The Preoedipal Development of the Boy
- 1 August 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
- Vol. 28 (4) , 805-827
- https://doi.org/10.1177/000306518002800403
Abstract
We have presented an analysis of findings from a ten-year observational study of infants in their second year of life, with a focus on boys. Tracing the sexual development and its relation to development in the object relations and cognitive spheres, we found similarities between boys and girls and sharp differences as well. These latter become evident shortly after the discovery of the anatomical difference. We believe that the differences in reaction to this momentous event account for the greater trouble the girl has in the rapprochement crisis. Our direct observational studies of infants served to clarify many of the preoedipal dynamic currents which in turn affect the form of the oedipal constellation. We have established some sets of conditions which are likely to lead to a negative or positive form of oedipal attachment, and have described the typical and some of the atypical patterns of preoedipal development in both sexes.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Choice of SymbolsJournal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1976
- Some Observations on Transitional Object and Infantile FetishThe Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 1975
- Object Loss and Early Sexual DevelopmentThe Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 1973
- The Infantile FetishThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1973
- Early Genital Activity and the Castration ComplexThe Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 1972
- The establishment of core gender identity in normal girls. I. (a) introduction; (b) development of the ego capacity to differentiateArchives of Sexual Behavior, 1971
- On an Early Genital PhaseThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1968
- Genital Self-Discovery during a Boy's Second Year a Follow-upThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1966
- A Boy Discovers His PenisThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1965
- Conflict and Autonomous EGO Development during the Phallic PhaseThe Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1950