barabbas, a study in guilt-ridden homicide --- impresso

8/12/2019 Barabbas, a Study in Guilt-Ridden Homicide --- Impresso

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Barabbas: A Study in Guilt-Ridden Homicide

Malmquist, Carl P; Meehl, Paul E

International Review of Psycho-Analysis, 19!; v" #, $1%9, &'$

Carl P Malmquist; (e$t" of Criminal )ustice *ocial *ciences +uilin .niversity of Minnesota, Paul E"Meehl, Minnea$olis, Minn" ##%##

Paul E Meehl; (e$t" of Criminal )ustice *ocial *ciences +uilin .niversity of Minnesota, Paul E"Meehl, Minnea$olis, Minn" ##%##

In this article a traic case is use to illustrate several clinical an theoretical $ro/lems relate to uiltan the commission of a homicie"

A 30-year-old white farmer from a rural, midwestern area stood trial for first-degree murder inconnexion with the deaths of his wife (aged 29) and four children (three girls, aged six, five and oneand a half years, and a six-week-old son) !e will hereafter "e referred to as # $n the words of the%rosecution, it was a %articularly &heinous& killing in which the wife was shot in the head and thechildren found dead from as%hyxiation as a conse'uence of "eing in the house when the wife was

shot and the house set on fire he "odies were shrunken from "urning as to "e recognia"le only "yrelative sie

0e /elieve that utiliation of such naturally occurrin 2e3$eriments2 is valua/le an can $rovie4nowlee analoous to the metho of 2$sycholoical auto$sies2 $erforme after suicies"

5he relevant to$ics are6 718 the nature of severely e$resse states as relate to homicial actsthisinvolves evelo$mental an $sychoynamic factors relate to actin u$on homicial im$ulses; 7&8altere states of consciousness, in which an eo s$lit occurs, $ermittin massive ischare ofaression; 7:8 tem$orary sus$ension of su$ereo controls; 7%8 $henomenoloical as$ects ofe$ersonaliation an its relationshi$ to $sychotic e$isoes or 2hysterical $sychosis2; 7#8 therelationshi$ of Isa4ower $henomena to reressive $rocesses which activate $rimitive an homicialaression; 7'8 intersystemic an intrasystemic eo an 2su$ereo conflicts, involvin themes of

masochism, uilt, re$ression an enial, the return of the re$resse an the final /rea4throuh ofhomicial /ehaviour"

Psychometric examinations

Psychometric evices $rovie ine$enent confirmation of $sycholoical traits an conflicts ancontri/ute to our confience in the valiity of inferences from clinical ata" 7Physical anneuroloical e3aminations, e3tensive la/oratory wor4 an EE tracins were o/taine ine$enentlyan were within normal ranes"8 In eneral, $sychometric finins were either non-contri/utory orwea4ly corro/orative of what the $resent article re$orts on interview an life-history rouns" 5herewas no $sychometric evience of oranic /rain-amae or ross conitive yscontrol, an theintellience level was su$erior 70AI* of 1&& an a *hi$ley-


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features (1) tends to "e fli%%ant "oth in word and gesture (1) has grandiose ideas (extreme isdelusions of grandeur) (1) ex%resses im%ulses "y ver"al acting out (1/) is %rovocative (1/) hasa ra%id %ersonal tem%o thinks, talks, moves at a fast rate (20)

Developmental factors

he %atient had s%ent his entire life in a rural, midwestern town !e s%oke slowly and left a%ersuasive im%ression of his striving for exactness ven minor discre%ancies in statements weres%ontaneously corrected, and later deli"erate attem%ts "y interviewers to mislead and test hisveracity in an effort to see if he would agree to self-serving falsifications, consistently failed $n all ofhis interviews there was marked wee%ing or so""ing, accom%anied "y res%iratory heaving, lasting u%to an hour or more at a time (4n these occasions several handkerchiefs would "e soaked throughwith tears and a literal %uddle of tears formed on the interview ta"le) 5acial 'uiverings, musclefasciculations and general "odily trem"ling were customary !is style had always "een that of anagreea"le, altruistic individual6never one to show anger or argue Aggressive and self-assertiveim%ulses were massively inhi"ited over his entire range of roles and inter%ersonal relations 7reatlyadmired "y those who knew him in either a close or distant way, his scru%ulously honest manner ledhim to "e turned to as a leader within his rural community

he family had lived in the same locale for over 100 years, and more s%ecifically on the same %lot offarmland $n the farm home of #&s %arents, a %la'ue hung with a %archment giving the land to hisrelatives under the !omestead Act and dated 1.82 $n #&s early childhood years an ex%ectation ofsuccess and high attainment %revailed, %erha%s not anything outstanding, "ut towards a dedicated%ursuit A sister three years his senior was married to a local farmer a few miles away A "rother, twoyears younger than the %atient, was a university graduate in agricultural engineering and was onactive duty overseas as a career military officer $n contrast the %atient, as the middle child "ut oldestson, had never left &the soil& here had "een miscarried attem%ts to leave, "ut they were tem%oraryand unsuccessful

arnings of %sychological conflict a%%eared during adolescence !is idealied image was that of aselfless, dedicated and religious individual Adults and his %eer grou% saw him as rarely self-serving"ut rather ready to assist anyone in need !e was %resident of his senior class "y virtue of these'ualities and was seen "eforehand as someone who would naturally "e senior class %resident #ue

to his muscular "uild from lifelong work in the fields, he was also seen as someone who could%erform well in athletics !owever, during summer foot"all %ractice "efore his :unior year, a%ersistent "ack %ain "egan to "other him $t was never s%ecifically diagnosed "ut ascri"ed to &musclestrain& from farm work $nstead, he "ecame manager of the "asket"all team hen the "asket"allcoach once noticed # %laying in a "asket"all scrimmage, he commented that his %lay was goodenough for the varsity and he was asked to %lay on the regular team rather than continue ase'ui%ment manager where he "rought the "alls to the games, etc his offer was declined

