The Dark Side of Creativity

This book brings together essays by experts to illustrate the nature of negative creativity.

David H. Cropley (Edited by), Arthur J. Cropley (Edited by), James C. Kaufman (Edited by), Mark A. Runco (Edited by)

9780521139601, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 July 2010

406 pages, 8 b/w illus. 7 tables
22.6 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.59 kg

"....provide interesting reading but also reveal the chaotic state of research on creativity.... these essays shed light on the many ways in which scholars in the field think about negative creativity--and their many areas of disagreement. A valuable contribution to the literature on creativity...."
- P. Flattau, Institute for Defense Analyses, CHOICE

With few exceptions, scholarship on creativity has focused on its positive aspects while largely ignoring its dark side. This includes not only creativity deliberately aimed at hurting others, such as crime or terrorism, or at gaining unfair advantages, but also the accidental negative side effects of well-intentioned acts. This book brings together essays written by experts from various fields (psychology, criminal justice, sociology, engineering, education, history, and design) and with different interests (personality development, mental health, deviant behavior, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism) to illustrate the nature of negative creativity, examine its variants, call attention to its dangers, and draw conclusions about how to prevent it or protect society from its effects.

1. The dark side of creativity: what is it? Arthur J. Cropley
2. Creativity has no dark side Mark A. Runco
3. Positive creativity and negative creativity (and unintended consequences) Keith James and Aisha Taylor
4. Subjugating the creative mind: the Soviet biological weapons program and the role of the state Maria N. Zaitseva
5. Imagining the bomb: Robert Oppenheimer, nuclear weapons, and the assimilation of technological innovation David Hecht
6. The innovation dilemma: some risks of creativity in strategic agency James M. Jasper
7. Creativity as a constraint on future achievement Jack A. Goncalo, Lynne C. Vincent and Pino G. Audia
8. Boundless creativity Kevin Hilton
9. Reviewing the art of crime - what, if anything, do criminals and artists/designers have in common? Lorraine Gamman and Maziar Raein
10. Creativity in confinement Jennie Kaufman Singer
11. Creativity and crime: how criminals use creativity to succeed Russell Eisenman
12. So you want to become a creative genius? You must be crazy! Dean Keith Simonton
13. Both sides of the coin?: personality, deviance, and creative behavior Luis Daniel Gascón and James C. Kaufman
14. Neurosis: the dark side of emotional creativity James R. Averill and Elma P. Nunley
15. Dangling from a tassel on the fabric of socially constructed reality: reflections on the creative writing process Liane Gabora and Nancy Holmes
16. Creativity in the classroom: the dark side Arthur J. Cropley
17. The dark side of creativity and how to combat it Robert J. Sternberg
18. A systems engineering approach to counter terrorism Amihud Hari
19. Malevolent innovation: opposing the dark side of creativity David H. Cropley
20. Summary - the dark side of creativity - a differentiated model David H. Cropley.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Child & developmental psychology [JMC], Sociology [JHB]