The present study investigated the relationship between variables of father’s behaviour and their daughter’s levels of self-esteem - both were explored based on the perceptions of the daughter. Self-esteem was viewed as the measure of worthiness that one attributed to oneself, whilst the variables of father’s behaviour included support, punishment, control, rejection, indulgence, autonomy and protectiveness. The same elements of mother’s behaviour were also considered to see how they related to their daughter’s self-esteem; the primary motive for doing this was to provide a contrast to the outcome of the fathering information. The participation of seventy-seven young adult women between the ages of 21 and 34, and from different race groups and cultural backgrounds was requested through a number of associates who then passed the relevant questionnaires on to their associates. Respondents were asked to return the questionnaires fully completed, and data on father variables and self-esteem were then used from these questionnaires. Statistical analysis involved non-parametric analyses in the form of Spearman’s Correlation Rank and demonstrated a significant, negative correlation between protectiveness and self-esteem (r =-.368, p<0.001, 13.54% of variance) only for the father behaviours, while for the mother behaviours significant correlations existed between praise and self esteem, rejection and self-esteem, punishment self-esteem and protectiveness and the young adult women’s self-esteem. Theoretically and practically the implications of the findings suggest that parents and the roles they play may have an impact on their daughter’s self-esteem, at least for this sample, and thus future research into the meanings of the above findings and their impact on children - or more specifically - female children is a worthwhile undertaking, as is consideration of the stereotypical gender roles that society upholds. / Brenda Radebe

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Although deficits in object relations patterns have been identified in populations of violent offenders, few studies have examined the object relations of male juveniles incarcerated for violent crimes. The present study examined four dimensions of object relations, as measured by the Thematic Apperception Test and Westen's Social Cognitions and Object Relations Scale with a sample of eight male juvenile offenders incarcerated for violent crimes as De Novo and Eureka Youth Care Centres. These dimensions are complexity of object representations, affect tone of relationship paradigms, capacity for emotional investment in relationships and understanding of social causality. / South Africa

The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale—Global (SCORS-G) is a relatively new scoring system for the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) that provides information about an individual's functioning in a variety of domains, including intrapsychic and interpersonal. Participants in this archival study had been administered a variety of measures as part of a routine clinical assessment, including the TAT, Rorschach, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Selected TAT stories were rescored using current SCORS-G scoring criteria. This dissertation evaluated the factor structure of the SCORS-G in an outpatient sample with a principal component analysis (PCA), finding support for a two-component solution. The SCORS-G was then compared to well-established measures of personality functioning, social cognition, and object relations using correlational analyses, with mixed results. Lastly, support was found for using the SCORS-G as a tool for discriminating individuals with a history of violent or problematic relationships from those without such a history. Implications for card selection based on card pull and the impact of bland protocols were explored.

