Introduction to the Work of Melanie Klein

155 Pages·1988·2.241 MB·English

by  Hanna Segal

INTRODUCTION
TO THE WORK OF
MELANIE KLEIN
BY
HANNA SEGAL
KARNAC
LONDON NEW YORK

New, enlarged eQtion first published in 1973 by
The Hogarth Press Ltd.
Reprinted 1988 with their permission by
H. Karnac (Books) Ltd
6 Pembroke Buildings
London NW10 6RE
01964 and 1973 Hanna Segal
Printed and bound by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne
Reprinted 2002
All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
SEGAL,H anna, 19 18-
Introduction to the work of Melanie Klein
-New, enl. ed
1. Psychoanalysis.Theoneso f Klein, Melanie, 1882-19 60
I. Title. 11. Institute of Psycho-Analysis
150.19’5
ISBN: 0 946439 50 8
www.kamacbooks.com
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments page vi
Introduction vii
I. Melanie Klein's Early Work I
2. Phantasy I1
3. The Paranoid-Schizoid Position 24
4. Envy 39
5. The Psychopathology of the Paranoid-Schizoid
Position 54
6. The Depressive Position 67
7. Manic Defences 82
8. Reparation 92
*
9. The Early Stages of the Oedipus Complex 03
10. Postscript on Technique 117
Glossary
125
Bibliography of Melanie Klein
29
1
Some Significant Discussions of Melanie Klein's Work I 33
Index I 35

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THEB OOK ITSELF is an acknowledgment of the debt I owe to the
late Melanie Klein.
I am grateful to my patients for their co-operation in the
analytic work, particularly to those who have given me per-
mission to use their material as illustrations in the text.
I am indebted to generations of students at the Institute of
Psycho-Analysis in London for the stimulus they have provided
in their questions, criticisms and suggestions.
The first edition of this book appeared under the auspices of
the Melanie Klein Trust and I received valuable help from the
trustees, especially Miss Betty Joseph and Dr. Elliott Jaques.
Mn. Jean McGibbon compiled the index of the fint edition
and assisted me with the final version of the manuscript.
I am grateful to my husband for help and support.
H.S.
...
Introduction to the Work of Melanie Klein
Vlll
The order of the chapters is the same as that adopted for
the lectures. In a way, the development of psycho-analytical
theory is the reverse of the development of the individual.
The study of adult neurotics led Freud to discoveries first
about childhood and then about infancy, each discovery
about the earlier stages of development enriching and
illuminating the knowledge of the later ones. Similarly,
Melanie Klein, in her work with children, was led to the
discovery that both the Oedipus complex and the super-ego
are well in evidence at a much earlier age than had been
assumed; exploring further, she was led to the early roots of
the Oedipus complex, then to her formulations about,the
depressive position and, lastly, about the paranoid-schizoid
position. If one follows the chronological order of Melanie
Klein’s contributions, the links of her work with that of
Freud are much clearer, and one can follow the develop-
ment of her theories at each stage. On the other hand there
are great advantages in beginning with earliest infancy and
trying to describe the psychological growth of the individual
as we see it now in the light of Melanie Klein’s theory.
However, starting in that way, one has to begin with those
phases of development in which the psychological pheno-
mena are the most remote from adult experience, the most
difficult to study, and therefore, not surprisingly, the most
controversial. I have decided to try combining both
approaches: in the first chapter I give an outline of Melanie
Klein’s early work, trying to show the development of her
work, particularly in the Psychoanalysis ofchildren. I go on
to describe the implication of her work for the concept of
unconscious phantasy. Then I abandon the historical
approach in order to present her definitive views on psycho-
logical growth. We have accumulated sufficient know-
ledge, and our theory is sufficiently comprehensive to
warrant an attempt to present it as a whole.
Most of the chapters are devoted to an account of the
phenomena in the paranoid-schizoid and the depressive
positions, and I think it would be useful, at the outset, to try
to elucidate the term “position.” In some sense, the
paranoid-schizoid position and the depressive position are
Introduction ix
phases of development. They could be seen as subdivisions
of the oral stage, the former occupying the first three to four
months and being followed by the ratter in the second half
of the first year. The paranoid-schizoid position is charac-
terized by the infant’s unawareness of “persons,” his
relationships being to part objects, and by the prevalence of
splitting processes and paranoid anxiety. The beginning of
the depressive position is marked by the recognition of the
mother as a whole person and is characterized by a relation-
ship to whole objects and by a prevalence of integration,
ambivalence, depressive anxiety and guilt. But Melanie
Klein chose the term “position” to emphasize the fact that
the phenomenon she was describing was not simply a passing
stage” or a “phase” such as, for example, the oral phase;
66
her term implies a specific configuration of object relations,
anxieties and defences which persist throughout life. The
depressive position never fully supersedes the paranoid-
schizoid position; the integration achieved is never complete
and defences against the depressive conflict bring about
regression to paranoid-schizoid phenomena, so that the
individual at all times may oscillate between the two.
Problems met with in later stages, as, for instance, the
Oedipus complex, can be tackled within a paranoid-
schizoid or a depressive pattern of relationships, anxiety
and defences, and neurotic defences can be evolved by
a paranoid-schizoid or a manic-depressive personality.
The way in which object relations are integrated in the
depressive position remains the basis of the personality
structure. What happens in later development is that
depressive anxieties are modified and become gradually less
severe.
Some paranoid and depressive anxieties always remain
active within the personality, but when the ego is sufficiently
integrated and has established a relatively secure relation-
ship to reality during the working-through of the depressive
position, neurotic mechanisms gradually take over from
psychotic ones. Thus, in Melanie Klein’s view, infantile
neurosis is a defence against underlying paranoid and
depressive anxieties, and a way of binding and working