Luci Torture, Psychoanalysis and Human Rights

Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-317-43923-3
Verlag: CRC Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 278 Seiten

Torture, Psychoanalysis and Human Rights contributes to the development of that field of study called ‘psycho-social’ that is presently more and more committed to provide understanding of social phenomena, making use of the explicative perspective of psychoanalysis. The book seeks to develop a concise and integrated framework of understanding of torture as a socio-political phenomenon based on psychoanalytic thinking, through which different dimensions of the subject of study become more comprehensible.

Monica Luci argues that torture performs a covert emotional function in society. In order to identify what this function might be, a profile of ‘torturous societies’ and the main psychological dynamics of social actors involved – torturers, victims, and bystanders – are drawn from literature. Accordingly, a wide-ranging description of the phenomenology of torture is provided, detecting an inclusive and recurring pattern of key elements. Relying on psychoanalytic concepts derived from different theoretical traditions, including British Object Relations Theories, Relational Psychoanalysis and Analytical Psychology, the study provides an advanced line of conceptual research, shaping a model aimed at grasping the deep meaning of key intrapsychic, interpersonal and group dynamics involved in torture that, taken as a whole, compose a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon.

Once a sufficiently coherent understanding has been reached, Luci proposes using it as a groundwork tool in the human rights field to re-think the best strategies of prevention and recovery from post-torture psychological and social suffering. The book initiates dialogue between psychoanalysis and human rights, showing that the proposed psychoanalytic understanding is a viable conceptualisation for expanding thinking of crucial issues regarding torture that might be relevant to human rights and legal doctrine. For example, responsibility of perpetrators, reparation of victims and the question of ‘truth’ in torturous society.

Torture, Psychoanalysis and Human Rights is the first book to build a psychoanalytic theory of torture from which psychological, social and legal reflections as well as practical aspects of treatment can be derived and understood in mutual connection. It will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists and Jungians, as well as scholars of politics, social work and justice, and human rights and postgraduate students studying across these fields.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Luci, Monica

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Theorie, Psychoanalyse Psychoanalyse (S. Freud)
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychotherapie / Klinische Psychologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

PART ONE: THE PHENOMENON OF TORTURE

Chapter 1: Torture: what is it? A definition of the field of inquiry

Chapter 2: Torturous societies

Chapter 3: Social actors of torture

PART TWO: A PSYCHOANALYTIC UNDERSTANDING OF TORTURE

Chapter 4: Paradoxical Multiple Self States and Monolithic Self States: Destinies of the Reflective Triangle

Chapter 5: The emotional life of torturous societies: Monolithic Societal States

Chapter 6: The Splintered Reflective Triangle in bystanders, perpetrators and victims of torture

PART THREE: IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Chapter 7: The permissibility of torture

Chapter 8: Three fields of application in human rights: responsibility of perpetrators, reparation of victims and the problem of truth

Über Autor(innen)

Monica Luci, PhD, is an analytical psychologist (member of IAAP) and relational psychotherapist (member of IARPP), with extensive experience in psycho-social assistance and psychotherapeutic work with asylum seekers and refugee survivors of torture. On the issues of survivors of torture and post-traumatic states in psychological assessment, psychotherapy and research, she has contributed to a number of international conferences and taught in several professional and academic contexts.