A psychoanalytic perspective on violence

Abstract

Explosions of violent behavior have periodically riveted public attention. While such behavior may be associated with a major psychiatric illness, there is a continuing challenge to understand the emotional underpinnings of such behavior, the sources of aggression, hostility, anger, hate, rage, and violence. Analysts from Freud to Karl Menninger to Kernberg and Kohut have speculated as to the confluence of psychological and real forces that prompt violent outbursts. Other analysts have explored the manifestations of aggression and rage in infancy and childhood. An instance of a violent outburst is presented, and underlying factors are explored. Critical elements prompting such behavior include: (1) an individual perceives a narcissistic injury that is experienced as being profoundly unfair; (2) the individual has no hope for achieving a reasonable resolution of the injury; (3) the individual reaches the decision that the injury cannot be tolerated further and must be responded to with action; (4) the individual has access to weapons to enhance the capacity and potency to respond; and (5) the individual feels a sufficient sense of potency and/or disregard of the consequences to initiate violence.

Addressing Mass Shootings in a New Light

“…In a report published in 2013 by Friedman and Michels stated that 4% of violence could be attributed to persons with mental illness [3]. In a paper published by Menninger in 2007, reported that, when an individual perceives a narcissistic injury and has no hope for achieving a reasonable resolution or cannot tolerate the injury further, then the individual feels a disregard for the consequence of violent acts [8]. Discrimination in the society leading to social rejection, along with conceived conviction of being bullied, which causes shooters to act out and avenge the injustice [9].…”

A review on theoretical models of suicide

“…It is proposed that suicide is caused by unconscious drives. Menninger postulated that all suicides encompass three motivations: a wish to kill, particularly to kill loved ones; a wish to be killed, associated with guilt for having the murderous urges; and a wish to die (i.e., depression and hopelessness arising from such factors as self-hate and habitual restrictions on aggressive impulses) [31].…”

How Narcissistic Injury May Contribute to Reactive Violence: A Case Example Using Stanley Kubrick's The Shining

“…Individuals functioning at a borderline level are more likely to behave violently (Gacono, 1990;Newhill, Eack, & Mulvey, 2012;Raine, 1993;Ross & Babcock, 2009). Finally, according to Menninger (2007), "there is desperation, a sense there is no possibility of a reasonable solution to the perceived dilemma, and no possibility that the individual could maintain mastery/control over his life. For an individual to explode with uncontained rage, there must be a substantial sense of hopelessness" (p. 127).…”