Kleinian Psychodynamics and Religious Aspects of Hatred as a Defense Mechanism

Abstract

Hatred is placed in the theoretical framework of object relations, e.g., splitting, as developed by Melanie Klein and Otto Kernberg; it is also interpreted in a general religious context as a major barrier to forgiveness and to psychological health. Within the therapy process of the adult client, an important aspect of hatred is that it is a willed choice, i.e., the self acting as agent (Meissner, 1993). Hatred's extreme resistance to change is explained as due to its function as a defense against narcissistic injury. Defenses supported by hatred are described, for example, hatred defends one against the source memory and thus against a depressing, humiliating or inadequate past; hatred protects one from the risks of intimate relationships; it creates the benefits of the sick role and of self-pity; it defends one's unrealistic ego-ideals and moral pride; and it permits the pleasures of moral superiority.

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