Originally published in 1954, this was a new study of aggressive behaviour and phantasies in children of school age, combining the scientific-experimental with the clinical approach. It was, therefore, at the time, likely to be of interest both to experimental psychologists and to clinicians, as well as to all who worked in the fields of child guidance and mental health and were concerned with the welfare of children, including parents and teachers. The author’s group studies of normal, neurotic and delinquent children, made with the help a specially designed pictorial projection test, and the individual studies of her young patients demonstrated objectively the close connection between the forms taken by the aggressive impulse of the child and their relationships with the members of their family. The writer re-defines the concept of aggression, taking a closely argued view that the aggressive urge is a manifestation of the vital impulse to self-realization through exploratory and constructive activities, and that destructive aggression arises only when the ways to constructive activities are blocked at an early age. This theory, with its wide social and educational implications, is put forward as a well-reasoned and hopeful alternative to the traditional view which represents aggressive behaviour as an outcome of an instinct by its very nature asocial and destructive.

Aggression usually involves a sequence of behaviors, reflecting escalations and de-escalations in the form or intensity of the actions taken, which play out over time. This book provides a context in which social and biological research on the aggressive behaviors of human and non-human subjects, interacting in dyads or groups, can be compared and integrated. Implicit in this juxtaposition is the major question of whether general principles governing the dynamics of aggression within and between episodes may be discerned. Aggressive behavior is described at different levels of analysis in humans and a number of other animal species. Three basic views of aggression dynamics become apparent: * The economic interpretation: Aggression will be escalated when it pays one of the combatants to do so or, more generally, when the potential benefits outweigh the risks. Decisions to escalate or de-escalate are part of a calculated "strategy", in one or another sense. This interpretation is formalized within game theoretic models as applied to animal conflicts and to international conflicts, within the chapters of this text. * The psychological process interpretation: Emphasis is placed on psychological/physiological processes within the individual. The chapters stress the importance of acute emotional states of anger and aggressive arousal and argue the role of peripheral sympathetic activation, while proposing a central neural mechanism. Children escalating their tantrums, adult humans and animals of other species intensifying their interpersonal conflicts, national leaders going to a war footing all appear to suffer a narrowing of attention and progressive failure of cognitive function under the intensifying stress of conflict. Perhaps these changes in attention, sensory and cognitive functions, and risk taking reflect a "commitment to aggression" which is necessary for organisms to engage in potentially dangerous and painful encounters. * The emergent process interpretation: Escalation emerges in a spontaneous and dynamic way as the actions of one participant elicit reactions from the other(s).

The leading theoretical models that explain aggression are discussed and applied to the analysis of several kinds of real-life aggressive behavior, such as sexual violence, aggression in close relationships, bullying, and the activities of spectators at sporting events.

Aggression, Time, and Understanding is the first book of Staemmler’s writings to be published in English. In the early sections of this book, Staemmler (supported by his Buddhist wife, Barbara) comprehensively explores and questions the traditional Gestalt therapy theory of aggression and proposes a new approach to working with anger and hostility. Further sections include in-depth examinations of the topics of time (the "Here and Now" and "Regressive Processes") and understanding ("Dialogue and Interpretation" and "Cultivated Uncertainty"). From Staemmler’s "critical gaze," Dan Bloom observes, "concepts emerge as refreshed, re-formed, and revitalized constructs so we can continue to develop the theory and practice of contemporary Gestalt therapy."

also many newer lines of research, to which I will return below, are represented in various chapters. And finally, I have included a sepa rate unit on methods for the study of aggression-a feature that I believe to be unique to the present volume. In these ways, I have at tempted to produce a text that is as broad and eclectic in coverage as I could make it. While the present volume grew, in part, out of my desire to pro duce what I thought might prove to be a useful teaching aid, it also developed out of a second major motive. During the past few years, a large number of new-and to me, exciting-lines of investigation have emerged in rapid order. These have been extremely varied in scope, including, among many others, such diverse topics as the effects of sexual arousal upon aggression, the impact of environmental factors (e. g. , heat, noise, crowding) upon such behavior, interracial aggres sion, and the influence of heightened self-awareness. Despite the fact that such topics have already generated a considerable amount of re search, they were not, to my knowledge, adequately represented irt any existing volume. Given this state of affairs, it seemed to me that a reasonably comprehensive summary of this newer work might prove both useful and timely.

Published in English for the first time, this is a seminal work by an original and creative analytical thinker. Piera Aulagnier's The Violence of Interpretation bridges the work of Winnicott and Lacan, putting forward a theory of psychosis based on children's early experiences. The author's analysis of the relationship between the other's communications and the infant's psychic experience. and of the pre-verbal stage of development of unconscious fantasy starting from the 'pictogram', have fundamental implications for the psychoanalytic theory of development. She developed Lacan's ideas to enable the treatment of severe psychotic states. Containing detailed discussion of clinical material, and written in the author's precise yet provocative style, The Violence of Interpretation is a welcome addition to the New Library of Psychoanalysis.

This book provides a broad and contemporary overview of aggression and violence by some of the most internationally renowned researchers in the field. It begins with an integrative theoretical understanding of aggression and shows how animal models shed light on human aggression and violence. Individual risk factors for aggression and violence from different research perspectives are then examined. First, there is a cognitive neuroscientific, neuropsychological, and psychophysiological study of the brain. It then explores the developmental psychological factors in aggressive behavior, incorporating work on gender and the family. Other perspectives include the role of testosterone, individual differences, and whether humans are innately wired for violence. The following sections moves from the individual to the contextual risk factors for aggression, including work on the effects of adverse events and ostracism, guns and other aggressive cues including violent media, and drugs and alcohol. Targets of aggression and violence are covered in the next section, including violence against women and loved ones; aggression between social groups; and the two very contemporary issues of cyberbullying and terrorism. The book concludes with work showing how we may make the world a more peaceful place by preventing and reducing aggression and violence. The volume is essential reading for upper-level students and researchers of psychology and related disciplines interested in a rigorous and multi-perspective overview of work on aggression and violence.