The human-dog bond from Freud's perspective: Content analysis of his complete works
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24215/2422572Xe155Keywords:
companion animals, dogs, Freud, pets, psychoanalysisAbstract
Abstract: Despite the relevance of dogs in Freud's personal life, the psychoanalytic perspective tends to conceive of the human-dog relationship only in projective and symbolic terms. In order to identify Freudian conceptualizations about the human-dog bond, a content analysis of his works was carried out. A search was conducted for the specific terms related to the topic (e.g., dog, domestic, cat), which allowed the identification of 58 registry units that were subjected to a thematic analysis. The dogs were identified as: (1) recipients of affection; (2) traumatic elements; (3) symbols of drive expression; (4) participants of human culture; (5) animals comparable to humans; and (6) recipients of abuse. The results highlight the proximity of dogs with the world of men while remaining in the natural world, the need to consider the human-dog bond in the relational life of patients, as well as its therapeutic potential of connection with the inner animality.
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