NCJ Number
157486
Journal
Journal of Forensic Psychiatry Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (September 1994) Pages: 311-320
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the methodology of a psychoanalytical research study of men who act violently; the study was conducted at the Portman Clinic in London, England.
Abstract
The study data come from the weekly psychoanalytical psychotherapy of violent men. The therapist writes reports of each session; the eight therapist-researchers discuss each patient's material at weekly meetings. The researchers use two principles to limit the subjective distortion of the study: the principle of explicitness and the principle of internal consistency. The observations are ordered and evaluated by means of a clinical and metapsychological portrait and a psychodynamic interactional matrix. The matrix identifies and analyzes the interactions among all the external and internal factors that operate in the violent action. The matrix is developed in several stages. The hypotheses are assessed by means of observation and induction. The research next uses a deductive approach that contains an implicit prediction. Figures, notes, and 7 references