Attachment in Psychotherapy - David Wallin
Envy And Gratitude And Other Works 1946-1963 (Contemporary Classics) - The Melanie Klein Trust
Object Relation Theory - Richard J. Kosciejew
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Also look for books by Mary Ainsworth, Gomes, Kute, Bowlby and Winnicott
My Set Of Useful PDFs For YOU:
Attachment, Coodependancy and Objects Relation Theory
Object Relations Theory
Description
Object Relations Theory is a theory of relationships between people, in particular within a family and especially between the mother and her child. A basic tenet is that we are driven to form relationships with others and that failure to form successful early relationships leads to later problems.It is also concerned with the relation between the subject and their internalized objects, as well as with external objects. Thus we have a relationship with the internal mother as well as an external one.
The development of male gender identity is seen as more difficult as the first person with whom the infant identifies is female.
Winnicott differentiated between object-relating and object-usage. Object-relating is a phenomenon of the subject and thus about Projection and the early undifferentiated unity when the mother facilitates the child's illusion of omnipotence. Object-usage is more developed, as it requires cognitive separation from the object.
Discussion
The idea of object relations was invented and developed in a paper by Karl Abraham (1927), however Melanie Klein is largely credited with developing the modern theory, particularly with the mother as the principal object.Unlike Freud, who focused on introjection of same-sex parents, Object Relations Theory considers the child having multiple internal objects.
Klein saw relations with the breast as significant. As the child feeds, it feels gratified and satiated when the breast produces sufficient milk, in which case it is loved and cherished. When the child is prematurely withdrawn or the breast does not provide sufficient food, the child is frustrated and the breast is hated and the recipient of hostile thoughts. The mother thus receives love or destructive attack depending on this.
The baby experiences extremes of feeling. When he is angry, it is total anger and rejects and thrusts away the mother. When he is happy, he loves and adores her. He projects his bad feeling and associates her with it.
ORT is related to Attachment Theory.
See also
Klein, Object, Good object, bad object, Projection and introjectionKlein, M. (1984). The psycho-analysis of children (A. Strachey, Trans.). R. Money-Kyrle (Ed.), The writings of Melanie Klein (Vol. 2). New York: Free Press. (Original work published 1932)
Abraham, K. (1927). Selected Papers of Karl Abraham, London: Hogart Press
LINKS
Attachment Theory
Melanie Klein
Set of very good PDFs
Narcissus and Oedipus: The Children of Psychoanalysis
Possible Etiologies for Dependency
Objects Relation Theory
Klein & Others: Object Relations Theory
Object Relations Theory
is based on the careful, developmental observation of
young children.
While Freud emphasized the first 4 to 6 years of life
Object Relations Theories, like Klein, emphasized the first 4 to
6 months
o
Emphasis is placed on the infant’s drives (hunger, sex, etc.) and that
these drives are directed at an object such as a breast, penis, vagina,
or other objects.
o
The child’s relation to that object is fundamental and serves as a
prototype for all later relations to whole objects like mother and
father.
o
The very early tendency of infants to relate to partial objects gives
their experiences an unrealistic or fantasy-like quality that affects all
later interpersonal relations.
o
Klein’s ideas tend to shift the focus of psychoanalytic theory from
organically based stages of development to the role of early fantasy in
the formation of interpersonal relations.
Other theorist placed emphasis on different aspects of early development
Margaret Mahler believed that children’s sense of identity rests on a three
step relationship with their mother.
o
First, infants have basic needs cared for by their mother
o
Second, they develop a safe symbiotic relationship with an all -powerful mother
o
Third, the child emerges from their mother’s protective circle and establish their separate
individuality
o
In general, Mahler’s work was concerned with the infant’s struggle to gain autonomy and a
sense of self.
Heinz Kohut theorized that children develop a sense of self during early infancy when parents
and others treat them as if they had an individualized sense of identity
.
o
Extensive application to borderline and narcissistic personality
disorder.
John Bowlby investigated infants’ attachment to their mothers as well as
the negative consequences of being separated from their mothers.
o
This theory emphasizes different stages of
separation anxiety
Mary Ainsworth and colleagues developed a technique from measuring the type of
attachment style an infant develops toward its caregivers.
These developmental psychologists were the first in a long series of what were know as baby
psychologists
These individuals were very interested in the parenting experience and its effects on the child.
Some of the commonly known names included Harry Harlow, Benjamin Spock,
T. Barry Braselton,and even Fred Rogers!
Object Relations Theory in a nutshell
Object relations theory is an offspring of Freud’s instinct theory yet it is different from it in some
important ways.
Object Relations Theory places less emphasis on biologically based drives and more
importance on consistent patterns of interpersonal relations.
While Freud’s theory is paternalistic, emphasizing the power and control of the father, object
relations theory tends to be more maternal, stressing the intimacy and nurturing of the mother.
Object Relations Theory generally sees human contact and relatedness, not sexual pleasure,
as the prime motive of human behavior.
Critique
Product of early mother- child relation
The whole relationship is focused on fending off anxiety, fears of annihilation, and
abandonment
.
This theory rates high on the measure of
determinism
vs.
free-choice
.
Object Relations Theory can be pessimistic or optimistic, depending on the quality of the
relationship
o
Healthy relationship
produces a psychologically healthy child
o
Unhealthy relationship produces a pathological, self- absorbed personality
Object Relations Theory tends to be more causal than teleological as early relations are
seen as causing or shaping personality
This approach is high on unconscious determinants because all of these theorists trace
the determinants of behavior to early infancy before language.
o
Many personal traits and attitudes are preverbal and remain unaware
of the comple and attitudes.
Because Klein places emphasis on death instinct and phylogenetic endowment, emphasis
is place more on the biological rather than on the environmental forces.
However, the relation of mother-child is environmental and this theory leans toward
emphasizing the social determinants of behavior.
Finally, Object Relations Theory emphasizes the similarities between people. Most of the
discussion in all of these approaches emphasizes the differences between healthy and
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