The Model of Personality by Melanie Klein - Essay Example

? Model of personality Melanie Klein A critique March, 18, Introduction: The human mind is a complex labyrinth, though of to be an aggregate of conscious experiences and intelligent thoughts, mankind has always been fascinated by the way it works and tries to determine and gauge its secrets. This interest gave birth to the study of psychology which dates backs to the time of Plato and Aristotle, having its roots in the most ancient of civilizations; Greece, China, Egypt, Persia and India. Psychology emerged as a proper branch of study in the times of Freud, who is known as the father of psychology due to his valued contribution. The model of personality chosen, given by Melanie Klein, is based on the premises that causes for later actions are developed in infancy. Infants develop certain mind sets and attitudes which strengthen in the course of life. Our study aims to gain a better understanding of individual behaviors, trends and attitudes. This model presents a slightly different approach than the traditional theories as it focuses on the fact that behaviors, attitudes, and trends that individuals show in their adult life are formed in their infancy. Klein’s work was contradictory to that of Freud and Anna Freud and against such strong competition; it accumulated a lot of criticism. She sought to improve psychoanalysis by deeply analyzing Freud’s work and expanding it with new knowledge. This theory is known as the object relation theory as it departs from Freud’s beliefs that the fact that people are objects to seek drives in the subject environment; it describes the process of developing a psyche as one grows in relation to others in the environment (Brown, 2010). The individual is the subject and the objects are images of other people he/she relates to in his/her environment (mother, father, siblings etc.). The way the infant relates to the objects develops the foundation for later actions, feelings, and behaviors; they are: anger, frustration, joy, happiness, etc. Klein’s main purpose was to develop a better method of psychoanalysis that will help people in leading better lives. Discussion: Klein was a woman of great potential and her contributions to psychology are great albeit not very popular. She based her research on Freud and although her research led in a different direction, she was a staunch follower of Freud. Due to the controversies that surrounded her life, her work did not gain much popularity in America but in Britain she gathered a group of highly creative and sectarian followers (Cua, 2010). The journey of her psychoanalyst life started in 1914, after reading Freud’s book “on dreams.” She was greatly inspired and longed to work on the subject herself; the crux and focus of her work were children. She believed that all the actions and behaviors that individuals exhibit as adults are formed in their childhood. The key idea of her study was the object relation theory of which she was a co-founder Object Relation Theory: Object: The theory believes that objects are people, part of people, or symbols of these people to which the subject relates. The self relates to people in their environment as bad or good. And if the bad and good parts are of the same object it causes conflict and anxiety (Steiner, 2008). The relations infants have with the objects in the environment shape the later behaviors of these individuals. The objects to which children may relate are: The hand of father or the breast of mother, objects which provide satisfaction of the drives which the infant has. The degree to which these drives are satisfied by the objects leads to the development of a better individual. Phantasy: The concept of phantasy represents those pre-conceived ideas that the infants test with reality in their environment. Phantasy as opposed to fantasy stems from the real world and is tested against the real world. It is the state of mind of the infant; it springs from within, imagines what is without, and forms a link between the inner and the outer world of the infant (Klein, 2007). The differences in the inner and outer world of the infant lead to dissatisfaction, anxiety or conflict and these factors shape the late life of the individual (Rasmussen, 2010). Though this theory seeks to understand the effects of infant imagination and its impact on the development of later characteristics, many psychologists believe that phantasy and the unconscious wish are one and the same. Klein opposed this view and placed phantasies beneath the unconscious wish and presented a complex model which showed the relationship of phantasies and objects and how infants tried to cope with the frustration resulting in dissatisfaction. The positions: The positions given by Klein are triggered by phantasy; they represent the relation of the ego (self) with the objects; these positions occur in the pre-oedipal and oral development stage of life. 1. Paranoid schizoid position A position which the infants use to cope with discontent, at this stage of life part objects are identified as all good or all bad. If the breast feeds the infant it is a good breast and if it does not it raises distress in the infant who forms destructive fantasies towards the bad breast. These anxieties are of a persecutory nature; the infant‘s fear of self-annihilation leads to adoption of this position (Steiner, 2008). This position although credible, evoked much controversy as psychoanalysts believed this far radical and violent approach which the children are incapable of. The destruction of the bad objects and the thoughts which Klein thought are in the phantasies of the children are considered too fierce and vicious (Rasmussen, 2010). 