The Cradle of Violence: Essays on Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Literature

This collection of essays focuses on the unconscious roots of human behaviour in a range of settings: the consulting room, the small group, the workplace, the therapeutic community and the GP's surgery. The author draws upon psychoanalytic theory to examine the psychological preconditions for violent behaviour stemming from a failure in courage. He observes that in violence there is an attack not only on the victim, but on the perpetrator's own universe of meaning and value. By examining the psychological implications of death, violence and other extremes, both in literature and in case material, this collection highlights many of the concerns of the field of psychotherapy from an eclectic range of source materials.