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Assignment 1 - A critical analysis of the theories of Klein and Winnicott

Added on -2019-09-20

This report is on "object relations theories Klein and Winnicott". The essay requires that you not only describe their theories but also offer some analysis of them. This means using material from the literature that you have read to demonstrate critical understanding. Use the module descriptor to identify which theories you will be writing about. his 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.

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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 theKEY 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 criticalunderstanding. 1.Describe the theoriesUse 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 yourwork.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 innatelibidinal phantasies and anxieties in the context of only minor influences from the actualenvironment (Klein 1988):“The infant’s relation to the breast is no doubt largely influenced by external circumstances butthere is little doubt that constitutional factors, influencing the strength of the ego, have to be takeninto account,...the ego’s capacity to bear tension and anxiety and therefore...to tolerate frustrationis a constitutional factor.” (1988, p.67)Arguably she gave less consideration to external reality only what the child perceived of as real. Asthe infant cannot differentiate phantasies from external reality, these alone can providehallucinatory gratification and persecutory experiences (Segal, 1973). In contrast, Winnicott’s theories posited that it was the actual environment, i.e. the mother-babyrelationship itself, which served as the basis for the development of the ego (Winnicott 1991). Inthe first few weeks, the baby is in a state of ‘Absolute Dependence’ when the ‘good enoughmother’ “makes active adaptation to the infants needs” (Winnicott 1991, p.13) and a facilitatingenvironment “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’, themother identifies with her baby as part of herself (Winnicott 1965) and is instinctively aware of hispsychological and physiological needs forming a ‘nursing couple’ (Clancier & Kalmanovitch, 1987)

Key Aspects of Klein and Winnicott Theory

From the above report "object relations theories Klein and Winnicott", we conclude that 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. For Klein's unconscious phantasy, paranoid-schizoid position, depressive position, part-objects, whole-objects, splitting, projective identification, the 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.

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