#uring adolescence # met his future wife hile %erforming in a senior class %lay, he asked a friendwho a certain girl was in the audience his clinically interesting %henomenon of a &readiness tocathect&, which exists in those with difficulties in the area of se%aration-individuation, is significant #did this with several individuals in his lifetime, and it is o"served in de%ressed individuals as %art oftheir seeking idealied o":ects # was informed that this girl had moved into the area to live with her

married "rother and hel% to care for his children ater his wife informed him that she had also%reviously singled him out "efore they met his led her to arrange living with her "rother to "e near# and to get an o%%ortunity to meet him 4n graduation from high school, a college scholarshi% wasoffered to # "ut declined $nstead he stayed home to continue &working the land& with his father

*uch of his earlier childhood %eriod seemed highly condensed with res%ect to time and events;ersistent memories of walking across "arren farmland or country roads to school were %unctuated"y a


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tem%oriation contri"uted to a condensation of time &$ always intended to start farming on my own,"ut never got around to it& he formerly re%ressed wish to take over his father&s farm continued as aconscious "ut unex%ressed wish he closest # came to taking realistic ste%s in this direction wasafter two children were "orn and more s%ace than a house trailer was needed At that time hein'uired a"out a "ank loan to "uy cows and im%rove the farm !e was told that since he did not ownthe land, he could not get the loan >or did he tell his father a"out this re"uff ?ears later thefollowing was so""ingly %oured out+ &$ so "adly wanted #ad to say we could do it together $ don&tknow why $ couldn&t talk to him !e liked to talk to %eo%le who came over all the time and had s%enttwenty years in %olitics, "ut $ never felt $ could say what $ wanted #ad never showed his feelings6he must have "een hiding them like $ was&

After four years of marriage, # rented a farmhouse a 'uarter-of-a-mile down the road !owever, theland was never farmed "ut only used as a dwelling %lace ithin a month of the move, # made asecond effort at se%aration his involved a one-month assignment for ski training in Alaska with themilitary &At the time $ didn&t know why, "ut $ knew $ had to get away for a while& !is ego state at thetime was one of chronic dissatisfaction $t was not merely &edginess& "ut, &$ felt so low6so muchlower than everyone else& 5ailure of o"sessional defences was a%%arent from conscious efforts to"e %leasant with his children, des%ite which his aggression would eru%t in yelling, with guiltsu%erim%osed !owever, no %hysical striking of his wife or children ever occurred, "ut only theseverval out"ursts he day "efore his scheduled return from Alaska, # fractured his ti"ia while skiing,

which %ost%oned his return


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half-inch mean that much& 4n returning home, he was dee%ly de%ressed and for the first time wasuna"le to acce%t his wife&s religious reassurances that such an event must have "een in the %lans of;rovidence or it would never have occurred

ithin a month of this &last-straw& failure, other significant events develo%ed+ (1) his wife was again%regnant (2) overt im%otence with his wife develo%ed (3) an affair commenced with *rs A, whomhe had known for two months %rior to his re:ection "y the highway %atrol =ntil then he had viewedher only as a &friendly, nice %erson& ithin two weeks of the re:ection, a sexual involvement "egan# ex%erienced *rs A as the first %erson he had "een a"le to talk to and feel comforta"le with%hysically $t was not that genital sexuality dominated the relationshi%, "ut rather a need forcloseness in a %rever"al manner 4n many occasions he would %refer to lie with his head on her"reast for hours, or hold on to her so""ing, &like she was a life raft&


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com%ounded "y her confusion as to what was trans%iring !is ina"ility to se%arate from the soil, andthe attachments of his early life, was %resent in more acute form 5usion of wife-mother-sister wasnoted in+ &my wife and mother were like mother and daughter& An inhi"ition in touching his wife&s"ody accom%anied his im%otency &*y wife would lay close to me $ felt so inade'uate $ couldn&t dowhat she wanted $ still loved her $&d kiss her every night on the cheek hen she touched me itwould make me feel so awful and $&d get a num" feeling in my calves& $n fact sexuality with his wifehad always had marked inhi"itions &$ could never feel com%letely relaxed a"out it and my wife wasconstantly afraid of a %regnancy since she never wanted "irth-control used&


