Abstract
This chapter describes theoretical evolutions about the family: an entity that has become more and more complex, “multifaceted and paradoxically homogeneous”, nuanced, “liquid” and “affective”; in this excursus, psychoanalysis confronts itself with the new scenarios that embrace subject, family, society and their mutual relationships. A number of psychoanalytic theories are summarized: psychoanalysis would appear to be a theory of the individual, but in Freud’s theories there are also latent “family-group dimensions”; even if psychoanalysis was born as a method of treatment of individuals, and Freud elaborated most of the theories in terms of “intrapsychic structures”, psychoanalysis discovered and signaled that the human subject is not conceivable without the existence of others. A historical overview is introduced, exploring various salient theories. The chapter also describes contemporary social changes of the hyper-modern era, and how to embed the family in this frame. It highlights how the concept of proximity has changed, and explores current theorizations about this phenomenon. The end of the chapter delineates some of the paradoxes and contradictions of contemporary society (such as the approach to food and nutrition—a symbol of contradictory social messages).
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Notes
- 1.
This is done through the co-construction of family narratives, stories that are elaborated about the daily life within the family. They represent a fundamental process from the psychological point of view. The psychologist Lev Vygotsky wrote about when a child internalizes his experiences with parents to develop the ability to think: children who build their parents’ accounts of events they have witnessed then begin to relate to themselves, and the content of their fantasies and their memories becomes an integral and active part of their inner conscious world (Vygotsky 1934). This approach suggests the possibility that the processes commonly considered “private” such as thinking and reflecting on ourselves, have actually originated as a form of interpersonal, family, social communication relationship (Siegel 2001). For further details, see Vygotsky, L. S. (1934). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA and London: The MIT Press; Siegel, D. J. (2001). La mente relazionale, neurobiologia dell’esperienza interpersonale. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.
- 2.
For further details, see Losso, R. (1984). El Psicoanalisis y el grupo. El Psicoanalisis, a theory grupal. Rev. Arg. Psychological y Psicoaterapia de Grupo, 7(1), 52.
- 3.
For further details, see Czertok, O., Guzzo, S. A., & Losso, R. (1993). Controtransferencia y contraidentificatiòn proyectiva en el Psicoanalisis de familia y pareja. Rev. De Psicoanalisis, 50(4–5), 883.
- 4.
For further details, see Fluguel, S. (1921). The psycho-analytic study of the family. London: Hogarth Press.
- 5.
Taking into considerations some concrete examples, the theory of identifications and the second Freudian topic introduces the fundamental theme of intersubjectivity, resulting in a clear change of perspective. So Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego implies a considerable change, highlighting how the individual is not conceivable without the other and is always in relation with others. Then the others, the group, are present in the psychic life of the subject. In addition, the same I who gives the sense of identity to the subject originates in these relationships: the identifications. For further details, see Freud, S. (1921). Psicologia delle masse e analisi dell’Io (Vol. IX). Boringhieri.
- 6.
The Dora case is still today one of the most interesting studies, not only on a psychoanalytic level, but also on a narrative one. We can understand how this famous case also emphasizes the importance of family relationships, which is why it is explored in detail here: with the study of this case, Freud begins to understand how family relationships actually matter. The Dora case is a fragment of analysis, which lasted only three months and then stopped. Freud considers this clinical case crucial for the understanding of mental processes, with referral to the interpretation of dreams but also to the psychopathology of everyday life. In the course of the analysis, he occasionally allows the patient to choose the topic to discuss in the session, and underlines the extreme importance of the dream, which he considers to be one of the preferential channels through which consciousness can make manifest the material that has been somehow removed, because it is not accepted, and therefore expelled from the consciousness itself (according to Freud, these removed elements reveal themselves in a certain symptom). In this case, Dora’s family and its dynamics are accurately described: Freud writes of all its components, focusing in particular on the relationship between the father and the mother. The father, at the time of Dora’s analysis, is about seventy years old; he is a talented, economically affluent man, a professional who has been affected by various diseases, including tuberculosis, during his lifetime. And it is precisely