Animal Killer: Transmission of War Trauma From One Generation to the Next

Psikanalitik Öyküler #4

by Vamık D. Volkan

A psychoanalytic process from its beginning to its termination is described to illustrate crucial technical issues in the treatment of individuals with narcissistic personality organization and the countertransference manifestations such patients stimulate in the analyst. The subject of this book exhibited cruelty to confirm and stabilize his grandiosity. His internal world was a "reservoir" of the deposited image of his father figure, an individual most severely traumatized during World War II. The patient was given the task to be a mass-"killer" of animals instead of being a hunted one.This book most clearly illustrates how the transgenerational transmission of trauma takes place and how the impact of war continues in future generations. The book also provides an understanding of a special kind of psychological motivation that directs a person to use weapons for mass killing. In this era of pluralism in psychoanalysis, providing the story of a psychoanalytic case in its duration opens ways for comparison and discussion of technique and can be used as a teaching tool.

Genres: Psychology

118 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Vamık D. Volkan (born in 1932 in Nicosia, Cyprus) is a Turkish Cypriot Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, the Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Erikson Institute of Education and Research of the Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and an Emeritus Training and Supervising Analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, Washington, D.C. Before coming to the United States in 1957 he received his medical education at the School of Medicine, University of Ankara, Turkey. He Professor Volkan holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Kuopio University, Finland (2005) and from Ankara University, Turkey (2006). Academic Positions and Appointments in the USA Dr. Volkan was Director of the Gender Identity Clinic, University of Virginia Medical Center (1970-1976); member of the Task Force on Psychiatry and Foreign Affairs, American Psychiatric Association (1971-1977); Acting Chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Virginia School of Medicine (1977-1978); Consultant, Agency for International Development, Cyprus Mental Health Project, Department of State, Washington, D.C. for the design and construction of a Community Mental Health Center in Lefkoșa (Nicosia), North Cyprus, with a capacity for 100 inpatients (1977-1982); Chairperson of the Advisory Committee, Division of Social Work, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center (1981-1983); Co-chair of the Sexual Deviations Study Group, American Psychoanalytic Association (1982-1992); Chairperson of the Committee on Psychiatry and Foreign Affairs, American Psychiatric Association (1983-1985); Chairperson of the Committee on International Relations, Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (1986-1996); member, Advisory Board, Center for Psychological Studies in the Nuclear Age, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts (1989-1992); member, Advisory Board, Margaret S. Mahler Research Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1992-2005); Chairperson of the Select Advisory Commission of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Critical Incident Response Group that examined the 1993 Waco, Texas incident (1995); Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts (2001); member of Working Group on Terror and Terrorism, International Psychoanalytic Association (2002-2004); Guest Instructor, Berkshires Psychoanalytic Institute, Stockbridge, MA (2007). Blue Ridge Hospital Dr. Volkan was the Medical Director of the University of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Hospital (a general hospital) (1978-1994). Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction (CSMHI) Dr. Volkan was Founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction (CSMHI) (1987-2002) at the School of Medicine, University of Virginia. CSMHI applied a growing theoretical and field-proven base of knowledge to issues such as ethnic tension, racism, national identity, terrorism, societal trauma, transgenerational transmissions, leader-follower relationships, and other aspects of national and international conflict. Because no single discipline can fully illuminate such deep-seated and complex issues, CSMHI's faculty and board included experts in psychoanalysis, psychiatry, psychology, diplomacy, history, political science, and environmental policy. Their combined perspectives and experience provided in-depth analyses of political, historical, and social issues and the psychological processes that invariably exist beneath their surface.[1]

International Negotiation Network (INN) Professor Volkan was a member of the International Negotiation Network (INN) under the directorship of the former President Jimmy Carter (1989-1998). In 1987, President Carter founded INN as a flexible, informed network of former heads of state, Nobel Peace laureates, eminent persons and conflict resolution practitioners dedicated to resolving international conflicts through peaceful means. In 1992, Dr. Volkan traveled with President Carter and othe