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he demand for a decision was now %laced in #&s hands+ could he a"andon his home, family,religion and lifelong ho%es, in an overt act A last futile effort to schedule another training missionaway from home had "een made in @uly, and he was scheduled to leave on 2Fth o matter what Eara""as does, he ends u% a %ersonalfailure !e was in :ail and got out and everything he did ended u% as a failure ater he is in Bomeand had to fight the gladiators and won and was given his freedom stick which allowed him to getout !e was walking the streets G $ remem"er how Hat this %oint the %atient was uncontrolla"lyso""ingI he "egan setting fire to "uildings and running around with a stu%id coat and was caught forit and %ut in %rison with the hristians, who were un:ustly accused of setting fire to Bome $n the lastscene he was on the ross $t was a rough movie with lots of fighting ven when he thought he washel%ing the hristians, he was doing wrong "ecause they hadn&t "urned Bome he last thing $remem"er was that Eara""as was on the ross and it showed a "unch of other crosses on thescreen, too

!e recalled feeling a dee% sym%athy for Eara""as, since &he couldn&t ever do something decent nomatter how hard he tried&

he two older girls were in "ed, and he was rocking the 20-month-old girl when his wife returned withthe infant


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!ow long this silent solilo'uy lasted is not known $t may have "een a few minutes or u% to an hour!is next memory is &coming to& in the doorway of an ad:acent "edroom with a rifle in his hand !iswife&s head was tilted "ack on the couch, "lood was coming down the front of her head and "loodstains were on the front of her chest >o sound had "een ex%erienced from the time it &went out&, asdescri"ed a"ove, until a s%ecific moment of return some time later he fixed %erce%tion of "loodrunning down the front of his wife&s head rather than the side %uled him later, since he %ictured herhead tilted sideways against the "ackrest of the couch &he gun was in my hand, "ut $ can&tremem"er getting it, nor getting the "ullets, nor can $ remem"er aiming or shooting it *y heart was%ounding and $ stood there&

# ran out and sat with his head in his hands on a lawn chair A short time later he went to thegarage with the gun in his hands !e recollected returning with two :ugs of gasoline, %ouring it on thefloor of the "edroom and living room with the eerie silence still maintained !e had no memory ofsetting the house on fire

$ ke%t thinking $ had to hurt myself he first time $ thought of men attacking me was when the kidshad come and cut me down H!e first told a story to the %olice of "eing attacked "y a grou% ofteenagersI As $ was running around, all $ could think of was hurting myself $ got a gun and tied it tothe stove $ didn&t know where it was going to go, "ut $ was standing in front of it, a"out eight feetaway, with a string tied around the trigger he first time it went through my right side $ went "ack

and %ut a second shell in it and moved over a "it since $ wanted to get more on the left side of mychest

A surgical re%ort indicated that the first "ullet had lodged under the right clavicle while the secondricocheted around his right ri" cage and exited

!e sli%%ed a ro%e around his neck and wrists and "lindfolded himself with a towel An inverted = ironclothes-%ole was in the yard and he tied his wrists to the two corners A loose-hanging ro%e wasaround his neck with "lood flowing from his right side At the time of the first %sychiatric intervieweight days later # made no reference to &hanging like on a cross& (a %hrase used "y the news media


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into it6like $&m watching someone else $t&s me, "ut $ can watch everything in the room like $&m u% inthe air looking down $ can see the house, "ut the south side is gone Eut there&s a difference $nsideof the house, none of the kids& clothes and toys are around like $ knew should "e there he "icycleand tricycle should "e there hen $ go "ack into the house, there&s no kid&s clothes around like hadalways "een %resent x%eriences within the house were descri"ed in detail 2&$t&s like $&m 'uiteLfaraway6not as far as the clouds, "ut everything looked small&

he feeling was that he could %ick u% the diminutive dollhouse $n the sky was a &self& which #referred to as &Eig *e& while in the house was a &ittle *e& hese two &*e&s& were %hysically alike andlooked like him with two exce%tions+ he &Eig *e& had no face and was %erceived as literally "ig thesie of &Eig *e&s& hand and head were %erceived as larger than the house itself &Eig *e& o"served&ittle *e& s%illing gasoline &$t&s like $&m seeing things from the "igger one& &ittle *e&, as the actor,&had no feeling& &Eig *e&, in turn, &can&t do anything a"out it&

hen # first emerged from the house after &coming to& with the gun in his hand, he ex%eriencedsomeone looking down and watching him his o"server was at roof height and the house was%erceived with its usual sie !owever, when # sat in the chair, the o"serving self at roof level"ecame larger and the action self "ecame smaller &ittle *e& later walked into the garage &$t&s likewalking into darkness As he comes out of the garage the "ig one has shifted from the south to thenorth side of the house and is then u% to 20M30 feet& As &ittle *e& walked towards the house, he

"ecame %rogressively smaller as did everything else on ground level hen &ittle *e& entered thehouse, the roof disa%%eared making visi"le the inside of the house, "ut with alterations he side ofthe house, containing the couch where his wife sat, was no longer visi"le, nor was the cri" containinghis infant son at the head of the couch &Eig *e& o"served &ittle *e& %our gasoline, which #remem"ered doing, on the floor of the "edroom and dining room At the %oint when he reached thecentre of the house, &there isn&t any more& he &ittle *e& had disa%%eared

he se'uence was re-esta"lished only when in the garage and not "efore !e then felt a consciousim%ulse to hurt himself 4":ectively, the house would %ro"a"ly have "een "urning "y that time $n thegarage # again ex%erienced multi%le selves