because of this that he and his family visit the health resort near Vienna, where he will meet Mrs. K. Then, when Dora is fifteen, he is stricken with a paralysis. Unlike her husband, the mother is a woman who does not embrace her emotions, and this emotional detachment is very evident in the relationship with her daughter. The father’s sister and his brothers have children with neurotic traits; the brother has hypochondriac tendencies, as does Dora’s aunt. From the age of eight, Dora begins to develop the first neurotic symptoms: at twelve, she suffers from migraine, at sixteen years of coughing attacks, which last between three and six weeks. The case begins with a description of the last episode, which is reported to Freud by Dora’s father: during their stay at the health resort, Dora’s family gets to know the K. family, composed of Mr. K. and Mrs. K. A close friendship is established between Dora’s father and Mrs. K., while Dora spends a lot of time with Mrs. K’s husband. But one day something happens: Dora claims that Mr. K. has made some advances during a visit to the lake, and reports it to her father, who, however, does not believe her (influenced, no doubt, by the bond he has established with Mr. K’s wife). Dora has a strong, perhaps even excessive, admiration for Mrs. K. She does not relate to her as a jealous woman, as a competitor, but as an admirer. Dora senses the relationship between her father and Mrs. K., and often tries to find ways to divide them. Then another important incident further complicates matters. While Dora was at the lake, Mr. K. kissed her, and she felt a deep disgust. Freud considers it fundamental that all Dora’s symptoms are actually a way to get the father’s attention: and this is also manifested through the attention that Dora shows towards Mr. K.’s children (she tries to take Mrs. K.’s place as Mr. K.’s wife). Dora claims that Mrs. K. is in love with her father (partly because he is a rather wealthy man). This reveals that Dora is very attached to her father and this bond with Mrs. K. is unacceptable to her, so she refuses the love for Mr. K. Dora also develops many symptoms. According to Freud, therefore, the aphonia would be the representation and the realization, which fantasy offers, of sexual impulses, which, however, present themselves through the unconscious reactions in the hysterical subject. Freud also interprets her dyspnea as a symptom that reflects different dynamics: Dora’s love for her father, her jealousy towards the mother, the reference to the advances received from Mr. K. It turns out from the analysis of this case that family relationships are relevant to mental health. To read more on the subject, see Freud, S. (1901). Bruchstück einer Hysterie-Analyse. In Gesammelte Werke (Vol. V, pp. 161–285). Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1966 [1901]. Tr. it. “Frammento di un’analisi d’isteria (caso clinico di Dora)”. In Opere (IV, pp. 305–406). Boringhieri, Torino 1970.
- 7.
This case highlights the importance of family relations, and how unfortunately they are not always harmonic. If we now look at the case of little Hans (Freud 1908), we note that here Freud relies on different clinical and narrative assumptions than those of Dora’s case: in fact, the analyst is Hans’s father and Freud is the supervisor. This case report is a commentary on a pre-existing written text, consisting of the notes that Hans’s father gave to Freud and which remained at a provisional level of processing. The narrative technique is very different, resembling a collage of notes written (also in a dialogical form) by Hans’s father, and observations and interpretations made by him, with which Freud’s overlap. After having systematized his ideas on sexuality, on the basis of the underlying hypothesis that all neuroses have a common root in the vicissitudes of infantile sexuality, Freud, whose theory encountered much resistance, as a consequence felt more and more intensely the need to provide clinical trials to support hypothesis. In 1908, he was offered the opportunity to provide the evidence he required to support his theory, studying the case of phobia in a five-year-old child (Little Hans). Freud had treated his mother for a neurosis about which he provides no other information. The son’s phobia manifested itself in the fear of being bitten by a horse. The analysis of the phobia is based on the transcription that Hans’s father made of the talks he had with his son. The phobia arises when Hans is five years old, but some precedents of interest are given. Hans is an alert and lively child, who manifests early on a naive interest in urinating and the differences between male and female anatomy that he cannot decipher. His father’s transcripts also include interviews before Hans developed a problem. Freud gives great value to this material, but does not ask why it was recorded. The reason is obvious. Hans’s father is a neophyte of psychoanalysis and observes with a watchful eye the development of the child to grasp the evidence of the veracity of the Freudian theory on child sexual development. When Hans shows interest in his own urinating, the urination of animals and adults, this interest