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The child, unconsciously identified by its mother with one of her own parents
in an ambivalent and preponderantly hostile way, is especially likely to develop moral masochism. Such a child is reared by the mother with both excessive stimulation and prohibition of aggressive and libidinal drives. Because excessive control is demanded at an immature stage of ego development, the child comes to believe that the most acceptable behavior is behavior that results in suffering and failure. Such children remain infantile, have great difficulty in overcoming their incestuous attachment, and are constantly in search of a loving mother. They continually tease and provoke the environment and seek criticism and punishment as pleasure. Because conscience and ego ideal fail to fuse or are disparate, guilt feelings are deficient, the need for punishment excessive. The endless struggle caused by the need to provoke punishment with its consequent pleasure and fear is an effort to re-establish the equilibrium of preoedipal childhood. It is essential that parents recognize and control their hostility and love for their children if they are to avoid this development. In his discussion of the paper, Dr. Maurice Friend emphasized that for these children ego ideal is stronger than superego, conscious behavior is, as it were, unperceived and not subject to reality testing. The children are exploited for the mother's narcissism almost as inanimate objects or shadowy beings. Such mothers may demonstrate good company manners and be their hostile selves only with their children. The shadowy relationship with the children may be the mother's acting out of her partially repressed impulses against her own parents. In treatment of children we must keep in mind the mother as both child and adult.