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state occurs where de:ection and guilt are so %rofound that they not only enter into the thinking andaffective life, "ut dominate it to the %oint of exclusive %reoccu%ation he routinied activities of thede%ressed continue to "e carried out xce%t in the most regressed states, more ty%ically seen in thelater decades of life, the individual continues to look and act relatively a%%ro%riate At the same timehe is not only gradually giving u% realistic ho%es a"out himself and his life, "ut %erfunctorily carryingout lifelong ha"its of %erformance, such as # %itching hay, %urchasing groceries, waving to %eo%lehe has known all his life, etc

*ost fascinating is the dou"le orientation that can a%%ear hile others may not "e aware of%erce%tual and cognitive a"errations, and while the individual maintains ego functioning in routiniedactivities, %rimary %rocess cognition gains ascendancy $m%ressions are recorded and ty%icalres%onses occur, yet im%airment in rational %rocesses does exist hile acting in an a%%arentlyrational manner, cognitive %rocesses are dominated "y infantile wishes, fantasies, denied hates andretaliatory fears he conse'uence of all this for # was a gradual "elief that his world was sli%%ingaway from him itness the %remonitory dreams in this connexion hen things "egan to change, aloss of o":ect "oundaries occurred where the familiar seemed changed

$t is not that # sim%ly &"ecame %sychotic& at a certain moment in time, such as when sitting acrossfrom his wife %rior to the homicide Begressive forces had "een gaining momentum for some timehat a%%eared to "e devices for maintaining a %recarious control failed over an extended %eriod A

'uestion such as &at what exact moment did # "ecome %sychotic& is not only unanswera"le, it failsto gras% the meaning of regressive %rocesses !owever, it is meaningful to ask whether an individualwas %sychotic at various times when acts were carried out

$n contrast to %aranoid mentation, which constructs a world of hate "ased on %ro:ections of &you&re nogood&, the %sychotic de%ressive acts on the construct &$&m no good& 4ne logical outcome would then"e a suicide as a self-directed hatred $n #&s case, these manifestations "ecame overt duringadolescence and more entrenched as a characterological &way of life& in his third decade


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he 'uestion of 'uantitative re'uirements for de%ressive delusionality is significant # had feelingsof "adness, worthlessness and inade'uacy which a%%eared incorrigi"le #o such feelings 'ualify asevidence for delusions As a %reliminary, we note that in conventional %sychiatric nomenclature, onediscerns a %uling inconsistency in how the %hrase &%sychotic delusion& is em%loyed in contexts notinvolving de%ressions onsider hy%ochondriasis for illustrative %ur%oses raditionally and in thestandard nomenclature, hy%ochondriasis is not classified as a %sychosis hen hystericalconversions are carefully distinguished on the one hand, and %sychosomatic syndromes on theother, from &true hy%ochondriasis&, the latter in its %urest form is characteried "y a com"ination ofchronic and %ervasive "odily concerns he %atient ruminates, worries, talks and com%lains a"out hishealth, and the ma:ority seem to have a &fixed "elief& that they suffer from an organic disease hedisease may even "e s%ecified, such as "rain tumour, cancer, or some su"tle and undiagnosa"ledisease entity hese %atients rely u%on their dee%-seated conviction of serious organic illness as a:ustification for massive withdrawal from life&s tasks and gratifications >o amount of multi%le medicalreassurance exerts any discorro"orative influence u%on the %atient&s "elief that an organic disease is%resent

$t is somewhat difficult to understand why clinicians consider this extreme and recalcitrant%sycho%athology a neurosis hy is it not classified as a %sychosis $n this connexion we arereminded of Eleuler&s (1911)dictum that almost all true cases of hy%ochondriasis are schio%hreniaOuite a%art from the sometimes gross im%airment of social, sexual and vocational functioning, where

the disorder meets one of the commonly mentioned %sychotic criteria of &influencing the total%ersonality&, we have the sim%le clinical fact that the %atient holds to a fixed "elief, which iso":ectively false, a"out the condition of his "ody his "elief %ersists and leads to acts which may "e'uite detrimental to him6all this in the face of what to a normal %erson would "e %ersuasiveevidence that the "elief is false $t does not seem to us that to hold firmly to a false "elief, in the faceof strong, contrary evidence, that one has cancer or tu"erculosis, is any less delusional than holdingto a false "elief of a more "iarre nature lassification of hy%ochondriasis as a %sychoneurosisseems to rely u%on the notion that a delusion a"out one&s own "ody is less of a failure in reality-testing than a delusion a"out one&s social status or other %eo%le&s activities $t may "e suggested thattraditional %sychiatry has an unex%ressed classification of &o":ective facts& as facts external to theself, in which the "ody is considered %art of the self Eut this is not held consistently either hen afalse, fixed idea a"out one&s "ody is sufficiently "iarre in character, (eg the idea that one&s insidesare em%ty, or that one has a tiny mill-wheel turning in his head) these somatic ideas areunhesitatingly classified as &delusions&

onsider the ty%ical de%ressive ver"aliation, &$ am no good& hy are clinicians reluctant to classifythis as a full-fledged delusion e suggest that three features, taken collectively, give rise to thereluctance he first lies in the tenuous linkage, %ro"a"ilistic at "est, "etween the ver"aliation andthe unknown, inferred internal state to which it %ur%ortedly corres%onds *any ver"alcommunications from %atients are determined "y transference factors, &cry for hel%& motives and thelike, rather than a mainly cognitive intent to convey in words an intros%ecta"le %sychic state>egative self-evaluations such as &$ am no good& are %articularly su":ect to such distorting influencese know that even within the non-%athological range, a loss of some kind may lead to semi-sincereremarks a"out one&s &no good& self which, in some sense, are not &fully "elieved& $n this connexionwe recall 5reud&s(191/)astute clinical o"servation that the ty%ical melancholic %atient acts in oneres%ect 'uite inharmoniously with his ex%ressed self-derogatory ideas in that he is likely to "e 'uitedemanding, com%laining, and even officious 5reud&s ex%lanation of the %aradox was that the %atient

is actually directing his derogatory condemnations to someone other than himself here is o"viouslya sense in which the %atient may "e said not to &really "elieve& the "ad things he ver"alied a"outhimself

