The intractable nature of the gun violence problem in the United States resists meaningful analysis. Even more so, the problem resists effective solutions. Perhaps this resistance itself is meaningful, pointing to the cloaking of deeper problems in the American psyche.

Pushing beyond the usual historical background of the so-called gun culture, this presentation will examine both the psychology of homicide by firearm and the collective myths and complexes that make this violence so prevalent. These myths and complexes both heighten the propensity to target and shoot others and lower the capacity for the soul-searching necessary to effectively change this propensity. 

This Zoom presentation will conclude with a discussion of where responsibility for this violence lives, and where transformative possibilities may lie.  

Glen Slater, Ph.D. has taught for over two decades at Pacifica Graduate Institute where he currently chairs the Jungian and Archetypal Psychology Program. He has written articles and book chapters for Jungian publications, edited the third volume of James Hillman’s Uniform Edition, Senex and Puer, and co-edited the essay collection, Varieties of Mythic Experience. His research and writing interests concern Jung and film, the psychology of religion, and depth psychology and technology. His book on Jung and posthumanism will be published early in 2023.

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