Female Bonding: Some Supportive Findings for Melanie Klein's Views

Melanie Klein's writings about the beginnings of mental life established an object relations theory that was uniquely different from Freud's understanding of infant growth. Her developmental views of the psychic life of infants and particularly of female development led to strong, and at times prolonged controversy within the British Psychoanalytic Society, with Klein on one side and Freud and his daughter Anna on the other (Steiner, 1985). Whereas in this paper I shall be rendering some positive judgments about certain aspects of Kleinian theory, which are supported by recent findings from infant observational research, I hope that my contribution will not be seen as fueling the polemical debate that still exists between some Freudians and Kleinians. Rather, it is my belief that we need to pay serious attention to research findings and in this way provide a psychoanalytic theory that is not contradicted by available scientific knowledge. I hope to show that certain Kleinian views about early infant experience better capture the infant's initial interactional experiences and the beginnings of psychic life, than do some of Freud's views. Specifically, Klein was particularly perceptive about the female infant's early development. In this respect, I try to follow the tradition of Freud himself when, after considerable heated correspondence and debate about differences between Freudians and Kleinians, he could elevate the polemic to a level consonant with scientific interest and write, “when there is a difference of opinion … let further experience bring enlightenment” (quoted in Steiner, 1985, p. 36).

While I believe that there are many questionable aspects of