Post by justasking on Apr 27, 2018 17:13:33 GMT
In essence, I'm just guessing here (as a dilettante)...
I think that 'splitting' mechanism may play a notable part in his psyche and object relations. The strict division between his "justice" persona and his ultimately transgressive drives. The split between "Madonna" and "whore". Most likely he has the 'borderline personality structure'. This "accounts" for his strong, chaotic urges and the resulting transgressive behaviors. The behaviors are of course anti-social in nature, by definition. Sadistic paraphilia is evident, also.
But the anti-social behaviors seem to have been dissociated and compartmentalized to some degree. He was still "socialized". Perhaps this would be called a "mask of sanity", but I doubt that he himself was consciously portraying it as a false facade. It was in some sense a "genuine" part of his psyche and personality. The splitting between his anti-social behaviors "at night" and the social person "by day" served to keep them separate to some degree, and so he could still preserve the integrity of his "social" character and his rudimentary sense of superego. Yes, I think he wasn't lacking the superego (or moral conscience) aspect completely. It just that the transgressor, at night, was the "other guy" and not "him". The splitting dissociation served him to keep the distance between these two aspects. I'm not talking about actual dissociative identity disorder ("multiple personalities") here, but only about the radical splitting effect.
In some sense, paradoxically, I think he was able to do all the ultimate evil because of this fragmented superego and socialization. When the anti-social urges and violent drives were "kept in check" in their own evil "night realm", they were given a free space to come into fruition. Exactly because he wasn't "that guy", or never allowed himself to acknowledge himself as the unitary agent who was both of those "guys", he could keep him safe from facing the moral consequences of conscience and social responsibility. Had he integrated the transgressive aspects as integrated parts of himself, it would have been harder for these drives and behaviors to grow freely to the point of successful criminal actions. In that case he would have experienced a complete, continuous emotional breakdown (compromising his functionality), such as he experienced momentarily when he was caught shoplifting. The trauma of "exposure" was not that much due to the actual consequences of getting fired etc., but due to the "forced integration" of psychic parts that were kept separate; others recognizing "the officer" and "the criminal" as the same person, and he himself having to acknowledge it too. The splitting mechanism was disabled momentarily by the Other. This "integration" was what his disciplined and "obsessive", controlled and controlling character functioned to guard against. The obsessive-compulsive personality disorder resulted from his superego "integration" that was accomplished by working against (what would have been) the actual integration of separate "parts" into one, and the splitting mechanism functioned to keep them apart from each other, compartmentalized.
But that's why the "night" of anti-social, aggressive sadistic drives could flourish. The level of his control of himself correlated positively with the degree to which he could dissociate his conscious personality from the EAR/ONS. Those violent drives amounted to "that guy" who took over him like a "possession", to his mind. And so his "other" side could deflect internal blame and help him avoid having a sense of responsibility. He didn't do it, it happened to him. But his neurotic discipline also helped him to function while committing these crimes. He could use the "controlled" form as a conditioned reflex of sorts to act out the "uncontrolled" content successfully.
What's notable in his sadism is that it was more "relational", in psychic sense. He seemed to be more about psychological sadism, and not the physical pain in itself. The sensation of pain didn't turn him on, but the consciousness of the Other who could sense him (EAR/ONS) as the cause of suffering. In this way, his anti-social dimension is still guided by the social Other. He needs there to be some recognition, so his object relations are not in that sense only about him using others as objects - he needs others as objects who are subjects. He depends on the consciousness of others. This is a further mark of his borderline personality structure, of his psychic twilight between "social" and "anti-social".
He was someone with a borderline personality structure, resulting in radical splitting between the vague and inauthentic but nevertheless strict superego versus violent urges and aggressive drives, and these formed into a sort of a self-fulfilling dynamic of escalation due to the early aggressive drives growing freely in their own "capsule", and the dissociation and splitting granted him the psychic security and avoidance of having a sense of responsibility. Dissociating his sense of identity from the drives and their resulting "alien" actions. But even more so he needed the ultimately "neurotic formation" of obsessive-compulsive personality, guided by the "alien" superego, to keep his psychic integrity in check. In some sense, both of the sides of the split were "alien". His personality may be constituted by something that's alien (superego) versus something that's alien (drives).
I don't think this is a "simple" psychopath in the actual sense. This was some sort of a "struggle" (even if only an unconscious one), and psychically a more "complicated" pathology, more chaotic object relations due to his actual (of course; narcissistic in nature, but needy in function) Other-related emotion- and identity- investments in his relationships to others. Neurotic defensive structure, ultimate repression as the enabling accomplice to the ultimate transgression of "that guy" "at night", who could freely act out the anti-social, sadistic, aggressive drives that were probably conceived and encapsulated deep within early on. It could be that as a young child or a teen he didn't do anything transgressive, as opposed to what is usual to anti-social personalities. It could be that he did "right things" exaggeratedly, "played by the rules" with all seriousness. And this sort of a strict social compliance might have been actually one of the mechanisms at play in his development, paving the way towards the final break-out of anti-sociality.
To put it in categories:
Borderline personality structure
-Narcissistic personality in regards to object relations and identity
-Anti-social personality in regards to drives and behaviors / actions
-Splitting as a strong defense mechanism, in many ways
-General dissociation
Neurotic defensive structure
-Obsessive-compulsive personality to repress, and to enable the effective functioning of the splitting mechanism, and to guard against the possibility of psychic disintegration
-The "quasi-genuine" socialization due to the fragmented sense of a strict superego (perhaps with accusatory, demanding, even sadistic, aspects)
Something like that. And just a guess.
