ABSTRACT
So far we have spoken of the liquifiers in the gelatinous substance, without any reference to the outer environment. Is there any reason for the presence of the liquifiers? My observation is that the liquifiers are always intensely active in people who have suffered severe traumata. Because the liquifiers are 132experienced outwardly as greed, envy, and jealousy, people are frequently unsympathetic to those who have suffered traumas in childhood. Their experience of the person is someone who is being hostile and resentful towards them. The extent to which people react to this hostility depends on the extent to which they are themselves under the sway of a “narcissistic constellation”. As we saw in Chapter 9, these people continue to be punished by society throughout their lives. The punitive god is embodied in the society of people surrounding the traumatized individual. It is well known, for instance, that many criminals have had severely traumatized childhoods. A retributive theory of justice demands that revenge be taken against the criminal; a utilitarian theory of justice requires that society be protected against the dangers of criminal attack without demanding retribution. The latter theory and, indeed, policy of justice is in hone with our understanding of the origins of criminality.
