ABSTRACT
In 1956 capital punishment was suspended in England, except for certain kinds of murder. External factors are not the only ones of importance in the movement from the death constellation to murderous actions. Envy, as Melanie Klein stressed, attacks the good experience, the help given, good objects, and good principles. This applies especially to therapy. Many persons with a death constellation who have killed do not become able to mourn, however much they may wish that they had not killed. The question arises whether the death constellation, once established but without the individual's being compelled to carry out an actual killing, can be totally resolved. It may be that, although some psychic digestion and metabolization of the death constellation follows from its detoxication, it can be reactivated by an excess of adverse circumstances. The idea of death sometimes seems to be so deeply rooted in the character of the individual and to be psychically indigestible without professional help.
