The Calvinist view that man is predestined to be among the elect or the damned has profoundly influenced not only our views of criminals and deviants, but also the theoretical basis of correctional methods and psychotherapeutic techniques. In this provocative and original volume, Mordechai Rotenberg examines the impact of Protestant doctrine on Western theories of deviance. He explores the inherent contradiction between Protestant ethics, with its view of human nature as predestinated, and the "people-changing" sciences.    Rotenberg presents empirical studies that show how people's tendency to label themselves and others as deviant can be predicted on the basis of their exposure to Western socialization. He contrasts alienating individuals, the result of competitiveness and exaggerated independence fostered by socialization in Protestant societies, to the reciprocal individualism of Hassidic, Japanese, and other non-Western cultures. Examining the Protestant "bias" of Western behavioral sciences, Rotenberg examines modern theories of deviance and proposes alternative models. He compares traditional past-oriented insight therapy, grounded in Calvinist methods of introspection, self-torment, and conversion, with Hassidic notions of redemption and salvation.    "Rotenberg provides important historical and sociological insights into the intellectual origins of modern theories of deviance. His argument that Western behavioral science retains a Calvinist view of humanity will force most scholars to examine anew the assumptions and foundations of their own theories."--Gerald N. Grob, Rutgers University    "A highly original work, which should be of great interest to anyone concerned with relevant behavior. It shows how macro-definitions in a society tend to lead people to think about themselves and their ills in certain ways--and thus to deviate in certain ways."--Richard A. Cloward, co-author, Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare

Damnation and Deviance: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Failure

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Rotenberg, Mordechai

Psychology & Counseling

Free Pr

Hasidic Psychology

Interest in the impact of ethical systems and social or religious ideologies on socio-behavioral patterns is a longstanding theme in social science research. While interest may have begun with Max Weber and his thesis of the relationship between the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, it extends far beyond this. Surprisingly, few studies have delved into the socio-behavioral patterns emanating from Jewish ethics. This book, with a new introduction by the author, fills that gap. As Hasidic Psychology makes clear, Jewish ethics are unique in many ways, especially in that they are essentially other-centered. Man's ability to affect his own future and interpersonal relations are explained according to the theory of contraction, popularized in Hasidic thought: God, by contracting Himself to evacuate space for the human world, bestowed upon man the power and responsibility to determine his own future, and even affect God's disposition. In the first part of the book, the sociological-structural concept of mono versus multiple ideal labeling is introduced. This concept refers to a social system in which diverse material and spiritual actualization patterns are structurally introduced as equal social ideals. In the second part, basic tenets of classic interaction and socialization are compared to the interpersonal perspective, and the contraction theory is explained as a process of "mutual emulation," whereby father and son affect each other. In the third part, a functional approach to deviance is developed through the Hasidic process known as "ascend via descend."

Hasidic Psychology: Making Space for Others

Mental Health

Routledge

Rewriting the Self: Psychotherapy and Midrash

While the term midrash--from the Hebrew darash, searched or interpreted--can refer to both legal and extralegal scriptural exegesis, it most commonly refers to symbolic legends, stories, and parables used to make moral or ethical concepts accessible to the layman. As such, midrash encompasses an open-ended method of exposition that often allows for the coexistence of seemingly contradictory interpretations of holy writ in a kind of dialogue with each other. In Rewriting the Self, Mordechai Rotenberg illustrates how "midrashic" dialogue between a person's past and present may assist in the reorganization of ostensibly contrasting conditions or positions, so that by reinterpreting a failing past according to future aspirations, cognitive discord may be reduced and one may begin to rehabilitate and enhance one's life. Rotenberg argues that the foundations of what he calls a "dialogic" psychology of progress, as well as a pluralistic, free choice approach to psychotherapy, may be identified in Judaism's midrashic "metacode." From a practical, therapeutic perspective, a teacher or therapist would no longer be an elite interpreter of a student or client's past, authorized to give the only authentic analysis of that person's problems. Rather, he would be able to offer a variety of options, both rational and emotional. In Rewriting the Self, Rotenberg demonstrates his theory with several case studies of "rewriting" oneself from both the Midrash and Talmud. He contrasts this method with other psychotherapies. This volume is the third in a trilogy (the previous two, Damnation and Deviance and Hasidic Psychology, are also published by Transaction) that seeks to present a "dialogistic" psychology as an alternative framework to the perspective that predominates in Western social sciences. It is an original work that will be welcomed by psychotherapists, social scientists, and students of theology.

Jewish Scriptural interpretation entails a potential therapeutic bridge between the rational-material and the irrational-mystic in the world of psychotherapy. PaRDeS, as this system is known, is derived from the following concepts. "P" denotes peshat, the plain interpretation of the text, which translates into a rational interpretation of life. "R" symbolizes remez, hinting at a related religious concept, which becomes a symbolic view of life. "D" stands for derash, the homiletic way of interpreting a text, or a narrative reading of life. And "S" represents sod, or the mystery behind an idea, which in psychological terms becomes a mystic understanding of life. Mordechai Rotenberg believes that it is by engaging readings in a "dialogue" with each other, as in the Jewish hermeneutic tradition, the psychology underlying one's existence may be more readily understood. While Rotenberg acknowledges that it is legitimate to focus on one cognitive-rational or one narrative-storytelling therapeutic method in the course of therapy, he argues that a comprehensive theory of psychotherapy should include treatment possibilities for both rational and irrational manifestations of behavior, thereby engulfing all aspects of human behavior. For Rotenberg, a person's life becomes the "text," subject to being read and interpreted. If that person wishes to change his or her behavior via psychotherapy, then a hermeneutic system must be employed to understand that person's life. However, many systems interpret a person's life according to the particular theory espoused by the therapist. Rotenberg, in contrast, introduces a balanced theory bridging the rational and the irrational. Between Rationality and Irrationality emphasizes that it is more important for a therapist to learn his client's own "language" than to impose his own doctrinaire interpretation. This edition includes a new introduction by the author, as well as an appendix explicating an original psychological interpretation of PaRDeS

