Psychoanalytic Approaches to Child Development

Summary

Two differing psychoanalytic views of child development will be examined in this chapter. The first is the one that was originally proposed by Freud.

The second, object relations theory, which is more recent, focuses on the influence of the very early months and years of a child’s life. Some of the implications of this theory’s description of early life for adult years are examined by looking at psychological differences between boys and girls.