Reviews

[Aytac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hayvan Katili ne yazik ki Ingilizce'den Türkçe'ye çevirisinde özensizlige kurban gitmis bir psikanalitik vaka analizi. Yazim hatalari, akiciligin hiç gözetilmemis olmasi, anlamsizliga varacak kadar hatali direkt tercümeler, terminolojinin gözetilmemesi gibi hatalariyla bir çeviri vaka analizi konusu... Yüz yüze görüsmeden geçilmesi bir olay olarak bahsedilen öyle bir "divan" düsünün ki, 90'inci sayfaya kadar üzerine uzanilabilen bir "koltuk"ken, muhtemelen çeviriye verilmis bir aradan sonra aniden "kanepe" oluveriyor... Daha baska örnekler de mevcut, bir kelimede karar kilip ona karsilik gelen terim her belirdiginde ayni terminolojiyi kullanmak yerine, es anlamli baska sözcükleri sanki sözcük dagarcigini zenginlestirmek için bilinçli olarak yaparmis gibi degistirerek kullanma pratikleri... Bir baska yerde Ikarus'un balmumundan kanatlari ve Girit adasi su sekilde bir karmasaya kurban gitmisler: "Daedalus kus tüyleri arasindan kendine ve oglu Ikarus'a Crete'den uzaklara uçmalari ve Ada'dan kurtulmalarina yardim etmek için iki çift kanat yapti. Oglunu çok yüksekten uçmamasi konusunda uyardi; çünkü, günes mumu eritirdi."

Buna ragmen konusu olan narsisist kisilik yapilanmasina dair örneklemesi yer yer asiri dramatikligin sinirlarinda gezinse de ilginçligini/sürükleyiciligini hemen hemen kitabin sonlarina kadar koruyor. Analizan, psikanalist ve supervisor arasindaki degisken/geçisken dinamigi görmek imkani tanimasi açisindan da degerli. Vamik Volkan'in erisilebilirlik iddiasinin etkisiyle, psikanalitik yöntem ve terminolojiyi açiklayici özelliginin dozu da hiç fena ayarlanmamis. Fakat böyle kötü bir çevirinin bu ögreticilik prensibiyle çelistigini, dolayisiyla mümkünse orijinal dilinde okunmasi gerektigini belirtmek gerek.

Psikanalitik öyküler serisinin diger bölümlerinin baska bir çevirmen - ki alana daha hakim gözüküyor yaptigi çeviri sayisi itibariyle - tarafindan yapildigini ekleyelim, muhtemelen dogrusu onlardan baslamak olacaktir.

[dungbeetle · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Boşluk, içsel hislerin, hayallerin ve dileklerin ve ayrıca dışsal uyarıların fakirleşmesiyle vücut bulan sübjektif bir zihinsel durumdur. İnançlar, şevk ve başkalarıyla olan ilişkiler yok olmuş ve yerini durgunluk, sıkkınlık ve yüzeysellik almıştır."

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was impressed by this small book, which despite its size, carries important implications.
I have not read Vamik Volkan before, although I have heard his work referenced by authors I have read, such as Ilany Kogan (The Struggle Against Mourning).
Dr Volkan writes in a way that conveys a great deal of information in a clear and easily understandable manner.
Early on in my own clinical work, I began to notice the presence of intergenerational trauma. Animal Killer has helped me to understand this process on a deeper level, and piqued my interest to learn more about it.
What most impressed me was the deep sense of connection between the lives intersecting in this unfolding story of healing. Father and son, analyst and supervisor, patient and family … all find some sense of greater awareness, closeness to life or redemption.
This book provides an impetus to face trauma directly in our cultural awareness, to acknowledge it with clarity and compassion, and to do our best to heal each traumatized generation, so that trauma is not denied, or medicated away, or swept under the rug alongside distorted conceptions of resilience.
Not all violence is committed directly out of personal evil. Vamik Volkan paints a multi-layered picture to help us better glimpse and confront the sources of violent human behaviour. He does not minimize the work involved, but also reveals that the work itself can heal in both directions.
With so many traumatized veterans returning home from theatres of war, can we learn some important truths from this book, and perhaps save the next generation from some of the suffering and violence that emerges in the wake of the battlefield?

[Sevda Sen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psikolojik kitapları sevdiğimden, gerçek vakalarda ilgimi çektiğinden merakla okudum hastanın iyileşme sürecini. Kendine pay çıkarabilecek detaylara da sahip yalnız tek sorun vardı kitapta açıklama yapılan kısımları sona bırakmışlar dipnot gibi alt kısma koyacakları yere sürekli arkaya dönüp okumak zor bağlantı gidiyor onun dışında sevdim.

[Merve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Olay örgüsü iyi olabilecekken ya çevirmenden kaynaklı ya da kişisel bilgileri gizleyebilmek için olayın gidişatında kopukluklar var dahası dil akmıyor ayrıca konulara sadece değinilmiş gibi, ben çok faydalanamadım