Recidivist Victims in Psychoanalysis : The Attachment to Suffering and the Hope for Repair

This groundbreaking book explores the understudied phenomenon of victimization recurrence, introducing the clinically robust concept of the recidivist victim and translating it into an innovative diagnostic tool: the Clinical Spectrum of Recidivist Victims, developed from over twenty years of clinical practice.

This groundbreaking book explores the understudied phenomenon of victimization recurrence, introducing the clinically robust concept of the recidivist victim and translating it into an innovative diagnostic tool: the Clinical Spectrum of Recidivist Victims, developed from over twenty years of clinical practice. Drawing from extensive psychotherapeutic experience and doctoral research in forensic psychology, Dr. Rojas presents a relational psychoanalytic framework that maps the range of psychological positions individuals may occupy in relation to repeated harm—from those who remain caught in recurrent victimization without awareness, to those who have moved out of victimization as an organizing position in their lives. Each position within the spectrum is clinically characterized through its subjective, relational, and embodied dimensions. Using embodied language, the book interweaves theoretical foundations with clinical vignettes and personal narratives, offering clear concepts and practical tools for addressing traumatic repetition without reducing it to willpower or individual deficit. Written with depth, sensitivity, and ethical commitment, this book is intended for clinicians, researchers, and practitioners, as well as for anyone who believes they are—or have been—caught in recurring patterns of victimization and seeks to understand them without judgment.