Benjamin Karpman

Benjamin Karpman (August 8, 1886 – May 24, 1962) was an American psychiatrist known for his work on human sexuality. He served as Professor and Head of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine from 1921 to 1941.

Life and career

Karpman was born in Slutzk, Belarus. He graduated from the University of Minnesota, earning a bachelor's degree in 1915, a master's degree in 1918, and a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1920. While at University of Minnesota Medical School, he worked with Jesse Francis McClendon on pioneering in situ pH measurements in the human digestive tract. After completing his internship at St. Elizabeths Hospital, he rose to the position of Senior Medical Officer and Psychotherapist. Karpman was a proponent of psychoanalysis and published many case reports based on his clinical experience. At Howard, he introduced dynamic psychiatry into the medical curriculum.

Karpman was a contributor to The American Mercury, where he was critical of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act. He was elected to the New York Academy of Sciences in 1953. Karpman was critical of both law and medicine in their treatment of social problems. He predicted that by 2010 the U.S. would have no prisons, just psychiatric treatment centers for lawbreakers. "I am at odds with the legal profession and most of psychiatry," he conceded, "but they're all wrong. The question is simply, 'Is the accused sick or not?' You can't have mental illness and criminal responsibility in the same person at the same time."

Karpman had a heart attack on May 23, 1962, and died the next day at the age of 75.

Selected publications

Karpman B (1933). Case studies in the psychopathology of crime, Volume 1. Mimeoform Press Karpman B (1935). The individual criminal: studies in the psychogenetics of crime, Volume 1. Nervous and Mental Disease Pub. Co.

Karpman B (1948). The alcoholic woman: case studies in the psychodynamics of alcoholism. Linacre Press ASIN B000RTFUBS

Karpman B (1949). Symposium on psychopathology. Archives of Criminal Psychodynamics

Karpman B (1964). The sexual offender and his offenses: etiology, pathology, psychodynamics, and treatment. Julian Press, ASIN B0007HAB2I