Adolescence and Delinquency is less an attempt to apply
object relations theory to a particular population than it is an attempt to illuminate the seamlessness of theory and application.
The chapters are well written, and the book is logically organized and sequenced, providing background in psychodynamic and
object relations theory before moving into actual case descriptions.
According to
object relations theory (Winnicott, 1965; Cashdan, 1988), these students were accessing and integrating their own power, independence, and self-worth by way of being successful in these activities.
Yet at the same time, however, Bourgeois obviously loved her mother, so there is a combined adoration and aggression that can best be explained with Kleinian
object relations theory.
Juhasz's framework is derived from the British tradition of
object relations theory inaugurated by Klein and Winnicott and probably most famously represented in this country by Jessica Benjamin (The Bonds of Love, Like Subjects, Love Objects).
A nagging question concerning its claims to innovation also lingers: Given the intersubjective/interpersonal emphasis of progressive contemporary psychoanalytic theorists like Stephen Mitchell, or even the broad impact of
object relations theory on psychoanalytic theory and criticism since the 1960s, is it accurate to portray other psychoanalytic approaches to literature as "intra-psychic"?
(1) the sexual gratification theory derived from Freud's Oedipal complex where the sexual drive of obtaining his or her parent is paramount and (2) the
object relations theory which shifts the drive from sexual to relationships as objects other than self.
A second and related purpose is to offer a new way of thinking about the son's and daughter's bond with his/her father, one that is theoretically rooted in
object relations theory, analytic psychology, and John Bowlby's ethological attachment theory (1969/1982, 1973, 1980; Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983; Jacobi, 1953/1970; Jung, 1933; 1959/1968).
Based on
object relations theory, such motivations are conceptualized as meeting self and attachment needs.
The basis of this more-balanced approach is the
object relations theory, which Holmes borrows from recent post-Freudian scholarship.
According to
object relations theory, adults who do not achieve a sense of object constancy may suffer from limiting forms of maladaption, affecting their ability to form and sustain interpersonal relationships (Kernberg, 1976).