is constantly encouraged by his father. The parental attention paid to the child’s sexual development is rigorous. This behavior is seen by Freud as commendable, and evidence of the consequence of an education free from the “usual omissions”. In fact, however, the parents frustrate the curiosity of the child: the father never shows himself naked to him, the mother has some reluctance, and both forget to explain to their son the anatomical differences between man and woman and how children come into the world. When he is three and a half years old, and a little sister comes into the world, Hans is at home. He realizes that a doctor has been called and, entering the bedroom after the delivery and seeing the basins full of bloody water, is led to think that children are brought by the stork. In short, the attitude of the parents is, on the one hand, morbid in relation to the sexual development of the child; on the other, repressive. Hans is in the phase of manipulation when an important episode occurs: At three and a half years he is surprised by the mother with his hand on his penis, and she threatens: “If you do that, I will have Dr. A. cut your penis.” Another similar episode occurs a few months later when Hans is four years and three months old. This morning his mother bathes and dries him as usual, applying talc near his penis, but taking care not to touch it. Hans asks: “Why don’t you put your finger on it?” Mom: “No, it’s a dirty thing.” Hans: “Why dirty?” Mom: “Because it is not right.” Even later, the parents insist on inhibiting and negatively judging the tendency Hans has to touch his penis. We do not know much about his parents. Here and there, however, it appears that, presumably exasperated by the vivacity of the child, the mother threatens to abandon or beat him. At five years old, Hans develops the phobia of horses. The advent of the phobia is preceded by a crisis of anguish during which he expresses the fear of being abandoned by his parents, especially his mother, and represses the need to be close to her and pampered. He is on his way back from a walk with his mother, who reports that he was afraid that a horse would bite him. Subsequently, Hans manifests all the symptoms of the phobia: the terror at the sight of the horses, the avoidance. The contents of the phobia are specified. Hans is not afraid of all horses, but only of those attached to transport wagons, when these are loaded. His fear is more intense when there is only one horse, and it is not just about being bitten. Hans thinks that when the horses have to pull a heavy load, they may fall and and kick. He is also very frightened by seeing the carters beat the horses and shout at them. Freud relates that “a long time before the phobia, the child was troubled by observing the whipping of the horses”. These data, which testify to a lively sensibility, would lead Hans, in terms of common sense, to see in the horse as a being that, harnessed, subjected to a heavy effort and whipped, falls and becomes angry. If the bite is an expression of anger and, at the same time, of remorse, the horse is Hans himself, subjected by his father to an innovative and repressive pedagogical experimentation: encouraged to grow up well and quickly to satisfy the narcissism of parents who consider themselves pioneers of a new pedagogical model, and to repress, in the name of their moralisms, their legitimate curiosity. But why the horse? Because, evidently, it is the first living thing with features designed to promote identification that Hans sees.
The father, who evidently has already communicated to Freud his previous observations, informs him of the situation and asks for his help. Freud invests him in the role of analyst of his son, who is subjected to exhausting analytically oriented interrogators. The conclusion reached by Freud on the basis of the transcribed interviews is that “Hans is really a small Oedipus, who wants to get rid and suppress his father to be alone with the beautiful mother, to sleep with her”; “under the fear of the biting horse, expressed at first, we have discovered the deepest fear of the falling horse, and both of them, the horse biting and falling, are the father, who will punish Hans for having nourished towards him desires so bad”; “all moving or loading wagons and omnibuses are nothing but storks’ crates in the form of caravans, they are of interest to the child only as symbolic references to pregnancy … So the horse that falls is not only the father who dies, but also the mother who gives birth. There is no need to add that the baby is the son of Hans-Edipo.” To read more on the subject see Freud, S. (1908). Analyse der Phobie eines funfjahrigen Knagen. In Gesammelte Werke (VII, pp. 245–379). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag, 1968. Tr. it. Analisi della fobia di un bambino di cinque anni (Casoclinico del piccolo Hans). In Opere (V, pp. 481–590). Torino: Boringhieri, 1972.
- 8.
To read more on the subject, see Marcer, R. (1985). La obra de Sigmund Freud, punto de partida para therapy y el estudio psychoanalytic de la familia. Monograph, Instituto de Psicoàanalisis. Buenos Aires, Asociation psychoanalytic Argentina.
- 9.