A second source of one&s reluctance to call vague or general intro%unitive ideas &delusional& wouldexist even if the %atient&s ver"aliations were taken at face value he semantic contents of theseex%eriences are somewhere in the grey region "etween the realm of values and the realm of facts $ncontem%orary intellectual life6es%ecially among clinicians and social scientists who are concernedwith these matters6there is fre'uently a tacit acce%tance of the classical %ositivist notion that value-statements are devoid of truth-content, inca%a"le of "eing either true or false his is not the %lace,even if we had the %hiloso%hical com%etence, to enter into that ancient controversy Eut theo%eration of this %hiloso%hical attitude is seen "y considering that most clinicians would "eunreservedly willing to la"el as &delusional& a %erson who said, &$ am no good "ecause $ "rought onorld ar $$&, "ut might hesitate if the %erson merely said &$ am no good& onsider an intermediary

case such as ra ;ound who stated+ &$ have come of late to "e in a state of total uncertainty, where

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$ am conscious only of dou"t $ do no work any more $ do nothing $ fall into lethargy and $contem%late verything that $ touch, $ s%oil $ have "lundered always& (Ja%%, 198.)

$n general it seems that whenever the %atient can ela"orate a self-derogatory evaluation "yreference to alleged facts, and the clinician can satisfy himself that these facts are non-existent, andthe %atient has no %ersuasive rational grounds for "elieving them, the ru"ric &delusional& is taken asclearly a%%ro%riate he difficult situations are those where the facts the %atient has in mind are'ualitatively of the right kind "ut there is a merely 'uantitative discre%ancy "etween the mass of factsand the intensity of the negative self-attitude $t might "e em%hasied that someone like #, who wasa mem"er of a conservative religious "ody and who engaged in an adulterous affair, can hardly havehis thought-%rocesses viewed as delusional if he "elieves himself morally guilty, or ex%eriencesfeelings of guilt harmonious with this "elief &4":ectively& such a %erson has "roken the moral rules ofhis social su"culture and his adultery has violated the criminal law


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;erce%tion may "e more detailed or shar%ened #istortion of certain o":ects delineated against a"lurred "ackground occur A sound may "e distorted "y hy%eracusis or denied altogether $ndeed, amonth "efore the homicide # had a dream which he later felt was exactly re-enacted the night of thehomicide


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%urified %leasure ego and differentiation "etween self and non-self have interesting relations to theclassical mystic way of talking a"out &union with the all&, &annihilation of the self&, etc

om%are the following+ (1) he affirmation of negative characters which radically se%arate theecstatic state from the normal or a"normal %sychological states of ordinary life the effacement of theem%irical ego, the leaving aside of imagery and s%atiality, the a"sence of all enumera"le multi%licity,that is to say, the cessation of conce%tual thought cstasy is negative (2) 4n the other hand, theaffirmation that this cessation of conce%tual thoughts is not total unconsciousness "ut, rather, theenlargement and intensification of even a higher form of intellectual activity cstasy is %ositive(*arechal P Eruges, 192.)(@ohnston, 198/)

*ulti%le ex%eriences of feeding followed "y slee%ing, fuses the feeding situation with dreams thatcontinuously follow he seeking of the manic is derived from the conviction that such a "lessedstate was once ex%erienced and might actually "e availa"le again $n a de%ressed state, the %ainfulex%eriences accom%anying a threat of loss, com%etition, envy and hel%lessness, is related to thethreat of %ast reality $n #&s case, a sense of hel%less defeat %ersisted in the form of "eing a chronic&loser& #isa%%ointing events of the %receding year, week and evening of #&s life, reinvoked feelingsof %reviously unresolved anguish hat would "e currently ex%erienced would "e a reca%itulation ofthe %ast6a true dC:D vu 5eelings that many occurrences of the %ast several months were re-ex%eriences of something from the %ast %rovide an index of the regressive tendencies that were

gaining ascendancy hese fragmented ego-states, re%resentative of %rimitive ex%erientialcom%onents, contri"ute to sensory and %erce%tual alterations he general regression of ego-functioning %ermitted "oth the amor%hous and selective heightening of vague images and re%ressionof others

