Psychoanalytic Reflections on the Tucson Shooting: Introduction

Our cover article is by Leo Rangell; he wrote it last winter. I learned with deep regret on May 28 that he had died at the age of 97. Until his death, although his body had begun to fail him, his mind was sharp. He contributed an article with grand sweep and analytic precision—a rare combination. He brings up to the present time his work from the 1970s on what he named the “compromise of integrity,” wrapping into it his then-ongoing analytic work with patients. His many contributions, to the literature, to the institutions of psychoanalysis, and, I note, his patients, led to his being honored at the recent APsaA conference in San Francisco, held two weeks after his death, as the first honorary president of the American Psychoanalytic Association. It is an honor he intended to receive in person and richly deserved. On a personal note, he was non-flagging in his devotion to his colleagues and the following generations. A decade ago, when I edited the Affiliate Council Newsletter, a modest publication, he contributed a front page article. This year, he again responded with alacrity, lucidity, and relevance to an invitation to write for The American Psychoanalyst. With characteristic exuberance, he expressed to me his pleasure in making this synthesis and contribution. I only regret it is being published posthumously.

In January, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona, where she was meeting with her constituents. The man who shot her was tackled by bystanders and arrested. His Web site showed him to be severely mentally disturbed. Psychoanalysts have worked hard, beginning with Sigmund Freud, to understand mental illness. But Freud understood psychoanalysis to be a general psychology. Further, beginning with Freud, psychoanalytic theory and praxis has engaged with society, both to understand it and to act in it. From the consulting room to the society at large, psychoanalysis has been an art and theory of social engagement. There was much talk at the time of the shooting of Rep. Giffords about inflamed civic discourse and its impact on the gunman. This, I thought, is an important national discussion to which psychoanalysis could contribute. On further reflection, I thought, this event was an octopus with many tentacles. So I asked four distinguished analysts to weigh in. Leo Rangell, Gerald Fromm, and Kerry and Jack Novick responded with rich articles which show how productively psychoanalysis, working outward from the consulting room, continues to engage with the cultural moment. As a secondary benefit, it is especially appropriate that they are a window into the vigorous history of psychoanalysis in this, the 100th anniversary year of the American Psychoanalytic Association.