Freud's prehistoric matrix-Owing 'nature' a death

This paper is informed by contemporary literature in two fields-neonatal research, on the one hand, and the burgeoning interdisciplinary interest in Moses and monotheism, on the other. The author postulates that a cluster of traumatic events during the first two years of Freud's life compelled him to repeat what could not be remembered. Embedded in charged implicit schema, these affects remained unprocessed in Freud, who alone of all psychoanalysts did not have an analysis, manifesting in an uncanny dread/allure of the 'prehistoric' as a dark and dangerous era relating to the archaic feminine/maternal matrix and fratricidal murderousness. Furthermore, she cites evidence to suggest that for Freud this unconsciously excluded subtext of the preoedipal era became associated with ancient Egyptian and Minoan-Mycenaean cultures, a passionate fascination actualized in his collection of antiquities yet incongruously absent in his theoretical work, with three exceptions-Egyptian allusions in Leonardo's unconscious attachment to his archaic mother; the 'Minoan-Mycenaean' analogy on discovering the pre-oedipal mother shortly after the death of Freud's own mother; and Egypt as cradle of humanity in his uncharacteristically rambling, troubled text of Moses and monotheism. The author sees Freud's conceptual avoidance yet compulsive reworking of the prehistoric matrix as a symptomatic attempt to expose early unformulated representations that 'return to exert a powerful effect.'     

The influence of extreme traumatization on body, mind and social relations

Extreme traumatization affects the individual's relation to others in several social and psychological ways. The post-traumatic experiences are characterized by helplessness, insecurity, anxiety, loss of basic trust, and fragmentation of perspectives on one's own life. Special considerations should be given to the destruction of the ability to regulate negative emotions (extreme fear, distress, anguish, anger, rage, shame) in relation to others and activate internal good and empathic object relations. Destruction of the capacity for symbolization of traumatic experience may threaten the mind with chaotic states against which the 'I' tries to defend itself and find a balanced psychic mise-en-scene. The authors emphasize three dimensions that the analyst should observe in his understanding of the traumatized mind and its conflicts. The proposed dimensions are called the body-other dimension, the subject-group dimension, and the subject-discourse dimension. All three dimensions have specific structural characteristics that are expressed in the analytic relation. Extreme trauma causes disturbances in each of these dimensions. The authors present clinical material from a traumatized refugee to illustrate the analytic work.     

Working through the end of civilization

This is an account of how a civilization works through the problems it faces when it is threatened with destruction. It focuses on the example of the Crow Nation, an Indian tribe of the northwest plains of North America, and their last great chief Plenty Coups. Psychoanalytic ideas play a crucial role in explaining how a creative response was possible. In particular, their collective use of dream-visions and dream-interpretation made possible the creation of a new ego ideal for the tribe. This allowed for the transformation of traditional allocations of shame and humiliation. It also allowed for the possibility of transformation of psychological structure. And it opened up new possibilities for what might count as flourishing as a Crow. Conversely, the threat of civilizational collapse allows us to see new possibilities for the conceptual development of psychoanalysis. In particular, psychoanalysis needs to recognize that destruction can occur at the level of the culture while the individuals are not physically harmed. The psychological states of these individuals can be various and complex and cannot be neatly summed up under the category of trauma. A culture can be devastated, while there is no one-to-one relation to the psychological states of the individuals who participate in that culture. It is also true that a collapse of a way of life makes a variety of psychological states impossible. Coming to understand these phenomena is essential to understanding how a culture works through threats to its very existence.     

Creation as transformation: Parenting as a turning point in drug users’ lives

This paper is drawn from a narrative inquiry into how ex‐drug users understand the connection between childhood trauma and their subsequent drug misuse. The research was commissioned by a community drugs project. Eight participants were selected from respondents to an advertisement in a counselling journal, five of whom are qualified psychological therapists. The particular focus of this paper is on the interconnection of childhood trauma/abuse, drug misuse and parenting, by showing participants’ own experience of being parented and how the experience of becoming a parent helped them to transform their relationship with drugs. The paper draws attention to the therapeutic value of recognising the complex contextual factors that influence the parenting abilities of problematic drug users, and of building upon the positive attitudes, hopes, values and capabilities that underscore the ‘good parenting’ found in their stories. The work suggests that drug rehabilitation, treatment or counselling might usefully focus on parent–child relationships, which can become a turning point for identity transformation.     

Development and initial validation of a measure of supportive and unsupportive managerial behaviors

Studies documenting the positive consequences of managerial support have continued unabated, despite considerable ambiguity surrounding the conceptualization of this construct and the adoption of measures that lack specificity. Moreover, research on the positive effects of managerial support has overshadowed our understanding of the ways in which managers contribute to job strain. In order to address these gaps, we took an inductive approach, documenting supportive, and unsupportive managerial behaviors reported by a sample of 25 employees working in a variety of occupations. We subsequently developed a new measure of supportive and unsupportive managerial behaviors and validated it with two separate samples (N = 100; N = 247). The measure demonstrated strong internal reliability and convergent validity. Factor analysis of the measure yielded a two-factor model of support and a one-factor structure of unsupportive behaviors. Theoretical and organizational implications of the findings are discussed.     

