You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The case reported here is a clinical demonstration of murder in a severe alcoholic in which the act of assault represents symbolic suicide. The victim of the murder was the murderer's wife, who represented the feared female figure with which he was unconsciously identified. This mother figure was the castrator; therefore both suicide and murder represented solutions to the murderer's unconscious conflict. The suicidal impulses, symbolically expressed through murder, represented a defense against gratification of unconscious feminine impulses, while the actual murder was an expression of revenge against the introjected wife-mother figure.
This case is presented as an experience in psychoanalytic investigation of a murderer. Although this study was hampered by certain practical difficulties and is not anamnestically complete, reconstruction of the unconscious meaning of the murder described might aid in answering the pressing question: What evidences of demonstrable impending ego disturbance presage an outbreak of violent crime in a given individual?
The study demonstrated that aggressive behavior will ensue when ego strength is insufficient to combat the destructive forces derived from early oral aggression. Whether murder or suicide will occur depends upon the ability of the ego to withstand the exacting pressure of id and superego. The basis for this estimate will be derived solely from a psychoanalytic investigation of each case.
AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT