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According to Kohut (1971, 1977, 1978, 1984), disorders of the self originate within the context of the child's formative experiences with caretakers. Kohut and Wolf (1978) view traumatic events occurring in childhood as “clues that point to the truly pathogenic factors, the unwholesome atmosphere to which the child was exposed during the years when his self was established” (p. 417). Although Kohut does not emphasize the aetiological signifiance of traumatic events per se, his formulations are in keeping with the monumental discovery that inspired Freud to establish psychoanalysis: that psychopathology in adulthood is the consequence of actual events occurring in childhood.
The controversy stirred by Masson's (1984) critique of Freud's so-called “suppression of the seduction theory” (see, Malcolm, 1983a, b, 1984)