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Psychoanalysis is yet to make its definitive contribution to the problem of crime. What we have so far, are widely scattered incidental suggestions, speculations and comments based on very meager case material. Freud's highly imaginative speculation that guilt may be a cause of crime, is very fruitful (5). There is no doubt of the existence of such cases but it is doubtful whether it could cover more than a very small cross-section of criminality. In the early 1920's Stekel (7) published some studies on cleptomania and pyro-mania as did also Schmidt, a pupil of Jung, but they did not, it appears, concern prisoners actually sentenced. Abraham (1) has given us a brief account of the psychopathology of an imposter. The case has not been analyzed but was seen during the war. On the basis of such material as was available, Abraham offered a conclusion in which the factor of parental rejection and emotional privation played a large role. Some like Bergler (4) will no doubt disagree with Abraham's conclusions. Bergler has collected and gave an excellent well-rounded review of what material there was available on imposters (would that he or someone else do that for the rest of the criminals!) but definitive case material in terms of complete analysis is lacking. In 1935 Alexander and Healy (3) published their highly suggestive study of several criminals treated by the psychoanalytic method. Somewhat earlier the same year, Karpman (6) published “The Individual Criminal” in which the lives of five criminals were interpreted from the psychoanalytic point of view. Aichorn (2) has published a study on criminal delinquents with significant case material interpreted analytically, though discussion of technical and dream interpretation, is lacking.
All these cases cover in the main predatory crimes of the milder type and do not take in the stubborn, recalcitrant, predatory criminals like robbers who make a living of crime, or murderers, whether of the predatory or emotional (passion