Psychopathology: Theory and Practice

Attachment and Mentalisation in Understanding the Roots of Violent Crime

This presentations suggests that a key assumption, central to forensic psychotherapy, is that the offense has a meaning to the offender and can be understood in the context of their internal world, developmental history and relationships. The offense is considered as a symptom. Once it has been committed a line has been crossed where psychic reality has been acted out in external reality. Just as with physical diseases, the offense often has a prodromal period – a time when the disease process has begun but is not yet clinically manifested. If the underlying symptoms and mechanisms are not recognized and understood by the patient then the risk of similar offending remains. In this presentation Professor Gill McGauley theoretically explores how forensic psychotherapy can help us recognize and understand more about this prodrome to murderous attacks. She presents qualitative and quantitative data to illustrate how the patient’s representation of their index offense, their offense narratives and capacity to mentalise can help us predict and treat the unfolding of both aggressive and prosocial behavior.