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Drawing from the writings of diverse fields, including psychoanalysis, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and literature, this book is the first effort to provide an overview of development of the self from a
Kohutian perspective. In the past, psychoanalysis has emphasized the interpersonal autonomy characteristic of Western cultures and has not adequately attended to the lifelong importance of others for maintaining the morale and integrity of the self.
In the first chapter, the authors discuss the rationale for using various methods and perspectives in the preparation of their book. The succeeding chapters focus on the role of essential others for development, first in infancy, then in toddlerhood, early and middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, midlife, and late life. Their major conclusion is that essential others constitute the central means by which people maintain meaning, personal integrity, and morale.
In the past, most psychoanalytic writers viewed adolescence as a time of tribulation and both internal and interpersonal conflict. Contemporary investigators of adolescent development do not emphasize the so-called generation gap as much as they did several decades ago. Many studies of adolescence indicate that most adolescents do not experience repeated stress or turbulence; rather they experience pleasant, nonturbulent development. Contrary to the opinions of many, the authors assert, “the social and political views of adolescents are better understood as continuations of parental opinions than as originating in the peer culture” (p. 185). The problems of identity, diffusion, and the Sturm und Drang of adolescents have been mistakenly taken for normal adolescence by social scientists as well as by some psychoanalysts, such as Anna Freud.
The authors' claim is that mental health professionals mistakenly view separation from parents as a normal and desirable end-product of development. They write, “The clinical impression that it would be good for