5actors interfering with accurate reality a%%raisal in the %sychotic de%ressive are fascinating and notclear $t may "e asked what %revented # from viewing himself o":ectively as caught u% in a viciouscircle of defeat and disa%%ointment rather than continuing self-"lame Asking this is not to negateunconscious sources for conflicts which made # unaware of %redis%osing factors affecting him u% toand after the homicide hat %revented him from correcting his im%aired sense or reality e againface the 'uestion as to what &"enefits& an individual receives from delusional self-re%resentations;erha%s these "ehaviours need not "e viewed in a teleological sense, "ut are related to a massiveconditioning %rocess to act in a self-humiliating manner from a religion, culture, and early significantothers who failed to give sufficient gratifications for acting in ways not hum"le and self-effacing Aresult could "e a lifetime inhi"ition in ac'uiring and maintaining self-assertive, gratification-demanding "ehaviour which a ma:ority of others in the wider culture ex%erience as %leasura"lehere is still the 'uestion of why the reality-distortion not only gained momentum, "ut %assed the%oint of corrigi"ility

o "e hum"le and de%ressed meant for # safety from countervailing needs for %ower, inflictingin:ury, %ride, con'uest and %ossession o longer dovirtuous acts in themselves then %rovide gratification #emands for undoing and re%aration "ecomeoverwhelming ;aralleling these %henomenological states was the daily %attern of seeing *rs A,feeling una"le to give her u%, and conscious conflict with religious teachings which could never "ereconciled with needing a woman other than his wife he ultimate danger is to act on these

im%ulses, "ut to do so re'uired an a"andonment of "oth ego controls and su%erego dictates A fearof an im%ending disaster loomed he only ho%e for survival from such a cataclysmic event would "ethrough further restitutive %rocesses via delusion or "y enduring great suffering his is achieved atthe height of the regression "y two self-inflicted wounds in his side and choosing a means ofsuffering (tying himself to the clothes-%ole &cross&) as only a god would do

4ne danger in an evolving %sychotic %rocess is that feelings of merging with the environment occurwith ego "oundaries "lurred his again raises the 'uestion as to the validity of 'uantitative or'ualitative distinctions "etween neurotic and %sychotic de%ressions


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"e significant differences as to ty%es of defensive o%erations %resent in a neurotic and %sychoticde%ression Eesides, the kinds of ego and su%erego regressions %resent when ego "oundaries"ecome vague are not associated with neurotic de%ressions

he threat of fusion is high for those vulnera"le to severe regression $ndividuals who are thusvulnera"le tend to need greater "odily contact hey may have suffered greater handica%s in thedifferentiation accom%anying ego develo%ment *asochistic vulnera"ility is a related dis%ositionAlthough cognitive and affective com%onents of fusion are %leasura"le, they carry a threat ofdissolution or annihilation 7iven an individual whose develo%ment has not ade'uately %rogressedand whose ego "oundaries are unsta"le, where se%aration remains tenuous, the wish for and fear offusion is a threat that has never "een mastered 4n the other hand, given even a modicum ofdifferentiation which # had achieved, the %ro"lem shifts to the threat %osed "y %ersistentattachments he narcissistic element in #&s love for *rs A was ex%ressed in his feeling that shewas more like himself than he could imagine 5reud (191F)discussed this when he said+

he develo%ment of the ego consists in a de%arture from %rimary narcissism and gives rise to avigorous attem%t to recover that state (% 100)

G the neurotic, G on account of his excessive o":ect-cathexes, is im%overished in his ego and isinca%a"le of fulfilling his ego ideal !e then seeks a way "ack to narcissism from his %rodigal

ex%enditure of li"ido u%on o":ects "y choosing a sexual ideal after the narcissistic ty%e which%ossesses the excellences to which he cannot attain (% 101)

oewald(191)viewed the threat of fusion with the maternal o":ect or intro:ect as %resenting thesame danger to the ego as that of a %aternal castration threat he danger of an annihilation threatmay "e the fear that control over aggression will "e lost $t is analogous to a %rimitive fantasy of anatomic ex%losion from a &fusion& in which the self and all related o":ects are destroyed *orefundamentally, when &$& and &thou& "ecome fused, the lack of o":ect "oundaries facilitates destructiveacts his gives a realistic "asis to the situation when regression to an undifferentiated ego stateoccurs and controls are :eo%ardied

)!T"(ATE PRE$"P"TATS: THE %"A! $O((O PATH*A&7iven a narcissistic character structure, there is a 'uestion as to the vulnera"ility of the de%ressive

%ersonality to %sychosis as well as to commit dangerous acts $t is a sensi"le, although not asufficient ex%lanation, to seek out %reci%itants A com%rehensive %sychodynamic ex%lanation shouldaccount for the factors that lead to a state of relative ho%elessness here is a danger of assigningcausal significance to one factor, since without a com"ination, the final end%oint necessary for ahomicide does not occur


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%artici%ation in several all-male grou%s outside his religion (eg during various military missions) omaintain an adulterous affair in this context is taken as another index of how dramatic aninconsistency in his %ersonality had develo%ed here is evidence that his su%erego was largelymaternal in origin !is mother had instructed him in this manner so that deviation was felt as directlyviolating Ei"lical in:unctions he maternal model of long-suffering and hard work withoutcom%laining contri"uted to his identification, sym%athy and %ity for her @ones (19F/) made ano"servation that children have a need to magnify external dangers in %reference to the maintenanceof unrelieved fears of internal dangers and threats he su":ect of early conscience develo%ment has"een treated elsewhere "y *alm'uist (198.)and will not "e reviewed here he most tyrannical ofsu%eregos tends to originate without overtly %unitive aggression towards a child # had neverex%erienced any %hysical %unishment ty%es of disci%line in his childhood, although his father hadoccasionally administered s%ankings to his "rother

