@article{ref1,
title="On killing by self-killing: Suicide with a hostile intent",
journal="Etudes sur la Mort",
year="2006",
author="Preti, A.",
volume="130",
number="2",
pages="89-104",
abstract="According to Freud all suicides contemplate both a wish to die, stimulated by a pressure to self-destruction that cannot be worked through, and the intent to harm anyone the suicidal person thinks has caused the unbearable pain that compels him/her to self-murder. However, classical literature and ethnographic sources provide evidence of three classes of suicide with a clearly declared hostile and aggressive intent: suicide for revenge, mainly diffused in the Greek area but reported in Oceania as well; the so-called &quot;Samsonic&quot; suicide, reported in the Middle East and frica; and suicide by &quot;devotio&quot;, accomplished by Roman soldiers mainly. The dynamics of these forms of suicide might characterise other life-threatening behaviours, including the modern assault technique by suicide bombers, or the pathological self-destructive behaviour of the spree killers who take revenge by immolating themselves together with the largest number of victims they can, as in the Columbine incident. A more thorough investigation of the dynamics operating in the hitherto proposed class of &quot;suicide with hostile intent&quot; could help plan preventative strategies against violence at large. According to Freud all suicides contemplate both a wish to die, stimulated by a pressure to self-destruction that cannot be worked through, and the intent to harm anyone the suicidal person thinks has caused the unbearable pain that compels him/her to self-murder. However, classical literature and ethnographic sources provide evidence of three classes of suicide with a clearly declared hostile and aggressive intent: suicide for revenge, mainly diffused in the Greek area but reported in Oceania as well; the so-called &quot;Samsonic&quot; suicide, reported in the Middle East and Africa; and suicide by &quot;devotio&quot;, accomplished by Roman soldiers mainly. The dynamics of these forms of suicide might characterise other life- threatening behaviours, including the modern assault technique by suicide bombers, or the pathological self-destructive behaviour of the spree killers who take revenge by immolating themselves together with the largest number of victims they can, as in the Columbine incident. A more thorough investigation of the dynamics operating in the hitherto proposed class of &quot;suicide with hostile intent&quot; could help plan preventative strategies against violence at large.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1157-0466",
doi="10.3917/eslm.130.0089",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3917/eslm.130.0089"
}