Errant Selves: A Casebook of Misbehavior PDF
Preview Errant Selves: A Casebook of Misbehavior
Errant Selves Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Errant Selves A Casebook of Misbehavior edited by Arnold Goldberg ~ THE ANALYTIC PRESS 2000 Hillsdale, NJ London Copyrighted Material © 2000 by The Analytic Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form: by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by The Analytic Press, Inc., Publishers Editorial Offices: 101 West Street Hillsdale, New Jersey 07642 www.analyticpress.com Designed and typeset by Compudesign, Charlottesville, VA Index by Leonard S. Rosenbaum Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Errant selves : a casebook of misbehavior / edited by Arnold Goldberg. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88163-333-X l. Compulsive behavior-Case studies. 2. Psychology, Pathological-Case studies. 3. Psychoanalysis-Case studies. I. Goldberg, Arnold, 1929- RC533.E774 2000 616.85'227-dc21 00-057603 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyrighted Material Contents Acknowledgments VI Introduction VII 1. The Case of John Alter To Catch a Thief (or Two) 2. The Case of Kool The Psychoanalysis of a Transvestite 25 3. The Case of Bert A Case of Infidelity 45 4. The Case of Janie A Young Woman in Passionate Pursuit 73 5. The Case of Peter Stone A Case of Compulsive Masturbation 103 6. The Case of Alice Perverse Indiscretions of an Inhibited Young Woman 135 7. The Case of Rashid Purloined Letters: The Psychoanalysis of a Man Who Stole Books 161 8. The Case of Alexander Variations on the Vertical Split- Psychotherapy of a Delinquent 187 References 213 Contributors 215 Index 217 V Copyrighted Material Acknowledgments The editor and contributors are grateful for the support of their families, friends, and patients. In addition to the authors of these cases, our study group was composed of Constance Goldberg, Dr. Robert Gordon, Dr. Robert J. Leider, Dr. Sheldon Meyers, Ms. Judith Newman, Dr. David Solomon, and Dr. Ruth Yanagi. Financial support for our work was given by the Psychotherapy Fund of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. Editorial and secretarial assistance was provided by Ms. Christine Susman. She and all of those listed were supportive and encour aging throughout this project and we are all indebted to them. vi Copyrighted Material Introduction This book evolved over time. A group of analysts was formed in order to collect and study cases of perversions, delinquencies, and addictions for a casebook. We met to discuss these cases, and we hoped ultimately to publish the clinical data we felt were all of a piece, that is, the cases in which behavior disorders shared similar characteristics, a similarity that deserved a detailed pre sentation. One of the features common to all cases was that the noteworthy behavior (of whatever sort) served primarily to ward off or obliterate painful affects or states of dysphoria, and in doing so to make for a feeling of self-strength or consolidation. Just as a long run for exercise or a comic movie for fun helps one tem porarily both to forget reality and to live in another world, so too did these behaviors enable our patients to step away from their everyday and often unhappy lives and to experience relief and (sometimes) pleasure. That some or most of these behaviors were more appropriately termed misbehavior, such as seen in the sex ual perversions, was considered to be an added ingredient to that first basic and fundamental characteristic: the behavior was nec essary. One could, of course, think of this misbehavior as defen sive or as a weakness or even as a communication to others. But all of that came later. We began with the understanding that it made no sense to try to suppress or eradicate someone's needs, no matter how offensive the needs may seem to others. With our commitment to understanding the symptom rather than treating the behavior, we saw it primarily as necessary for achieving a sense of self-consolidation in our patients. The second feature assigned to this fairly large and (at first) poorly delineated category of misbehavior had to do with the degree of offensiveness. Most if not all of our patients seemed to vii Copyrighted Material VIII ERRANT SELVES share much the same dislike of what they did as did the rest of us. Although it became clear to us that our patients could make no claim to being run of the mill criminals, perverts, or addicts, we could not conclude that they were much different from what is commonly considered as antisocial, save that they regularly joined with us in contemplating the awfulness of and disdain for their actions. This in itself soon became a significant, if not essential, component for better definition and delineation of our own categorization and a critical issue in the consideration of treatment, inasmuch as the negative appraisal of the behavior was regularly the launching pad for its later understanding and subsequent control or eradication. Here is one beautiful exam ple of this kind of negative appraisal, its appearance and dis appearance. Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast at the acts of Edward Hyde; but the situation was apart from ordinary laws, and insidiously relaxed the grasp of conscience. It was Hyde, after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty. Jekyll was no worse; he woke again to his good qualities seemingly unim paired; he would even make haste, where it was possible, to undo the evil done by Hyde. And thus his conscience slumbered [Stevenson, p. 87]. Robert Louis Stevenson's classic fictionalized study is of a man who ingests a magical potion to become someone else-although only temporarily, and regrettably, regularly. Dr. Jekyll can be said to be transformed into Mr. Hyde or seen as both men with dif ferent claims for recognition. Mr. Hyde does demonic things and Jekyll claims innocence; while Stevenson lets us know that Jekyll initiates and enjoys everything that Hyde does. Jekyll is of two minds and literally embodies what we call a vertical split. This split is not the horizontal split of repression but rather that of disavowal and so is a division available to consciousness and self-appraisal. Such a split, of one person living parallel lives with different goals, aims, and values, is a hallmark of our overall category, which now can be seen as a pathological group: a group that (as Jekyll) is aghast at what they (as Hyde) do. The moral compo nent in the evaluation of one's parallel and aberrant behavior is a powerful incentive to its delineation as pathology. How dif- Copyrighted Material INTRODUCTION IX ferently we judge a person with a symptom such as depression versus (say) one who exhibits his genitals to small children. Of late, some think that depression is something so basic and bio chemical that the sufferer may indeed be an innocent victim; rarely, however, do we believe that a periodic thief can lay equal claim to an affliction beyond his control? Shoplifters are caught and punished; bipolar disease and depression are pitied and med icated. This moral stance is, not surprisingly, adopted by that same misbehaving patient who, because of this split, can treat his or her actions as if they were misdeeds of another. Our patients-in order for them to become patients-to some degree or other hate that other self. But just as Jekyll enjoys what Hyde does, so, too, do our patients-to the detriment of their treat ment-enjoy their own misdeeds. The psychological state of dis avowal of a parallel person is a sine qua non for our categorization of narcissistic behavior disorders, a phrase that joins together the use of disordered or offensive behavior with the treatment goal of self-cohesion. Our patients were neither unitary selves nor persons with an easy ability to bolster or reconstitute themselves in socially acceptable ways. Rather they utilized all manner of deviant, immoral, aberrant efforts to gain their sense of solidity, and in so doing they were rent in two. No doubt much of the richness of a depth psychology lies in the content of the life stories that unfold; however, our initial two elements of describing our patient population had to do not with content but with form: the halt to disintegration and the dis avowal that ensued. There are no stories here-not yet. The cases that are discussed in this book are representative of those that were presented to our group over a period of years. Several of the cases we discussed may have been more illustrative of points that we wished to present, but they could not be included in this book because of issues of confidentiality. Some could not be properly disguised, whereas others were vetoed by the patient who had been invited to read the writeup for an agreement to publish. Surely case presentations need to be at the heart of our scientific study, but we are necessarily constrained by our obligation to pro tect patients. We are fairly confident that nothing extraneous or misleading has been added to these cases that would in any way significantly alter the essential content of the material. For the most part, patients who become involved in unlawful behavior are sent for treatment rather than seek it out for them- Copyrighted Material
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