onforming as # was to all who knew him, with his marked degree of inner control and denial, anenormous degree of hate "ecame %rominent in his %rogressive ruminations of unworthiness to the%oint of contem%lated self-destruction o continue to meet the harsh demands of such a maternalintro:ect is not only a la"our of love, "ut of hate as well >oncom%liance might "ring a"andonment, athreat which generalies to inhi"it any assertiveness his leads to a need to com%ly, "utaccom%anied "y anger, which in turn is intolera"le since it threatens to release a massive 'uantity ofunconscious aggression A %laguing sense of inferiority and failure indicate an inner &hunger& and

lack of internal narcissistic su%%lies which were sought externally

7iven his failure to o"tain external su%%ort, the danger of an ex%losive discharge of the %reviouslycontained aggression "ecame imminent $f suicide was avoided as one solution to destroy such anintro:ect, the homicide of one who stood in %lace of the intro:ect "ecomes likely6%articularly in asetting e%itomiing the essence of motherhood $t is on this vulnera"le %ersonality tem%late that thefeelings of failure im%inged, associated with an ina"ility to leave home, and the disa%%ointment whileremaining at home wo last attem%ts at leaving did not succeed+ another %ro:ected military trainingmission, and the attem%t to get in an extra flight mission (which would have taken him away the night"efore the killing6another crucial &chance& event)

4ne last %reci%itant re'uires more detailed examination he final ta"leau of the mother "reast-feeding her infant son who was lustily draining her "reasts, accom%anied "y sucking noises6as thecurtain fades and his sense of hearing is lost6re%resented a condensation of his life and itsrestitution he contentment and idyllic imagery in his %erce%tion of the scene, with its association of!eaven, %ro"a"ly re%resented the angelic (saintly) mother giving her all to a rece%tive and contentedchild6in marked contrast to their actual material and actual emotional situation Bado (192.)hasdescri"ed the %sychodynamics thus+

he torments of hunger are the mental %recursors of later %unishments and, "y way of thedisci%line of %unishment, they come to "e the %rimal mechanism of self-%unishment, which inmelancholia assumes such a fatal significance At the "ottom of the melancholic&s %rofound dread ofim%overishment, there is really sim%ly the dread of starvation (ie the im%overishment in %hysical%ossessions), with which the vitality of such %art of his ego as remains normal reacts to the ex%iatoryacts which threaten the life of the %atient in this disease Eut drinking at the mother&s "reast remainsthe radiant image of unremitting, forgiving love $t is certainly no mere chance that the *adonnanursing the hild has "ecome the em"lem of a mighty religion and there"y the em"lem of a whole

e%och of our estern civiliation $ think that if we trace the chain of ideas, guilt-atonement-forgiveness, "ack to the se'uences of ex%eriences in early infancy G rage, hunger, drinking at themother&s "reast G we have the ex%lanation of the %ro"lem why the ho%e of a"solution and love is%erha%s the most %owerful conce%tion which we meet with in the higher strata of the mental life ofmankind

THE REGRESS"'E PRO$ESS+ THE "SA,O*ER PHEO(EO+ AD THE ORA! TR"AD he a"ove history raises several 'uestions $s it %ossi"le to "e more s%ecific than to say that # hada &%sychotic e%isode& #oes it assist us to add that there was not only a regression in all mentals%heres, "ut that in addition there was an ego s%lit $t a%%ears that a %rogressive %rocess ofde%ressive illness, with rather ty%ical signs and sym%toms, reached a homicidal end-stage which isinfre'uent although not unheard of, in the de%ressive-%rone (Eatt, 19F.) (oddis, 191) At acertain %oint in time a three-dimensional intersection of regressions in ego and su%erego functioningoccurred with a %riming for drive discharge $n more minor ways "efore the terminal event,manifestations of regressive drive ex%ression were %resent =%surges of anger and irrita"ility6hitherto literally unknown in this man6were handled "y increasing self-condemnation via the route

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from which the de%ressive finds it so difficult to deviate oris it unusual for archaic %atterns to emerge during transition to slee% #&s fitful slee% for months, noslee% for a week and daily unremitting headaches were conducive to ego regression ven a minute"efore the homicidal act, no one could have %redicted its occurrence old that a homicide wouldoccur, one might make general %redictions as to what ty%e of act it would "e (eg oral-regressive%henomena) $t might "e an ex%losive "ut consciously un%remediated act


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nature is o"vious ons%icuously %resent in the de%ressive are sadistic, unconscious wishes to take-in, ruin or destroy


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# re%orted multi%le dC:D vu %henomena in the weeks %receding the homicides, as well as consciousfeelings of im%ending doom and dreams with this content e suggest that $sakower-ty%e-%henomena, accom%anied "y sus%ension of hearing, trans%ired during the interval # o"served andheard his six-week-old son "reast-feeding while all three of the %artici%ants were in a hy%nagogicstate he setting was such as to revive an old, yet real, ex%erience 4ur suggestion is that #, inres%onse to in%ut images of sucking which "ore the im%rint of feelings from similar ex%eriences inthe %ast, had the affects and im%ulses from %revious times reinvoked All the %redis%osing factorsrelated to attachments and am"ivalence contri"uted at this time $sakower held that dis%lacementsand regressions at the time of these occurrences are much further advanced in the "ody ego than inthe %erce%tual ego

here is a %artial loss of reality in the sense that the reality-testing function, though %reserved, isdevoted to the o"servation of the %henomenon which is "eing ex%erienced, which means that%henomenon is not acknowledged to "e fully real A kind of &estrangement& takes %lace within two%arts of the ego, the one which is wider awake and remains on a higher level "y differentiation,o"serving the other, which ha already regressed a long way and is revealing in the hallucinatory%ossession of an o":ect that in reality has "een lost G it is the re%ressed instinctual wishes, chargedas they are with id-li"ido, which occasion the %henomenon with its conscious 'uality G "ut the real%oint in issue is the fact that the %rimary attitudes of the organism can "e revived ($sakower, 193.)

