Forensic Psychotherapy: Pathologies and Treatment Strategies for Working With Violence

Them and Us. Why are we Muderous?

The International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy has at its core a focus on the psychodynamic understanding and treatment of offenders. This knowledge is also applied to explore the meaning of such behaviors in a societal and cultural context. All cultures have taboos on killing other human beings, with different sanctions, yet all have exceptions to this rule. The exceptions are not merely legitimized, but often strongly held ethical beliefs. Thus the meaning of killing differs widely in different contexts and cannot be reduced simply to individual psychopathology. Dr Sandra Grant here considers the significance and impact of killing for all of us. While defenses such as splitting and projective identification are prominent in the discussion there will also be consideration of catharsis, sublimation and displacement with specific reference to film and literature.