Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults

Noga Levine Keini; Vardit Zerem Ullman

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15

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Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults

Noga Levine Keini, Vardit Zerem Ullman

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 6)

Received: 27 October 2021 Accepted: 15 November 2021 Published: 23 November 2021

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Abstract

Background: As part of the human experience, the phenomenon of guilt feelings is widely known and has over time been subjected to extensive research in the field of psychoanalysis. Objection: The present article examines the contribution of Kohut's self-psychology to the question of guilt and its impacts on the self. Method: A concept is proposed according to which early childhood experiences are recorded in the young mind as a form of guilt. Referred to as narcissistic guilt, it is an emotion that colors the individual's entire being. Two clinical case studies are presented, involving Holocaust survivors who experienced guilt for having remained alive without being able to save their family members. Result: The patients feeling of guilt is all-encompassing, leading them to regard themselves as rotten to the core. Many describe the tragedy as involving them in some way, with their being complicit, with guilt feelings haunting them unrelentingly, often in the form of nightmares. Conclusion: We propose to consider guilt as a narration to its observers of the tragic life circumstances of the patient, of the destruction that they encountered in their environments, long before they were able to process these tragic circumstances. These gave rise to pervasive guilt that colors and defines the totality of the person.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15
Page(s)	245-250
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Guilt, Narcissism, Holocaust, Survivors, Psychotherapy, Self-Psychology

References

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[2]	Balint, M. (1968). The basic fault. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
[3]	Ferenczi, S. (1933). Confusion of Tongues between Adults and the Child. The Language of Tenderness and of Passion. In Final contribution to the problems and methods of psychoanalysis. 156–167.
[4]	Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. (19), 3-68.
[5]	Freud, S. (1950) Civization and its Discontents. Imago, London.
[6]	Freud, S. (1952) Beyond the pleasure Principle. Imago, London.
[7]	Freud, S., & Breuer, J. (1895). "Katharina" Studies on Hysteria.
[8]	WMK, II. Psychoanalysis of Children'. (1932). Klein, M.
[9]	Klein, M. (1935). A Contribution to Psychogenesis of Manicdepressive States. WMK, I (17).
[10]	Klein, M. (1946). Notes on Some Schizoid mechanisms. Int. Journal of Psychoanalysis (27), 99-110.
[11]	Kohut, H. (1978). The Search for the Self. (P. H. Omstein, Ed.) International Universities Press.
[12]	Kohut, H. (1985). Self Psychology and the Humanities. International Universities Press.
[13]	Kohut, H. (1975). Pride Shame and Self regulations. The Ananalytic Press.
[14]	Kohut, H. (1991). On empathy. In P. Orenstein, The search for the self (pp. 537-567). New York Int. Univ press.
[15]	Lewis, A., & Star, K. (2013). Psychotherapy for the People: Towards a Progressive Psychoanalysis. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 83 (4).
[16]	Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shamed Guilt in Neurosis. New York Int. Univ Press.
[17]	Mitchel, S., & Black, M. (1978). Freud and Beyond a History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought.
[18]	Weiss, H. (2015). Introduction: The role of shame in psychoanalytic theory and practice. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 96 (6), 1585-1588.
[19]	Yalom, I. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. New york, Basic Books.

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Noga Levine Keini, Vardit Zerem Ullman. (2021). Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults. Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(6), 245-250. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15

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Noga Levine Keini; Vardit Zerem Ullman. Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2021, 9(6), 245-250. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15

