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This paper briefly summarizes some important themes in past psychoanalytic literature concerning accidents. This is followed by data on automobile accident resulting from the research of a southern California psychoanalytic group. Finally, there is set forth a psychoanalytic theory of accident formation based on the research. The thrust of this paper will be to argue for an adaptational theory of accident. This theory, however, will have to be constantly integrated with earlier psychoanalytic theories of accident which stress a death trend.
Most serious workers in the field of accident believe accidents to be multifactorial. Thus, in the case of automobile accidents, problems in the environment such as fog; problems in the automobile itself such as a suddenly defective brake or steering system; and physical or mental problems in the driver may be the chief forces linked to specific accidents. With all of this, however, there is a general feeling (as yet not well substantiated) that psychological factors are chiefly at fault in the production of automobile accidents. Regardless of how many accidents are chiefly due to “psychological causes” there has been a continuing expression in psychological and psychoanalytic writing that some accidents are highly linked to psychological motivations and/or conflicts.