These shameful thoughts could have, perhaps, led to an outward manifestation, which Steven was able to quell by watching violent sexual pornography as well as films containing death and murder. He particularly liked watching films where women were the objects of violence and violent sex.
Steven and his feelings of hostility for Linda seem to have come about after the depression because he has not dealt with past issues that are still haunting him and making him feel shameful. It can be reasoned that Linda was like his mother who gave her love and then took it away. While Steven felt hurt and confused by his mother's actions, and though he had that immediate reaction after Linda broke up with him, his feelings turned to anger and hostility, which are perhaps directed toward his mother and father as well as toward Linda since they were all people whom Steven felt he could not rely upon.
Steven became verbally and physically abusive with Linda after he could not keep his erection. Because he has already shown that he has the capability to hurt Linda, his threat has got to be taken very seriously. Violence is a crime and it needs to be treated as such. On that same note, men who are capable of violence need to be treated with respect and understanding. Many men hurt women because they are incredibly dependent on that woman and that is what I see here with Linda. Steven has associated happiness and security with Linda. When Linda ignores him or does her own activities, Steven becomes confused. For him, love is obsession and dependency and when he does not have that, he does not feel good about himself. Steven had no one to depend upon for affection when he was a child (his mother gave it to him in an overly-affectionate way and then took it away, which is perhaps maybe worse...
Steven has relied on his mother and Linda to create his sense of self-worth. He feels that he needs her to survive and thus I believe that him saying that Linda doesn't deserve to live is a projection of his own feelings. I believe that he feels that he himself does not deserve to live. He feels like his like is worth nothing without her. He does not have an identity if he cannot see it in someone else.
Another note, some men become violent because they do not know how to be close or intimate with a woman. Steven has confused closeness and intimacy with sex -- probably because of the way his mother treated him as a child. She was out of line with her behavior, and it is my belief that Steven did not feel like he was doing anything wrong by masturbating alongside his mother. I believe that he thought it was somehow okay because of the way she dressed, held him, kissed him, etc. This relationship has confused Steven about love, sex, closeness, and intimacy -- and it still plagues him today.
In treating Steven, it is important that we address what happened between him and his mother. It is important that Steven knows that this kind of behavior was wrong on the part of his mother. He was a child; she was his mother. It is also important that we start to build Steven's self-esteem. Steven does not have his own identity and we need to begin building an identity for him through therapy. His feelings of anger and resentment for Linda must be put into perspective and he must be made aware that having thoughts of killing her -- or even saying it -- are not okay.
