General: Ian D. and Jane I. Suttie. 'The Mother: Agent or Object?' II. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 1932, Vol. XII, pp. 199–233. (See this JOURNAL, Vol. XIV, p. 263, for abstract of Part I.)

This paper concludes the authors' presentation of a genetic theory of instinct designed to replace the notion of independent primary instinct-dispositions and to effect 'the simplification, or even supersession, of the onerous and obscure hypotheses of narcissism, identification, introjection and projection, super-ego, id, etc.'. The corner-stone of the theory is the concept of evolutionary adaptation to infancy, 'a general dissolution of instinct in adaptation to an infantile parasitic existence'. The 'associative craving' connected with this despecialized instinct is at first directed to the mother and later differentiated mainly through her agency. The psychological and sociological implications of the theory are followed up in some detail, the social importance of food-seeking as opposed to sexual cravings being specially emphasized. In an appendix, 'The Passing of the Oedipus Psychology', the authors take for granted that Freud's emphasis on the importance of pre-Oedipal phases in feminine development amounts to a complete retraction as to the role of the Oedipus complex in neurosogenesis and 'will compel a profound change in psycho-analytic tenets'. 'Our paper is an attempt to adjust psychological theory to the new position that thus arises'.