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The Re-Libidinalization of the Internal World of a Refugee Family

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, The Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, Washington D.C.

This article describes the effects that forced migration has on refugees’ identities and explores their difficulty in mourning. To illustrate the aftermath of forced migration, I will describe the internal world of a refugee family driven from their homes after massive ethnic violence. It took nine years from the time of their dislocation for them to be able to ‘re-libidinalize’ their self-representations. The re-libidinalization process allowed them to resolve their sense of helplessness and humiliation. After working through these feelings, they could tame the derivatives of their aggression, bring the mourning process to a practical end, and improve their abilities to test reality and adapt to their new environment. I will focus on their utilization of linking objects as one expression of their difficulty in mourning.

Key Words: migration • refugees • dislocation • aggression • mourning • linking object

Group Analysis, Vol. 36, No. 4, 555-570 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0533316403364012


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