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FROM THE TIME OF BIRTH, HUMAN BEINGS confront a developmental challenge unknown to other species—the attainment of an individual identity and sense of self. Since they are equipped with the capacity for consciousness—an endowment which may be viewed as both a blessing and a curse—individuals must come to terms with the realization that they are separate and distinct from others, as well as from the world around them. Recognizing one's singular status requires a process of deliberate self-definition and differentiation from the external world. Moreover, the individual must also reconcile, in some fashion, the knowledge that others may perceive of the world differently and, indeed, that certain cultural or societal norms may be contrary to one's own perspective and beliefs (Freud, 1930) ; (Fromm, 1976).
In order to negotiate a position in the physical and interpersonal realms, the individual must internalize a viable model of reality (White, 1963). This model incorporates a subjective interpretation of the interrelationships that objects and people in the world maintain with each other (Bowlby, 1988). If serious distortions occur during the construction of this model of reality, these distortions will emerge in the subsequent development of the individual's personality (Sullivan, 1953). If, however, these distortions can be isolated during the psychoanalytic process, developmental arrests may be rectified.
The task of devising a developmental model of reality may seem daunting and, indeed, it is. Nevertheless, research suggests that newborn infants are born equipped with the constitutional