The Blancks' and Kohut's views of narcissism: Comparative analysis

The normal and pathological development of narcissism is reviewed from two different theoretical orientations. Presented are the ideas of Blanck and Blanck (ego psychology) and that of Kohut (self psychology). Included are clinical vignettes illustrative of the ego and self psychology approaches. A comparative analysis is drawn, highlighting the likenesses and differences with regard to theory and practice. Considered are the developmental stages and failures, as well as transference, resistance, and technique. The area of greatest contrast is noted in their theoretical formulations regarding the development of narcissism while the clinical approach to the treatment of narcissism is less striking     

Perceptual deficits and self-esteem in adolescence

This paper attempts to conceptualize the dynamics of selfesteem in an adolescent suffering from a perceptual deficit. The interrelationship between the deficit and the development of self-esteem is discussed from two points of view, that of traditional ego psychology and that of the psychology of the self. In the case illustration given, the treatment methods were heavily influenced by the work of Heinz Kohut and by the insights provided by his psychology of the self.     

Self psychology and ego psychology: A historical perspective

This paper takes a historical perspective as to the current debate between ego psychologists and self psychologists. By looking at the psychological functions of the self, the ego, and the superego, one can see substantial areas of overlap between the theories. The two theories are described and compared along the lines of these psychological functions. They are then applied to six clinical issues; primary developmental crisis, transference variations, conflict and defecit, modifications in technique, developmental lines, and the relationship between the ego and the self. The conclusion is drawn that a more comprehensive understanding of the theories as they apply to clinical phenomena needs to be developed before a determination can be made as to their compatibility.     

Ego Development,Ego Strengths,and Ethnic Identity Among First Nation Adolescents

Three conceptualizations of psychosocial development were investigated among Canadian First Nation adolescents. Loevinger's social cognitive model of ego development reflects the way in which an individual views the self and social reality. From Eriksonian theory, ego strengths refer to the emergent values or outcomes that represent resolution of the eight psychosocial stages of development, and ethnic identity is a domain of personal identity with special relevance for minorities. As expected, age and biological gender differences were found for ego development. Associations between ego development and ego strengths were supported as were age differences in ethnic identity status. Traditional students (strongly identified with indigenous culture) demonstrated greater ego strengths than bicultural (identified with both their own and mainstream cultures) adolescents.     

Youth research on video self‐productions reflections on a social‐aesthetic approach

This article advances my thoughts on a social‐aesthetic approach within the field of youth and social research. These reflections are not primarily grounded in traditional approaches of visual sociology and anthropology but emerged from the context of media‐educational youth research in Germany. The main assumption of this article is that qualitative youth and social research in particular, which has audio‐visual self‐productions as the object, should—in view of the increasing influence media has on our perception and the way how the reality is experienced—be open to concepts of subject‐related self‐presentations. First I make an attempt to formulate a social‐aesthetic theory which focuses on the media‐ethnographical exploration of symbolic milieus. Next, I introduce projects run by media‐educational youth researchers in Germany, emphasizing the question of conceptions and methods when working with adolescent video self‐productions. The final section reflects upon the quality, the validity and the hermeneutics of self‐produced videos.     

Self-psychology as a theoretical base for understanding the impact of learning disabilities

Many features of learning disability, including confusion in perceiving and processing information, an unpredictable course of development, and difficulties with social cueing, create chronic stressors for the disabled child and his family. Self-psychology is explored as a psychodynamic model with unique pertinence for understanding the potential intrapsychic effects of learning disability. Comparisons to drive and ego psychology models are made, and implications for intervention are suggested.     

Pleasure Principles: Reflections on Saketopoulou’s “To Suffer Pleasure”

In this essay I elaborate some of the seminal ideas in Saketopoulou’s article ‘To Suffer Pleasure,” contrast them to Foucault’s notion of technologies of the self, and consider the uses of psychic work and physical pleasure. I highlight the importance Saketopoulou makes of a corporeal solution to intergenerational conflicts and consider ego shattering as a site of encounter: with the limits of signification in the body and its emergence at the edge of the social.     

