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Sanctioned social violence: A psychoanalytic view--part I
1Personality Disorders Institute, The New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Division, 21 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, NY 10605, USA. okernber@med.cornell.edu
The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis
|July 23, 2003
Summary
This study systematizes psychoanalytic group theory to understand massive violence, exploring aggression, ideology, leadership, and trauma. It identifies narcissistic-paranoid mechanisms underlying socially sanctioned violence.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Psychoanalytic Theory
- Group Dynamics
Background:
- Massive violence stems from complex social and psychological factors.
- Understanding group behavior is crucial for analyzing societal aggression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematize psychoanalytic group theory for analyzing massive violence.
- To explore the origins and amplification of primitive aggression in social contexts.
- To identify psychological mechanisms contributing to socially sanctioned violence.
Main Methods:
- Application of psychoanalytic theory to group and mass psychology.
- Analysis of regressive ideologies, leadership personality, and historical trauma.
- Examination of narcissistic-paranoid mechanisms in social psychology.
Main Results:
- Identified interplay between ideology, leadership, and trauma in escalating aggression.
- Described a spectrum of narcissistic-paranoid mechanisms.
- Established a framework for analyzing social psychology's role in violence.
Conclusions:
- Psychoanalytic group theory offers a valuable lens for understanding massive violence.
- Narcissistic-paranoid dynamics are central to socially sanctioned aggression.
- Systematic analysis can illuminate the psychological roots of collective violence.
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