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

by Vamik 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.

109 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 11, 2018

About the author

Emeritus professor of psychiatry, psychoanalyst, and peace advocate known for applying psychological insights to international conflicts. A five-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, he has worked to bring together ethnic groups in conflict, including in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.

Born in 1932 to a Turkish family in Nicosia, Cyprus, Volkan immigrated to the United States in 1957. His early life was shaped by witnessing interethnic conflict in Cyprus, and the murder of a close friend by a Greek Cypriot nationalist heightened his interest in mourning and political trauma.

He completed his psychiatric training and spent 39 years on the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, eventually becoming an emeritus professor. Volkan founded this center in 1988 at the University of Virginia to apply psychoanalytic theory to international relations.

Based on his personal and professional experience, Volkan developed several key concepts related to large-group behavior and trauma: Chosen trauma, Chosen glory, Large-group identity, Transgenerational transmission of trauma.

For decades, Volkan has convened unofficial, multi-year dialogues between high-level representatives from opposing "large groups". His approach is founded on the idea that psychological insights must be part of diplomacy.

He has worked in numerous conflict zones, including Estonia, Georgia, Kuwait, and across the former Yugoslavia.

He was a member of former President Jimmy Carter's International Negotiation Network from 1989 to 2000.