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Noga Levine Keini, Vardit Zerem Ullman. Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults. Humanit Soc Sci. 2021;9(6):245-250. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15,
  author = {Noga Levine Keini and Vardit Zerem Ullman},
  title = {Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {245-250},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20210906.15},
  abstract = {Background: As part of the human experience, the phenomenon of guilt feelings is widely known and has over time been subjected to extensive research in the field of psychoanalysis. Objection: The present article examines the contribution of Kohut's self-psychology to the question of guilt and its impacts on the self. Method: A concept is proposed according to which early childhood experiences are recorded in the young mind as a form of guilt. Referred to as narcissistic guilt, it is an emotion that colors the individual's entire being. Two clinical case studies are presented, involving Holocaust survivors who experienced guilt for having remained alive without being able to save their family members. Result: The patients feeling of guilt is all-encompassing, leading them to regard themselves as rotten to the core. Many describe the tragedy as involving them in some way, with their being complicit, with guilt feelings haunting them unrelentingly, often in the form of nightmares. Conclusion: We propose to consider guilt as a narration to its observers of the tragic life circumstances of the patient, of the destruction that they encountered in their environments, long before they were able to process these tragic circumstances. These gave rise to pervasive guilt that colors and defines the totality of the person.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults
AU  - Noga Levine Keini
AU  - Vardit Zerem Ullman
Y1  - 2021/11/23
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DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15
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AB  - Background: As part of the human experience, the phenomenon of guilt feelings is widely known and has over time been subjected to extensive research in the field of psychoanalysis. Objection: The present article examines the contribution of Kohut's self-psychology to the question of guilt and its impacts on the self. Method: A concept is proposed according to which early childhood experiences are recorded in the young mind as a form of guilt. Referred to as narcissistic guilt, it is an emotion that colors the individual's entire being. Two clinical case studies are presented, involving Holocaust survivors who experienced guilt for having remained alive without being able to save their family members. Result: The patients feeling of guilt is all-encompassing, leading them to regard themselves as rotten to the core. Many describe the tragedy as involving them in some way, with their being complicit, with guilt feelings haunting them unrelentingly, often in the form of nightmares. Conclusion: We propose to consider guilt as a narration to its observers of the tragic life circumstances of the patient, of the destruction that they encountered in their environments, long before they were able to process these tragic circumstances. These gave rise to pervasive guilt that colors and defines the totality of the person.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
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Author Information

Noga Levine Keini

Ashkelon Academic College, College of Management Academic Studies, Ashkelon, Israel
Vardit Zerem Ullman

Social Work, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

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APA Style

Noga Levine Keini, Vardit Zerem Ullman. (2021). Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults. Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(6), 245-250. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15

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ACS Style

Noga Levine Keini; Vardit Zerem Ullman. Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2021, 9(6), 245-250. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15

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AMA Style

Noga Levine Keini, Vardit Zerem Ullman. Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults. Humanit Soc Sci. 2021;9(6):245-250. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15,
  author = {Noga Levine Keini and Vardit Zerem Ullman},
  title = {Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {245-250},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20210906.15},
  abstract = {Background: As part of the human experience, the phenomenon of guilt feelings is widely known and has over time been subjected to extensive research in the field of psychoanalysis. Objection: The present article examines the contribution of Kohut's self-psychology to the question of guilt and its impacts on the self. Method: A concept is proposed according to which early childhood experiences are recorded in the young mind as a form of guilt. Referred to as narcissistic guilt, it is an emotion that colors the individual's entire being. Two clinical case studies are presented, involving Holocaust survivors who experienced guilt for having remained alive without being able to save their family members. Result: The patients feeling of guilt is all-encompassing, leading them to regard themselves as rotten to the core. Many describe the tragedy as involving them in some way, with their being complicit, with guilt feelings haunting them unrelentingly, often in the form of nightmares. Conclusion: We propose to consider guilt as a narration to its observers of the tragic life circumstances of the patient, of the destruction that they encountered in their environments, long before they were able to process these tragic circumstances. These gave rise to pervasive guilt that colors and defines the totality of the person.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Early and Cumulative Breakdown in Childhood and Adolescence, as Antecedents of Pervasive Guilt in the Self-Experience of Adults
AU  - Noga Levine Keini
AU  - Vardit Zerem Ullman
Y1  - 2021/11/23
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 245
EP  - 250
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210906.15
AB  - Background: As part of the human experience, the phenomenon of guilt feelings is widely known and has over time been subjected to extensive research in the field of psychoanalysis. Objection: The present article examines the contribution of Kohut's self-psychology to the question of guilt and its impacts on the self. Method: A concept is proposed according to which early childhood experiences are recorded in the young mind as a form of guilt. Referred to as narcissistic guilt, it is an emotion that colors the individual's entire being. Two clinical case studies are presented, involving Holocaust survivors who experienced guilt for having remained alive without being able to save their family members. Result: The patients feeling of guilt is all-encompassing, leading them to regard themselves as rotten to the core. Many describe the tragedy as involving them in some way, with their being complicit, with guilt feelings haunting them unrelentingly, often in the form of nightmares. Conclusion: We propose to consider guilt as a narration to its observers of the tragic life circumstances of the patient, of the destruction that they encountered in their environments, long before they were able to process these tragic circumstances. These gave rise to pervasive guilt that colors and defines the totality of the person.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download