Behind Infanticide and Incest—Personal Aspects in the Formulation of the Oedipus Complex

One of the most intriguing aspects of the crucial years in Freud\u27s life, at the end of the nineteenth century, when he was struggling with the initial formulation of the ideas that were to crystallise into the Oedipus Complex, is that during that very time almost all of his own children were going through their own oedipal periods. Under normal circumstances it would seem surely logical to presuppose some connection between the intellectual and emotional turmoil enveloping Freud and the happenings in his home at that time

Implications for therapeutic judging (TJ) of a psychoanalytical approach to the judicial role — Reflections on Robert Burt's contribution

Robert Burt in, “The Yale School of Law and Psychoanalysis, from 1963 Onward”, in this issue, explains and laments a decline in influence of psychoanalytic ideas in legal thinking. He notes “the fundamental similarity that both litigation and psychotherapy involve recollections of past events”, buttressing his argument with eight parallels between the two. In this article we take up Burt's theme, first noting the relationship between therapeutic jurisprudence and psychoanalytic concepts before presenting an outline for a psychoanalytical understanding of the judicial role. We then consider the litigation process from the linked perspectives of therapeutic jurisprudence and psychoanalysis before closing with a reflection on the eight parallels elaborated by Burt

Activism and Legitimation in Israel's Jurisprudence of Occupation

Colonial law need not exclude the colonized in order to subordinate them, and ‘activist’ courts can advance the effect of subordination no less than ‘passive’ courts. As a case study, this article examines the jurisprudential legacy of the Israeli Supreme Court in the context of the prolonged Israeli occupation of Palestine. Applying insights from legal realist, law and society, and critical legal studies scholarship, the article questions the utility of using the activist and passive labels. It illustrates how the Israeli activist court, through multiple legal and discursive moves, has advanced and legitimated the colonization of Palestine; that the court is aware of its role; and that arguments that focus on the court’s informal role do not mitigate this legitimating effect. Unlike other scholars, the article shows that the Israeli court’s role—by extending the power of judicial review to the military’s actions in the occupied areas—is neither novel nor unique or benevolent, as the British colonization of India and the US colonization of Puerto Rico show