On the track of anomie: The concept of anomic confusion in the psychological intervention process

Abstract

Starting from cases of clinical psychological intervention, the paper proposes the exploration of the concept of anomic confusion: it is defined as an emotional disorientation, due to the confusion of the basic emotional friend-foe codes, which generates the experience of anomie. Two experiences of intervention are discussed, following the hypothesis that the anomic confusion phase could represent the generating emotion of a cultural crisis, or as an alternative the reference point leading to a shared change. In the second part of the paper, these thoughts are connected to readings and studies referring to ancient Greece during the age of Pericles and Sophocles, in which the anomie matter acquired, for the first time in written marks, a central importance to understand social dynamics of crisis.