A Critical Analysis of Klein and Winnicott's Theories

This assignment requires students to critically analyze the theories of Klein and Winnicott, two prominent psychoanalytic thinkers. The essay must describe their key concepts, such as unconscious phantasy, paranoid-schizoid position, and absolute dependence, while also providing critical analysis and comparison between the two theories. Students are expected to read widely from supportive literature and use a mixture of primary and secondary sources to support their arguments. The essay should be well-structured, with an introduction, middle section, and conclusion, and should demonstrate academic rigour through proper referencing and citation.

Assignment 1: A critical analysis of the theories of Klein and Winnicott.
This essay is intended for you to demonstrate knowledge AND some critical understanding of the
KEY aspects of both Klein’s and Winnicott’s theories of the unconscious.
The essay is requiring that you not only describe their theories but to offer some analysis of them,
too. This means using material from the literature that you have read from to demonstrate critical
understanding.
1. Describe the theories
Use the module descriptor to identify which theories you will be writing about.
For Klein: unconscious phantasy, paranoid-schizoid position, depressive position, part-objects,
whole-objects, splitting, projective identification, death instinct, envy, gratitude, reparation.
For Winnicott: absolute dependence, unthinkable anxieties, holding, impingement, false self,
true self, potential space, transitional objects and phenomena, play, the capacity to be alone,
(Note: Some theories will be more in depth than others. For example, ‘holding’ and ‘true self’
will be describe less than absolute dependence).
2. And critically analyse the two theories of Klein and Winnicott as you go along in your
work.
So, for example, if you criticize Klein by writing something like the following:
'I think that Klein was wrong because she over-stressed libidinal phantasies and did not recognise
the importance of the actual early parental-child relationships like Winnicott did'
..........then I will understand your statement, may agree with it (in this case), but will ask you to
provide more evidence to support it as it is entirely lacking in references to key texts. I will write in
my essay feedback that it ‘lacks academic rigour’. If, on the other hand, you write something like:
Klein’s view of the early life of the infant was one based on a developing ego balancing innate
libidinal phantasies and anxieties in the context of only minor influences from the actual
environment (Klein 1988):
“The infant’s relation to the breast is no doubt largely influenced by external circumstances but
there is little doubt that constitutional factors, influencing the strength of the ego, have to be taken
into account,...the ego’s capacity to bear tension and anxiety and therefore...to tolerate frustration
is a constitutional factor.” (1988, p.67)
Arguably she gave less consideration to external reality only what the child perceived of as real. As
the infant cannot differentiate phantasies from external reality, these alone can provide
hallucinatory gratification and persecutory experiences (Segal, 1973).
In contrast, Winnicott’s theories posited that it was the actual environment, i.e. the mother-baby
relationship itself, which served as the basis for the development of the ego (Winnicott 1991). In
the first few weeks, the baby is in a state of ‘Absolute Dependence’ when the ‘good enough
mother’ “makes active adaptation to the infants needs” (Winnicott 1991, p.13) and a facilitating
environment “being adapted to the changing needs of the growing individual” (Kohon 1986 p, 175)
that provides the best maternal care for the infant. With ‘primary maternal preoccupation’, the
mother identifies with her baby as part of herself (Winnicott 1965) and is instinctively aware of his
psychological and physiological needs forming a ‘nursing couple’ (Clancier & Kalmanovitch, 1987)

Then I will understand your analysis, will agree with your criticism (in this case), and acknowledge
the researching that enhances it to a good academic standard. You have provided the necessary
evidence to support your analysis.
And 3: To critically analyze these theories YOU MUST READ WIDELY from the supportive
literature - not just to put the essay together from internet sources. So for example.
“According to Davis and Wallbridge (1981), both Klein and Winnicott believed that the infant
goes through a series of steps as it develops, Klein posited them to be positions and Winnicott
called them stages. Winnicott distanced himself from Freud’s tripartite personality theory because
he disagreed with his view of the instinctual unconscious but still found his own theory dividing into
three sections as he was unable to fully distance his roots from Freud (Davis & Wallbridge, 1981).
Gomez (1997), on the other hand, viewed both as system builders of psychoanalytic perspectives
that viewed stages as less clear and distinct”.
What references and sources to use? As you progress through the academic years, a key skill is
knowing what sources to use for your essay. The better the sources, the better chances you have
of being awarded a higher mark. Use the key texts on BB and those listed in the Module
Descriptor. If you do use internet sources ensure that they are from peer-reviewed sites, or
journals, such as ‘Psychoanalytic Electronic Press’ (PEP) or e-books. Avoid Wiki, and other such
general internet sites.
Use a mixture of primary sources (Klein and Winnicott themselves) and secondary sources
i.e. authors who have written books and journal articles on them (Cooper, Jacobs, Gomez, etc, all
on BB.)
The best method to structure the essay is to compare their theories as you go along – rather
than describe Klein’s and then Winnicott’s theories separately. If you describe Klein’s theory of the
death instinct then also discuss Winnicott’s view. What did they have in common? What was
different?
Avoid the common error of describing both theories and then leaving yourself 50 words at the end
to compare them.
With Presentation
 Include your name, the module title & code, date & word count on the first page. Start your
essay on the next page.
 Use Arial font (point 11) and double space your text & fully justify your paragraphs (straight
margins on both sides of the paper)
 Avoid colloquialisms, or ‘talky’ language- use appropriate academic language.
With Academic Rigour
 Use more references to support your discussion
 Remember to use direct quotations infrequently and to reference them correctly: e.g.
Guntrip (1984, p, 567) using the APA reference system. Citations over 40 words are
required to be indented.
 All references to authors need to be identified in the text.
 Use the APA reference System. If in doubt go to the School’s Referencing handbook on
Blackboard.
With Essay Structure
 Ensure you have an introduction, a relevant middle and a conclusion.
 Include a Reference section. (At least 15 texts and sources as a guideline).