychology's role in the secret services of the GDR and the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4875579 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Moritz Michels (corresponding author), Martin Wieser (0000-0002-5881-8775) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 43-61 |
| Publication date | 2018-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-5061 • E-ISSN: 1520-6696 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/jhbs.21885 |
| PMID | 29244200 |
| OpenAlex | W2771505782 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 13 |
This paper presents a historical analysis of the genesis, context, and function of "Operative Psychology," a little-known branch of applied psychology developed by employees of the Ministry of State Security in the German Democratic Republic. For 25 years, theories and practices of Operative Psychology were taught to elite agents at the Juridical Academy in Potsdam, introducing them to various "silent" psychological techniques of persuasion, interrogation, and repression. After highlighting the economic and political context that increased the need for "silent" techniques of observation and repression, an overview of the topics that were taught and researched at the chair for Operative Psychology is given. Examples of how these techniques were put into practice are provided and the consequences for the victims of Operative Psychology are discussed. Furthermore, commonalities and differences between Operative Psychology and the use of psychological torture by the CIA during the "war on terror" are discussed and questions regarding the relation between methodological and moral strategies of justification are addressed
Asian psychology · Context (archaeology) · Critical psychology · Democracy · Elite · German · Human rights · International psychology · Interrogation · Political psychology · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Torture · Deception detection and forensic psychology · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · History · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Torture, Ethics, and Law
Organisierter Stress
Confessing in the GDR. The Psychology of Interrogation under Socialist Rule, 1961–1989
Arab students and the Stasi
Psychologists’ Involvement in Repressive “Stasi” Secret Police Activities in Former East Germany
Between healing and repression
Psychology and the fall of Communism
The rhetoric of ideological transgression
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,88 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |