Interrupting the reenactment cycle: psychotherapy of a sexually traumatized boy.

This case study describes the course in psychotherapy of an eight-year-old boy who had been sexually traumatized at an early age by his biological father. He was seen for 35 individual sessions during a three-month hospitalization. Many of the problems evidenced at admission were conceptualized as ineffective attempts to reenact and master the original trauma. Hospitalization provided an environment in which acting-out behaviors could be controlled in a manner sufficient to allow anxiety to be utilized in psychodynamically oriented therapy. A key element in psychotherapeutic work was the recognition that the boy struggled with positive as well as negative feelings toward his abusing father. Individual therapy provided a context in which these ambivalent feelings could be expressed, which ultimately allowed for developmental progression.

Empathy: a factor in antisocial behavior.

Empathy has been accepted as a crucial factor in the development of prosocial thought and behavior. This study attempted to clarify the role of empathy in the development of antisocial and aggressive delinquent behavior. The subjects were 331 delinquents and 64 nondelinquent controls ages 12 to 18. The delinquents were found to be significantly delayed or arrested in the development of empathy. The nondelinquent group exhibited a significant age-related increase in empathy during the adolescent period, whereas the delinquent group did not. Of three delinquent subgroups utilized, the neurotics were least empathic, the psychopathics next, and the subculturals the most empathic; the groups differed significantly from each other. Aggressive delinquents were significantly lower in empathy level than nonaggressive delinquents, though differentiation by type of aggression (person or property) was not significant.