Prologue to Violence - Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime

Despite mounting references to the "transgenerational transmission of violence," we still lack a compelling understanding of the linkage between the interpersonal violence of early life and the criminal violence of adulthood. In Prologue to Violence, Abby Stein draws on the gripping narratives of 65 incarcerated subjects and extensive material from law enforcement files to remedy this lacuna in both the forensic and psychodynamic literature. In the process, she calls into question prevailing beliefs about criminal character and motivation. For Stein the early trauma to which adult criminals are subjected remains unformulated and, as such, unavailable for reflection. Contrary to common belief, these criminals, especially sex murderers, do not commit their crimes in a rational or fully conscious way. They are not driven by deviant fantasy, their psychopathy is not inborn, and they rarely commit acts of violence "without conscience."

List of contents

Stern, Foreword. Preface. Who Me? Locating Agency in Violent Narratives. Slippery Characters: Methods and Sources. Conversing With Mutes. Criminals' Bad Luck. Maximum Perversion. Dreaming While Awake. Conclusion: Consciousness, Culpability, and Control. References. Acknowledgements.

About the author

The author of numerous articles on criminal psychopathology, child abuse and neglect, and states of consciousness during acts of violence, Abby Stein, Ph.D., is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Inter-disciplinary Studies Program of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City of New York. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology.

Product details

• Authors: Abby Stein, Stein Abby
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 09.06.2014
• EAN: 9781138005808
• ISBN: 978-1-138-00580-8
• No. of pages: 166
• Series: Psychoanalysis in a New Key Book Series
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Psychology, esoterics, spirituality, anthroposophy > Applied psychology; Social sciences, law, business > Law > Criminal law, criminal procedural law, criminology; PSYCHOLOGY / Psychopathology / General, PSYCHOLOGY / Forensic Psychology, PSYCHOLOGY / Mental Health, PSYCHOLOGY / Applied Psychology, Psychotherapy, Criminal or forensic psychology, Psychoanalytical and Freudian psychology, Sexual abuse and harassment, Crime and criminology, Psychoanalytical theory (Freudian psychology)