ABSTRACT
This chapter explores psychoanalytic work with a particular group of women in whose lives violence has played a significant part. The title reflects a question posed by the nature of self-defeating, destructive solutions employed by the patient group in response to their overwhelming experiences and the formidable challenges of psychoanalytic work in a setting limited by time and frequency. These women were living at or below the poverty line, with minimal education and without previous psychological intervention. Their lives were characterised by high levels of material deprivation, with a real sense of struggle for survival existing alongside, and interacting with, internal deprivation and conflict. They represented one of the most deprived and marginalised groups in 21st century Britain.
