PSY-Psychology of Terrorism class

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Jungian Analysis of Terrorism

PSY 344: PSYCHOLOGY OF TERRORISM

Carl Jung • Psychiatrist that advanced

the idea of archetypes.

• Collective Unconscious:

– All cultures use archetypes

to build their stories without

communicating with one

another about them.

Carl Jung 1875-1961 • Kesswill, Switzerland

• Son of minister, maternal Grandfather minister

• Dominant childhood beliefs formed his theory

– Visions & Dreams were important-paranormal-

collective unconscious came from this

– Two different personalities-dual personality

• Child as he appeared to world-introvert

• Cultured gentleman

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In addition to being a psychoanalyst

• Jung was an artist:

– He painted, drew and sculpted

– He designed and built a “Tower” for himself

• Jung was somewhat of a mystic:

– He thought that repressing one’s spiritual calling would create psychological problems in the individual.

Carl Jung

• Disagreed with Freud

– the sexual instinct is not the main factor in

personality

– the personality is not almost completely formed in

early childhood

Jung’s Analytic Psychology

 Personality consists of three parts – Ego

• the rational, largely conscious system of personality, which operates according to the reality principle. Ego - Still the arbiter between conscious and unconscious but no longer the center of personality

– Personal unconscious • All of the thoughts and experiences that are accessible to the

conscious, as well as repressed memories and impulses. Unacceptable components of the Psyche

• Gender opposite components • Complexes

– Collective unconscious • contains the universal experiences of humankind

transmitted to each individual; not available to conscious thought

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Collective Unconscious

 Certain psychic elements passed from generation to generation through unconscious channel

 Universal archetypes-emotional symbols-predispose us to react in predictable ways to common recurring stimuli.

– Transpersonal

– Derived from our ancestors to continually repeating events

The Collective Unconscious

It contains archetypes, emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.

Archetypes cause us to respond in certain ways to common human experiences.

Key archetype: Mandala (“magic circle”), an image symbolizing the unity of life.

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Folklore and Myths

• As generations of people passed stories down through both oral storytelling and eventually the written word, archetypes became clearly visible.

• The archetypes are characters that represent patterns of behavior and even stereotypes.

• They are characters that everyone can recognize and understand.

• Archetypes are patterns that can be, and

are, copied.

• They are symbols or characters that appear

again and again in myths and literature.

• They survive because they portray

characters, conflicts and events that are

timeless.

• They help the reader to understand the

theme of the work.

So What is an

Archetype?

Archetype

An archetype is a repeated pattern of character, image, or event which recurs in story, song, myth and art.

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• Archetypes are seed ideas that are engrained within the “blueprint” of man.

• Archetypes are universal symbols ingrained in the psyche of human beings, and are interconnected to unfold a meaningful idea or a teaching.

Archetypes

Archetype – Existing in the collective unconscious,

an inherited tendency to perceive and

respond in particular ways to

universal human situations

Archetypes

 The concept of archetypes actually originates

in Plato’s concept of ideals and patterns.

 In the mid-1900’s psychologist Carl Jung took

Plato’s thinking a step further and developed

“psychological archetypes” defined as:

“characteristic patterns that pre-exist in the

collective psyche of the human race that repeat

themselves eternally in the psyche of individual

human beings and determine the basic ways

that we perceive and function as psychological

beings.”

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Jung’s Archetypes:

 Animus-Male/woman, Anima-Female/man

 Mother- generativity, fertility, compassion

Archetypes:

Persona-”acceptable side” people

pleasing

Archetypes:

Trickster-

Magician,

wizard,

sorcerer-

entertainer

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Archetypes:

 Shadow-”dark

side” evil twin

acting out

Archetypes:

 Hero- king Savior

Champion-Good

Archetypes:

 “Wise Old Man”

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THE EARTH MOTHER Symbolic of success, abundance,

and fertility; this character offers

spiritual and emotional nourish-

ment to those with whom she

comes in contact.

Here are some common archetypes with which you may be

familiar:

Examples

Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)

Galadriel (The Lord of the Rings)

Mon Mothma (Star Wars)

Mrs. Potts (Beauty and the Beast)

Some archetypes you might know:

• The Hero: The courageous figure, the one who's always running in and saving the day.

• The outcast : The outcast is just that. He or she has been cast out of society or has left it on a voluntary basis. The outcast figure can oftentimes also be considered as a Christ figure.

• The scapegoat: The scapegoat figure is the one who gets blamed for everything, regardless of whether he or she is actually at fault.

• The ill-fated lovers: This is the young couple joined by love but unexpectedly parted by fate.

• The wicked step-mother: ????

THE QUEST This motif describes the search

for someone or some talisman

which, when found and brought

back, will restore fertility to a

wasted land, the desolation of

which is mirrored by a leader’s ill-

ness and disability.

Here are some common archetypes with which you may be

familiar:

Examples

See-Threepio & Artoo-Detoo’s Quest for Obi-

Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)

Doc Brown & Marty McFly’s Quest for Gray’s

Sports Almanac (Back to the Future)

Indiana Jones’ Quest for the Holy Grail

(Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)

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THE TASK To save the kingdom, to win the

fair lady, to identify himself so

that he may re-assume his right-

ful position, the Hero must per-

form some nearly-superhuman

deed.

Here are some common archetypes with which you may be

familiar:

Examples

The Beast’s Task of Making Someone Fall in

Love with Him (Beauty and the Beast)

The Knights’ Task of Crossing the Bridge of

Death (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Kuzco’s Tasks of Returning to the Palace & Becom-

ing Human Again (The Emperor’s New Groove)

THE FALL This archetype describes a de-

scent from a higher to a lower

state of being. The experience in-

volves spiritual tarnishment and/

or a loss of innocence and bliss.

The Fall is also usually accompa-

nied by expulsion from a kind of

paradise as penalty for disobedi-

ence and sin.

Here are some common archetypes with which you may be

familiar:

Examples

The Prince’s Fall from Humanity to Bestiality

(Beauty and the Beast)

Sméagol’s Fall from Hobbit to Gollum (The

Lord of the Rings)

Anakin Skywalker’s Fall to the Dark Side of

the Force (Star Wars)

Archetypes and society

Jung felt that, not only individuals but also groups of people, nations, may project a single archetype at a given moment of history.

What archetypes is our nation projecting just now, as we are faced with the issues of terrorism and war?