The Lindbergh kidnapping: mobs, mass psychology, and myth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Psychoanalysis is the interpretation of dreams

. . . of this life as a dream.”

 

—N.O. Brown

 

 

 

The Lindbergh kidnapping examines the incredible American hysteria over the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. This drama represented one of the biggest newspaper stories of the twentieth century. The lynch mob demanded blood and got it with the execution of the innocent Bruno Richard Hauptmann.  This drama that unfolded was, at bottom, fully psychological as reality became a pawn to the whimsies of the collective psyche.   

 

 

Reviews

 

 

“A fascinating piece of psychological analysis that reads like an Agatha Christie novel.  I couldn’t put it down!”

 

—Marvin Forrest, Ph.D., psychotherapist, 

Santa Barbara

 

 

“Dr. Kroth has provided a compelling analysis of the Lindbergh story that renders it in a completely new light. Prepare to have what you thought you knew thoroughly challenged!”

 

—Jeff Kisling, Ph.D., psychotherapist, Palo Alto