Sexual identity: Conflict and confusion in a male adolescent

This paper presents a conceptual formulation, derived from developmental object relations theory and ego psychology, of the passage in male adolescence that culminates with the achievement of a masculine heterosexual identity. Themes of psychosexuality, male gender attributes, masculinity and object preference, and sexual orientation are discussed with reference to the adolescent stage. Finally, the critical tasks, core conflicts, and internalizations of prior developmental stages, as well as the integration that is required of adolescence proper relative to a sexual identity as heterosexual and masculine, are highlighted through an extensive case illustration of an adolescent male with sexual identity confusion.a clinical social worker in private practive in Palatine, Illinois. The author gratefully acknowledges that the writing of this paper was supported by a research leave granted him by Loyola University Chicago.     

Ambiguity of gender identity fantasies and aspects of normality and pathology in hypopituitary dwarfism and Turner's syndrome: Three cases

Three cases of short stature females are presented, two with, gonadal dysgenesis and one with hypopituitarism, all about the same age, social class, and intelligence. One of the subjects with gonadal dysgenesis was normally functional; the other depressed, but she became functional after psychotherapy. The patient with hypopituitarism was poorly adapted and failed to change on brief effort at psychotherapy, discontinuing treatment. Evidence is drawn from transference and observational material that disturbances in the mother‐child relationship may lead to persistence of unreasonable wishes to grow physically. This leads to a split in the ego which prevents adaptation to small stature because it is not acceptable to the patient. In the case which was successfully treated, it is shown that the acceptance of the defective self led to restoration of ego functions adaptive to small stature.     

Trauma of parent loss through divorce,death, and illness

This paper examines the variations in childrens' responses to parent loss. Initially examined is the effect of institutionalization and foster care, and these experiences are contrasted with that of parent loss through death, divorce, and abandoment. Illustrative case vignettes are offered to attempt to highlight useful concepts drawn from ego psychology and self psychology, theories useful in providing clinicians with more precise diagnostic and prognostic acumen, to enrich ongoing treatment interventions with these child populations.     

The place of ego building work in psychotherapy with children

Ego building is essentially a name given to a variety of interventions used to support an ego hampered by regression or deviation. The term has its roots in the concept of ego support but evolved specifically as a technical term in contemporary ego psychology closely connected with the developmental theory of separation individuation. Using four vignettes of psychotherapy work with children all of whom suffered from unresolved conflicts and developmental interferences from the separation-individuation process, an attempt is made to illustrate the technical place of ego building in psychotherapy with children. It is suggested that the use of ego building, particularly verbalizing adaptive aims facilitates an alliance, supports a safety feeling and positive self-esteem. This contributes to providing a treatment experience that reduces over-stimulation and anxiety and frees the expression and understanding of aggression which ultimately promotes separation-individuation.in private practice.This paper was presented at the Conference on the Continuing Evolution of Psychoanalytic Thought: Infancy to Adulthood, N.Y.C., Nov. 1990., sponsored by the Committee on Psychoanalysis of the National Federation of Societies for Clinical Social Work.     

Toward a Historical Sociology of COVID-19: Path Dependence Method and Temporal Connections

Encountering the unprecedented social crisis of COVID-19, an increasing number of sociologists are calling for historical sociology to engage empirically with the dynamics of the COVID-19 crisis. I present the “path dependence method” and the “temporal connections” to interpret social life during the COVID-19 pandemic. By using the path dependence method, I show how the personal, social, and national problems created by the COVID-19 crisis initiate a new path and furthermore how this newly created path is justified in a society. Through the temporal connections, I will show how non-Western countries responded more reasonably and quickly than most Western countries to the COVID-19 crisis. The overall aim of this research is to disclose effectiveness of historical sociology, to encourage researchers to think time variable, and to argue that linking historical-sociological knowledge to the COVID-19 crisis would be a positive step for an in-depth COVID-19 sociology.     

Vygotsky’s Warning: General Science and the Need for Metalevel Research

Over ninety years ago Lev Vygotsky warned of a growing crisis in psychology and social science research. Vygotsky’s warning has been echoed on many occasions but his solution to the problem has not been widely acknowledged. He advocated for a form of meta-science which he called “general science”, an integrative science that could connect and guide the development of specialised disciplines and schools of research. In this paper I explore the parallels between Vygotsky’s general science and contemporary forms of meta-level research and discuss their relevance and implications for addressing global challenges.     

