I recently read Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self-Reflective Institutions, Leaders, and Citizens, by Edward R. Shapiro, M.D.. ​​With so much worth sharing, I reached out to Dr. Shapiro, who kindly agreed to let me interview him.

Among many other accomplishments, Dr. Shapiro is former medical director and CEO of the Austen Riggs Center, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. He is a principal in the Boswell Group of New York, a founder of the International Dialogue Initiative, and on the Advisory Board of Partners Confronting Collective Atrocities. He is a distinguished faculty member at the Erikson Institute for Education, Research and Advocacy. He has published three books and over 50 articles and book chapters on human development, personality disorders, organizational and family dynamics, and citizenship, presenting papers around the world.

GHB: What does "good citizenship" mean nowadays?

ERS: I think the term “engaged citizen” is a better one. The decision to become more active as a citizen takes seriously our reactions when we see what’s happening in our country. For example, when we see an event in front of us that challenges us to act, many of us find ourselves asking, “Why do I have to do this?" The disengaged response is: “I don’t—someone else will do it.”

But even asking that question means that something is tugging at us in our roles as members of a community, drawing on the shared values coming from our families, our organizations, and our roles as citizens. The George Floyd murder was such an event. It brought........

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