For all our knowledge of psychopathology and sociopathology--and despite endless examinations
of abuse and torture mass murder and genocide--we still don't have a real handle on why evil
exists where it derives from or why it is so ubiquitous. A compelling synthesis of diverse
schools of thought Psychoanalysis of Evil identifies the mental infrastructure of evil and
deciphers its path from vile intent to malignant deeds. Evil is defined as manufactured in the
psyche: the acting out of repressed wishes stemming from a toxic mix of harmful early
experiences such as abuse and neglect profound anger negative personality factors and
mechanisms such as projection. This analysis brings startling clarity to seemingly familiar
territory that is persons and events widely perceived as evil. Strongly implied in this
far-reaching understanding is a call for more accurate forms of intervention and prevention as
the author: Reviews representations of evil from theological philosophical and psychoanalytic
sources. Locates the construction of evil in psychodynamic aspects of the psyche. Translates
vague abstractions of evil into recognizable concepts. Exemplifies this theory with the lives
and atrocities of Hitler and Stalin. Applies psychoanalytic perspective to the genocides in
Turkey Pakistan Cambodia and Rwanda. Revisits Hannah Arendt's concept of the banality of
evil. Psychoanalysis of Evil holds a unique position in the literature and will gather
considerable interest among readers in social psychology psychoanalysis sociology and
political anthropology. Historians of mass conflict should find it instructive as well.