As we have highlighted, the attention given to family dynamics and to the interaction between parent and child is also very important in Anna Freud’s contribution, but there are also other relevant elements of her theoretical production. The authors who reviewed Anna Freud’s contributions agree on some fundamental aspects of her thinking (Young-Breuehl, 1996): a first aspect concerns her theoretical position that had highlighted her link to Sigmund Freud’s theorization; the second relevant aspect is her proposal of original theories and new contributions. Her strong bond with her father’s theories consists in sharing his classical theory and his metapsychology, but the importance of her original and new contributions represented a great step for psychoanalysis.
After conducting many studies and checks, Anna Freud became much less optimistic about the possibility that psychoanalytic education could always prevent psychopathology. In the first chapter of Normality and Pathology in Childhood (1965), she wrote about psychoanalysis discoveries and about her conceptualization of prevention: initially, if she tries to give parents the corresponding indications regarding the new discoveries that have occurred to prevent the pathology—for example, the importance of child sexuality—she recommends a more lenient attitude towards its manifestation; when the importance of the super-ego was established, she suggests reducing the fear that children could have of their own parents. But in the end, after numerous attempts, Anna Freud concludes that according to psychoanalysis there cannot be a complete prevention of neurosis. Of course, there are cases in which a psychoanalytic education helps the child to find appropriate solutions that safeguard mental health, but there are also many other childern with an internal disharmony that cannot be prevented, and this becomes the starting point for a pathological evolution of one kind or another (Freud 1965) However, Anna Freud continued to attribute particular importance to: the influence of parental reality on the child, the potential influence of the environment, and the need to investigate the balance between internal and external forces in the child’s psyche (Freud 1965). According to the author, the psychoanalysis of the child does not have to interpret the child’s situation exclusively in terms of internal reality, because there is the risk of neglecting patient reports about the environmental circumstances of the moment: relations and enviroment are no less important than internal reality. This also highlighted the importance of the family environment for the development of the subject, even if it is not the only determining factor (according to the Anna Freud, for example, merely altering external reality cannot always produce a healing effect, except perhaps in the very early childhood). Child analysts must relate to the harmful external factors that acquire pathological significance through interaction with innate predispositions and acquired and internalized attitudes of the ego’s libido. However, it should be emphasized that when we talk about education on a psychoanalytic basis, it is not a question of pedagogical aspects, but of translating psychoanalytic conceptions with the aim of helping the child to progress in his normal development.
In Vienna and in London, Anna Freud explored psychoanalytic pedagogy in more depth, thus demonstrating her interest in education; then she continued in the practice of the Jackson Nursery in Vienna and the Hampstead War Nurseries in London. However, already in this last activity, the education about psychoanalytic theories assumes different meanings from pedagogy. Certainly, poor children in Vienna, and those separated from their parents in London were also given physical care (nourishment and medical treatment provided by the pediatrician and friend of Anna Freud, Josephine Strauss), but of fundamental importance in the theoretical approach was psychological understanding. This understanding led to a number of contributions in cooperation with Joseph Goldstein, of Yale Law School, and Albert Solnit at the Yale Center, including a trilogy of works: Beyond the Best Interests of the Child (1973), Before the Best Interests of the Child (1979) and In the Best Interests of the Child (1986). These books are dedicated to the psychoanalytic understanding of children who, belonging to atypical, divorced or adoptive families, must be placed in a foster family or institution. The authors discuss the problem, taking into account the needs of the child at each specific stage of development, the support and the circumstances necessary to promote healthy maturation, the role of the father and mother in relation to their children, the possible typical family effects, foster caregivers, adopters and the care provided by the residential institutions; they also examined the ways in which disabilities, diseases and physical traumas can interfere with normal development, stop it or force it in directions that make it difficult, pushing the effort of adaptation to the limit. The impetus for direct observation of the child derives from an interest in verifying the hypotheses on child development, derived from her father in the psychoanalysis of adults. This came initially with the opening of the Jackson Nursery in Vienna, where Anna Freud saw a unique opportunity to learn how to test psychoanalytic ideas in a typical daycare program (Sandler 1996). The work, continued with the Hampstead War Nurseries in London, where she directed studies on separation and different substitutes, on libidinal development, on the impact of the internal and external world on the child, on child development and on the systematic use of observations in children. She also wrote numerous reports on the activities of the Hampstead War Nurseries and described the most important scientific conclusions derived from this work. She states that many psychoanalysts had proposed the idea that the scientific and therapeutic value of psychoanalytic treatment was