Cruelty, Violence, and Murder: Understanding the Criminal Mind (The Library of Object Relations) [Hardcover]

Arthur Hyatt-Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0765701286 | ISBN-13: 978-0765701282

The line that separates those who kill from those who only think about it and those who injure themselves is often thinner than we imagine. Convicted murderers, their sentences commuted to life in prison when England abolished the death penalty, are some of the subjects of world-renowned psycho-therapist Arthur Hyatt-Williams' in-depth psychological study of what makes people kill.

Dr. Hyatt-Williams found that constellations of undigested fantasies and emotions associated with death in some form dominate the unconscious of murderous individuals. Applying the theories and techniques of Melanie Klein, Herbert Rosenfeld, Hanna Segal, and above all Wilfred Bion, he sought to expand the sufferers' repertoires beyond acting out by facilitating the beginnings of a mourning process.

His work has been an ongoing research project on the role of death in the unconscious. Its hallmarks include an absence of dogma, abiding faith in the potential for patients' reparation, and devotion to psychoanalytic truth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Arthur Hyatt-Williams' book on restoring the balance between life and death brings continual surprise that anyone can write so beautifully about humanity's blackest features. His love of life is evident as he explores the death constellation?the encapsulated mental structure that attacks life?in its protean manifestations, everywhere challenging our compassion. He explores its symbolic and mediated forms throughout human experience, and clearly describes conditions in which it is likely to be enacted in homicide or suicide. Hyatt-Williams tells compelling tales of his unique experience treating murderers and criminals by drawing equally on poetry and science. This book stands alone as the contemporary masterpiece on treating murderousness, not only inthe actual murderer but, more importantly, in the larger group of patients who need our help in their struggle to contain destructiveness. It will be invaluable to all who wish to understand and treat patients who struggle with the darkness in their hearts. (Scharff, David )

Arthur Hyatt-Williams' book on restoring the balance between life and death brings continual surprise that anyone can write so beautifully about humanity's blackest features. His love of life is evident as he explores the death constellation–the encapsulated mental structure that attacks life–in its protean manifestations, everywhere challenging our compassion. He explores its symbolic and mediated forms throughout human experience, and clearly describes conditions in which it is likely to be enacted in homicide or suicide. Hyatt-Williams tells compelling tales of his unique experience treating murderers and criminals by drawing equally on poetry and science. This book stands alone as the contemporary masterpiece on treating murderousness, not only in the actual murderer but, more importantly, in the larger group of patients who need our help in their struggle to contain destructiveness. It will be invaluable to all who wish to understand and treat patients who struggle with the darkness in their hearts. (Scharff, David )

About the Author

Arthur Hyatt-Williams, M.D., former Director of the London Clinic of Psycho-Analysis and Chairman of the Adolescent Department at the Tavistock Clinic, did his pioneering work with criminals at Wormwood Scrubs prison over a period of twenty years. His main intellectual and clinical concern is with the vicissitudes of mourning and its indispensable role in mental health--specifically, the linkage between the psyche's need for mourning and criminal thinking. Analysand of Melanie Klein and Hanna Segal, Dr. Hyatt-Williams is a founding Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.


Paul Williams, Ph.D., is a member of the British Psycho-Analytical Society and the Independent Group of psychoanalysts, Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College, London. He teaches on the subject of severe mental illness in the British National Health Service and works in private practice in London. In 1996, Dr. Williams, who helped found the charity S.A.N.E. (Schizophrenia: A National Emergency), was awarded the British Psycho-Analytical Society's Rosenfeld Prize.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc. (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765701286
• ISBN-13: 978-0765701282
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,341,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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