ABSTRACT
In looking at case studies it is notoriously easy to arrive at an understanding of a case on the basis of rich analytic material and be tempted into the false epistemic move of over-generalisation. There are several potential pitfalls. It is necessarily the case that certain aspects of our psycho-analytic observations will directly relate to the causes of the disturbance on which we are focusing—in this case violence and abnormal sexuality—a relationship which is a particularly disturbing problem for society at large as well as for all of us individually. A striking aspect of all the analyses is the prominence of problems of separation and separateness. The internalisation of the analyst’s concern with mental states enhances the patient’s capacity for similar concern towards his own experience and enables him to protect fragile mental structures in ways other than by violence.
