Pseudo-Therapeutic Benefits from an Adverse Social Phenomenon (Racial Prejudice)
HERBERT A. ROBINSON M.D.1
1 Chief Deputy Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, 1106 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90019
Racial prejudice is alleged to have psychological benefits in therapy: a white paranoid patient can identify with an "oppressed" black therapist. It is also said to arise during the oedipal phase of development, serving as a protective mechanism against the incest taboo. The author challenges these statements: the white paranoid's "reconstitution" is actually based on unrealistic identification, and prejudice develops before the oedipal stage, although it may appear then.
