The PANY Bulletin

Psychoanalytic Association of New York
Volume 41, #3 Fall 2003

Scientific Meeting
The Psychoanalyst Within the Legal System
by Linda Gunsberg, Ph. D.
March 10, 2003
Report by Alberto Goldwaser, M.D., F.A.P.A.

Dr. Gunsberg talked about the psychoanalyst within the legal system. In eloquent fashion, she depicted the perils, pressures and satisfaction of this type of work. She pointed out how psychoanalytic concepts permeated legal decisions.

Dr. Gunsberg walked us through the historical accounts of criminal cases presented to Freud and other analysts. She pointed out the difficult task of the psychoanalyst as expert witness, when challenged in his/her use of the most powerful analytic device: tolerating uncertainty and ambiguity.

Dr. Gunsberg talked about Ernest Jones describing Freud's grappling with the idea of becoming a lawyer. She mentioned Freud's advice to lawyers about the best method to discern deceit from conscious and unconscious withholding of utterance. Freud defined some character types met with in psychoanalytic work fueling and driving unlawful behavior out of a sense of guilt. This "guilty conscience" may even prompt these individuals to admit to sinful deeds they had actually no part of.

In 1922, Freud participated in the legal defense of the son of his former housekeeper, only by paying for his legal defense and excusing himself from any other involvement. This young man had killed his father after he saw him raping his half-sister. Freud quite appropriately advocated for "temporary insanity" defense rather than some construction arising out of the Oedipal Complex. The same advice was also conveyed in a 1931 parricide case. In fact, Freud recommended staying away from ubiquitous seminal conflicts as sources of verdict.
Dr. Gunsberg talked about the difficult task of being on the expert witness stand and having to defend the principal psychoanalytic position of tolerance of uncertainty vis-a-vis the demanded one of unambiguous certainty expected from jurists. Forensic case examples were offered.