Standing in Two Worlds with Doctor Sam Juni -Episode 27 -Mob Mentality-Dressing to Kill

Sobered by the attack on the Capitol January 6th, Kivelevitz and Juni deem it important to examine individual behavior when tethered to an extremist group.Moving beyond the Trumpist yahoos, Kivelevitz invokes situations as varied as Woodstock, early 20th century lynchings, the George Floyd protests, Messianic Cult tragedies, Nazi Germany demonstrations, and the not always benign manifestations of what occurs yearly in Uman. Juni explains that mob mentality is essentially a negation of personal identity along with any personal values or judgment in favor of a grotesque form of amalgamation. The doctor underscores that such behavior occurs primarily in groups which have a single forceful leader. Kivelevitz claims the costuming of the protestors at the Capitol riots is comparable with the camouflage combat gear of elite special forces,and the hoods and robes of the Klan. The rabbi suggests that such costumes facilitate a “splitting of personality” as they allow the protestors to disavow their real selves. Referring to his T-Group work with minorities, Juni refers to Jungian Psychoanalytic Theory, as elaborated by Harvard Professor Phillip Slater, regarding collective consciousness in group psychology as a kind of bee colony in emergency mode. Recognizing the powerful psychological transformative dynamics of mobs, Kivelevitz questions whether individuals should be held fully culpable and responsible for their actions in such events.While dodging the merits of punishment, Juni agrees that almost anyone, regardless of their personal values and moral integrity, is prone to get carried away in mob hysteria in certain circumstances, citing more benign anecdotal examples from less extreme “normal” group effects.Doctor Samuel Juniis one of the foremost research psychologists in the world today.He has published groundbreaking original research in seventy different peer reviewed journals, and is cited continuously with respect by colleagues and experts in the field who have built on his theories and observations.Samuel Juni studied inYeshivas Chaim Berlinunder Rav Yitzchack Hutner, and in Yeshiva University as aTalmidof Rav Joseph Dov Soloveitchick.ProfessorJuni is a prominent member of theAssociation of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, and has regularly presented addresses to captivated audiences.Associated with NYU since 1979,Juni has served as Director of MA and PhD programs, all the while heading teams engaged in important research.Professor Juni's scholarship on aberrant behavior across the cultural, ethnic, and religious spectrum is founded onpsychometric methodologyand based on a psycho-dynamicpsychopathologyperspective.He is arguably the preeminent expert inDifferential Diagnostics, with each of his myriad studiesentailing parallel efforts in theory construction and empirical data collection from normative and clinical populations.Professor Juni created and directed NYU's Graduate Program in Tel Aviv titledCross-Cultural Group Dynamics in Stressful Environments.Based inYerushalayim, he collaborates with Israeli academic and mental health specialists in the study of dissonant factors and tensions in the Arab-Israeli conflict and those within the Orthodox Jewish community, while exploring personality challenges of second-generation Holocaust survivors.Below is a partial list of the journalsto which Professor Juni has contributed over 120 articles.Many are available on lineJournal of Forensic PsychologyJournal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma.International Review of VictimologyThe Journal of Nervous and Mental DiseaseInternational Forum of PsychoanalysisJournal of Personality AssessmentJournal of Abnormal PsychologyJournal of Psychoanalytic AnthropologyPsychophysiologyPsychology and Human DevelopmentJournal of Sex ResearchJournal of Psychology and JudaismContemporary Family TherapyAmerican Journal on AddictionsJournal of Criminal PsychologyMental Health, Religion & CultureAs Rosh Beis Medrash, Rabbi Avraham Kivelevitz serves asRavandPosekfor the morningminyanat IDT.Hundreds of listeners around the globe look forward to his weeklyShiurinTshuvos and Poskim.Rav Kivelevitz is aMaggid ShiurforDirshu Internationalin Talmud and Halacha as well as a Dayan with theBeth Din of America.Please leave us a review or email us at [email protected] more information on this podcast visityeshivaofnewark.jewishpodcasts.org See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This podcast has been graciously sponsored by JewishPodcasts.fm. There is much overhead to maintain this service so please help us continue our goal of helping Jewish lecturers become podcasters and support us with a donation: https://thechesedfund.com/jewishpodcasts/donate