The mind of the paedophile: Psychoanalytic perspectives
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I found to pass along to those who need it most. This book was truly memorable and leaves the reader with the same hope for resiliency that Cyrulnik himself seems to harbor.
Lindsay Weisner, Psy.D. [email protected] DOI:10.1057/palgrave.ajp.3350011
The mind of the paedophile: Psychoanalytic perspectives, Charles W. Socarides and Loretta R. Loeb (Eds.), Karnac, London, 2004, 220pp. In the preface to this collection, Socarides noted that during the 45 years preceding the publication of this volume, only three case histories of pedophiles had been reported in English in major psychoanalytic journals. He attributed the lack of scholarly attention to this group to: (1) the fact that pedophiles tend not to present themselves for analysis, due to their fear of the law; (2) the view that pedophiles are not appropriate candidates for analytic treatment; and (3) “the analyst’s aversion to treat or report on such patients because of the revulsion and anger with which their perversion is viewed by the general public and society” (p. xviii). Socarides suggested that this volume would shed light on the origins of pedophilia, describe its dynamics, and describe its possible therapy. He expressed the hope that the volume “will be a spur to others to analyze pedophile perverts as well as to tenderly care for the wounds of the child victims who are described within its pages” (p. xix). The book delivers on these promises in substantial measure. In his own chapter of the book, Socarides defines “true pedophiliacs” as individuals who “out of inner necessity must engage in sexual relations with a prepubertal child (before the development of secondary sex characteristics) in order to achieve sexual gratification and to obtain relief for unconscious conflicts” (pp. 9–10). Socarides presents a system for classifying the pedophilias based on: (1) motivation (conscious or unconscious); (2) the developmental stage from which the conflict arose; and (3) the degree of pathology of internalized object relations. Pre-oedipal forms of pedophilia are the result of fixation to the pre-oedipal phase of development from 6 months to 3 years of age. Pre-oedipal pedophilia is unconsciously motivated and arises from anxiety. “Aggressive and destructive wishes toward the mother and a fear of her retaliation or incorporation by her, together with dreaded wishes and/or fears concerning merging with the mother, are warded off through substituting the body of a prepubescent child for the body of the mother” (p. 15). There are two subtypes of pre-oedipal pedophilia. These are defined and differentiated by the degree of pathology of the internalized object relations. In the milder Type I form of preoedipal pedophilia, the etiology of the perversion is pre-oedipal, but the clinical picture is largely one of oedipal-phase conflict and regression and does not involve
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severe impairment in object relations or other ego functions. In the more severe Type II pre-oedipal form of pedophilia, “an earlier pre-oedipal fixation is of prime importance bot
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