2. Depressive position It is the advanced stage and a milestone in the development of personality. It continues to grow and mature throughout the life span of an individual. In this phase the infant comes to realize that the good and bad object is the part of one object. The splitting of objects is succeeded by the capability to understand that the good and bad are parts of the same whole. This knowledge leads to feelings of grief, guilt and compensation (Dattilio, 2007). Whereas the paranoid schizoid position splits the ego, the depressed position integrates the ego and alters the view of the object relations of the infant. This generates ambivalent feelings of love and hate and the fear of persecution is changed to the fear of destroying others. Infant feels guilty of having destructive thoughts about the bad part, now that he realizes that it was a part of the mother he loved and fears the destructive thoughts he poses against the bad part. It is considered a milestone because if the infant successfully copes with this state and realizes that objects are autonomous people, learns to abolish his violent feelings towards the bad parts, and come to terms with his grief and fears, then he will be able to have successful inter personal relationships in his adult social life otherwise the fear of harming others will always be present. Again, this approach is a very aggressive and negative; it also depends on certain defense mechanisms: Introjections Introjection is the defense mechanism in which the infant adopts attributes, behaviors, or other characteristics of the surrounding world. Especially of the objects to whom he relates (mother, father), the infant may adopt the behaviors of his mother or father so as to identify with the people he loves and to reduce the feelings of guilt and grief (Klein, 2007). Projection It is the defense mechanism used by infants to handle his short comings. He projects his own feelings, attributes, characteristics, thoughts and emotions to other objects; usually other people. Thus, the infant protects himself from feeling the guilt and grief by projecting or imagining that others originate these feelings. Ferenczi was the source of inspiration for Klein in this subject and she followed his lead expanding his concepts and then linking them with her theory of relations (Pierce, 2009). Splitting: Splitting of the personality or splitting the mental concepts is a defense mechanism and a developmental stage that helps to cope with distress through splitting a whole object into two parts or extremes; good and bad, pure and evil etc. This is related to paranoid schizoid position and how an infant copes with the persecutory fear attached to it. Splitting results in unstable relationships as the infant views the same person as good at one time and bad at another which may result in confusion and destructive intentions for the person. This defense mechanism results in disorders in the future adult life of the infant if he does not successfully cope with it. Projective Identification: It is a concept original of Klein, similar to that of introjection but with less complexity and intensity. It is the mechanism when the person strives to find in the other or induce in them the very embodiment of the projection. They aim to find the traits, attributes, and behaviors which they project into them. The mechanism is adopted in the paranoid schizoid state where the person fears for his safety and starts acting in ways which inspire the protected traits in the other person. Internalization: Internalization is the process through which social interactions, norms, values, culture etc. become a part of the children’s mental functions. The child comes to understand and earn the social environment through repeated interactions with the objects of his environment. It is the way that external images are incorporated into the internal world of the infant to create a sense of belonging to the society that he belongs from. The external concepts are installed into the ego, so that they become integral and important to the self and are also recognized as separate external objects. Ego: Ego is the part of brain that operates on the reality principal; it is a mediator between the phantasies of the infant and the reality. The internalization process aims to install into the ego the concepts of reality that are present in the social environment of the infant so that his internal self and the external environment come to terms with each other and a sense of belonging is created in the infant (Dattilio, 2007). Super ego: The super ego is that part of the mind that aims for perfection, it is that organized part of the brain that is considered unconscious but is not entirely so. It stores the individual’s ideas of perfection, the ideals that the individual wants to achieve. The super ego is a conscious, punishing for socially unacceptable desires, fantasies, and wants. It keeps the feelings and emotions of the individual in check according to the environment he lives in (Rosen, 2009). Oedipus complex: Is a recognized concept in psychology which represents the attraction of the opposite sexes; it is the repressed desire of the son to possess his mother and to kill his father and the desire of the daughter to possess her father and kill the mother. Freud decreased this idea by suggesting that daughters have homosexual tendencies and feel attracted to the mother and not the father. The child’s successful identification with the same sex parent is the ideal resolution of this complex, but if not resolved, this childhood complex may result in causing disorders in the adult life of the child; it leads to neurosis, Pedophilia. and homosexuality. Conclusion: This model of personality has its roots in the facts that childhood factors play a key role in shaping the future personality of individuals. If the issues, which arise as infants, are not resolved in the infancy, they will lead to severe disorders in the adult life. Klein departed from the traditional view amid great controversy and opposed the Freudian view that children cannot “free associate” and aimed to comprehend the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of children through play therapy. This tool developed by Klein is very successful and widely adopted throughout the world. Utilizing it in her clinical practices, Klein cured many children after the World War 1 and gauged the true inner self of children. Although, the implications of her research and study are of a violent and aggressive nature, she has been successful in achieving the true purpose of psychoanalysis that is the cure of the human mind. References Brown, M. (2010) Melanie Klein: Women of psychology. Science Direct, 16(2), 345-369. Cua, D. (2010) The id, ego and super ego. Journal of psychology, 25(6), 112-125 Dattilio, F. (2007). Relationship dysfunction: a guide to clinical psychology. (3 ed.). New York: Springer publishing company. Klein, M. (2007). Developments in psychoanalysis. (2nd Ed.) London: H. Karnak (books) ltd. Pierce, L. (2009) Psychoanalysis: defense mechanisms. Journal of psychology, 12(4), 165-177 Rasmussen, B. (2010). Some social implications of psychoanalytical theory: a social perspective. Journal of social work practices, 24(2), 209-225. Rosen, M. (2009) The psychology of Freud. Science direct, 15 (5) , 215-218. Steiner, J. (2008). Rosenfield in retrospect: Essays on his clinical influence. (2 ed., pp. 495-515). New York: Routledge. Read More