跨文化适应与应激、应激源研究:中国学生、学者在德国

本文旨在探讨在德国的中国学生／学者跨文化适应与应激源和应激之间的关系。其中,跨文化适应分为总体、人际及学习／工作适应三方面．应激源分为社会和学习／工作两方面,而应激则有文化、心理和生理三个层面。被试为99名在德国的中国留学生及访同学者。研究结果表明：除工作／学习应激与总体适应没有显著负相关之外,应激源与三方面的跨文化适应均显著负相关,回归分析表明了同样的趋势。在应激与跨文化适应的关系上,适应良好的被试应激水平较低。总体适应能够预测文化、生理及生理应激。     

Infanticide and maternal aggression: Synchrony of male and female reproductive strategies in mice

Thirty-six percent of male mice from three strains attacked newborn pups sired by another male. No male attacked its own offspring. Females did not show differential aggression toward males likely (strangers) or unlikely (sires) to attack their pups. Both forms of aggression were unaffected by housing in rooms which did or did not contain the aggression targets. The three strains differed in strength of maternal aggression but not in the incidence of infanticide. Females showed more aggression when mated with males of the same, rather than a different, strain but no differences with intruders of the same or a different strain. Infanticide by males is best viewed as a postcopulatory, intermale-competition strategy, and maternal aggression as a counter strategy.     

The roles of trauma exposure,rejection sensitivity,and callous‐unemotional traits in the aggressive behavior of justice‐involved youth: A moderated mediation model

Research has demonstrated an association between childhood trauma exposure and adolescent aggression. This association may be explained by rejection sensitivity, defined as anger, or anxiety in the anticipation of rejection, which can be a consequence of trauma exposure. Callous‐unemotional (CU) traits also are associated with trauma exposure and aggressive behavior; however, research has not yet investigated the interactive roles that rejection sensitivity and CU traits play in the relation between trauma exposure and aggression. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the role of rejection sensitivity in the association between trauma exposure and aggression, and whether this indirect effect was moderated by CU traits. Participants included 380 detained youth (98 girls, 282 boys) who completed self‐report measures of trauma exposure, angry, and anxious rejection sensitivity, CU traits, and aggression. Results of moderated mediation demonstrated that the relation between trauma exposure and aggression exhibited an indirect effect through angry rejection sensitivity, but only at moderate or high levels of CU traits. This pattern was not found for anxious rejection sensitivity. Results suggest that interventions aimed to decrease aggressive behavior in traumatized adolescents may benefit from considering how youth respond to rejection, as well as whether youth endorse CU traits, as this may help to limit further involvement in the juvenile justice system after release.

     

Healing from Moral Injury: A Qualitative Evaluation of the Impact of Killing Treatment for Combat Veterans

This paper evaluates the Impact of Killing (IOK) treatment—a psychological intervention designed to address moral injury and trauma associated with killing in war. Using qualitative data from interviews with 28 combat veterans, we examine IOK’s impact, how it differs from other trauma-focused treatments, and how it can be improved to better meet veterans’ needs. We found that many veterans processed their killing experiences for the first time in IOK, even though all had previously completed evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder. Several described killing in war as the most distressing and transformative trauma of their lives, and all affirmed the value of an intervention focused directly and explicitly on moral injury and killing. IOK helped veterans to acknowledge their grief, shame, and distress; gently but critically examine their thoughts and beliefs about killing in war; and make strides toward acceptance, reconciliation, and forgiveness.     

Collective Trauma From the Lab to the Real World: The Effects of the Holocaust on Contemporary Israeli Political Cognitions

This research tested whether chronic or contextually activated Holocaust exposure is associated with more extreme political attitudes among Israeli Jews. Study 1 (N = 57), and Study 2 (N = 61) found that Holocaust primes increased support for aggressive policies against a current adversary and decreased support for political compromise via an amplified sense of identification with Zionist ideology. These effects, however, were obtained only under an exclusive but not an inclusive framing of the Holocaust. Study 3 (N = 152) replicated these findings in a field study conducted around Holocaust Remembrance Day and showed that the link between Holocaust exposure, ideological identification, and militancy also occurs in real‐life settings. Study 4 (N = 867) demonstrated in a nationally representative survey that Holocaust survivors and their descendants exhibited amplified existential threat responses to contemporary political violence, which were associated with militancy and opposition to peaceful compromises. Together, these studies illustrate the Holocaustization of Israeli political cognitions 70 years later.