Between Rationality and Irrationality: The Jewish Psychotherapeutic System

The Calvinist view that man is predestined to be among the elect or the damned has profoundly influenced not only our views of criminals and deviants, but also the theoretical basis of correctional methods and psychotherapeutic techniques. In this provocative and original volume, Mordechai Rotenberg examines the impact of Protestant doctrine on Western theories of deviance. He explores the inherent contradiction between Protestant ethics, with its view of human nature as predestinated, and the "people-changing" sciences. Rotenberg presents empirical studies that show how people's tendency to label themselves and others as deviant can be predicted on the basis of their exposure to Western socialization. He contrasts alienating individuals, the result of competitiveness and exaggerated independence fostered by socialization in Protestant societies, to the reciprocal individualism of Hassidic, Japanese, and other non-Western cultures. Examining the Protestant "bias" of Western behavioral sciences, Rotenberg examines modern theories of deviance and proposes alternative models. He compares traditional past-oriented insight therapy, grounded in Calvinist methods of introspection, self-torment, and conversion, with Hassidic notions of redemption and salvation. "Rotenberg provides important historical and sociological insights into the intellectual origins of modern theories of deviance. His argument that Western behavioral science retains a Calvinist view of humanity will force most scholars to examine anew the assumptions and foundations of their own theories."--Gerald N. Grob, Rutgers University "A highly original work, which should be of great interest to anyone concerned with relevant behavior. It shows how macro-definitions in a society tend to lead people to think about themselves and their ills in certain ways--and thus to deviate in certain ways."--Richard A. Cloward, co-author, Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare

  The Calvinist view that man is predestined to be among the elect or the damned has profoundly influenced not only our views of criminals and deviants, but also the theoretical basis of correctional methods and psychotherapeutic techniques. In this provocative and original volume, Mordechai Rotenberg examines the impact of Protestant doctrine on Western theories of deviance. He explores the inherent contradiction between Protestant ethics, with its view of human nature as predestinated, and the "people-changing" sciences.    Rotenberg presents empirical studies that show how people's tendency to label themselves and others as deviant can be predicted on the basis of their exposure to Western socialization. He contrasts alienating individuals, the result of competitiveness and exaggerated independence fostered by socialization in Protestant societies, to the reciprocal individualism of Hassidic, Japanese, and other non-Western cultures. Examining the Protestant "bias" of Western behavioral sciences, Rotenberg examines modern theories of deviance and proposes alternative models. He compares traditional past-oriented insight therapy, grounded in Calvinist methods of introspection, self-torment, and conversion, with Hassidic notions of redemption and salvation.    "Rotenberg provides important historical and sociological insights into the intellectual origins of modern theories of deviance. His argument that Western behavioral science retains a Calvinist view of humanity will force most scholars to examine anew the assumptions and foundations of their own theories."--Gerald N. Grob, Rutgers University    "A highly original work, which should be of great interest to anyone concerned with relevant behavior. It shows how macro-definitions in a society tend to lead people to think about themselves and their ills in certain ways--and thus to deviate in certain ways."--Richard A. Cloward, co-author, Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Univ Pr of Amer

Mordechai Rotenberg, who is well known for his work on the pessimistic impact of Protestant ethics on the Western social sciences, presents here a systematic study derived from, and based on, Judeo-Hasidic ethics. Proceeding from the cabalistic-Hasidic concept of contraction (tzimtsum), according to which God's voluntary withdrawal into Himself to evacuate space for the world serves as a model for human behavior, Professor Rotenberg shows that it is not personal-social construction, but self- and social contraction, that explains how the "is" and the "ought" of society are developed and maintained.

Dialogue With Deviance : The Hasidic Ethic and the Theory of Social Contraction

University Press of America

Mordechai Rotenberg, who is well known for his work on the pessimistic impact of Protestant ethics on the Western social sciences, presents here a systematic study derived from, and based on, Judeo-Hasidic ethics. Proceeding from the cabalistic-Hasidic concept of contraction (tzimtsum), according to which God's voluntary withdrawal into Himself to evacuate space for the world serves as a model for human behavior, Professor Rotenberg shows that it is not personal-social construction, but self- and social contraction, that explains how the "is" and the "ought" of society are developed and maintained.

Dialogue With Deviance: The Hasidic Ethic and the Theory of Social Contraction

Inst for the Study of Human Is

Creativity and Sexuality: A Kabbalistic Perspective

Philosophy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rotenberg, Mordechai. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Rotenberg, Mordechai

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rotenberg, Mordechai. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Damnation and Deviance: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Failure

Hasidic Psychology: Making Space for Others

Rewriting the Self: Psychotherapy and Midrash

Between Rationality and Irrationality: The Jewish Psychotherapeutic System

Damnation and Deviance: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Failure

Damnation and Deviance: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Failure

Dialogue With Deviance : The Hasidic Ethic and the Theory of Social Contraction

Dialogue With Deviance: The Hasidic Ethic and the Theory of Social Contraction

Between Rationality and Irrationality: The Jewish Psychotherapeutic System

Creativity and Sexuality: A Kabbalistic Perspective