Friedrich Hacker

Hacker was born in Vienna and studied medicine at the University of Vienna. After the Anschluss in 1938, he first fled to Switzerland before emigrating to the United States, where he completed his psychiatric training and pursued psychoanalytic studies. He later settled in Los Angeles, California. Hacker was born in Vienna and studied medicine at the University of Vienna. After the Anschluss in 1938, he was expelled from the university and first fled to Switzerland before emigrating to the United States, where he completed his psychiatric training and pursued psychoanalytic studies. He later settled in Los Angeles, California. In Los Angeles, Hacker established himself as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with a growing interest in the psychological and social roots of violence. In 1968 he founded the Institute for the Study of Violence, one of the first centers to approach violence as a multidisciplinary phenomenon involving psychiatry, sociology, political science, and criminology.