- Title
- A study of the manifestations of the death instinct as evidenced in the case of a pathological organization
- Creator
- De Villiers, Jeanine
- Subject
- Uncatalogued
- Date
- 1991-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191691
- Identifier
- vital:45148
- Description
- The case study method was used to investigate the manifestations of the death instinct as evidenced in a pathological organization. Work of Kleinian analysts in this area was employed as a basis for interrogating the material that emerged in a five month psychotherapy with a borderline disordered patient. It was demonstrated how the pathological organization was employed as a means of evading paranoid- schizoid fears and depressive position anxieties. Two ways in which defences were assembled into the pathological organization could be traced, both leading to resistance in the therapy. The one set of defences would entail a complete withdrawal from contact, where the patient would hold herself aloof from experience through a solitary invulnerability. The other set of defences involved an active attack on the vulnerable, libidinal self. Identified with the bad, anti-libidinal self, the patient would attempt to annihilate the libidinal self in various ways. Fragmentation of her thoughts and memories, self-destructive behaviour and phantasized and actual attacks on the objects in her world which called forth her neediness were all evidenced. In conclusion, the issue of whether a more active interpretation of the manifestations of the death instinct or a less interpretative, more holding therapeutic stance should be adopted in the therapy with patients exhibiting a pathological organization was raised.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 1991
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (78 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Psychology
- Language
- English
- Rights
- De Villiers, Jeanine
- Rights
- Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- Rights
- Open Access
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RU Department of Psychology
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | DE VILLIERS-MA-TR91-72.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |