How can dissociation help us to understand violent behaviour?

The connection between dissociative experiences and violent behaviour, while well established in literature, has been ignored in criminological and public policy debates. Throughout the Western world, homicides are regularly reported by the media in which friends or family members express astonishment, insisting the accused to be "incapable" of such behaviour because he was "a nice guy", "a good friend", etc. Many people continue to believe that a person’s public behaviour is consistent with what they are like in private, which ignores the reality of dissociation. This paper will attempt to correct this perception by discussing several ways in which dissociation and violence may be linked. Following a brief overview of dissociation and the Dissociative Experiences Scale, evidence will be presented to suggest that dissociation may mediate the so-called intergenerational "cycle of violence". I will then consider the prevalence and significance of ongoing dissociative experiences reported by prisoners and offenders, dissociative experiences occurring at the time of a violent offence, and reported levels of amnesia subsequent to homicides. Finally, I will discuss a proposed type of homicide offender, known as "over-controlled hostile" - a person with no history of aggression and significant difficulties with assertiveness - which could be considered to be dissociative in nature. Key words: dissociative experiences, violence, amnesia, peri-traumatic dissociation, homicide

La connessione tra esperienze dissociative e comportamenti violenti è spesso ignorata nella letteratura forense e nell’ambito delle politiche di intervento. Nel mondo occidentale, molti sono gli omicidi di cui si occupano i mass media generando stupore nei conoscenti dell’aggressore, i quali di solito descrivono il perpetratore come una brava persona apparentemente incapace di commettere un tale gesto. Molte persone continuano a pensare che il comportamento in pubblico di un individuo sia sempre coerente con quello che mantengono in privato, cosa che non tiene conto delle caratteristiche della dissociazione. Questo articolo si occupa di tale mispercezione e evidenzia diversi modi con cui la dissociazione è legata al comportamento violento.

Keywords:Esperienze dissociative, violenza, amnesia, dissociazione peritraumatica, omicidio

Andrew Moskowitz, How can dissociation help us to understand violent behaviour? in "MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA" 1/2010, pp 17-32, DOI: 10.3280/MAL2010-001002