NCJ Number
10543
Date Published
1973
Length
296 pages
Annotation
PSYCHOANALYTIC TENETS ARE DESCRIBED AND APPLIED BOTH TO THE LAW AND TO THOSE WHO INFLUENCE IT AND ARE INFLUENCED BY IT.
Abstract
PSYCHOANALYTIC INSIGHTS REGARDING UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATION ARE EMPLOYED TO HELP IN THE EXPLANATION OF THE BEHAVIOR OF CRIMINALS AND THE POLICE WHO SEEK TO APPREHEND THEM, CLIENTS AND THE LAWYERS WHO TRY TO SERVE THEM, AND LEGISLATORS AND THE JUDGES WHO INTERPRET THE LAWS THEY PASS. PSYCHOANALYTIC DISCOVERIES CONCERNING UNCONSCIOUS SYMBOLISM AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO SUCH SEEMINGLY DISPARATE MATTERS AS LABOR LAW, JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, AND THE WAY IN WHICH THE LAW SEEKS TO COPE WITH KLEPTOMANIA AND PYROMANIA, ARE DISCUSSED. THE FACETS OF THE LAW DEALT WITH RANGE FROM LEGAL CONCEPTS TO COURTROOM TACTICS, FROM A CONSIDERATION OF THE THEORY OF THE LAW OF NEGLIGENCE TO A CONSIDERATION OF CRIMINAL SANCTIONS. A LARGE SEGMENT IS DEVOTED TO PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY OF FOUR BASIC PROBLEMS OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - JUDICIAL REVIEW, JUDICIAL ACTIVISM, CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION AND THE SEPARATION OF POWER. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)