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IN CURRENT PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY AND PRACTICE there seems to be a general acceptance of the idea that there are certain defense mechanisms employed by the ego very early in life, and others that do not come into use until later, when a greater degree of ego organization is present. The former are frequently referred to as "primitive" defenses and are believed to operate primarily before the age of two or three. The latter, often referred to as "higher-level" or "more mature" defenses, are associated with a later stage of development, after object constancy has been achieved and the child has reached the phallic-oedipal phase. This idea is designated as the chronology of defense mechanisms or the developmental hierarchy of defenses.
The term "primitive" defenses is also used to characterize the defenses used by patients who are considered to be psychotic or borderline, or patients who are experiencing severe regressive states during the course of treatment. As a corollary to this view, the terms "higher-level" or "more mature" are used to describe the defenses used by normal individuals or patients with neurotic conflicts who are generally considered to be functioning with a greater degree of ego integration and organization.
There is, in addition, a formulation about the development of psychopathology which links together the two uses of these terms. This formulation proposes that sicker patients continue