Conference on Psychoanalysis and Violence (00:41)

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In celebration of Freud's 150th birthday, a group of authorities gathered to contribute their understanding of the intergenerational transfer of violence at a UN-sponsored conference.

Claudio Eizirik on Violence (02:21)

Early upbringing fosters aggression or love. Unresolved mourning causes deficit in ability to symbolize. Eizirik distinguishes between intergenerational and transgenerational transmission of trauma. The stranger represents an unwanted part of ourselves.

Yael Danieli on Violence (00:50)

The silence of the majority is more traumatic than the cruelty of the minority.

Otto Kernberg on Violence (03:32)

Kernberg discussed the role of fundamentalist ideology in transmitting hatred. Freud said civilization began the first time someone hurled an insult rather than a stone.

Luncheon at UN Conference (06:39)

Afaf Mahfouz talks about the role of the UN and NGOs as the world's parent-figures and invites panelists to introduce themselves.

Afaf Mahfouz on Conflict (01:01)

Mahfouz talks about conflict within the UN-IPA committee, and conflict between rich and poor countries.

Psychology and the UN (04:09)

Diplomats keenly apply psychology. Ralph Bunche put Israeli and Egyptian negotiators in a hotel and served bad food so they would quickly agree to a 1949 truce.

Multidisciplinary Fight Against Hatred (01:58)

The UN must inoculate children against hatred as it has against diseases. This requires a holistic approach to development.

Psychoanalysis and Sociology (01:24)

Freud said the psychoanalyst's study of the individual mind requires understanding his relation to society, and held that violence and mutual identification hold communities together.

Types of Prejudice (01:27)

Studies of racism were distorted by being modeled on anti-Semitism; studies on sexism were distorted by being modeled on racism.

Prejudice (01:45)

A speaker talks about immigration. Another talks about what prejudice feels like. Another talks the need for member nations to do more.

Grandmother of Humanity (03:15)

Florence Ross talks about the role of the old in bringing peace, and her role at a Reagan-Gorbachev summit.

Dissatisfaction with Truth Commissions (01:54)

In Bosnia and South Africa, survivors believe war crimes tribunals and truth commissions failed to bring justice due to their lenient sentences.

Priorities of Truth Commissions (03:56)

War crimes tribunals and truth commissions focus on exposing the crime, not on the individual victim's need for revenge. Some victims feel used for their testimony of painful experiences.

Trial Testimony Unsatisfying (02:29)

The society that uses the individual's narrative for national restoration has a responsibility to the victim, whose painful, dangerous testimony often cannot adequately convey his own experiences.

Torture Victims (01:42)

We need the clinical language that allows us to talk about torture victims' psychic injuries. Torture is a negation of life.

Privilege (01:44)

People privilege their groups by defining others rather than listening to them. The speaker illustrates her point with an anecdote about quarreling three- and four-year-olds.

Role of Psychoanalysis (01:22)

A speaker talks about a Holocaust education project. Another talks about the need for a type of recognition to alleviate trauma. Another talks about the role of psychoanalysis in making the world a better place.

Response to Trauma (02:48)

Group trauma is transmitted intergenerationally, consciously and unconsciously. Hatred is a psychological defense against trauma. Such feelings tend to be discharged through action.

Hope for Violence Reduction (01:02)

A speaker talks about what psychoanalysis can do for victims and future generations. Another says perpetrators carry a burden. Another quotes Freud: "The voice of reason is soft, but persistent."

Credits: Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Prevention of Violence: The UN in Action (00:10)

Credits: Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Prevention of Violence: The UN in Action