The unconscious in terror: An overview of psychoanalytic contributions to the psychology of terrorism and violent radicalization

Abstract

This overview provides a brief survey of the major psychoanalytic frameworks and concepts that were put forth throughout the years for understanding socio‐political violence and terrorism. In lieu of exhaustiveness, which is hindered by scope limitations, this overview maps the general ‘phylogenesis’, or the intellectual evolution and derivation of psychoanalytic theorizing about the subject, while putting more specific models within the context of the major developments (or splintering) in psychoanalytic theory that inspired or preceded them. Geared towards the English‐speaking reader, this overview attempts to undo some of the Americanocentric cultural bias that may still exist in the psychoanalytic literature in general and that of political violence in particular ‐ especially after 9/11. As such, it preferentially expounds upon theories that may be more popular outside the United States and/or have not yet been comprehensively translated to English, such as Marxist, post‐structuralist and ‘continental’ philosophical approaches to political violence. Further, since theories of political violence are arguably more prone to amnesia and to ‘reinvention of the wheel’ for a variety of reasons, this overview is slightly more detailed in describing early concepts and scholars that may still be useful in conceptualizing present‐day terrorism. The overview ends with a selective survey of innovative clinical and empirical approaches that allow for integration of psychoanalytic frameworks to flexibly understand political violence through cognitive products and primary sources.

Violent Radicalization, Mental Health, and Gender Identity

“…It is also possible that for some individuals having experienced a lot of adversity, gender identification may be a channel to express distress and associated feelings of rejection. Anger and frustration, when associated with helplessness feelings may sometimes culminate in despair and rage, leading to support for VR (Rousseau et al, 2019; Cohen, 2019). In the case of the present study, it is not possible to distinguish the possible accelerating effect of the pandemic on these findings.…”

Psychography of Terrorist Religiosity: A Case Study in East Java

“…For them, terrorism is not just the fear of human casualties; it also refers to the psychological strain brought on by terrorism. Theoretically speaking, terrorism does not arise out of the blue without preparation and conditions that set off psychological symptoms that result in unhappiness while dealing with unexpected circumstances (Cohen, 2019). Bombing operations will continue when there is a great deal of discontent.…”

Self‐representation and future perception of youth followed by a specialized intervention team in violent radicalization

“…Among others, loss and search for meaning, certain personality traits, threats to identity, developmental crises, response to humiliation or moral disengagement with victimization and dehumanization of the other, marginalization and alienation were identified as critical psychological factors in the radicalization process and potential use of violence. Psychoanalytical theories mention the process of identification with the aggressor (vicarious identification with past trauma), over‐activation of the Death drive (Cohen, 2019; Reid Meloy & Yakeley, 2014) or identity wandering (Nathan, 2018) potentially leading to the subversion of the superego structure by a grandiose figure (Brunet, 2015). The identification process with grandiosity mirrors Fethi Benslama's figure of the supermuslim found to pursue an ever‐increasing ideal of Muslim identity in response to an internal and external discourse of self‐reproach.…”

“…Psychoanalytical theories mention the process of identification with the aggressor (vicarious identification with past trauma), over-activation of the Death drive (Cohen, 2019;Reid Meloy & Yakeley, 2014) or identity wandering (Nathan, 2018) potentially leading to the subversion of the superego structure by a grandiose figure (Brunet, 2015). toward a nostalgic past, manifesting significant difficulties in anchoring themselves in the present and imagining a future.…”