They are considered to be different from the ordinary early severe superego, which is based on predominantly fused instincts capable of modification.ĭebate continues about the degree to which change can occur in the superego, about the exact nature of its constituent parts, and on the question of whether it is best conceptualised as a structure or as a function. Whether or not considered as superego, these extreme internal objects are thought by Klein and others to be associated with extreme disturbance and even psychosis.
Klein came to think of these defused part-objects as separate from the superego, whereas others consider them as forming an abnormally destructive superego. In pathological development, the early severe superego does not become modified and, in extreme cases, the terrifying and idealised defused aspects of the primary objects are split off by the ego and banished into an area of deep unconscious. The early superego is very severe but, in the process of development, becomes less severe and more realistic. In Klein’s view, the superego starts to form at the beginning of life rather than with the resolution of the Oedipus complex, as Freud theorised. If all goes well, the internal objects in both ego and superego, which are initially extreme, become less so, and the two structures become increasingly reconciled. The superego and the ego share different aspects of the same objects they develop in parallel through the process of introjection and projection. It acquires both protective and threatening qualities. In Kleinian thinking the superego is composed of a split-off part of the ego, into which is projected death instinct fused with life instinct, and good and bad aspects of the primary, and also later, objects. Without empirical evidence, Freudian theories often seem weak, and ultimately fail to initiate standards for treatment.An internal structure or part of the self that, as the internal authority, reflects on the self, makes judgements, exerts moral pressure, and is the seat of conscience, guilt and self-esteem. A number of modern psychologists have pointed out that traditional psychoanalysis relies too much on ambiguities for its data, such as dreams and free associations. Many objections have been leveled against traditional psychoanalysis, both for its methodological rigidity and for its lack of theoretical rigor. Today, Freud’s method is only one among many types of psychotherapy used in psychiatry.
Freud asserted that conflicts between these often-opposing components of the human mind are crucial factors in the development of neurosis. Although considered only partly conscious, the ego constitutes the major part of what is commonly referred to as consciousness. It is a mental agent mediating among three contending forces: the outside demands of social pressure or reality, libidinal demands for immediate satisfaction arising from the id, and the moral demands of the superego. The ego, on the other hand, is seen as a part of the id modified by contact with the external world. The superego, originating in the child through an identification with parents, and in response to social pressures, functions as an internal censor to repress the urges of the id. He saw the id as the deepest level of the unconscious, dominated by the pleasure principle, with its object the immediate gratification of instinctual drives. In considering the human personality as a whole, Freud divided it into three functional parts: id, ego, and superego.
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