Identification with the Aggressor

History

The concept was first introduced by Sándor Ferenczi in his clinical diary in June 1932 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" () for the 12th International Psycho-Analytic Congress in Wiesbaden, Germany, in September 1932.

He further elaborated this work until he published it in 1949 in The International Journal of Psychoanalysis with the new title "Confusion of the Tongues Between the Adults and the Child—(The Language of Tenderness and of Passion)". In 1936, Anna Freud took up and developed the concept in her book The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence ().

Further research

Main article: Insufficient justification#The forbidden toy experiment

The experiment conducted in 1963 by Elliot Aronson and J. Merrill Carlsmith on the forbidden toy seems to endorse such a hypothesis and therefore this type of dynamic: one attributes oneself a mutilation of one's own desire in order to perceive oneself as autarkic, independent and not submissive.

In 2019, Yael Lahav, Anat Talmon, and Karni Ginzburg developed the Identification With the Aggressor Scale (IAS), a self-reported questionnaire that assesses identification with the aggressor based on the theory of Sándor 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, self-injurious behavior, urges to harm others, violent acts toward others, suicidal ideation and behavior, willingness to return to an abusive relationship, eating disorders, feelings of guilt, sexual re-victimization, as well as PTSD and CPTSD.

References

References

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2. Prior, Stephen. (2004). "Object Relations in Severe Trauma. Psychotherapy of the Sexually Abused Child". [[Jason Aronson]].
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5. Ferenczi, Sándor. (1995). "The Clinical Diary of Sándor Ferenczi". [[Harvard University Press]].
6. Massing, Almuth. (2013). "Psychoanalytische Wege der Familientherapie. System Familie, Supplement". [[Springer-Verlag]].
7. Sabourin, Pierre. (December 17, 2019). "Confusion of Tongues between Adults and the Child". [[Gale (publisher).
8. Rachman Wm., Arnold. ["Ferenczi's "Confusion of Tongues" Paper: A Turning Point in the Understanding and Treatment of Trauma"](http://www.sectionfive.org/continuing_education/ferenczi/commentary/ ).
9. Ferenczi, Sándor. (1949). "Confusion of the Tongues Between the Adults and the Child—(The Language of Tenderness and of Passion)". [[International Journal of Psycho-Analysis]].
10. Freud, Anna. (1994). "Das Ich und die Abwehrmechanismen". [[Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag]].
11. (1963). "Effect Of The Severity Of Threat On The Devaluation Of Forbidden Behavior". [[Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology]].
12. (27 August 2019). "Knowing the Abuser Inside and Out: The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Identification With the Aggressor Scale". Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
13. (13 July 2020). "Identification with the Aggressor and Inward and Outward Aggression in Abuse Survivors". Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
14. (3 September 2021). "Suicidality in Childhood Abuse Survivors – The Contribution of Identification with the Aggressor". Journal of Affective Disorders.
15. (2022). "Hyper-sensitivity to the Perpetrator and the Likelihood of Returning to Abusive Relationships". Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
16. (2023). "Child abuse and eating disorder symptoms: Shedding light on the contribution of identification with the aggressor". Child Abuse & Neglect.
17. (2022). "A complex relationship: Intimate partner violence, identification with the aggressor, and guilt". Violence Against Women.
18. (July–September 2019). "Reenacting Past Abuse – Identification with the Aggressor and Sexual Revictimization". Journal of Trauma & Dissociation.
19. (2025). "Complex PTSD and identification with the aggressor among survivors of childhood abuse". Child Abuse & Neglect.