directly proportional to the depth of the psychic states examined (Freud 1936), and, starting from this observation, Anna Freud points out that the psychoanalyst cannot directly observe the profound unconscious but only its derivatives mediated by the ego of the subject. Psychoanalysis is therefore dedicated to the exploration of the conscious dimensions of the psyche. She revisited the theories of Sigmund Freud and became increasingly aware of the inadequacy of the phases of libidinal development as a frame of reference in considering all aspects of the development of childhood pathology. For example, it is clear that the classical libidinal phases did not adequately adapt to the development of the child’s aggression and were not completely suitable for an evolutionary categorization of the child’s object relations, and certainly did not constitute a sufficient basis for understanding the complexity of ego development and of the super-ego. Moreover, from the psychopathological point of view, increasingly the presence of disorders different from neurotic ones emerged and therefore cannot be explained in terms of regression fixation with respect to the phases of psychosexual development. The awareness of these limitations led her to the brilliant solution of introducing the concept of evolutionary lines, which, although not contradicting the idea of development according to the libidinal phases, allows additional ones in order to avoid the existing restrictions in classical theory. The evolutionary lines theorized by Anna Freud are based on the central idea that detailed observations of behavior (i.e. an accurate study of surface phenomena) should allow a professional with adequate training to draw inferences on the functioning of the inner life of the child. For further details, see Freud, A. (1927). Four lectures on child analysis, in The Writings of A. Freud. Madison, CT: International Universities Press. 1974 vol. 1; Freud, A. (1936). The ego and the defense mechanisms in Works vol. 1, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri; Freud A. (1942). Young children in a war time a year’s work in a residential war nursery. London: Allen and Unwin; Freud, A. (1962). The psychoanalytic study of the child, International University Press, Madison; Freud, A. (1965). Normality and pathology in childhood assessment of devotion. New York: International Universities Press; Freud, A. (1973). Beyond the best interests of the child. Madison, CT: International Universities Press; Goldstein, J., Freud, A., & Solnit A. (1979). Before the best interests of the child. New York: Free Press; Goldstein, J., Freud, A., Solnit, A. J., Goldstein, S., & Robson, K. (1986). In the best interests of the child. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25(6), 857; Young-Breuehl, E. (1996). Anna Freud as a historian of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 51, 56–68; Sandler, J. & Dreher, A. (1996). What do psychoanalysts want? London: Routledge. Edgecumbe, R. (1981). Towards a developmental line for the acquisition of language. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 36, 71–103; Edgecumbe, R. (1984). The development of symbolization. Bulletin of the Hampstead Clinic, 7, 105–126. Dawson, L. (2001). Anna Freud: A view of development, disturbance and Therapeutic techniques, Edgcumbe, R. (Infant Observation, 4:3, pp. 113–118). London and Philadelphia: Routledge; Irtelli Floriana (2016). Illuminarsi di Ben-essere. Rome: Armando Editore; Freud, A. (1936). l’Io e i meccanismi di difesa in Opere vol. 1, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1978. Freud, A. (1962). The psychanalytic study of the child. Madison: International University Press. Freud, A. (1965). Normality and pathology in childhood assessment of development. New York: International Universities Press.
- 10.
Examining more closely this interdisciplinary aspect, we can say that Bowlby felt a need to study how the psychopathological processes develop and to do this he focused on many of the disciplines that deal with man and that can be used to explain his behavior; indeed, John Bowlby’s treatise always maintains an interdisciplinary character. His speculation is based on contributions from various sciences: cybernetics, systems theory, Piaget’s approach to the study of cognitive psychology, ethology and evolutionary theory. In all his research, however, psychoanalysis has always been used as a reference framework because he started from a psychoanalytic training and approach, and believed that psychoanalysis is the most suitable theory to provide explanations in the psychopathology field, and also because concepts used by his model (object relations, separation anxiety, defense, mourning) are essential elements of psychoanalytic thought. On the other hand, as for the contribution made by systems theory to Bowlby’s thought, it consists of the idea that the human being, in this case the child, is like a system provided by an autonomous organization that works with a variety of processes of regulation and feedback, on which it is not possible to operate analytically, dividing the organism into linearly operating mechanisms (Shaffer 1971). The comparison between data on children and those observed in other animal species brings the author closer to ethology. He starts from concepts developed in this field: the “imprinting” concept based on ethological observations that show how the bond that the child establishes with the mother is independent of the fact that the mother provides nourishment, just as occurs in the case of the imprinting of Lorenz’s ducklings (1935). A second element referring to ethology is “the need for heat” detected following observations on primates (Harlow and Zimmerman, 1959). For further details, see Shaffer, R. (1971). The growth of sociability. London: Penguin; Lorenz, K. (1935). Companionship in bird life: Fellow members of the species as releasers of social behaviour. In E. Schiller (Ed.), Instinctive behaviour. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
- 11.
