Forensic Psychoanalysis examines the traumatic psychological origins of violence and explores the ways in which such disasters can be prevented and treated.
Forensic Psychoanalysis examines the traumatic psychological origins of violence and explores the ways in which such disasters can be prevented and treated.
The book encapsulates Professor Brett Kahrs lengthy career in the field of forensic mental health, investigating all aspects of this vital arena, from the history of criminality to the current-day application of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy to the care of rapists, arsonists, genital exhibitionists, paedophiles, and murderers. This gripping text surveys more than one century of literature on the psychotherapeutic treatment of the criminally insane and provides tremendous insight into the how mental health professions can contribute to the reduction of global violence.
Forensic Psychoanalysis will be crucial for all readers interested in both the prevention of criminality and its psychological treatment.
Books by Professor Brett Kahr
Acknowledgements
SERIES EDITORS FOREWORD.
Professor Brett Kahr.
SPECIAL FOREWORD.
Dr. Carine Minne.
PREAMBLE.
Confessions of a Private Forensic Practitioner.
INTRODUCTION.
The Ugly World of Forensic Mental Health.
PART I.
FORENSIC PSYCHOTHERAPY AS A PROFESSION.
Chapter One.
Let the great Axe fall: From Ancient Babylonian Torture to Modern Forensic
Psychotherapy.
Chapter Two.
Explosive Patients: Surviving Petrifying Psychotherapeutic Experiences.
PART II.
SEXUAL FORENSICS: GENITAL EXHIBITIONISM AND PAEDOPHILIA.
Chapter Three.
Why Do Men Expose Their Genitals?: The Unconscious Origins of Exhibitionism.
Chapter Four.
From Penile Trauma to Flashing: A Case of Forensic Disability Psychotherapy.
Chapter Five.
Fragile Monster: How to Make a Paedophile Talk.
PART III.
THE PSYCHODYNAMICS OF MURDER: FROM INFANTICIDE TO SERIAL KILLING.
Chapter Six.
When Daddy Kills the Dog: Pet Murder and the Infanticidal Attachment.
Chapter Seven.
Castration Anxiety in Men Who Murder.
PART IV.
FORENSIC PATIENTS IN THE COMMUNITY: SUB-CLINICAL PSYCHOPATHY.
Chapter Eight.
The Sub-Clinical Psychopath: Committing Crimes Without Breaking the Law.
Chapter Nine.
Criminality in the Bedroom: Unconscious Sadism in Non-Forensic Couples.
CONCLUSION.
The Future of Forensic Psychoanalysis.
Original Sources of
Chapters
Professor Brett Kahrs Selected Forensic Publications: 1985-2025.
References
Index
Professor Brett Kahr has worked in the mental health field for over forty years. He is Senior Fellow at the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology in London and, also, Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis and Mental Health at Regents University London. A trained historian, Kahr is both an Honorary Fellow as well as the Honorary Director of Research at the Freud Museum London. He is the author of twenty books and series editor of over eighty-five further titles. He serves as Chair of the Scholars Committee of the British Psychoanalytic Council and, additionally, as a Consultant Psychotherapist at The Balint Consultancy. He works with individuals and couples in Central London.