Identification with the Aggressor (German:Identifizierung mit dem Angreifer)[1] is one of the forms ofidentification conceptualized bypsychoanalysis. Specifically, it is adefence mechanism that designates the assumption of the role of the aggressor and their functional attributes or the imitation of their aggressive and behavioral mode, when apsychological trauma poses the hopeless dilemma of being a victim or an abuser.[2] Thistheoretical construct is also defined as a process ofcoping withmental distress[3] or as a particular case ofzero-sum game.[4]
The concept was first introduced bySándor Ferenczi in his clinical diary in June 1932[5] and then developed in his paper "The Passions of Adults and their Influence on the Development of the Character and the Sexuality of the Child" (German:Die Leidenschaften der Erwachsenen und deren Einfluß auf Charakter und Sexualentwicklung des Kindes)[6] for the 12th International Psycho-Analytic Congress inWiesbaden,Germany, in September 1932.[7][8]
The experiment conducted in 1963 byElliot Aronson andJ. Merrill Carlsmith on the forbidden toy seems to endorse such ahypothesis and therefore this type of dynamic: one attributes oneself amutilation of one's owndesire in order to perceive oneself asautarkic, independent and not submissive.[11]
In 2019, Yael Lahav, Anat Talmon, and Karni Ginzburg developed the Identification With the Aggressor Scale (IAS),[12] a self-reported questionnaire that assesses identification with the aggressor based on the theory ofSándor Ferenczi. Utilizing the IAS, various quantitative studies among survivors of child abuse and intimate partner violence have documented the phenomenon of identification with the aggressor and revealed its negative implications for survivors' well-being. These implications include dissociation,[12] self-injurious behavior, urges to harm others, violent acts toward others,[13] suicidal ideation and behavior,[14] willingness to return to an abusive relationship,[15] eating disorders,[16] feelings of guilt,[17] sexual re-victimization,[18] as well as PTSD and CPTSD.[19]
Frankel, Jay (2002). "Exploring Ferenczi's Concept of Identification with the Aggressor: Its Role in Trauma, Everyday Life, and the Therapeutic Relationship".Psychoanalytic Dialogues.12 (1):101–139.doi:10.1080/10481881209348657.S2CID144951828.
