Loss and Restitution

The formation of object relations is the principal developmental process of childhood. Whether we consider conversion from the primary to the secondary process, or development from the pleasure principle to the reality principle, or ego differentiation under the influence of the external world, we are forced to recognize that the goal of survival cannot be achieved without object relations. At birth the infant is more helpless than any other animal; if he is not cared for, he cannot live. To understand the means by which he survives therefore is of paramount importance.

In order to survive, a child must adapt to his environment. Physical comfort alone, however, will not make an environment favorable; emotional comfort is also indispensable. But a child cannot by himself provide either; he depends on another person for both. The younger he is the more indispensable is the mother—or the person who does the mothering. He must form with her the kind of union that will provide physical and emotional comfort, will thus insure his survival, and will help him develop from complete dependence to autonomy. All this depends on the nature and quality of his object relations. They provide a measure of his achievement, his mastery over his instincts, his adaptation to the world of reality, and his autonomy. This aspect of human development is the psychoanalyst's primary interest and remains a lasting one. Freud was exploring it when he discovered that the roots of neuroses lay in early childhood, and every analyst who is concerned with early ego development necessarily has to deal with it.

Two fundamental sources, Freud (1917) and Abraham (1924), continue to be fruitful regarding object relations. Their works are so basic and well known that it is sufficient to state that they established the central role which object loss plays in the production of severe ego disorders. More recently, direct observations and study of children by a variety of workers (Anna Freud, Rank,