ARCHAIC ROLE DEFINITIONS AND ADULT IDENTITY: AN OBJECT RELATIONS PERSPECTIVE.
Item
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Title
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ARCHAIC ROLE DEFINITIONS AND ADULT IDENTITY: AN OBJECT RELATIONS PERSPECTIVE.
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Identifier
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AAI8203276
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identifier
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8203276
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Creator
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EISOLD, KENNETH.
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Contributor
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Dr. Laurence J. Gould
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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Beginning with the observation that members of groups tend to recreate for themselves, as much as possible, roles that duplicate the roles they filled in their families of origin, the dissertation hypothesizes the existence of an archaic role definition as a core element of the identity system. Firmed into shape in the family group through a process that begins when self and object differentiation becomes established and the "stranger reaction" signals the existence of a boundary around the family group, the archaic role definition maps, as it were, the object world, the self, and the expected relations between them for the child. In subsequent group situations, where the task of adaptation to the group initiates a regressive process that threatens the loss of a separate identity, the archaic role definition functions as a limit to the regression and provides a guide to the object world confronting the individual in the form of the amorphous group entity.;Theoretically, the archaic role definition is conceived of as a synthesis of the consistent identifications, object ties, projective identifications, and delineations (projective identifications originating from significant others accepted by the individual) experienced in the family group. Case material drawn from a therapy group is used to illustrate not only the regressive-adaptive process in the group including the efforts of individual members to recreate their archaic roles, but also the past history of object relations that appears to have gone into the formation of the archaic role definition. A concluding chapter explores implications of this concept for work role relationships as well as stages of post-childhood development that involves a reorganization of the object world and the self-concept.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