I think that 'splitting' mechanism may play a notable part in his psyche and object relations. The strict division between his "justice" persona and his ultimately transgressive drives. The split between "Madonna" and "whore". Most likely he has the 'borderline personality structure'. This "accounts" for his strong, chaotic urges and the resulting transgressive behaviors. The behaviors are of course anti-social in nature, by definition. Sadistic paraphilia is evident, also.
But the anti-social behaviors seem to have been dissociated and compartmentalized to some degree. He was still "socialized". Perhaps this would be called a "mask of sanity", but I doubt that he himself was consciously portraying it as a false facade. It was in some sense a "genuine" part of his psyche and personality. The splitting between his anti-social behaviors "at night" and the social person "by day" served to keep them separate to some degree, and so he could still preserve the integrity of his "social" character and his rudimentary sense of superego. Yes, I think he wasn't lacking the superego (or moral conscience) aspect completely. It just that the transgressor, at night, was the "other guy" and not "him". The splitting dissociation served him to keep the distance between these two aspects. I'm not talking about actual dissociative identity disorder ("multiple personalities") here, but only about the radical splitting effect.
In some sense, paradoxically, I think he was able to do all the ultimate evil because of this fragmented superego and socialization. When the anti-social urges and violent drives were "kept in check" in their own evil "night realm", they were given a free space to come into fruition. Exactly because he wasn't "that guy", or never allowed himself to acknowledge himself as the unitary agent who was both of those "guys", he could keep him safe from facing the moral consequences of conscience and social responsibility. Had he integrated the transgressive aspects as integrated parts of himself, it would have been harder for these drives and behaviors to grow freely to the point of successful criminal actions. In that case he would have experienced a complete, continuous emotional breakdown (compromising his functionality), such as he experienced momentarily when he was caught shoplifting. The trauma of "exposure" was not that much due to the actual consequences of getting fired etc., but due to the "forced integration" of psychic parts that were kept separate; others recognizing "the officer" and "the criminal" as the same person, and he himself having to acknowledge it too. The splitting mechanism was disabled momentarily by the Other. This "integration" was what his disciplined and "obsessive", controlled and controlling character functioned to guard against. The obsessive-compulsive personality disorder resulted from his superego "integration" that was accomplished by working against (what would have been) the actual integration of separate "parts" into one, and the splitting mechanism functioned to keep them apart from each other, compartmentalized.
But that's why the "night" of anti-social, aggressive sadistic drives could flourish. The level of his control of himself correlated positively with the degree to which he could dissociate his conscious personality from the EAR/ONS. Those violent drives amounted to "that guy" who took over him like a "possession", to his mind. And so his "other" side could deflect internal blame and help him avoid having a sense of responsibility. He didn't do it, it happened to him. But his neurotic discipline also helped him to function while committing these crimes. He could use the "controlled" form as a conditioned reflex of sorts to act out the "uncontrolled" content successfully.
What's notable in his sadism is that it was more "relational", in psychic sense. He seemed to be more about psychological sadism, and not the physical pain in itself. The sensation of pain didn't turn him on, but the consciousness of the Other who could sense him (EAR/ONS) as the cause of suffering. In this way, his anti-social dimension is still guided by the social Other. He needs there to be some recognition, so his object relations are not in that sense only about him using others as objects - he needs others as objects who are subjects. He depends on the consciousness of others. This is a further mark of his borderline personality structure, of his psychic twilight between "social" and "anti-social".
He was someone with a borderline personality structure, resulting in radical splitting between the vague and inauthentic but nevertheless strict superego versus violent urges and aggressive drives, and these formed into a sort of a self-fulfilling dynamic of escalation due to the early aggressive drives growing freely in their own "capsule", and the dissociation and splitting granted him the psychic security and avoidance of having a sense of responsibility. Dissociating his sense of identity from the drives and their resulting "alien" actions. But even more so he needed the ultimately "neurotic formation" of obsessive-compulsive personality, guided by the "alien" superego, to keep his psychic integrity in check. In some sense, both of the sides of the split were "alien". His personality may be constituted by something that's alien (superego) versus something that's alien (drives).
I don't think this is a "simple" psychopath in the actual sense. This was some sort of a "struggle" (even if only an unconscious one), and psychically a more "complicated" pathology, more chaotic object relations due to his actual (of course; narcissistic in nature, but needy in function) Other-related emotion- and identity- investments in his relationships to others. Neurotic defensive structure, ultimate repression as the enabling accomplice to the ultimate transgression of "that guy" "at night", who could freely act out the anti-social, sadistic, aggressive drives that were probably conceived and encapsulated deep within early on. It could be that as a young child or a teen he didn't do anything transgressive, as opposed to what is usual to anti-social personalities. It could be that he did "right things" exaggeratedly, "played by the rules" with all seriousness. And this sort of a strict social compliance might have been actually one of the mechanisms at play in his development, paving the way towards the final break-out of anti-sociality.
To put it in categories:
Borderline personality structure
-Narcissistic personality in regards to object relations and identity
-Anti-social personality in regards to drives and behaviors / actions
-Splitting as a strong defense mechanism, in many ways
-General dissociation
Neurotic defensive structure
-Obsessive-compulsive personality to repress, and to enable the effective functioning of the splitting mechanism, and to guard against the possibility of psychic disintegration
-The "quasi-genuine" socialization due to the fragmented sense of a strict superego (perhaps with accusatory, demanding, even sadistic, aspects)
Something like that. And just a guess.