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The magnificent, sun-drenched, seaside city of Montpellier provided a stunning and containing backdrop for the 32nd IAFP conference, which was focused on perverse organisations and turning a blind eye to sexual violence. A rich pre-conference on the intersections of law, psychiatry, and psychology within the forensic realms of France was held, providing insights into the shadowy areas of health and law. We were thrilled to have our honorary Life President, Dr Estela Welldon there in person and Dr Colin Campbell, IAFP President opened the conference with Montpellier-based co-chairs of the conference organising committee, Dr Wayne Bodkin and Dr Mathieu Lacambre.
In the opening plenary, Professor Susan Long, with her immense experience of group relations, introduced the idea of perversity in systems and how within “perverse organisations” collusive denial or wilful ignorance becomes a defensive mechanism against a glaring reality, where individuals simultaneously both know and do not know about it. Professor Long described the five primary indicators of systemic perversity and possibilities for guarding against this, which included the discovery and deconstruction of systemic illusions.
Dr Cleo Van Velsen described a psychoanalytic view of perversion (Steiner), defined as a turning away from, and defence against, fundamental psychical realities—those of the infant's dependence on the external for survival, that of emerging from a creative coupling, and the inevitability of death and how this defence is reflected in individuals, groups, and institutions. Dr Anna Motz presented typically female acts of violence and perversion and how these become manifest within a prison setting, with the institutional responses being similarly destructive and perverse and how forensic psychotherapy input can moderate and modify these perverse dynamics, moving towards a more rehabilitative and therapeutic environment.
Professor Elisabeth Letourneau stressed how resources primarily support a