Overview
The lecture covers Melanie Klein’s object relations theory, its key concepts, and developments by later theorists, focusing on early childhood relationships and their lifelong effects on personality and attachment.
Melanie Klein: Background and Focus
- Melanie Klein developed object relations theory, focusing on early mother-child relationships.
- She analyzed children, unlike Freud who focused on adults.
- Her theories emphasized the significance of the mother (especially the breast) as the primary early object.
Core Ideas of Object Relations Theory
- "Object" refers to anything that satisfies a drive, usually a person or part of a person (e.g., the breast).
- Early relationships with objects (like the breast) serve as prototypes for future relationships.
- Klein shifted psychoanalytic focus from biological drives to interpersonal relationships and early fantasies.
- Interpersonal contact and relatedness are the main motivators, not just sexual pleasure.
Infant Psychological Life and Key Positions
- Infants have primitive forms of the id, ego, and superego from birth, capable of basic processing.
- Children develop internal representations/fantasies about objects and relationships (e.g., good breast vs. bad breast).
- Two main "positions" (not stages):
- Paranoid-schizoid position: Splitting objects into all-good or all-bad to manage anxiety.
- Depressive position: Realization that the loved object can be lost, causing guilt and anxiety but allowing integration.
Defense Mechanisms and Internalization
- Key mechanisms: splitting (dividing objects into good/bad), introjection (incorporating attributes), projection (assigning feelings to others), projective identification (projecting and re-assimilating transformed feelings).
- Early experiences shape internal objects, influencing personality.
Oedipus Complex (Klein’s Version)
- Begins earlier than Freud suggested and is less gendered.
- Resolution involves establishing positive feelings toward both parents, integrating ambivalent feelings.
Later Object Relations Theorists
Margaret Mahler
- Psychological birth develops over three years and involves stages:
- Normal autism: Infants lack distinct object relations.
- Symbiosis: Infant perceives mother as an extension of self.
- Separation-individuation: Development of individuality via sub-phases (differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, object constancy).
Heinz Kohut
- Self evolves from vague to distinct through relationships with caregivers ("self-objects").
- Healthy development balances grandiose self and idealized parent image; imbalances may cause narcissism.
John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth
- Bowlby developed attachment theory: early bonds create secure bases for future relationships.
- Ainsworth identified attachment styles: secure, anxious-resistant, and anxious-avoidant, based on child’s response to separation and reunion.
Psychotherapy Applications
- Kleinian therapy for children uses play as a window to the unconscious.
- Techniques adapt psychoanalysis for children’s communication styles.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Object Relations — The process of forming relationships with significant others, starting in infancy.
- Splitting — Dividing perceptions of self or others into all-good or all-bad.
- Introjection — Incorporating qualities of another into one’s own psyche.
- Projection — Attributing one’s own impulses to others.
- Projective Identification — Projecting unwanted parts of self into another, then re-assimilating them in a transformed way.
- Paranoid-Schizoid Position — Early tendency to split objects into good and bad.
- Depressive Position — The realization that the object can be both good and bad, leading to integration.
- Attachment Styles — Patterns of relating to caregivers: secure, anxious-resistant, anxious-avoidant.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review and read the assigned textbook chapters on object relations theory and related theorists.
- Reflect on early childhood experiences and attachment styles for class discussion.
- Prepare questions for next class or seek clarification on any part of psychoanalysis if needed.