Synopsis
Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and The Self. This book, which is based on a series of clinical studies of schizoid problems, is a sequel to Personality Structure and Human Interaction. In Part I, a description of the schizoid condition is given, in terms of relations to the external world, internal states of ego disintegration and, the core of the problem, the dissociated and lost emotional heart of the total self. Part II reviews the theoretical development which makes it necessary to see manic-depressive problems in the light of the deeper and more subtle schizoid condition. Part III. On "The Nature of Basic Ego-Weakness", seeks to assess fully the importance of Winnicott's research into the earliest beginnings of ego development, as the infant slowly grows into pschic separation from the mother, a process that involves both the opportunity for individuation and also the risk of loss of relationship, as well as the risk of possibly permanent stunting of ego development instead of growth of basic ego relatedness in the mentally healthy person. Part VI explores the implications of psychotherapy of the study of the schizoid problem, particularly in the matter of the personal therapeutic relationship of therapist and patient. And finally, in Part V, the review of theory is brought up to date with a chapter on "The Concept of Psychodynamic Science" and another comparing the ego theories of Hartmann and the "object- relational" thinkers, Melanie Klein, Fairbairn, and Winnicott.
Review
How has a theory of man as a social being to be formulated if we are to do justice to his individuality, to the subtle ways in which his love and hate compete within his relations with others and to the anxieties and resistances he shows when he seeks to change himself? To answer this question is the task which the author sets himself.From a background of philosophy, theology and social studies, he went on to take a personal psychoanalysis and to become a full time psychotherapist, and it is from this combination of wide knowledge and intensive work with people beset by conflicts in their relations with themselves and others that Dr. Guntrip evolves his views. After assessing Freud's basic principles he proceeds to make a uniquely comprehensive review of subsequent theoretical contributions to psychoanalysis with special emphasis on the work of Fairbairn and Melanie Klein, as it is in their writings that he considers the most needed developments have been made, namely, the placing of the theory of personality squarely in the realm of human interaction. In the first part of Dr.Guntrip's book all students of personality will find an arresting survey of the development of psychoanalytic thought; in the latter they will meet highly stimulating and profound views on the origins and nature of the conflicting forces in human relationships. In particular he traces the progress of research beyond the problems of guilt and depression to the deeper and graver problems of the inadequate and Schizoid personality; thus finding the causes of mental ill health not in he secondary conflicts over sex and aggression, but in the primary problem of fear, and the struggle to cope with the frightened and helpless child in the depths of the unconscious.
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