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THE NOTION OF MALEVOLENT TRANSFORMATION is presented in a highly condensed way by Sullivan. Essentially he observes that when a child has a need for tenderness and has been rebuffed, in one way or another, he develops a foresight of this rebuff and takes on a malevolent attitude which can be best described in Sullivan's own words: "Once upon a time everything was lovely, but that was before I had to do with people." (Sullivan 1953, p. 216) Sullivan admits that he formulated his concept partly because he was searching for an etiology "calculated to get around the idea that man is essentially evil" (Sullivan 1953, p. 213).
Sullivan's concept of learned malevolence is located in the childhood era from approximately the third year of life.1 It is in this stage that the child is being rapidly socialized in the oughts and