Victimhood, vengefulness, and the culture of forgiveness / Ivan Urlec, Miriam Berger and Avi Berman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Urlec, Ivan.

Contributor:

Berger, Miriam E.

Berman, Avi.

Series:

Psychiatry- theory, applications, and treatments series.

Psychiatry- theory, applications, and treatments

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Victims of crimes--Psychology.

Victims of crimes.

Revenge.

Forgiveness.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (236 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Hauppauge, N.Y. : Nova Science Publishers, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Victimhood, vengefulness and forgiveness are topics which are strongly felt in the everyday lives of many people but not investigated enough as subjects for psychoanalytic methods. In the case of victimhood, people may feel that suffering may be abused to the point of exempt of concern for others and self-justification of causing suffering to others. This form of abuse may arise guilt and/or anger and in some cases may result in no-win situations in which mutual aggression prevents any possibility of reconciliation. In the case of vengefulness, wishes for revenge might evoke fear, anger and moral indignation which eventually might push some people towards acting out vengefulness in a destructive way. Forgiveness might be suspected as an impossible illusion which undermines constructive vision and learning from experience. By writing this book the authors try to make these concepts acknowledged, understood dynamically and accepted emphatically. Victimhood, vengefulness and forgiveness represent a course of transformation from destructive emotions and attitudes to a prospect of reconciliation.

Contents:

Introduction : personal motivations, how this book came into being?

Victimhood as psychopathology : diagnosis and interpretation point of view

Victimhood as a plea for acknowledgement and justice : the emphatic point of view

Victimhood : sociopolitical implications

The common negative reaction towards vengeful wishes

Placing revenge in a continuum from normal to pathological

The sociopolitical aspect of processing vengeful wishes

Aggression and its aftermath : trans-generational transmission of negative feelings prejudices, myths enmity

Trauma and reparation : the healing potential of psychodynamic understanding and therapeutic approach

To overcome conflicts : creating space for compassion, empathy and forgiveness in the process of reconciliation.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.

ISBN:

1-61324-201-8

OCLC:

705944522