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Psychoanalysis and the third position

Social upheavals and atrocity

Bibliographic Data

ID8971435
AuthorsSverre Varvin (0000-0003-1559-8335, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume104
Issue3
Pages574-584
Publication date2023-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00207578.2023.2213528
PMID37410068
OpenAlexW4383302114
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited14

Many situations are now characterized by a breakdown of order and structure, leaving people at the peril of unorganized forces (war machines, human traffickers, etc.) resulting in the dehumanizing of ordinary people on a mass scale, especially in the refugee field. The paper focuses on how alienating discourses on "trauma" and society's neglect of traumatized people increase suffering and have grave consequences for coming generations. It reflects on how psychoanalysis may represent a mediating function in relation to regressive processes at individual, group and societal levels. A conceptualization of a third position from which psychoanalysis can work is developed. The third position is seen as inevitable in psychoanalytic clinical work in that symbolization and working though must be anchored in a common cultural discourse. A model for rethinking traumatization is proposed that develops the conception of the third position in relation to a broader field and encompasses the subject's relations to dyadic, bodily-affective relations, to the group and family, and to culture/ discourse. This model may lay the groundwork for understanding how atrocities and social catastrophes such as collective traumatization can be worked through at the individual and social levels. Clinical examples are presented to illuminate these processes

Conceptualization · Criminology · Dehumanization · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Neglect · Political science · Position (finance · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Refugee · Relation (database · Sociology · Subject (documents · Child Abuse and Trauma · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology

  • Psychoanalytic Field Work for Refugees Exposed to Human Rights Violations

    Open Access•Sverre Varvin, Vladimir Jović et al.•International Journal of Applied…•2025

  • Peritraumatic leisure

    Robyn Moran, Michela J Stinson et al.•Leisure Sciences•2025

  • Traumatic events, posttraumatic states, and the debate on aetiology

    Vladimir Jović, Sverre Varvin•The Scandinavian Psychoanalytic…•2024

  • The Social Ecology of Resilience

    Open Access•Michael Ungar•Social Ecology of Resilience•2012

  • Our Relations to Refugees

    Open Access•Sverre Varvin•The American Journal of…•2017

  • Out of the Woods

    Stuart T Hauser, Joseph P Allen et al.•Out of the Woods•2006

  • Understanding Resilient Outcomes

    Stuart T Hauser•Journal of Research on Adolescence•1999

  • The Third Position

    Open Access•Ralf Zwiebel•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2004

  • Thirdness and Psychoanalytic Concepts

    Open Access•André Green•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2004

  • Trauma, process and representation

    Howard B Levine•The International Journal of…•2021

  • The influence of extreme traumatization on body, mind and social relations

    Open Access•Bent Rosenbaum, Sverre Varvin•The International Journal of…•2007

  • Resilience across Cultures

    M Ungar•The British Journal of Social Work•2006

Unique citing works3
Citations per year1,5
Citation span2024 - 2025 (2)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 3

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