Catharsis in Healing, Ritual, and Drama. University of California Press.

What is catharsis? What are its effects and when does it occur? Catharsis has long been the subject of discussion and heated debate, yet its meaning has always been vague and elusive; partly for this reason scientific interest in the concept has decreased in recent years.

Here, in this thoughtful and provocative study, Thomas Scheff defines catharsis as a therapeutic process that discharges repressed emotions and is signaled by certain kinds of laughing, crying, and analogous responses reflecting discharge of fear and anger. The effects of catharsis are the decrease of tension and the clarification of thought. Dr. Scheff then introduces the concept of distancing (the extent to which the individual is an observer of his or her emotions) to formulate the conditions under which catharsis occurs. I an individual is optimally distanced, it is then possible to achieve "double vision": being simultaneously and equally a participant and an observer.
Dr. Scheff applies his theory to three different topics--psychotherapy, ritual, and drama--and presents a studies of his own which tests the relationship between laughter and levels of tension during comedic performances. The findings suggest that laughter reduces tension, both subjectively (in terms of method) and objectively (decrease in heart