THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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9.2 Demonic possession in the work of Ronald Fairbairn
Fairbairn makes few observations on the psychology of religion.
However, while he
explicitly states that spiritual values cannot be explained wholly in psychological terms,
he does accept the validity of interpreting religious phenomena with specific reference to
two factors in the dynamic unconscious. These are:
(1) persistence of the original attitude towards parents prevailing during early
childhood, and displacement ofthis attitude towards supernatural beings from
its attachment to human parents under the influence of disillusionment
regarding their powers and their capacity to provide unlimited support; and
(2) the persistent influence of a repressed Oedipus situation accompanied by
conflict, and an inner need to obtain relief from attendant guilt (Fairbairn,
1927, p. 188-189).
More specifically, for the purposes of this dissertation, Fairbairn's thoughts on demonic
possession are largely cursory criticisms ofFreud's (1923) interpretation ofthe Haizmann
case.
Fairbairn does not explicitly discuss the psychodynamics of possession, at one
point explicitly stating, "I must resist the temptation to embark upon a study of the
mysteries of demoniacal possession and exorcism" (1943, p. 70).
The necessity for
Fairbairn's distance in this regard goes unexplained.
However, what distinguishes him
from both Freud and Klein is that he employs the metaphors of demonic possession and
exorcism to explain his revised models ofpsychopathology and psychoanalytic treatment.
The child, says Fairbairn with regard to bad introjects, is possessed by these internal
objects, "as if by evil spirits" (1943, p. 67). This is significant, given the historical impact
of psychoanalysis on the late 19th Century-understanding of psychopathology.
The
medical model of psychopathology represented a scientific triumph over the
demonological model by defining psychological problems as mental illness, thereby
explaining the latter in terms of physiological processes.
Freud, however, reclaimed
psychology from both the medical domain, by demonstrating the psychogenic foundation
of neurosis, and from ecclesiastical discourse, by showing demons to be psychic, rather
than supernatural emanations.