The Case of Egon Schulz and the Origins of Alexander Mitscherlich's Empathy Concept

In October of 1946 Alexander Mitscherlich encountered Egon Schulz, a common criminal turned psychopathic murderer. Mitscherlich's notes on the case provide the earliest evidence of conceptual linkages that would later mark his social psychology. Via an analysis of Schulz's psychic configur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:German studies review 2012-02, Vol.35 (1), p.55-72
Main Author: Baker, Gary L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biographies
Case studies
Crime victims
Criminals
Culture
Democracy
Empathy
Guilt
Human aggression
Influence
Kohut, Heinz
Language attitudes
Murder
Murders & murder attempts
Nazism
Parent-child relations
Polarity
Police reports
Politics
Psychoanalysis
Psychology
Reality
Self concept
Social psychology
Society
Sociopolitical factors
Stereotypes
Stress
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Summary:In October of 1946 Alexander Mitscherlich encountered Egon Schulz, a common criminal turned psychopathic murderer. Mitscherlich's notes on the case provide the earliest evidence of conceptual linkages that would later mark his social psychology. Via an analysis of Schulz's psychic configuration and life story and in yet unsystematic form, Mitscherlich makes connections between fatherlessness, emotional vacuity, remorselessness, reality distortions, and the inability to empathize and feel regret. Mitscherlich discovers in this case a disconcerting lack of empathy, which both Margarete and he will later identify as a psychological and emotional necessity for a functioning democratic society.
ISSN:0149-7952
2164-8646
2164-8646
DOI:10.1353/gsr.2012.a465657