Exploring Kohut's Self Psychology in Pablo Escobar's Life

The case study examines Pablo Escobar through the lens of Heinz Kohut's Self Psychology Theory. Kohut’s theory evolved from Freud’s structural model by introducing a tripartite model focusing on self-psychology and narcissism. This approach analyzes how individuals like Escobar, characterized by ambitious and grandiose behaviors, suppress feelings of inferiority to foster an inflated sense of self-worth. The study highlights how Escobar's criminal empire and philanthropic acts reflect the alter ego or twinship aspect in Kohut’s theory. It discusses his dual identity: a feared drug lord with extensive influence over Columbia’s political and economic spheres, and a caring family man who contributed to local communities. This duality supports Kohut’s theory by exemplifying how narcissistic personality disorders manifest in real-world scenarios, thus validating the psychoanalytic perspective on criminal behaviors.

Running head: PABLO ESCOBAR
PABLO ESCOBAR
Name of the Student:
Name of the University
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The theory of Kohut is based on Freud’s structural theory of identity, ego and
superego but later he formed a new idea of tripartite that is the three-part self. Kohut
demonstrates how the psychoanalysis focuses on the instinctual motivation, internal conflicts
mingled with self-psychology and emphasises on the alteration of the self (Kohut, 2013). the
model of narcissism is used to describe a man’s suppression of his feelings of inferior self-
esteem and self-laudation to eliminate the sense of unworthiness. In his book ‘The Analysis
of the Self: A Systematic Analysis of the Treatment of the Narcissistic Personality Disorders’
Kohut has added this self object theme of the alter ego or twin ship to be a part of a broader
aspect of human identification with all (Kohut, 2014).
Kohut’s self object theory can be related to the life and work of a renowned criminal
personality of Pablo Escobar. From his very childhood he was known for his ambition and
self laudation. His mother’s dream that his son once would be the president of Columbia
manipulated and guided Escobar all his life. He was a criminal on the one hand and a Robin
hood for the citizen of Columbia (Teicholz, 2013). The alter ego in his self, made him the
drug lord of Columbia and the leader of a criminal organization that had shaken the economy
as well as politics of America. he ruled his vast empire of drug smuggling and murdered
innumerable people around the globe. He controlled the drug supply chain of Medellin from
where he supplied cocaine to USA. He also controlled the crime and indulged into bribery.
He bribed all the judges and police officers and politicians to continue his business otherwise
got them murdered.
On the other part he was a caring son, husband and father and nobody in his family
believed that Escobar could be such a ruthless. He spent millions of dollars for schools, parks,
stadiums and churches in Columbia. To the Columbian Citizen, he was giving back his
earnings to his community. This split personality in Pablo Escobar thus supports the theory of
Kohath and records its validity (Anderson, 2013).

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References:
Anderson, J. W. (2013). Recent psychoanalytic theorists and their relevance to
psychobiography: Winnicott, Kernberg, and Kohut. The Annual of Psychoanalysis, V.
31: Psychoanalysis and History, 79.
Kohut, H. (2013). The analysis of the self: A systematic approach to the psychoanalytic
treatment of narcissistic personality disorders. University of Chicago Press.
Kohut, H. (2014). Introspection, empathy, and the semicircle of mental health. Lichtenberg,
Bornstein, Silver, eds,[4], 81-100.
Teicholz, J. G. (2013). Self and Relationship: Kohut, Loewald, and the
Postmodems. Progress in Self Psychology, V. 14: The World of Self Psychology, 14,
267.