____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Subject PSYCHOLOGY Paper No and Title Paper No 5: Personality Theories Module No and Title Module No 16: Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann Module Tag PSY_P5_M16 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Learning Outcomes 2. Introduction 3. Biographical Sketch: Anna Freud 4. Ego Psychology: Anna Freud 4.1 Ego Defense Mechanisms 5. Biographical Sketch: Heinz Hartmann 6. Ego Psychology: Heinz Hartmann 6.1 The Ego Re-conceptualized 6.2 Ego Functions 6.3 Ego Defenses 6.4 Adaptation and Accommodation 7. Evaluative Comments 7.1 Criticism and Controversies 7.2 Contributions 8. Summary PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Learning Outcomes After studying this module, you shall be able to Know about the development of psychoanalysis, after the death of Sigmund Freud Learn about the defense mechanisms as modified by Anna Freud Understand how the ego can be autonomous and independent, as postulated by Heinz Hartmann Learn about the functions of the ego and how the ego helps in adaptation Learn how ego psychology is different to orthodox psychoanalytical theory, yet loyal to traditional psychoanalytic enterprise as developed by Sigmund Freud 2. Introduction Sigmund Freud’s in 1939 led to major developments in the psychoanalytic theory. Upon Freud’s death, many of his followers decided to amplify aspects of Freud’s system, to make some of Freud’s postulates more explicit, to refine the descriptions of some of the basic concepts, and to expand the range of phenomena that was covered by traditional psychoanalysis. The most striking development in psychoanalytic theory since Freud’s death is the new theory of the ego or ego psychology. Freud had never granted the ego an autonomous position, even though he considered it as the executive of personality. For Freud the ego always remained subservient to the id. Some psychoanalytic theorists, after the death of Freud, in contrast to his perspective, suggested a more significant role of ego in personality. The major change these Freudian loyalists introduced into psychoanalysis is an expansion of the concept of the ego (Hartmann, 1964). Instead of being the servant to the id, the ego’s role was extended. The ego was believed to be more independent of the id. The ego, according to these Freudian loyalists, possesses its own energy, which is not derived from the id. Further, these neo- Freudian analysts suggested that the ego is free of the conflict produced when id impulses press for satisfaction. Two major figures that are associated with ego psychology are Anna Freud and Heinz Hartmann. PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Biographical Sketch: Anna Freud Anna Freud is known to be the first of the ego psychologists and one of the founders of the child psychoanalytic movement (Edgcumbe, 2000). She was also the appointed heir of psychoanalysis after her father’s death (Young- Brueh, 2008). Anna Freud ultimately became her father’s intellectual heir. The search of Sigmund Freud for his intellectual heir, earlier, was excessively unsuccessful with colleagues like Carl Jung. Sigmund Freud conducted Anna’s training analysis, and Anna ultimately became her father’s intellectual custodian Anna Freud was the youngest of the six children of Sigmund Freud. She was the only one of their children who devoted her life to psychoanalysis. The birth of Anna, in 1895, was symbolic because it coincided with the birth of psychoanalysis and because Anna would be the only Freud child to follow her father’s path and become an analyst. Anna became interested in her father’s work. From the age of 14, she would sit in a corner at the meetings of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, absorbing everything that was said. At the age of 22 Anna was psychoanalyzed by her father. In 1924, Anna read her first scholarly paper to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. Entitled Beating Fantasies and Daydreams, it was allegedly based on the case history of an anonymous patient, but it was actually about her own fantasies. She described dreams of an incestuous father- daughter love relationship, a beating, and sexual gratification through masturbation. The paper was well received by Freud and his colleagues and earned her admission to the society. Anna Freud is known best for her work on the ego and its defense mechanisms, as described in her classic book, Das Ich und die Abwehrmechanismen (1936) translated as The Ego and Mechanisms of Defense in 1937. This book was a strong push for the development of ego psychology. It was also was a pioneering effort in the growth of adolescent psychology. Unlike the succeeding ego psychologists, Anna Freud theorized the ego in a manner that was similar to the orthodox analytic view of the interrelatedness of the id, ego, and the superego. During the Second World War she recounted her work in Young Children in Wartime (1942), Infants Without Families (1943), and War and Children(1943). Anna Freud made conceptual as well as technical modifications in psychoanalysis. She realized that free association was of little use with young children. Her work in England with children ravaged by the traumatic events of World War II convinced her that an exclusive focus on intrapsychic conflict is inadequate with children. According to her, it is rather, a child’s past and present external reality that can greatly influence his/her behavior and pathology. PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ In 1938, Anna Freud and her father, who was ill due jaw- cancer escaped from Nazi-dominated Austria. It was Anna who was responsible for all of the plans, finances and logistics of this move (Young-Brueh, 2008). She later settled in London and worked at a Hampstead nursery until 1945. Anna Freud, in 1947, founded the Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic, London, and served as its director from 1952 till her death in 1982. She worked thoroughly with parents, believing that the analysis should have an informative influence on the child. A summary of her thought is found in her book, Normality and Pathology in Childhood (1968). Anna Freud never married. She devoted her life to the application of psychoanalysis, emotionally disturbed children, and to the care of her father during his long illness. Anna Freud had never earned a higher degree, but her work in psychoanalysis and child psychology is regarded as a major contribution to the field of psychology. She had a deep influence on Erik Erikson, who later on expanded psychoanalysis and ego psychology. Research in Freudian Psychology was influenced by Anna Freud. She standardized the records for children with diagnostic profiles, recommended the pooling of observations from multiple analysts, and pushed for long-term studies of development from early childhood through adolescence. Despite the modifications made by Anna Freud in ego psychology, her formulations are regarded to be as consistent with her father’s emphasis on the impulses of the instinct. She never compromised her basic loyalty to her father’s work and dedicated her life in safegaurding the legacy of her father. 4. Ego Psychology: Anna Freud Anna Freud revised orthodox psychoanalytic theory, expanding the role of the ego as it functions independently of the id. 4.1 Ego Defense Mechanisms Defense mechanisms are unconscious processes and are believed to originate in the psychosexual developmental phases. Efforts that are directed at modifying these defense mechanisms lead to anxiety and are often resisted by the individual. These resistances operate unconsciously. When the defense mechanisms work as protective functions or maximize coping, they are adaptive, but when they minimize coping, they can be maladaptive. Anna Freud elucidated and expanded the defense mechanisms that enables the ego to master the environment and shapes the forces of each individual’s psychopathology. Initially, and for many years, defense mechanisms were defined only with respect to repression. According to Sigmund Freud, repression was the predominant defense mechanism, which was available to the ego to defend itself against the environment and the id impulses. Therefore, the main thrust of analysis was to unravel and comprehend the repressed material. Over a period time, and as ego psychology developed, a number of defense mechanisms would be enumerated, which include - regression, reaction-formation, isolation, undoing, projection, PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ introjection, turning against the self, and reversal into the opposite. Many of these defense mechanisms were illustrated by Freud (1900, 1905, 1924). It was Anna Freud, however, who had illustrated the origins and functions of these defense mechanisms. In her work The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (1936), Anna Freud explicated upon the intricacies of these defense mechanisms with sensitively written clinical vignettes.