KLEINIAN PSYCHODYNAMICS AND RELIGIOUS ASPECTS OF HATRED AS A DEFENSE-MECHANISM

Hatred is placed in the theoretical framework of object relations, e.g ., splitting, as developed by Melanie Klein and Otto Kernberg: it is a lso interpreted in a general religious context as a major barrier to f orgiveness and to psychological health. With-in the therapy process of the adult client, an important aspect of hatred is that it is a wille d choice, i.e., the self acting as agent (Meissner, 1993). Hatred's ex treme resistance to change is explained as due to its function as a de fense against narcissistic injury. Defenses supported by hatred are de scribed, for example, hatred defends one against the source memory and thus against a depressing, humiliating or inadequate past; hatred pro tects one from the risks of intimate relationships; it creates the ben efits of the sick role and of self-pity; it defends one's unrealistic ego-ideals and moral pride; and it permits the pleasures of moral supe riority.