I want to find out if Wilhelm Reich's theory about where fascism comes from is true. This isn't a scientific survey so regardless of the results I still won't really know, but I suppose it's still better than nothing. I'm also not an academic so I can't get access to research grants, and I'm not sure anyone would pay for a study like this to begin with (correct me if I'm wrong).
Wilhelm Reich, in The Mass Psychology of Fascism, basically says that fascists are created by two factors: severe economic exploitation / anxiety on the part of the petite bourgeoisie, combined with severe child abuse. Reich believes that the abuse takes place while people are too young to remember it (and/or that the memories may be suppressed), but I imagine that it could have easily continued afterward. (Others who understand Reich better than me, again: correct me if I'm wrong.)
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Do you believe that you experienced severe abuse or neglect from your parents or guardians?
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Do you come from a petite bourgeois family? (Do your parents own their home, but still have to work in order to survive?)
I think you're going to need to qualify what 'severe' abuse is because you're going to be hard-pressed to find victims of abuse that will self-classify it as severe. Even people who are victims of extreme levels of abuse will typically downplay it.
Also extreme abuse in my view can be seen as very light abuse that is consistent over decades as well as extreme singular or uncommon 'extreme' events.
Good point. Reich actually defines it as sexual abuse. But for Reich, sexual abuse can mean anything from being raped to not being allowed to have consensual sex with whoever you want.
The "official" definition google gives me is actually pretty vague:
"Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. There are many forms of child maltreatment, including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation and emotional abuse."