Freud's Red Thread: Explorations of the Unconscious Sense of Guilt.

The concept of an "unconscious sense of guilt" bedevils Freud throughout his life, rearing its head in at least twenty-four of his major works and working behind the scenes in many others. In a sense, we can see Freud's oeuvre, and psychoanalysis more generally, as a discourse of unconscious guilt. While Freud frames the oedipus complex as the central defining dynamic of human experience, the unconscious sense of guilt is arguably the underbelly that both precedes and exceeds that complex. By unraveling a range of complexities within Freud's conceptualization of unconscious guilt, we will come to see that guilt is an unavoidable by-product of the human condition, intrinsically interwoven with libidinal desire.

Do Social Relationships With Those Who Witness Moral Transgression Affect the Sense of Guilt?

Moral emotion is thought to have evolved to guide our behavior and control our impulse to achieve immediate rewards, thus serving to enforce pro-social behavior. Guilt, one of the moral emotions, is a social, other-oriented emotion that is experienced primarily in interpersonal situations, although it may also be experienced in non-interpersonal situations. We predicted that the intensity of the sense of guilt would differ depending on the relationship between a witness and the person who performed the antisocial behavior because building a good reputation plays an important role in the evolution of reciprocal altruism through indirect reciprocity. Participants were asked to imagine that they had been observed by a third party while committing five kinds of moral transgression based on moral foundation theory, and to describe the intensity of their sense of guilt when witnessed by parents, a cordial friend, a neighbor, or a stranger. The intensity of guilt was significantly lower when the act was witnessed by a stranger regardless of the moral foundation involved. The effects of the kind of witness, however, differed for each moral foundation. The results support the hypothesis that guilt functions to guide our behavior, to achieve cooperation.

Herencia de sentimientos en Chile posdictadura / Legacy of feelings in post-dictatorship Chile / Herança de sentimentos no Chile pós-ditadura / Héritage de sentiments au Chili post dictature

Este artículo propone una reflexión sobre la transmisión de sentimientos entre generaciones como consecuencia de la violencia política. Asentados en el marco de la teoría psicoanalítica, se busca entender la herencia de sentimientos como manifestación de la memoria colectiva en Chile posdictadura.

Este artigo propõe uma reflexão sobre a transmissão de sentimentos entre gerações como consequência da violência política. Assentado no marco da teoria psicanalítica, o artigo procura entender a herança de sentimentos como manifestação da memória coletiva no Chile pós-ditadura.

This paper proposes a reflection on the transmission of feelings from one generation to another as a consequence of political violence. Based on the approaches of the psychoanalytic theory, this paper aims to understand the legacy of feelings as a manifestation of the collective memory in post-dictatorship Chile.

Cet article propose une réflexion sur la transmission de sentiments à travers les générations comme conséquence de la violence politique. À l'aide de la théorie psychanalytique, on cherche à comprendre l'héritage de sentiments comme manifestation de la mémoire collective au Chili post-dictature.

Der vorliegende Artikel soll dazu dienen, Denkanstöße über die Folgen der politischen Gewalt und die daraus resultierende, generationsübergreifende Gefühlsübertragung zu liefern. Aus der Sicht der psychoanalytischen Theorie soll versucht werden, die Gefühlserbschaft zu verstehen, und zwar als Ausdrucksform eines Kollektiv-gedächtnisses im heutigen Chile.

O crime: sobre o sentimento de culpa no homem e na mulher / Le crime: sur la culpabilité chez l'homme et chez la femme / Crime: about the sense of guilt in men and women

O objetivo do presente artigo é de realizar uma reflexão do ponto de vista psicanalítico sobre a diferença no número de mulheres e de homens que cometem crimes, um índice em geral maior entre os homens. A partir da noção de Freud e Lacan sobre o crime enquanto busca de um alívio do sentimento de culpa inconsciente pelos desejos de parricídio e incesto através de crimes e punições reais, pretendemos discutir as diferenças na formação do sentimento de culpa na mulher e no homem. Para tal, discutimos os caminhos do complexo de Édipo na menina e no menino e propomos que, como a menina passa por este processo de forma diferente, a mulher pode cometer menos crimes

