The narcissistic exoskeleton: the defensive organization of the rage-type murderer.

After outlining the characteristics of rage-type murder, the author reviews possible psychodynamic explanations of the predisposing personality and the act itself. He argues that more recent contributions, using an object relations perspective, best account for the complexity of the internal world of these offenders. Using a single case to illustrate observations drawn from his work with nine offenders, the author sets out to develop an understanding of the defensive organization present in these apparently normal murderers. He isolates a defensive system comprising a set of split object relations that correspond with a split between internal and external reality, which he calls the "narcissistic exoskeleton." Projective and introjective processes that support the defensive organization are discussed. It is suggested that such a profile typifies a particular kind of stable borderline personality organization.