For further details, see Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books; Bolwby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss. Vol. 2: Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books; Bolwby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss. Vol. 3: Loss: Sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books; Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base. London: Routledge.
- 12.
This type of theoretical approach recalls the conviction that from safe parents, who have good self-esteem, are confident with others and capable of establishing satisfactory interpersonal relationships, descend children who develop good social skills. On the contrary, insecure parents often find themselves with children who are very vulnerable to stress. In reality, environmental deficiences are not merely imprinted on a passive organism, but are experienced and filled with meaning by the individual who suffers, and the outcomes can be very different from person to person because the factors involved are multiple: it is fundamentally important to observe the interaction between psychologic and social biological factors. For further details, see Engel, G. L. (1977). The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. Science, 196, 129–136. Engel, G. L. (1980). The clinical application of the biopsychosocial model. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 535–544.
- 13.
To point out: in the family group, the disease is the emergent quality that brings us, as a signal, to an underlying implicit state represented by a particular mode of interaction to the group which at that time is alienating. The sufferer is the spokesperson through whom a disease that affected the entire hotel manifests. For further information, see Vincenti, E. (2013). Il gruppo come proprietà emergente. Ricerca Psicoanalitica, Franco Angeli, XXIV (1/2013), 12–26; Pichon-Rivière, E. (1971). Del Psicoanalisis a la Psicologia Social. Buenos Aires: Galena.
- 14.
For further details, see Racaimier, P. C. (1996). Folies et secretes (editorial), Groupal n. 2. Paris: Éditions du Collège de Psychanalyse Groupale et Familiale.
- 15.
For further details, see Box, S. (Ed.). (1994). Crisis at adolescence. Object relations therapy with the family. Northvale, NJ: Janson Aronson.
- 16.
For further details, see Bentovim, A. (1992). Trauma-organized systems. Physical and sexual abuse in families. London: Karnac Books.
- 17.
For further details, see Williams, A. H. (1983). Nevrosi e Delinquenza. Roma: Borla.
- 18.
For further details, see Skynner, R. (1987). Explorations with families. Group analysis and family therapy. London and New York: Tavistock/Routledge.
- 19.
For further details, see Schapiro, R. L. (1993). Trasference and countertransference in the analytic treatment of families, 38° Psychoanalytic International Congress. Amsterdam (Family Therapy).
- 20.
For further details, see Scharff, J. S. (Ed.). (1989). Foundations of object relations family therapy. Northvale, NJ: Janson Aronson; Scharff, D. E., & Scharff, J. S. (1991). Object relations therapy. Northvale, NJ: Janson Aronson.
- 21.
For further details, see Stierlin, H. (1977). Psychoanalysis and family therapy. New York: Janson Aronson.
- 22.
The word “globalization” means that the network of interdependencies is acquiring a global dimension. It is a process that does not find an equal in the corresponding expansion of political control bodies. This term also indicates the rise of a “global culture”. Closely related to the unlawful development of the economy, politics and culture (formerly coordinated within the national state) is the separation of power and politics: the power, as the embodiment of the global movement of capital and information, becomes increasingly extraterritorial, while the political institutions continue to have a very local character. For some, globalization is a necessary step to happiness; for others, globalization is, however, the very cause of our unhappiness. For all, though, it means the inevitable destiny of the world, an irreversible process, which involves us all to the same extent and in the same way. For more on the subject, see Bauman, Z. (1997). Postmodernity and its discontents. New York: New York University Press; Bauman, Z. (1998). Globalization: The human consequences. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-7456-201 2-4.
- 23.
