BØRNS PERSONLIGHEDSUDVIKLING I SMÅBARNSALDEREN. KONTINUITET OG FORANDRING

Abstract

The article argues for an integration of attachment theoretical and psychoanalytic approaches to the early development of personality. At first the attachment theoretical system of concepts is presented and there is argued for the relevance for developmental psychology of a conceptual system, rooted in observations of infants and young children's patterns of interaction. Henceforth commonalities between attachment theoretical and psychoanalytic viewpoints are discussed. lt is pointed out how Mahlers theory of the separation-individuation process has clear similarities with attachment theory and concerning the intrapsychic level and especially the development of the self can supply the attachment
theory. Kohut and Winnicott are shortly presented as two other theorists, who have made important contributions to the understanding of the development of the self in the transition from dyadic relating to I-you relation or in other words: the constitution of the self as existence or subjectivity.
Finally the concept of »continuity« in development and the predictive validity of the attachment theoretical concepts are discussed. The institutionalisation of early childhood in modem society is menticned as a new historical form of discontinuity in children's life circumstances, the consequences of which are mainly unknown. Attention is called to the importance of research focused on conceptual development and reflection.