Melanie Klein’s Concept

Biography of Melanie Klein

Melanie Klein (1882–1960) was an Austrian-British psychoanalyst and one of the key figures in the development of object relations theory. She was born in Vienna and studied under Sándor Ferenczi and Karl Abraham. Later, she moved to London, where her ideas became the foundation of the British school of psychoanalysis.

Klein expanded Freud’s psychoanalysis by focusing on early childhood fantasies and archaic defense mechanisms. Her works, including Some Schizoid Mechanisms (1946), laid the groundwork for understanding borderline and psychotic disorders (Klein, 1946).

The essence of Klein’s ideas in the article “Some Schizoid Mechanisms”

Klein describes early defense mechanisms that form in the infant as a response to anxiety. Key concepts include:

1. Paranoid–schizoid position (PSP) – an early developmental phase (0–4 months) characterized by:

• Splitting – dividing the object into a “good” and a “bad” one (e.g., the mother’s breast as a source of pleasure or frustration).
• Projective identification – attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings to another person (e.g., the infant “returns” their anger to the mother).

2.Depressive position – a more mature phase when the child realizes that the “good” and “bad” object are one and the same person, which evokes anxiety about loss and feelings of guilt.

Example from Hinshelwood (1991):

A patient with borderline personality disorder displayed abrupt shifts between idealizing the therapist (“you saved me!”) and expressing rage (“you hate me!”). This is a typical manifestation of splitting and projective identification (Hinshelwood, 1991, p. 145).

Examples of mental disorders in Klein’s theory

• Schizophrenia – associated with extreme ego splitting, when parts of the self are perceived as separate “persecutors.”
• Depression – caused by an unresolved depressive position; the person unconsciously believes that their aggression has destroyed the loved object (Klein, 1946).

Example from Hinshelwood:

A patient with obsessive–compulsive disorder washed their hands repeatedly, trying to “cleanse” themselves of the unconscious fantasy that their anger poisoned others (Hinshelwood, 1991, p. 210).

References

- Klein, M. (1946). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 27, 99-110. 
- Hinshelwood, R. D. (1991). A dictionary of Kleinian thought. Free Association Books.