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Section III: TA in Prisons

The Coatlicue Complex: A Source of Irrational Reactions against Women

Pages 188-192
Published online: 02 Jan 2018

    References

  • BerneE.Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. Grove Press, New York, 1961; see also What Do You Say After You Say Hello? Grove Press, New York, 1972. 
  • SteinerC.Games Alcoholics Play: The Analysis of Life Scripts. Grove Press, New York, 1971. 
  • JohnsonA. and RobinsonD.“The Sexual Deviant (Sexual Psychopath) — Causes, Treatment, and Prevention”, Journal of the American Medical Association, 164, 1957, pp. 15591565. 
  • McCormickP.Guide for Use of the Life-Script Questionnaire. Transactional Pubs, Berkeley, California, 1971. 
  • This patient illustrates the syndrome of decay — Narcissism, necrophilia and incestuous dependency. Cf. FrommE.The Heart of Man: Its Genius for Good and Evil. Harper and Row, New York, 1964. 
  • This material was uncovered by the analysis of an incident in our relationship in which he expressed great concern about my well being, though I myself was not aware that anything was especially amiss. That evening I had a severe episode of abnormal menstrual bleeding. The patient had learned to become uncannily i sensitive to cues of female well-being. 
  • Janov suggests that the crimes of sex offenders are symbolic. JanovA.The Primal Scream. Dell, New York, 1970. 
  • White males attributed more sexuality to Black men than to themselves, or than Black men saw in themselves. Woudenberg, Roger. “The Relationship of Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Stereotypes, Racial-Sexual Stereotypes and Racial Attitudes.” Unpublished dissertation, Michigan State University, 1973. 
  • JohnsonA. and RobinsonD. op. cit. 
  • The fusion of dominance and sexual behaviors is discussed in MaslowA.H.RandH., and NewmanS. “Some Parallels Between Sexual Dominance Behaviors of Infrahuman Primates and the Fantasies of Patients in Psychotherapy”. In MaslowA.H.The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. Viking, New York, 1971. Feelings of powerlessness lead to rage. May, Rollo. Power and Innocence. Norton, New York, 1972. 
  • BerneE.The Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups. Lippincott, New York, 1963. 
  • VaillantG.D.The Aztec of Mexico. Penguin Books, New York, 1961. 
  • JungC.G.Four Archetypes. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1973. This book contains a discussion of the Goddess Kali in relation to the mother archetype. 
  • The story of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allen Poe is a peculiarly gripping, horrible story which ends with the family home being rent apart. The horror appears to derive from the destruction of the symbolic mother, i.e., house. Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Washington Square Press, New York, 1970. 
  • This view appears consistent with Robert Stoller's who finds that “masculine protest” in males, fear of and repudiation of feminity, are defensive maneuvers against an earlier closeness and primitive identification with mother. StollerR.“The Bedrock of Masculinity and Femininity: Bisexuality”. In MillerJ. (Ed) Psychoanalysis and Women. Brunner and Mazel, New York, 1973. 
  • It is not implied that the oppression of women can be solely traced to these complexes, but they appear to be one important source of irrational male behavior toward women. Evocation of unconscious sources of male hostility does not mean that they cannot be changed. Growing sophistication about the Oedipus complex has tempered many a man's irrational reactions to authority, and I see no reason why growing awareness of the Coatlicue and House of Usher complexes could not do the same for men vis-a-vis women. Doubt about this prospect, however, is expressed by PleckJ.“Men's Responses to the Changing Consciousness of Women”. Presented at the Radcliffe Club of New York, 1974.