Identification with the Aggressor (
German: Identifizierung mit dem Angreifer)[1] is one of the forms of
identification conceptualized by
psychoanalysis. Specifically, it is a
defence mechanism that designates the assumption of the role of the aggressor and his functional attributes or the imitation of his aggressive and behavioral mode, when a
psychological trauma poses the hopeless dilemma of being a victim or an abuser.[2] This
theoretical construct is also defined as a process of
coping with
mental distress[3] or as a particular case of
zero-sum game.[4]
History
The concept was first introduced by
Sándor Ferenczi in his clinical diary in June 1932[5] and then developed in his paper "The Passions of Adults and their Influence on the Development of the Character and the Sexuality of the Child" (
German: Die Leidenschaften der Erwachsenen und deren Einfluß auf Charakter und Sexualentwicklung des Kindes)[6] for the 12th International Psycho-Analytic Congress in
Wiesbaden,
Germany, in September 1932.[7][8]
The experiment conducted in 1963 by
Elliot Aronson and
J. Merrill Carlsmith on the forbidden toy seems to endorse such a
hypothesis and therefore this type of dynamic: one attributes oneself a
mutilation of one's own
desire in order to perceive oneself as
autarkic, independent and not submissive.[11]
Frankel, Jay (2002). "Exploring Ferenczi's Concept of Identification with the Aggressor: Its Role in Trauma, Everyday Life, and the Therapeutic Relationship". Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 12 (1): 101–139.
doi:
10.1080/10481881209348657.
S2CID144951828.