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Anders Behring Breivik, master of life and death: Psychodynamics and political ideology in an act of terrorism

  • According to Anders Behring Breivik himself, his massacre of 77 innocent people on July 22, 2011 in Norway was motivated by ideology: Breivik sees himself as being morally justified to save Europe from multiculturalism and feminism. What makes a person join such an ideology? This paper argues that the demonization of Muslims and Eurabia fits into a psychologically threatened universe and a murderous lust for revenge. Against the background of different sources (the ideological >manifesto,< forensic reports, psychiatric assessment of the mother–son relationship in Breivik’s childhood, and interview material), the mass-murderer’s attitudes are understood as expressing inner dynamic forces. Hypotheses about Breivik’s personality and unconscious motivation are discussed using the concepts of splitting and personal myth and Oedipal catastrophe. The paper argues that the relationship between unconscious motives and ideology must be regarded as dialectical: the terrorist’s actions are founded in a subjective war scenario, expressing personally motivated hatred and vindictiveness, being displaced and projected, and justified with reference to a war >out there.< Thus, the terrorist seeks an ideology that fits unconscious intentions. The ideology, however, is indispensable to legitimate actions.

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Metadaten
Author:Siri Erika Gullestad
Parent Title (English):International Forum of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 26 (No. 4, 2017), pp. 207-216.
Document Type:Articles
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2017
Release Date:2019/03/04
Format:PDF-scan upon request / PDF-Scan auf Anfrage
IdNo:Gullestad_S_E_2017
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Articles / Artikel
Licence (German):
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