hese %henomena corres%ond to the material re%orted "y # he %rediction of a confluence ofim%ulses, affects, %reci%itants and lowered controls, at a certain %oint in time to %ermit the acting outof homicidal aggression would have "een im%ossi"le >ote additional confirmation from ex%erimentalwork "y #ement (198),which refers to increased drive levels and im%aired drive regulation underconditions of slee% de%rivation

he state of the ego during such %henomena needs examination Although Ei"ring (193) felt it wasunwarranted to view de%ressions as "ased %rimarily on oral fixations and frustrations whichdetermine later reactions to narcissistic shocks, he would have agreed that the &shock-likeex%erience of and fixation to the feeling of hel%lessness& was crucial he ego would then "e su":ectto aggressive overactivation when a situation resem"ling a %rimary shock condition arose Ei"ringem%hasied an intrasystemic tension in the ego rather than structural conflict olla%se of self-esteem leaves the ego %rone to regress hile the %henomenological as%ects of the de%ression areconfined to the ego, as%ects of aggression and orality which come to the fore in the regressed statethen assume %rimary im%ortance >or would the %ro"a"ilities of such a rare event as homicide%ermit %redictive statements even within the realm of the suicidally de%ressed, although statisticaland theoretical im%lications would make homicide more likely for those without such a vulnera"ility(Bosen, 19F)(*eehl P Bosen, 19)

hese regressive %henomena are related to the oral triad ela"orated "y ewin (190) he%redicament of # in the interval :ust %receding the homicidal acts was a reca%itulation of an infantilesituation, which ac'uired its %ower from the vulnera"le ego state According to ewin&s conce%tion,infantile wishes to devour, to "e devoured, and to slee%, would "e accom%animents he closenessof this triad to the three com%onents of a suicidal act, %ostulated "y *enninger (193.)are also ofinterest+ the wish to kill, to "e killed, and to die 'uivalents of slee% and death as narcissistic statesis so %revalent in clinical work with adults and children as to re'uire no ela"oration 5or #, oneelement was missing for com%letion of a suicidal act ven though im%ulses to kill and "e killed were

cons%icuous, the wish to die was %resent "ut not controlling ater recollections a"out the %eriod inthe garage with the s%lit &*e&s involved the idea that he had to harm himself $n fact, this thought wasforemost on his mind as he dashed out of the house, "efore the fire consumed the forgotten children$t was not a thought that he must kill himself $t was rather in the nature of re'uiring %unishment for amisdeed that had taken %lace Eut a misdeed of such magnitude would re'uire a great risk if onewas to survive o %ut one&s chances on the line against fate, or %lace oneself in the hands of 7od,"y shooting oneself in the chest em%loying a string tied to a trigger6ste%%ing more to the right on asecond try6would satisfy fate if one was to survive and live

his was a more des%erate all-or-none measure than a 'ualitatively similar o"sessional%reoccu%ation he had during flying missions, when he ruminated that he would crash his %lane intotele%hone wires $f one would take a risk to the extent of shooting one&s self, one might then deserveto live6to have ho%e


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"eing attacked acking a sufficiently strong wish to die, the %atient survived "ut with all theconse'uences attendant u%on survival e 'uestion his a"ility to commit suicide during the %eriod ofsevere de%ression %rior to the homicide, or during the %eriod afterwards #id the integration of denialand grandiosity accom%anying his narcissism %revent him from a final act of self-dissolution hishad the meaning+ &$n the end, though all others %erish in the im%ending doom, $ myself will survive&

BARABBAS+ THE G)"!T-R"DDE

Although the film Eara""as and the strong sense of Ei"lical immersion were actual ex%eriences for#, the su":ect of Eara""as is an intriguing one in itself


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assignment of outside work ater Eara""as is "rought to Bome and trained as a gladiator


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# here is a fusion of the sinner and ideal via the individual who transgresses, and who in the endmay serve as a sca%egoat for all the faithful who may vent their rage against this o":ect withim%unity ;arenthetically, the re%lay of this film in the course of a courtroom trial was anotherredramatiation of the act with its concomitant %unishment and humiliation #id not Eara""as denyhis idealied 'uest for goodness and su"stitute hatred and "etrayal he ultimate significance of thefigure of Eara""as is that of re"ellion and destruction against a father-god $n the fusion of Eara""asand hrist, "oth the destruction and redem%tion are united and carried out as though one ew ?ork+ $nt =niv ;ress

1F74KB, 198. he Eirth of the go ondon+ Allen P =nwin

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1!AB*A>>, 198/ he Eiology of #reaming


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F0BA#4,

barabbas, a study in guilt-ridden homicide --- impresso

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