Dynamic Underpinnings of Father Hunger as Illuminated in the Analysis of an Adolescent Boy

Growing sensitivity to the importance of the father in child development has contributed to research demonstrating the existence of “father hunger” in children who have lost their fathers (Herzog, 1982), manifested in serious problems modulating aggression. Vignettes from a five-year analysis of an adolescent boy who lost his father at age five are presented to demonstrate the complex psychodynamic underpinnings of father hunger. These clinical data lead to the conclusion that father hunger should be considered an ego state involving highly complex compromise formations manifested in fantasies. These are affected by the child’s personal history with each parent, his or her developmental stage when the loss occurred, constitutional endowment, and the reaction of the mother to the father’s death. The case material presented highlights the primarily defensive nature of the aggression characterizing father hunger. This essay also briefly discusses technical complications of analyzing such cases, including the patient’s denial of mourning, management of the patient’s aggression, transference-countertransference interactions, and a vulnerability to premature separation.