ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author discusses the lasting impact of Welldon’s work and its relevance to contemporary understanding of violence within intimate relationships, as explored in her own work. She argues that a fitting term for her female patients’ specific predicaments in relation to their bodies and babies could be “the body as the torturer”. The author also discusses how Welldon’s findings in relation to malignant bonding and female perversion illuminate work with violent and perverse adult couples, both in terms of understanding the dynamics that tie them to one another and to shed light on how certain couples will turn on vulnerable others, including their own children. She refers to Welldon’s dramatic and shocking findings in relation to female violence and perversion and the impact of maternal abuse on young minds and discusses the disturbed dynamics inherent in perverse adult relationships and domestic violence.
