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Chapter 5    Klein: Object Relations Theory153
Klein’s years inLondon weremarked bydivision andcontroversy. Although 
shecontinued toregard herself asaFreudian, neither Freud norhisdaughter Anna 
accepted heremphasis ontheimportance ofveryearlychildhood orheranalytic tech-
nique withchildren. Herdifferences withAnna Freud began while theFreuds werestill
living inVienna, buttheyclimaxed afterAnna moved withherfather andmother to
London in1938. Before thearrival ofAnna Freud, theEnglish school ofpsychoanaly -
siswassteadily becoming the“Kleinian School,” andKlein’s battles werelimited mostly 
tothose withherdaughter, Melitta, andthese battles werebothfierce andpersonal.
In1934, Klein’s older son,Hans, waskilled inafall.Melitta, whohadrecently 
moved toLondon withherpsychoanalyst husband, Walter Schmideberg, maintained 
thatherbrother hadcommitted suicide, andsheblamed hermother forhisdeath. 
During thatsame year, Melitta began ananalysis withEdward Glover, oneofKlein’s 
rivals intheBritish Society. Klein andherdaughter thenbecame evenmore person -
allyestranged andprofessionally antagonistic, andMelitta maintained heranimosity 
evenafterhermother’s death.
Although Melitta Schmideberg wasnotasupporter ofAnna Freud, herpersis -
tentantagonism toward Klein increased thedifficulties ofKlein’s struggle withAnna 
Freud, whonever recognized thepossibility ofanalyzing young children (King &
Steiner, 1991; Mitchell &Black, 1995). Thefriction between Klein andAnna Freud 
never abated, witheachsideclaiming tobemore “Freudian” thantheother (Hughes, 
1989). Finally, in1946, theBritish Society accepted three training procedures—the 
traditional oneofMelanie Klein, theoneadvocated byAnna Freud, andaMiddle 
Group thataccepted neither training school butwasmore eclectic initsapproach. 
Bysuchadivision, theBritish Society remained intact, albeit withanuneasy alliance.
Introduction to Object Relations Theory
Object relations theory isanoffspring ofFreud’s instinct theory, butitdiffers from 
itsancestor inatleastthree general ways. First, object relations theory places less
emphasis onbiologically based drives andmore importance onconsistent patterns of
interpersonal relationships. Second, asopposed toFreud’s rather paternalistic theory 
thatemphasizes thepower andcontrol ofthefather, object relations theory tends to
bemore maternal, stressing theintimacy andnurturing ofthemother. Third, object 
relations theorists generally seehuman contact andrelatedness—not sexual pleasure—
astheprime motive ofhuman behavior.
More specifically, however, theconcept ofobject relations hasmany meanings, 
justasthere aremany object relations theorists. Thischapter concentrates primar -
ilyonMelanie Klein’s work, butitalsobriefly discusses thetheories ofMargaret 
S.Mahler, Heinz Kohut, John Bowlby, andMary Ainsworth. Ingeneral, Mahler’s 
work wasconcerned withtheinfant’s struggle togainautonomy andasense of
self;Kohut’s, withtheformation oftheself;Bowlby’s, withthestages ofseparation 
anxiety; andAinsworth’s, withstyles ofattachment.
IfKlein isthemother ofobject relations theory, thenFreud himself isthe
father. Recall from Chapter 2thatFreud (1915/1957a) believed instincts ordrives 
haveanimpetus, asource, anaim,andanobject, withthelatter twohaving thegreater 
psychological significance. Although different drives mayseem tohaveseparate aims, Final PDF to printer