Table Of ContentErrant Selves
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Errant Selves
A Casebook of Misbehavior
edited by
Arnold Goldberg
~
THE ANALYTIC PRESS
2000 Hillsdale, NJ London
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© 2000 by The Analytic Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form: by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other means,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by
The Analytic Press, Inc., Publishers
Editorial Offices:
101 West Street
Hillsdale, New Jersey 07642
www.analyticpress.com
Designed and typeset by Compudesign, Charlottesville, VA
Index by Leonard S. Rosenbaum
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Errant selves : a casebook of misbehavior / edited by Arnold Goldberg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88163-333-X
l. Compulsive behavior-Case studies. 2. Psychology,
Pathological-Case studies. 3. Psychoanalysis-Case studies.
I. Goldberg, Arnold, 1929-
RC533.E774 2000
616.85'227-dc21
00-057603
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Acknowledgments VI
Introduction VII
1. The Case of John Alter
To Catch a Thief (or Two)
2. The Case of Kool
The Psychoanalysis of a Transvestite 25
3. The Case of Bert
A Case of Infidelity 45
4. The Case of Janie
A Young Woman in Passionate Pursuit 73
5. The Case of Peter Stone
A Case of Compulsive Masturbation 103
6. The Case of Alice
Perverse Indiscretions of an Inhibited
Young Woman 135
7. The Case of Rashid
Purloined Letters: The Psychoanalysis of a
Man Who Stole Books 161
8. The Case of Alexander
Variations on the Vertical Split-
Psychotherapy of a Delinquent 187
References 213
Contributors 215
Index 217
V
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Acknowledgments
The editor and contributors are grateful for the support of their
families, friends, and patients. In addition to the authors of these
cases, our study group was composed of Constance Goldberg,
Dr. Robert Gordon, Dr. Robert J. Leider, Dr. Sheldon Meyers, Ms.
Judith Newman, Dr. David Solomon, and Dr. Ruth Yanagi.
Financial support for our work was given by the Psychotherapy
Fund of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago.
Editorial and secretarial assistance was provided by Ms. Christine
Susman. She and all of those listed were supportive and encour
aging throughout this project and we are all indebted to them.
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Introduction
This book evolved over time. A group of analysts was formed in
order to collect and study cases of perversions, delinquencies,
and addictions for a casebook. We met to discuss these cases, and
we hoped ultimately to publish the clinical data we felt were all
of a piece, that is, the cases in which behavior disorders shared
similar characteristics, a similarity that deserved a detailed pre
sentation. One of the features common to all cases was that the
noteworthy behavior (of whatever sort) served primarily to ward
off or obliterate painful affects or states of dysphoria, and in doing
so to make for a feeling of self-strength or consolidation. Just as
a long run for exercise or a comic movie for fun helps one tem
porarily both to forget reality and to live in another world, so too
did these behaviors enable our patients to step away from their
everyday and often unhappy lives and to experience relief and
(sometimes) pleasure. That some or most of these behaviors were
more appropriately termed misbehavior, such as seen in the sex
ual perversions, was considered to be an added ingredient to that
first basic and fundamental characteristic: the behavior was nec
essary. One could, of course, think of this misbehavior as defen
sive or as a weakness or even as a communication to others. But
all of that came later. We began with the understanding that it
made no sense to try to suppress or eradicate someone's needs,
no matter how offensive the needs may seem to others. With our
commitment to understanding the symptom rather than treating
the behavior, we saw it primarily as necessary for achieving a
sense of self-consolidation in our patients.
The second feature assigned to this fairly large and (at first)
poorly delineated category of misbehavior had to do with the
degree of offensiveness. Most if not all of our patients seemed to
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VIII ERRANT SELVES
share much the same dislike of what they did as did the rest of
us. Although it became clear to us that our patients could make
no claim to being run of the mill criminals, perverts, or addicts,
we could not conclude that they were much different from what
is commonly considered as antisocial, save that they regularly
joined with us in contemplating the awfulness of and disdain
for their actions. This in itself soon became a significant, if not
essential, component for better definition and delineation of our
own categorization and a critical issue in the consideration of
treatment, inasmuch as the negative appraisal of the behavior
was regularly the launching pad for its later understanding and
subsequent control or eradication. Here is one beautiful exam
ple of this kind of negative appraisal, its appearance and dis
appearance.
Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast at the acts of Edward
Hyde; but the situation was apart from ordinary laws, and
insidiously relaxed the grasp of conscience. It was Hyde,
after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty. Jekyll was no
worse; he woke again to his good qualities seemingly unim
paired; he would even make haste, where it was possible,
to undo the evil done by Hyde. And thus his conscience
slumbered [Stevenson, p. 87].
Robert Louis Stevenson's classic fictionalized study is of a man
who ingests a magical potion to become someone else-although
only temporarily, and regrettably, regularly. Dr. Jekyll can be said
to be transformed into Mr. Hyde or seen as both men with dif
ferent claims for recognition. Mr. Hyde does demonic things and
Jekyll claims innocence; while Stevenson lets us know that Jekyll
initiates and enjoys everything that Hyde does. Jekyll is of two
minds and literally embodies what we call a vertical split. This
split is not the horizontal split of repression but rather that of
disavowal and so is a division available to consciousness and
self-appraisal.
Such a split, of one person living parallel lives with different
goals, aims, and values, is a hallmark of our overall category,
which now can be seen as a pathological group: a group that (as
Jekyll) is aghast at what they (as Hyde) do. The moral compo
nent in the evaluation of one's parallel and aberrant behavior is
a powerful incentive to its delineation as pathology. How dif-
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INTRODUCTION IX
ferently we judge a person with a symptom such as depression
versus (say) one who exhibits his genitals to small children. Of
late, some think that depression is something so basic and bio
chemical that the sufferer may indeed be an innocent victim;
rarely, however, do we believe that a periodic thief can lay equal
claim to an affliction beyond his control? Shoplifters are caught
and punished; bipolar disease and depression are pitied and med
icated. This moral stance is, not surprisingly, adopted by that
same misbehaving patient who, because of this split, can treat
his or her actions as if they were misdeeds of another. Our
patients-in order for them to become patients-to some degree
or other hate that other self. But just as Jekyll enjoys what Hyde
does, so, too, do our patients-to the detriment of their treat
ment-enjoy their own misdeeds. The psychological state of dis
avowal of a parallel person is a sine qua non for our categorization
of narcissistic behavior disorders, a phrase that joins together the
use of disordered or offensive behavior with the treatment goal
of self-cohesion. Our patients were neither unitary selves nor
persons with an easy ability to bolster or reconstitute themselves
in socially acceptable ways. Rather they utilized all manner of
deviant, immoral, aberrant efforts to gain their sense of solidity,
and in so doing they were rent in two.
No doubt much of the richness of a depth psychology lies in
the content of the life stories that unfold; however, our initial two
elements of describing our patient population had to do not with
content but with form: the halt to disintegration and the dis
avowal that ensued. There are no stories here-not yet.
The cases that are discussed in this book are representative of
those that were presented to our group over a period of years.
Several of the cases we discussed may have been more illustrative
of points that we wished to present, but they could not be included
in this book because of issues of confidentiality. Some could not be
properly disguised, whereas others were vetoed by the patient who
had been invited to read the writeup for an agreement to publish.
Surely case presentations need to be at the heart of our scientific
study, but we are necessarily constrained by our obligation to pro
tect patients. We are fairly confident that nothing extraneous or
misleading has been added to these cases that would in any way
significantly alter the essential content of the material.
For the most part, patients who become involved in unlawful
behavior are sent for treatment rather than seek it out for them-
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