For example, knowledge of the influence of culture on personality was not available in Freud’s time: he attributed to biological factors the prevailing neurotic tendencies in bourgeois Western civilization. Horney states that this type is characterized by a great potential hostility, by a readiness and capacity for hatred rather than for love, for emotional isolation, by the tendency to be self-centered, failing to recognize that these tendencies are partly determined by the conditions of a specific social structure. He then states that the sociologist can provide information only on the social structure of a given culture and the analyst can offer information only on the structure of a neurosis: the way to overcome the difficulty is cooperative work. Horney also maintains that we must discard the wealth of individual differences and seek common denominators in the conditions that generate individual neuroses and in the content of neurotic conflicts. When these data become available to the sociologist, they can be related to cultural conditions that favor the development of neuroses and are partly responsible for the nature of neurotic conflicts. For further details, see Horney, K. (1939). New ways in psychoanalysis, The neurotic personality of our time self analysis, our inner conflicts, a constructive theory of Neurosis. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubnur & Co.
- 24.
For further details, see Irtelli, F. (2016). Illuminarsi di Ben-essere. Rome: Armando Editore.
- 25.
For a more detailed discussion, see Bauman, Z. (2003). Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds. Cambridge: Polity.
- 26.
For further details, see Malik, S., Khan M. Impact of Facebook addiction on narcissistic behavior and self-esteem among students. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 65(3), 260–263. Mehdizadeh, S. Self-presentation 2.0: Narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13(4), 357–364.
- 27.
For further details, see Clayton, R. B., Nagurney, A., & Smith, J. R. (2013). Cheating, breakup, and divorce: Is Facebook use to blame? Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(10), 717–720; Shakya H. B., Christakis N. A. (2017). Association of Facebook use with compromised well-being: A longitudinal study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 185(3), 203–211.
- 28.
For further details, see Bauman, Z. (1998). Globalization: The human consequences. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-7456-2012-4; Bauman, Z. (1999). The society of uncertainty. Bologna: Il Mulino; Bauman, Z. (2008). The art of life. Cambridge, UK and Malden, MA: Polity Press.
- 29.
For further details, see Bauman, Z. (1997). Postmodernity and its discontents. New York: New York University Press.
- 30.
For further details, see Fromm E. (1957). The art of loving. Aquarian/Thorsons.
- 31.
For further details, see Bauman, Z. (2003). Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds. Cambridge: Polity.
- 32.
For further details, see Kaës, R. (2012). The Malêtre. Paris: Dunod.
- 33.
Equality as a condition of the development of individualism was the meaning proposed by the Enlightenment philosophy in the West; it meant that no man should be the medium that determines the end of another man. But equality in a capitalist society is meant as uniformity rather than unity: the people have chosen the same entertainment, newspapers, ideas (Fromm 1957). Today, in the wake of this phenomenon, as a reaction to this uniformity, we see the need to differentiate ourselves at all costs, claiming our uniqueness, well represented by the popular slogan “is different”.
- 34.
For further details, see Bateson, G., Jackson, D. D., Haley, J., & Weakland, J. H. (1956). Towards a theory of schizophrenia. In G. Bateson (1972). Towards an ecology of mind. Milano: Adelphi.
- 35.
For further information, see Bauman, Z. (2003). Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds. Cambridge: Polity.
- 36.
For further details, see Layard, R. (2005). Happiness. The new science of the common welfare. Milan: Rizzoli.
- 37.
For further details, see Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper & Brothers.
- 38.
Given that the developmental objectives of the life cycle change a great deal from person to person, and focusing on only one joint or standardized objective risks losing the complexity of the individual: each note has its metaphorical and unique “living rosary beads”. Using this metaphor, we want to point out that every vital hub of the subject, objective and developmental needs (or “rosary grain”) does not have equals in those of other subjects; the “grain” may be more distant, hazy, more dense and difficult, or not. For each is characterized in a particular way, precisely because “the metaphorical rosary” of each one is unique. For further details, see Irtelli, F. (2016). Illuminarsi di Ben-essere. Rome: Armando Editore.
- 39.
For further details, see P. Brickman P., & Campbell D. T. (1971). Hedonic relativism and planning the good society. In M. H. Appley (Ed.), Adaptation-level theory: A symposium (pp. 55–63). New York: Academy Press.
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Irtelli, F. (2018). Introduction: Society, Family, Subjects. In: Contemporary Perspectives on Relational Wellness. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91050-5_1
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