ABSTRACT
The horizontal segment points to the dynamics of social construction of a collective identity through a massive use of the paranoid-schizoid modes of processing experience. This offers some explanation for the phenomena observed predominantly among bystanders and perpetrators. The 'bystander' is a pivotal figure in torture, epitomizing a state of absence of an internal witness in society. Indeed, many after-effects of torture on victims can be described as bodily, intrapsychic and interpersonal states resulting from a 'shattered self', a 'broken spirit' a condition of 'world dissolution' and lost 'trust in the world'. If the concept of trauma grasps a central feature of torture, i.e. the blow to the connections that keep together the bodily and psychic self, the psychiatric discourse about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder often risks contributing to the further 'objectification' of survivors of torture. Rina Lazar makes sharp distinctions between hostility, rage, hatred and evil, which represent affective experiences on a continuum.
