Abstract
This paper reconsiders the commonly accepted definition of object and suggests an alternative conceptualization of the attachment process. A treatment presentation is offered to clarify these considerations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1969). Object relations, dependency and attachment: A theoretical review of the infant–mother relationship. Child Development, 40, 969–1026.
Beebe, B. & Stern, D. N. (1977). Engagement—disengagement and early object experiences. In M. Freedman, & S. Grand (Eds.), Communication structures and psychic structures (pp. 35–65) New York: Plenum Press.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss, vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss, vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss, vol. 3. Loss: Sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books.
Brody, S., & Axelrad, S. (1966). Anxiety, socialization and ego-formation in infancy. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 47, 218–299.
Brooks, R., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2002). The importance of eyes: How infants interpret adult looking behavior. Developmental Psychology, 38, 958–966.
Brooks, R., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2003). Gaze following at 9 and 12 months: A developmental shift from global head direction to gaze. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development. Tampa, FL
de Gramont, P. (1986). The self and symbolic realization. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 22, 603–628.
de Gramont, P. (1987). Language of the self. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 23, 77–121.
Emde, R. (1983). The prerepresentational self and its affective core. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 38, 165–192.
Fantz, R. L. (1964). Visual experience in infants: Decreased attention to familiar patterns relative to novel ones. Science, 146, 668–670.
Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E. L., & Target, M. (2002). Affect regulation mentalization, and the development of the self. New York: Other Press.
Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition, 7:135–243. London: Hogarth Press, p. 1966.
Freud, S. (1915). Instincts and their vicissitudes. Standard Edition, 14:117–140, London: Hogarth Press, p. 1966.
Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. Standard Edition, 19:12–66. London: Hogarth Press, p. 1966.
Freud, A. (1936). The ego and mechanisms of defense. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Freud, S. (1937). Analysis terminable and interminable. Standard Edition. 23:216–253. London: Hogarth Press, p. 1966.
Freud, A. (1965). Normality and pathology in childhood: Assessments of development. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Greenacre, P. (1958). Early physical determinants in the development of a sense of identity. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 6, 612–627.
Kohut, H. (1971). The analysis of the self. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Kohut, H. (1977). The restoration of the self. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Kohut, H. (1979). Four basic concepts in self psychology. In P. H. Ornstein (Ed.), 1991. The search for the self (Vol. 4, pp. 447–470). Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Kohut, H. (1980). Letter, July 24, 1980. In P. H. Ornstein (Ed.), 1991. The search for the self (Vol. 4, pp. 669–674). Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Kohut, H. (1984). A. Goldberg & P. Stepansky (Eds.), How does analysis cure? Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Lichtenberg, J., Lachmann, F., & Fosshage, J. (1992). Self and motivational systems: Toward a theory of psychoanalytic technique. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
Lichtenberg, J., Lachmann, F., & Fosshage, J. (1996). The clinical exchange: Techniques derived from self and motivational systems. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
Linnell, Z. (1990). What is mental representation? A study of its elements and how they lead to language. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 38, 131–165.
Loewald, H. (1971). On motivation and instinct theory. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 26, 91–128.
Mahler, M. (1967). On human symbiosis and the vicissitudes of individuation. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 38, 131–165.
Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. K. (1977). Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science, 198, 75–78.
Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. K. (1983). The origins of imitation in infancy: Paradigm, phenomena, and theories. In L. P. Lipsitt (Ed.), Advances in infancy research (Vol. 2, pp. 265–301). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. K. (1989). Imitation in newborn infants: Exploring the range of gestures initiated and the underlying mechanisms. Developmental Psychology, 25, 954–962.
Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. K. (1998). Object representation, identity, and the paradox of early permanence: Steps toward a new framework. Infant Behavior & Development, 21, 201–235.
Nunberg, H. (1931). The synthetic function of the ego. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 12, 123–140.
Nunberg, H. (1955). Principles of Psychoanalysis. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Oxford dictionary and thesaurus, American edition. (1996). Oxford University Press.
Piaget, J. (1936). The origins of intelligence in children (p. 1952). Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Rowe, C. (1996). Introduction: Notes on the integration, reformulation, and development of Kohut’s contributions. In A. Goldberg (Ed.), Basic ideas reconsidered: Progress in self psychology (Vol. 12). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
Rowe, C. (2005a). Treating the basic self: Understanding addictive suicidal, compulsive, and hyperactive (ADHD) behavior. New York: Psychoanalytic Publishers.
Rowe, C. (2005b). A brief treatment of a posttraumatic stress disordered patient: A self psychological perspective. Clinical Social Work Journal, 33, 473–484.
Rowe, C. (2008). The impact of a traumatic birth injury on the internal world of an adult patient: A self psychological psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Review, 95, 107–129.
Sandler, J., & Rosenblatt, B. (1962). The concept of the representational world. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 17, 128–145.
Slap, J. W. (1987). Implications for the structural model of Freud’s assumptions about perceptions. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 35, 629–647.
Spitz, R. A. (1946). Hospitalism: An inquiry into the genesis of psychiatric conditions in early childhood, psychoanalytic study of the child (Vol. 1, pp. 53–74). Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Spitz, R. A. (1965). The first year of life. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Stern, D. N. (1985). The interpersonal world of the infant. New York: Basic Books.
Weil, A. P. (1970). The basic core. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 25, 422–460.
Winnicott, D. W. (1960a). The theory of the parent–infant relationship. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 41, 585–595.
Winnicott, D. W. (1960b). Ego distortion in terms of true and false self. The maturational processes and the facilitating environment. The International Psychoanalytical Library, 64, 140–152.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rowe, C.E. A Reconsideration of the Object in the Attachment Process: An Alternative View of Development and Treatment. Clin Soc Work J 38, 298–305 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-009-0236-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-009-0236-y