The compulsion to confess

By Theodor Reik

Subjects: Guilt, Criminal psychology, Psychoanalysis, Confession (Law), Criminal investigation

Description: From a Review: Guilt and desire are the subject of this illuminating anthology of lectures and articles by the author of Listening With a Third Fa Of Love and Lust, Masochism in Modern Man and a dozen other authoritative texts on psychiatry. In this voluminous collection, Reik posits that confession, is in a sense the ""repetition of an unconsciously desired, forbidden deed in action"". That, not only does confession act as a purgative, but it is a reenactment of the original crime. He explores the means by which legal decisions are arrived at and disqualifies them to a large extent. In his analysis of the legal system, he attributes much of the vehemence of the law to an unconscious identification on the part of the law maker with the criminal. Ranging over a vast area, Reik discusses sex and guilt, the relationship between vengeance and forgiveness, neurotic and psychotic compulsion. Documented with case histories, many of which revolve about famous crimes and their detection, technically astute, The Compulsion To Confess is distinguished by Reik's ability to convey his recondite concepts with such charm and humor as to make them not only informative, but vastly entertaining.