Trauma and its sequelae: Issues of separation-individuation, precocious ego development, repetition, and activity and passivity.
Item
-
Title
-
Trauma and its sequelae: Issues of separation-individuation, precocious ego development, repetition, and activity and passivity.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9108198
-
identifier
-
9108198
-
Creator
-
Ziegellaub, Miriam Ruth.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Lawrence Gould
-
Date
-
1990
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Psychology, Clinical
-
Abstract
-
There is increasing documentation of young children being exposed to trauma, including sexual abuse, physical abuse, and serious neglect. The purpose of the present study is to further understanding of the psychological sequelae of abuse.;The method of the study rested on the systematic analysis of detailed records of my {dollar}4{lcub}1\over2{rcub}{dollar} year simultaneous treatment of a child, who had been sexually abused by her father for the first 2 years of her life, and her mother, who had also been sexually abused in childhood. Material from 9 other related cases was also brought to bear on the questions under study.;The principal findings of the study are, first, that serious trauma impairs the development of self and object representations, disrupts the process of separation-individuation and impedes the development of adequate object relations. Second, early trauma was found in some, but not all cases, to result in a premature development of certain ego functions, in which the infant takes on and enacts failed maternal functions. Finally, traumatized children were found to re-enact the trauma both in their lives and in treatment. Repetitions of this kind were viewed as multiply determined, involving: attempts at mastery; re-enactment of earlier faulty object relations; and a failure to achieve signal anxiety and a consequent regression to traumatic anxiety.;The implications for treatment, and for the theory of trauma and its sequelae, are discussed. Suggestions for further study are presented.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
