Psychoanalysis, Criminology and Delinquency: The Early History of the Portman Clinic

Founded in 1933, the Portman Clinic, now part of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, in London UK, is a nationally funded out-patient clinic providing psychoanalytic psychotherapy to children, adolescents and adults who present with delinquency, violence, and problematic sexual behaviours. The Portman Clinic came into being during the interwar years, a fertile time in which psychoanalytic theories became influential within criminology. This article describes the foundation and early history of the Clinic within the wider social and political context of the early and mid-twentieth century, including the impact of the second world war and the dawn of the welfare state. It explores the ideas of the psychoanalysts Grace Pailthorpe, Edward Glover, Kate Friedlander, and Melitta Schmideberg, which were based on their work with patients at the Portman Clinic but were also shaped by the internal war within the British psychoanalytic community, the so-called Controversial Discussions. The review draws on previously unpublished clinical material from archived records of patients seen at the Portman Clinic since 1933, providing a fascinating glimpse into the profile of these patients, and how their psychopathology and offending behaviours were influenced by changing societal norms and significant historical events.