DIVING THE WRECK - RISK AND INJURY IN SPORT SCUBA DIVING

This paper utilizes psychoanalytic theory to examine risk and injury i n the case of a male deep sea diver. It examines the un conscious conf licts which appeared to fuel the diver's involvement in deep diving an d to lead to a near fatal incident of decompression sickness. Particul ar attention is paid to the role of the diver's father in the evolutio n of the preoedipal and oedipal fantasies and conflicts which appear t o be linked to the injury. The research is based on interviews with an d fieldwork among recreational and deep divers.