Racism as a Transference State

Episodes of Racial Hostility in the Psychoanalytic Context

Bibliographic Data

ID9230675
AuthorsForrest Hamer (corresponding author), Forrest M Hamer
Year2006
Volume75
Issue1
Pages197-214
Publication date2006-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Psychoanalytic Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-2828 • E-ISSN: 2167-4086
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/j.2167-4086.2006.tb00037.x
PMID16482965
OpenAlexW2059213537
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited17

Episodes of racial prejudice emerging in the context of a psychoanalytic therapy suggest that racism can be thought of as a regressed state of transference, characterized by polarized representations of self and other, categorical thinking, and the predominance of splitting and projection as defenses. The author suggests that activation of racial hostility in the clinical situation occurs as a result of events and processes not atypical in an analytic process. Though such states occurring outside of the analytic context are more likely made conscious in certain situations and in certain persons, the author suggests that racism can be more generally described as an ever-potential state of mind for most people living in racialized contexts

Context (archaeology) · Countertransference · Hostility · Prejudice (legal term) · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Racism · Sociology · State (computer science) · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Counseling Practices and Supervision · Gender Studies · History · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

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