EVOLVING PERSPECTIVES ON THE NEGATIVE OEDIPAL COMPLEX IN GIRLS (FEMALE HOMOSEXUALITY, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, BISEXUALITY).
Item
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Title
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EVOLVING PERSPECTIVES ON THE NEGATIVE OEDIPAL COMPLEX IN GIRLS (FEMALE HOMOSEXUALITY, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, BISEXUALITY).
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Identifier
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AAI8601688
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identifier
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8601688
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Creator
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REES, KATHARINE ELIZABETH.
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Contributor
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Laurence J. Gould
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Date
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1985
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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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The purpose of this theoretical and clinical study is to review and revise Freud's original concept of the negative oedipal complex in girls, in the light of recent developmental research and contemporary psychoanalytic viewpoints. Freud's formulation, that the girl starts off her oedipal development by wanting to play the father's role toward her mother, has been widely questioned.;A main argument of this thesis is that Freud may have been mistaken in his developmental account, which was largely derived via reconstruction from adult clinical material. But that his general theory of psychic functioning which emphasizes developmental continuities, unconscious fantasy, anxiety and defensive identifications still offers a highly useful way of understanding female as well as male development.;The relevant literature is reviewed and extensive clinical material is presented from ten girls between the ages of three to twenty. Three patients were in treatment with the author and seven published psychoanalytic cases are summarized.;The material available suggests that the classical concept of a universal "negative oedipal stage" does not accurately describe the multiple dimensions of the little girl's sexual development. There is already ongoing sexual differentiation in her relation to both parents and in her emerging identity. Whereas cognitive and ego immaturity may still at times allow her to wish to be both male and female, ongoing maturation brings increasingly clear differentiation. Wishes to be male are seen as already the result of various narcissistic deficits or efforts at conflict resolution.;The negative oedipal position is therefore seen as evolving within the establishment of the positive oedipal complex, and to be essentially a defensive constellation. A fixation in a negative oedipal position is due to extensive early ego pathology and/or considerable pathology in the parents. Masculine identifications are seen as complex mental composites and defensive resolutions, and are not the continuation of an early masculine stage.;The important clinical implication is that apparent negative oedipal material be understood as having many layers of meaning, and be interpreted in terms of anxiety about assuming the feminine identification rather than as derivative from a discrete negative oedipal stage.
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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