Travelling concepts and crossing paths: a conceptual history of identity

The concept of identity is ubiquitous in public discourse even though its meaning is often imprecise or nebulous – it is maybe because of this that its contents can be taken for granted. One speaks of individual, personal, group, social, collective and political identity; of identity formation, crisis, diffusion, conflict and politics; a multiple identity may be pathological or a component of an integrated identity; culture and ideology but also knowledge and experience supposedly enrich identity; identity may be rigid or open to development and growth – and so on. Against this background the present paper explores the argumentative uses of the concept of identity in psychoanalysis and in social psychology and sociology.     

Kohut's tragic man: An example from “death of a salesman”

Willy Loman, the tragic hero of Miller'sDeath of a Salesman, powerfully illustrates self psychology principles governing profound deficits, shame, and the possibilities of self-restoration. When conditions of birth and upbringing are unsuited to establishment of a strong self structure, an adult is unable to maintain psychological equilibrium, most often experiencing profound shame as a consequence. Heinz Kohut's self psychology framework, and Andrew Morrison's definition of shame, are invoked to examine Willy's self, his increasing awareness of shame, and ultimately his choice of suicide. Willy Loman serves as a dramatic, if hypothetical, case study. Accurately described by self psychology, he is authentic to the lay audience; he reaffirms an inherent strength in self psychology theory, reducing the distance between theoretical appreciation and clinical application.     

Reading self‐help literature in Russia: governmentality,psychology and subjectivity

Self‐help has become a booming business over the past decades and an increasingly visible part of popular media culture worldwide. The paper analyzes the arrival and effects of this cultural technology in post‐Soviet Russia after more than seventy years of socialism. It examines how Russians are engaging with popular psychology self‐help as a technology of the self and how they are making it meaningful in their lives. Drawing on a set of one‐to‐one and focus group interviews conducted with self‐help readers, it examines how these individuals negotiate the new ethics and the normative models of personhood put forward by the self‐help genre. It argues that popular psychology has offered a new language for making sense of the self and the social world, and highlights how the readers critically engage with the normalizing power of popular psychology by drawing on a number of local historically sedimented discourses.     

Simmel's Legacy for Contemporary Value Theory: A Critical Assessment

In this essay I critically assess Georg Simmel's legacy for contemporary value theory and provide the rudiments of an alternative approach. My central thesis is that Simmel fails to satisfactorily conceptualize the nature and origin of value because of his devotion to an asocial, Cartesian–Kantian conception of mind, human freedom, and agency. In contrast, I incorporate recent data from neuroscience, social self theory, developmental psychology, and elements of Marx's theory of the commodity form to provide the terms of a postmetaphysical, intersubjective alternative.     

Programmed case material as an aid in teaching ego psychology: A methodology for clinical social work education

Four specific problems inherent in the relationship between the theory and practice of contemporary ego psychology limit the effective transmission of ego psychological concepts and principles in clinical social work education. These problems are further conceived as impeding the student's ability to integrate theory and clinical reality, and ultimately reduce the quality of the student's facility with practical technique. As one approach to these problems, this article presents the rationale and design for a teaching aid utilizing programmed case material and self-assessment modules as a methodology for enhancing the integration of theory and the clinical realities explicated by theory. The programmedCasebook and its implementation are illustrated. The values of theCasebook for classroom learning are discussed, relating the anticipated educational experience to the four specific problem areas outlined.     

Is human organ donation a human rights issue: An exploratory study

Abstract

This paper proposed a new model of psychosocial stress in the light of changing social norms and value orientation. It is argued that the prevalent psychosocial distress underscores the emergence of psychopathy in everyday life. In today's world, psychopathy is becoming a norm and is sustained by social and political institutions. The article discusses the consequent crisis of psychology in Russia and the United States. A need to develop a unifying science with less rigid professional and disciplinary boundaries is highlighted.     

The Importance of Authenticity for Self and Society

The transition from industrial to postindustrial society and from modern to postmodern culture has led to increased interest in authenticity. Such interest is widespread not only among those studying changes in social structure and culture but also among those who adhere to the social psychological tenet that self reflects society, and society, the self. In this article, I specify how issues of authenticity have become a pervasive part of our culture, our institutions, and our individual selves. Building on both Rosenberg and Turner, I conceptualize authenticity in terms of a commitment to self-values. The relevance of this conceptualization is illustrated, first by demonstrating its implications for identity theory and second through its implicit use by others writing about the contemporary experience of being oneself. I conclude with a discussion of how this approach to authenticity may be used by social scientists to better conceptualize self in a way that explicitly incorporates the cultural implications of today's postindustrial society.