South Africa’s foreign policy decisions and behaviours are routinely referred to as “schizophrenic” by scholars and political commentators alike. A malady of the human brain, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines “schizophrenia” as “a severe mental disorder, characterized by profound disruptions in thinking, affecting language, perception, and the sense of self [that] can impair functioning through the loss of an acquired capability to earn a livelihood, or the disruption of studies”. If schizophrenia is a disorder of the human mind, then diagnosing a state with this disorder implies an acceptance of the argument that, indeed, “states are people too”. Yet, for all of the diagnoses of foreign policy schizophrenia handed to the South African state on such a regular basis, very few scholars have seriously contemplated the implications of state personhood for our understanding of politics among nations, and the importance of this approach to International Relations (IR) for research on state behaviours. Pushing Alexander Wendt’s (1999) claim that “states are people too” beyond its present conceptual limits, this research undertakes a personology of South Africa as state-person. “Personology” is, in its simplest form, a science of persons: how they exist in relation to others, how they differ from others, and how their experiences of the world affect their cognitions and behaviours. Persons are more than just identities. Persons have emotions, they maintain relationships with significant Others, and they experience internal conflicts that spark certain defensive behaviours. Behaviours, in turn, take on specific patterns in individuals based on historical experiences of the external world, and on the individual’s internal configuration that predisposes it to certain courses of action that are again based in past experiences of the individual’s interactions with Others. In this sense, the project distinguishes between “identity” and “personality” as two interrelated, but distinct, components of personhood. While constructivist IR to date has contributed significantly to our understanding of state identities, considerations surrounding personality remain unexplored. In the context of the above, the thesis asks the question “how do South Africa’s experiences of relationships with other state-persons shape its behaviour in international politics, and why do these behaviours take on these unique dynamics?” Departing from a reexamination of the South African state’s identity as both difference from and likeness to Others, the thesis incorporates insights from personality theory and psychoanalysis to propose a workable model for analysing state behaviours. Through an examination of significant events from South Africa’s recent foreign relations, the thesis considers both defensive mechanisms employed by the state to protect its Self when faced with criticism from peers, and the reasons why these specific defences are employed in the way that they are employed. An understanding of the functions of narcissistic defences in individuals allows us to make sense of seemingly inconsistent, self-contradictory or incoherent behaviours beyond unexplored accusations of a disordered mind. Persons communicate their Selves, and their experiences of the world, through carefully selected symbols – both linguistic and non-linguistic. The study of these symbols, or semiotics, has long been the purview of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which takes both linguistic and non-linguistic forms of communication as the foundations of social practice. Drawing heavily on the work of, among others, Foucault, Derrida and Lacan, CDA concerns itself with the social and political context of agency and structure, observable through the lenses of representation, manipulation, interpretation, that is embedded in the discourses of individuals or groups within societies. Discourse is produced with the aim of achieving something; this may simply include positioning the Self within society, communicating with Others to achieve the common aims of the group, or eventually, to change the external world in a way that corresponds to the individual’s inner image of its Self in relation to outside world. Informed by this understanding of discourse as the performance of the Self, and the means through which to satisfy internal desires, the project looks at ways in which the South African Self is narratively constructed and performed in relation to significant Others, and how South Africa attempts to shape the external world according to its own mentalistic images of itself-in-theworld.

No description available.

No description available.

TAT stories and demographic information of 30 violent and 30 nonviolent juvenile delinquents were obtained. Institutional assessment records at Dallas County Juvenile Department (DCJD) served as the data base for this study. TAT stories and demographic information of 30 violent and 30 nonviolent juvenile delinquents were obtained. Institutional assessment records at Dallas County Juvenile Department (DCJD) served as the data base for this study. Differences with respect to object relations functioning between juveniles charged with two categories of index offenses: property offenses and aggravated assault were examined. Object relations were assessed utilizing a scoring system designed for use with the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). The scoring system encompasses a psychoanalytic perspective and consists of four dimensions representing separate but interrelated aspects of object relations. It was hypothesized that juvenile delinquents who commit violent crimes would exhibit lower object relations functioning as compared to juvenile delinquents who commit nonviolent crimes.

O estudo dos distúrbios alimentares tem recebido cada vez mais atenção por parte da comunidade científica nas últimas décadas, devido ao seu alarmante incremento na população mundial. Embora as primeiras descrições clínicas da anorexia nervosa datem do século XIX, o aumento recente de casos de transtornos alimentares no contexto de uma sociedade que faz culto ao corpo e à magreza permite pensar na anorexia como um dos quadros psicopatológicos emblemáticos da contemporaneidade. Considerando-se a amplitude e a complexidade do campo dos transtornos alimentares e a escassez de trabalhos que utilizam técnicas projetivas, esta pesquisa visou intensificar e aprofundar essa linha de pesquisa. O objetivo principal foi identificar e descrever aspectos dinâmicos e estruturais da personalidade de pacientes com diagnóstico de anorexia, a partir do referencial teórico psicanalítico. Para realizar a coleta de dados, foram utilizadas a Entrevista Clínica e três técnicas projetivas: o Desenho da Família, o Questionário Desiderativo e o Teste de Relações Objetais, aplicados em três pacientes com diagnóstico de anorexia, internadas no Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (IPq- HC/FMUSP). A análise dos dados evidenciou que as participantes desta pesquisa carecem de recursos psíquicos desenvolvidos para elaborar lutos e manifestam sentimentos de desesperança e futilidade nas tentativas de reparação do objeto. Também foi constatado que há um desarranjo da dinâmica das relações objetais estabelecidas pelas participantes. Ainda foi observado que, no Desenho da Família, o alimento tem um papel fundamental na dinâmica familiar. Finalmente, verificou-se que a participante com diagnóstico de anorexia restritiva apresenta recursos defensivos mais desenvolvidos que as participantes diagnosticadas como anoréxicas purgativas / The study of eating disorders has increasingly attracted the scientific community´s attention in the last decades because of their alarming rise in the world population. Although the first clinical descriptions of nervous anorexia date from the 19th century, the recent increase of eating disorder cases in the context of a society that worships body and thinness let us think of anorexia as an emblematic psychopathological picture of the contemporary times. Taking into account the range and the complexity of the study of eating disorders and the lack of researches using projective techniques, this study aimed at intensifying and deepening this line of research. The main objective was to identify and to describe the dynamic and structural aspects of the personality of patients whose diagnosis was anorexia, from the theoretical psychoanalytic referential. Data was collected through the Clinical Interview and three projective techniques: the Drawing of the Family, the Desiderative Questionnaire and the Object Relations Technique, which were applied to three anorexia patients who were interned at the Psychiatry Institute of Hospital das Clínicas/University of São Paulo´s Medicine School (IPq-HC/FMUSP). The datum analysis showed that the research participants lacked developed psychic resources to elaborate mourning and that they have feelings of hopelessness and futility when trying to repair the object. It was also found out that there is a disarrangement in the dynamics of the object relations established by the participants. Moreover, it was observed, in the Drawing of the Family, that food plays a fundamental role in the family dynamics. Finally, it was found out that the patient with restrictive anorexia has more developed defensive resources than the participants with purgative anorexia

