Exploring the Sexual Aetiology of Violence

Abstract

<jats:p>Many of the different theoretical and practical approaches of NZAP members to their work have Freudian theory as their historical ground, although some have diverged in different directions from this base. Freud placed sexual theory at the centre of his attempt to understand human mental suffering and it remains very relevant and useful in everyday psychodynamic clinical practice; however its scientific basis has become outdated, and this has led to the loss of its presence in the literature. This paper re-affirms Reich’s challenge to Freud not to lose faith in sexual theory, and provides an update from the perspective of population genetics. Beginning with a brief historical overview of the early development of psychodynamic sexual theory, the paper explores the associated symbolic and logical domains, as these domains fluctuate in their role as figure or ground, emphasising relationship as the key to healing. The reworking of sexual theory offers a wider community and social context providing, perhaps, a ground on which to bring our clinical knowledge to the task of understanding and working with conflict within our own community and the community at large, including the bicultural relationship between Māori and Pākehā.&#x0D; Waitara&#x0D; Ko te maha o ngā ara ariā, ara mahi hoki a te whānau o te NZAP ki ā rātou mahi whai ai i ngā ariā a Freud hai whakapapa kōrero o mua, ahakoa kua whai pekā kē atu ētahi mai i tēnei papa. I tāpaia e Freud te ariā taihemahema ki waenganui o tana whakatau kia mārama mai te mamae o te hinengaro tangata ā, kei te noho hāngai tonu ki ngā mahi manamanahau haumanu hinengaro. Heoi kua tawhito kē tēnei tirohanga papa pūtaiao, ā, kua ngaro tōna āhua i roto i ngā pūkōrero. E tautoko ana tēnei kōrero i te wero a Reich ki a Freud kia kaua e waiho noa te ariā taihemanga, ka whakaratohia tētahi tirohanga hou e ai ki ā te mātauranga momo whakaheke. Tīmatahia ana ki tētahi kōrero poto mō te hītori o te whanaketanga ake o te ariā manamanahau taihemanga, ka toro te kōrero ki te rapu i ngā tohu me ngā wāhi whaitika, i te mea ka taurangi ngā āhua o ēnei wāhi ki tērā o te rangi o te papa rānei: e whakahau ana ko te whakapapa te ara ki te whakaoranga. Ko te huringa ake anō o te ariā taihemahema te tuku ki te hāpori whānui me te horopaki hāpori, tērā pea he papa hei arotake i ngā mātauranga whakakaoa kia mātau ai ki te kite ki te mahi tahi i ngā raruraru kei waenga i te hāpori whāiti, hāpori whānui tae atu hoki ki te āhua noho a te Māori me te Pākehā.</jats:p>

Rediscovering Sabina

“…This loss of contact with reality can be understood as serving the function of maintaining the small breeding group (Sandle, 2013) and is linked to the sexual nature and evolutionary context of the process that Freud rediscovered. When we inhabit a grounded and relational body, transitional phenomena, including myths such as that of Oedipus, become available to us as guides and help inform the relational dynamics with others and as psychotherapists with our clients.…”

Viewing Conflict Through a Reconsideration of the Application of Psychodynamic Sexual Theory in Transactional Analysis

“…From a Reichian perspective, these can be seen as Don’t Be Sexual injunctions. Repression can be understood from the perspective of population genetics as another mechanism that functions to keep the breeding group size small and that fosters the process of genetic drift, which is necessary for the evolution of social behavior (Sandle, 2013). (Genetic drift is the process whereby a gene can become fixed in a population in the absence of selective pressure by means of inbreeding.…”

“…The helpful, reality-based process can be understood intrapsychically in terms of Berne’s concept of physis (Berne, 1957, p. 68), in which the aspiration arrow passes from the Child through the Adult to the Parent, thus connecting the Child to the Adult and the Adult to the Parent and also allowing the Adult to be involved in or observe the relationship between the Child and the Parent. On the other hand, the loss of contact with reality can be understood as serving the function of maintaining the small breeding group (Sandle, 2013) and points to the sexual nature and evolutionary context of the process that Freud rediscovered. When we inhabit a grounded and relational body, transitional phenomena, including myths such as that of Oedipus, become available to us as guides and help inform the relational dynamics with our clients.…”

Born in ’47

“…Ritchie described himself as an ethnopsychologist with forty years' experience of working in the Māori world as a Pākehā. I have written elsewhere of the important connection I made with him on the harbour cruise (Sandle, 2013), where his wisdom helped me deepen my connections biculturally, but what happened on the upper marae was different. It felt to me as if the taniwha from Napier had not yet gone to sleep but had shifted their focus from the cultural boundary between Māori and Pākehā to that between men and women.…”

“…Subsequently, a trusted cultural mentor of mine, who was also present at this conference, told me in a matter-of-fact way that he spoke to the ancestors in the language they spoke. It was at this conference that I presented my paper on the sexual aetiology of violence in the form of a TED talk (Sandle, 2013) within the body of Tumutumuwhenua. In my mind, then and now, was the phallic potency of Tumutumuwhenua to rise and stand up in the face of the destructive colonising powers and also his place as a container for integration.…”