Abstract for presentation

1. Cover Sheet Information
I. Presenters
a. Name: Madhu Samer, MSW
b. Organizational Affiliation : None
c. Title of Presenter : Associate Clinical Social Worker
d. Mailing Address : 9976 N Recreation, Fresno, CA 93720
e. Phone Number : 408.836.4796
f. E-mail : madhu_sameer@hotmail.com
g. None other
II. Title of Presentation : The Morphed Psyche: Developmental Perspective on Hate
III. Conference Theme : Education, Advocacy
IV. Presentation Format
Paper Dialogue (25 minutes)
Yes I will be submitting it for possible publication in the Journal of Hate Studies
V. Audio/Visual Requirements
PowerPoint (LCD) Projector
Flip Chart and Markers

2. Gonzaga Institute for Hate Studies, Second International Conference on Hate
Studies, Spokane, April 6 – 9, 2011
A Morphed Psyche : Developmental Perspectives on Hate
Abstract
The presentation explores the phenomenon of hate from a developmental perspective,
using depth psychological approach to create a felt experience of the etiology of hate in
the audience. The exploration covers the first experiences in the tender psyche of the
infant, and how the memory trace of hatred is created, nurtured, maintained, displaced,
rewarded and promoted internally by the ego and also – consciously and unconsciously -
through socio-politico-cultural impositions in contemporary societies. The exploration of
the etiology of hate as a compensatory phenomenon that simply arises of a need to
rebalance the internal and external worlds, is supplemented by presenters personal
experiences of being an ethnic minority, and clinical case vignettes that represent a
microcosm of the larger world. The paper concludes by suggesting strategic policy
reforms that may help stem the malaise that now threatens to outgrow the positive human
emotions in American as well as the world psyche.

3. Summary
Psychology professionals intellectualise, analyze and organize all experiences in an effort to create
predictive validity around observed phenomenon. However, the lived experiences, subjective as they may
be, provide a deeper meaning, even though such experiences may represent chaos and unpredictability.
But unpredictability and internal chaos is precisely what drove Hitler, Osama Bin Ladin, and many before
them, to hate and violence and no amount of intellectualzation and cognitive rationalization can
realistically understand their actions. Hence there exists an urgent need to explore the felt emotions as they
are experienced by the individual or collective psyche, with an understanding that hate, and associated
emotions, cannot be otherwise contained, not even in their taxonomies!
Whereas negative emotions represent unsatisfied quests for power and control, at the same time
and on another level, they also represent an underlying vulnerability that yearns for progress, for safety,
for protection and dependency. In that sense hate is originally born of the same tender sensibility that
guides the emotion of love. All of us are capable of envy, rage and hate and have experienced and
continue to experience these emotions in varying degrees at various points in our day to day living. If we
are lucky, our developmental framework has provided us with tools that will be able to contain these
emotions successfully. For the rest of us, the lack of a soothing developmental container leaves us
vulnerable to the harsh desertland of hatred. Being able to tap into our own emotional reservoir creates an
empathic vantage point from which we can compassionately observe and intervene in cases where psychic
balanced has been morphed by hate.
Negative emotions of hate, like dreams, art and music, are best understood when approached from
the paradigm of alternative, non ordinary states of altered consciousness, a different state of reality where
personality shifts may temporarily occur. These states break free of ego-complexes, and compel, and
impel us in different directions. Often these states embody re-enactment of earlier traumatic events. The
psychological understanding of these non ordinary states of mind in others lies in our own ability to
develop sensibilities that can experience the purpose, and the underlying developmental tasks these
emotions attempt to accomplish in the people who are innately compelled to live these burdensome states
of existence. By providing an avenue to realize those developmental milestones thru less destructive
means, hatred can be contained and transformed into positive emotions that bring motivation, inspiration
and healing.

4. The paper uses developmental theories of depth psychology, case studies and presenter’s personal
experiences of being at both ends of the dislike/hate paradigm, to create an awareness how hate and acts of
hate are usually a reaction to a deeper, earlier wounding that go back to the infancy stages. The infant first
learns to hate when the comfort it seeks from the mother is not forthcoming. These earliest memories form
a groove on which the later disappointments and disillusionments of life fall. They feed the primal
wounding and keep it alive. The phenomenon of hate appears to have definite implied goals of formation
of internal psychological structures that aid survival. The paper explores the role of early attachments, and
its relationship to building a tolerant community and concludes with suggestions for socio-political
reforms that may allow the psyche of the individuals in our society, our nation and the world community
to be able to transcend emotional extremes and relinquish all one sided approaches thru transmutation of
the opposites, choosing to remain in the middle by following a neutral path that rewards with balance,
unity and peace.