A reanalysis of the Leopold-Loeb psychiatric trial testimony : an object relations theory and borderline state perspective

The purpose of this study was to reexamine the psychiatric testimony of the 1924 Leopold-Loeb trial from the perspective of object relations theory and the borderline state.

The object relational theories of Fairbairn, Winnicott, and Guntrip were used as a theoretical framework. The historical literature on the borderline state was summarized, and two variants of borderline functioning, the naricissistic character disorder and the schizoid- paranoid borderline individual were explored through the clinical theories of Kernberg and Kohut.

The Leopold-Loeb trial was a milestone in American jurisprudence because it was the first time that psychiatric testimony was used as a mitigating defense. The psychiatric testimony by some of America's most eminent psychiatrists reflected the developmental and psychopathological theories of that era in psychiatry. It was a mixture of an instinctually-oriented psychoanalysis and of a physiologically- based psychiatry. An object relations reanalysis of the psychiatric testimony reveals that Leopold and Loeb were neither psychotic or neurotic. They were variants of a borderline level of functioning. Loeb reveals himself to be a primitive, narcissistic character disorder, while Leopold is a borderline individual with paranoid and schizoid features. Only in the last ten years has the borderline category become accepted as a distinct diagnostic entity. The psychiatrists at the trial did not have access to this clinical data, nor had psychoanalytic theory advanced from an id-oriented metapsychology to the present emphasis on ego psychology.

The early developmental background of both boys is reexamined in the study from an object relations viewpoint. Their early use of splitting and their development of a false-self system is discussed. Their developing pathology is seen as a reflection of their internal object world. Leopold and Loeb are seen as lacking a strong, integrated ego, and only together do they form a functioning unit. Their crime and lives are examined as examples of their inner schizoid and narcissistic cores. The murder of Bobby Franks was a way for them to play out a deep, internalized conflict arising from the dynamics of their character structures. Their overall, immature development is reflected in the many ways that they used transitional objects. Their sexual activity is viewed as an imperfect, but very important, relationship that gave them a sense of integration and kept them from regressing to more early primitive, internalized object relationships.