Psychoanalysis has not examined violence as such since it is a sociological and criminological concept; psychoanalysis is concerned with speech. On Psychoanalysis and Violence brings together noted Lacanian psychoanalysts and scholars to fill an important gap in psychoanalytic scholarship that addresses what the contributors term the "angwash" of our current time. Today violence is everywhere. We are inundated with it, exhausted by it, bombarded by images and reports of it on a daily, even hourly basis. This book examines how psychoanalysis can account for the many manifestations of violence in contemporary society. Drawing on a broadly Lacanian perspective, the authors explore violence in war, terrorism, how the media portrays violence, violent video games, questions of identity, difference and the ‘other’; violence narratives and violence and DSM, and explain how to account for how violence arises and the effect it has on us on both an individual and social level. These are just some of the daily social realities of the present day whose aggression are felt by everyone, which horrify us and which we often feel powerless to change. The contributors have therefore coined a term for this cultural malaise: "angwash", arguing that we are awash in angoisse or anxiety, in a constant panic regarding the impossible and contradictory demands of a "civilization" in crisis. On Psychoanalysis and Violence will be of great interest to Lacanian psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.

Violence in psychoanalysis is a growing subject 'Rage' phenomena are very much in the public consciousness A wide range of theoretical and case material Foreword by Professor Peter Fonagy

This book shows how violence against woman can be seen, known and represented on the world stage and in psychoanalytic treatment. It brings psychoanalytic ideas and understanding in an effort to comprehend violence against women.

Although there is a vast literature on aggression, comparatively little has been written on the issue of violence and even fewer clinical discussions have been published on the violent patient. This pioneering book presents a collection of case studies on the intensive psychoanalytic treatment of patients who have committed serious acts of violence against themselves or others. Each detailed clinical account demonstrates the effectiveness of the psychoanalytic treatment and furthers our understanding of the nature of violence. The Psychoanalytic Understanding of Violence and Suicide also contains a comprehensive review of the existing literature on aggression and violence from America, England and France, presenting major themes contained in this literature which will be of interest to all those working with violent and suicidal patients.

Our understanding of terrorism since the events of September 11th 2001 has usually been channelled through the two dimensional lens of religion and politics. This important new work contributes a richer understanding of terrorism by examining a third dimension of individual and group psychology and demonstrates how insights garnered from the human psyche may be translated into more effective public policy.

This book examines how people cannot escape being tainted, whether actively engaged or not, by violence in its countless manifestations. The essays encompass a wide range of theoretical resources, methodological approaches and geo-political areas. They describe how images and fragments of traumatic and violent scenarios are transported from one generation’s unconscious to that of another, leading to cycles of repetition and retaliation, restricting the freedom to imagine alternatives and inhabit alternative positions. The authors all work within a psychosocial framework by unsettling the boundaries between psyche-social. Four themes are addressed: violence of speech, violence and domination, repetition and violence, and the possibility of reparation or renewal. Due to its theoretical engagements and the case studies provided, this interdisciplinary collection will be of value to postgraduate and undergraduate students of psychology, philosophy, politics and history.

In this volume contemporary staff describe their thinking and clinical work. Theoretical underpinnings for the understanding of perversion and violence, questions of risk and ethics and the institutional difficulties which emerge in the care of these patients are presented alongside chapters on clinical work, with adults and adolescents, including chapters on paedophilia, the compulsive use of internet pornography and transsexuality. This volume is of relevance to all those working with people with a range of personality disorders and those working with individuals who present with these types of problems in the mental health services and in private practice. The Portman Clinic has been applying a psychoanalytic framework to the understanding and treatment of violent, perverse, criminal and delinquent patients since its foundations in the early 1930's. All Portman Clinic patients have crossed the boundary from fantasy and impulse to action - action which defies legal and moral boundaries but which also breaches the body boundary of the victims.