Mak, Chi Kuan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-124). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

O estudo dos distúrbios alimentares tem recebido cada vez mais atenção por parte da comunidade científica nas últimas décadas, devido ao seu alarmante incremento na população mundial. Embora as primeiras descrições clínicas da anorexia nervosa datem do século XIX, o aumento recente de casos de transtornos alimentares no contexto de uma sociedade que faz culto ao corpo e à magreza permite pensar na anorexia como um dos quadros psicopatológicos emblemáticos da contemporaneidade. Considerando-se a amplitude e a complexidade do campo dos transtornos alimentares e a escassez de trabalhos que utilizam técnicas projetivas, esta pesquisa visou intensificar e aprofundar essa linha de pesquisa. O objetivo principal foi identificar e descrever aspectos dinâmicos e estruturais da personalidade de pacientes com diagnóstico de anorexia, a partir do referencial teórico psicanalítico. Para realizar a coleta de dados, foram utilizadas a Entrevista Clínica e três técnicas projetivas: o Desenho da Família, o Questionário Desiderativo e o Teste de Relações Objetais, aplicados em três pacientes com diagnóstico de anorexia, internadas no Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (IPq- HC/FMUSP). A análise dos dados evidenciou que as participantes desta pesquisa carecem de recursos psíquicos desenvolvidos para elaborar lutos e manifestam sentimentos de desesperança e futilidade nas tentativas de reparação do objeto. Também foi constatado que há um desarranjo da dinâmica das relações objetais estabelecidas pelas participantes. Ainda foi observado que, no Desenho da Família, o alimento tem um papel fundamental na dinâmica familiar. Finalmente, verificou-se que a participante com diagnóstico de anorexia restritiva apresenta recursos defensivos mais desenvolvidos que as participantes diagnosticadas como anoréxicas purgativas / The study of eating disorders has increasingly attracted the scientific community´s attention in the last decades because of their alarming rise in the world population. Although the first clinical descriptions of nervous anorexia date from the 19th century, the recent increase of eating disorder cases in the context of a society that worships body and thinness let us think of anorexia as an emblematic psychopathological picture of the contemporary times. Taking into account the range and the complexity of the study of eating disorders and the lack of researches using projective techniques, this study aimed at intensifying and deepening this line of research. The main objective was to identify and to describe the dynamic and structural aspects of the personality of patients whose diagnosis was anorexia, from the theoretical psychoanalytic referential. Data was collected through the Clinical Interview and three projective techniques: the Drawing of the Family, the Desiderative Questionnaire and the Object Relations Technique, which were applied to three anorexia patients who were interned at the Psychiatry Institute of Hospital das Clínicas/University of São Paulo´s Medicine School (IPq-HC/FMUSP). The datum analysis showed that the research participants lacked developed psychic resources to elaborate mourning and that they have feelings of hopelessness and futility when trying to repair the object. It was also found out that there is a disarrangement in the dynamics of the object relations established by the participants. Moreover, it was observed, in the Drawing of the Family, that food plays a fundamental role in the family dynamics. Finally, it was found out that the patient with restrictive anorexia has more developed defensive resources than the participants with purgative anorexia