The Triumphant Victim: A Psychoanalytical Perspective on Sadomasochism and Perverse Thinking

297 Pages·2013·1.752 MB·English

by  J. F. Miller

CHAPTERTITLE I
THE TRIUMPHANT VICTIM

THE TRIUMPHANT
VICTIM
A Psychoanalytical Perspective
on Sadomasochism and
Perverse Thinking
J. F. Miller
First published in 2013 by
Karnac Books Ltd
118 Finchley Road, London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2013 to J. F. Miller.
The right of J. F. Miller to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78049 057 1
Edited, designed and produced by The Studio Publishing Services Ltd
www.publishingservicesuk.co.uk
e-mail: [email protected]
Printed in Great Britain
www.karnacbooks.com
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
ABOUT THE AUTHOR xi
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR xiii
FOREWORD xv
INTRODUCTION: The human context and the xvii
developmental imperative
PART I: CLINICAL ISSUES
CHAPTER ONE
Control and helplessness 3
CHAPTER TWO
The core problem: from subversion to perversion 9
CHAPTER THREE
Infantile and adult sexuality 13
CHAPTER FOUR
Mothering and the parental couple 19
v
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER FIVE
Pornography and masturbation: the virtual world 27
CHAPTER SIX
The avoidance of feeling 33
CHAPTER SEVEN
Projective identification and the claustrum 45
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sexuality and perversion 59
CHAPTER NINE
Masochism and the emotional orphan 75
CHAPTER TEN
Romantic agony 87
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hysteria and sadomasochism 103
CHAPTER TWELVE
Exhibitionism and voyeurism 109
PART II: SOCIAL MANIFESTATIONS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Symbolisation and concrete thinking 117
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Basic assumption thinking and tribal mentality 129
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Perversely religious and religiously perverse 147
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Evangelical atheism 167
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Feminism and the phallic Trojan horse 177
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A child is being murdered 189
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The everlasting baby and the parasite 203
CHAPTER TWENTY
From victim and blame to a saner society 209
PART III: CASE HISTORIES
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Abigail: survival through invisibility 219
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Judy and Maria: vendettas against the parent/analyst 225
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Damien: student drop-out and would-be professional 237
psychiatric patient
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kelly: a case of courage in the face of perversity 243
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Mark: the battered husband 251
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Peter and Jim: the black hole of the psyche 259
REFERENCES 269
INDEX 273
In grateful memory of Donald Meltzer, guide, philosopher, and friend,
who opened my eyes to the beauty of psychoanalysis and the
richness of life it can unlock.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, my thanks go to my wife, Doreen, whose psycho-
analytical insight and sound advice, not to mention her patient
support and encouragement, contributed so much to this book.
Second, I am indebted to my children, my analytical patients, and
child and family clients who did so much to educate me and inform
my understanding. I am grateful to Andrea Watson, who read the
manuscript and gave me professional feedback, and to Jackie Ingram,
who gave me, from her reading, robust critique as a lay person and
also identified all the typos, mistakes, and confusions which everyone
else had missed.
The poem “The Thieves”, by Robert Graves (Penguin Book of
Contemporary Verse, 1950, p.115) is quoted by permission of Carcanet
Press Ltd.
ix