Le but de cet article est de mener une réflexion psychanalytique sur la différence du nombre de femmes et d'hommes qui commettent des crimes, un indice généralement plus élevé chez les hommes. Depuis la notion de crime chez Freud et chez Lacan comme la recherche du soulagement de la culpabilité des désirs parricides et incestueux par de vrais crimes et punitions, nous avons l'intention de discuter des différences dans la formation de la culpabilité chez les femmes et chez les hommes. Nous discutons, alors, des voies du complexe d'Œdipe chez la fille et chez le garçon et nous proposons qu'une fois que la fille vit ce processus différemment, la femme peut commettre moins de crimes

The purpose of this article is to carry out a psychoanalytical reflection on the difference in the number of women and men who commit crimes, a generally higher index among men. From Freud and Lacan's notion of crime as the search for relief from the unconscious sense of guilt of parricide and incest through real crimes and punishments, we intend to discuss the differences in the formation of the sense of guilt in women and in men. For this, we discuss the paths of the Oedipus complex for the girl and for the boy and propose that, as the girl goes through this process differently, the woman she will become may commit fewer crimes

Gender as a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms and externalizing behavior problems in sexually abused children.

Despite the proliferation of studies documenting outcomes in sexually abused victims, gender differences remain understudied. The bulk of studies have relied on retrospective samples of adults with insufficient representation of male victims to explore gender specificities. This study examined differential outcomes among boy and girl victims of sexual abuse. A predictive model of outcomes including abuse characteristics and sense of guilt as mediators was proposed. Path analysis was conducted with a sample of 447 sexually abused children (319 girls and 128 boys), aged 6-12. Being a girl was a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms, while being a boy was a predictor of externalizing problems. Being a boy was also associated with more severe abuse, which in turn predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms. Child's gender was not related to perpetrator's relationship to the child or sense of guilt. However, sense of guilt predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms and externalizing problems while perpetrator's relationship to the child predicted externalizing problems. Gender specificities should be further studied among sexually abused children, as boys and girls appear to manifest different outcomes. Sense of guilt should be a target in intervention for sexually abused children, as results highlight its link to heightened negative outcomes.

[Sense of guilt in sexually abused children : Mediating role of avoidance coping on anxiety and self-esteem]. / Culpabilité chez les enfants victimes d'agression sexuelle : Le rôle médiateur des stratégies d'évitement sur l'anxiété et l'estime de soi.

Prior studies have suggested self-blame and sense of guilt as important elements associated with the effects of childhood sexual abuse on adult survivors (Cantón-Cortés, Cantón, Justicia & Cortés, 2011). However, few studies have explored the potential impact of the sense of guilt on outcomes in child victims. This study examines the mediating role of avoidance coping on the relationship between sense of guilt and outcomes (anxiety and self-esteem) in sexually abused children. The sample consisted of 447 sexually abused children (319 girls and 128 boys) aged 6 to 12. Path analysis indicated that children with higher feelings of guilt about the abuse showed more anxiety and lower levels of self-esteem. Indirect effects also indicated that sense of guilt predicted avoidance coping, which in turn contributed to higher anxiety and lower self-esteem. This model, which fits the data well for both girls and boys, explains 24.4 % of the variance in anxiety and 11.2 % of the variance in self-esteem. Results suggest that sense of guilt is an important target for clinical intervention with sexually abused children.

A family caregiver's relaxation enhances the gastric motility function of the patient: a crossover study.

BACKGROUND: The primary purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a caregiver's relaxation on the gastric motility function of the patient. The secondary purpose was to evaluate changes in the caregiver's willingness to perform self-care following feedback on the results of the primary purpose. METHODS: Subjects were 26 patients with a decreased level of consciousness who received gastrostomy tube feeding and their 26 family caregivers. We compared the patient's gastric motility under the condition of having his or her hand held with and without caregiver relaxation (crossover study). Changes in the caregiver's willingness to perform self-care following feedback on the results was evaluated using self-administered questionnaires. Hypnosis was used for relaxation. The outcomes assessed for gastric motility function were the motility index and gastric emptying rate by ultrasonography examination. RESULTS: Hand-holding by the family caregiver while he or she was receiving relaxation enhanced the patient's gastric motility function. By giving feedback on the results, the caregiver's willingness to adopt self-care was increased and his or her sense of guilt was reduced. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that a caregiver's relaxation increases the gastric motility function of the patient and that gettinng feedback including the positive results increases the caregiver's willingness to perform self-care, which consequently reduce the caregiver burden.