One of the most significant contributions of my theoretical approach, Separation Theory, is that it offers an understanding of the core dynamics underlying human aggression. It explains how people’s defensive nature and dependency on fantasy bonds polarize them against others with different customs and beliefs. In a similar vein, Schneider’s (2013) concept of “psychological polarization” describes the elevation of one… Read more »
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Both glamorizing and demonizing violence help us avoid having to understand the violent mind. We should enter the violent person’s subjective world, not just in order to be able to offer treatment, but also to anticipate the nature of the risks they embody both to themselves and to society. ~ Peter Fonagy, “Towards a Developmental… Read more »
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As a therapist, I want to help survivors of dating violence, domestic violence, and abusive relationships recover their sense of safety and self-fulfillment in life. And I want to do more. I want more people to know how grave the damage is to survivors of abuse and sexual assault. I want to see more action… Read more »
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Dr. Peter Fonagy is a psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist, who specializes in violence, early attachment relationships, and borderline psychopathology. Watch excerpts from his interview with PsychAlive below.
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What causes prejudice, religious wars, terrorism and genocide? In fact, what are the psychodynamics behind extremism, absolutism and all insidious forms of polarization? On some level, the answers all relate to human beings’ inherent fear of death and their need for psychological defenses to deny or ease the endemic pain of the human condition. The… Read more »
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Years ago, when I was in the process of creating a violence assessment scale, I visited a series of high-security prisons to interview men found guilty of murder and other violent crimes. As I sat down with each inmate, the first question I always asked was, “How did you come to be a violent person?”… Read more »
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At this point, I shouldn’t have to list off all the reasons spanking your child doesn’t work. It’s science, it’s proven, and we may as well be revisiting a discussion of whether the world is flat. If the damage it does to children’s spirits (not to mention their actual brains) isn’t enough to convince you, maybe it should… Read more »
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Watch an exerpt from PsychAlive’s exclusive interview with Dr. James Garbarino. Dr. James Garbarino on traditional gender stereotypes. Dr. James Garbarino: Some of this is sort of very traditional gender stereotyping sort of stuff. For example, an awful lot of male self-esteem is built on what you might call almost objective behavior. You may think… Read more »
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Watch an excerpt from PsychAlive’s exclusive interview with Dr. James Garbarino. Dr. James Garbarino discusses the correlation in violence between the sexes. I published a book, Lost Boys, in 1999. The subtitle is, “Why our Sons are Growing More Violent – What we can do about it.” And almost immediately, people kept saying, “Well, what… Read more »
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