Some roots of persistent homosexual fantasy and the quest for father's love: conflicted parental identifications in a male patient: fragment of an analysis

This is a clinical paper, which includes material from sessions, presenting the process of the analysis of a young adult male whose narcissistic character patterns, related to and evolved from failed attempts to integrate conflicting parental identifications. These unintegrated mother and father identifications contributed to life-long latent homosexual fantasies. Rodney's analysis indicates that for a boy/man, even a mother who has the qualities of a good enough parent, is not good enough to enable him to reach a nonconflicted manhood. A mother cannot provide for the boy the male model he needs and is searching for, the male who would affirm him in his maleness. Rodney wanted a father on whose shoulders he could stand to become a man. Rodney's persistent homosexual fantasy life, his quest for father's love, and his search for a masculine object to identify with stem from a combination of several factors. Rodney's regression to the negative oedipal phase was probably stimulated when father left the family. Rodney was eleven at the time. He felt overwhelmed experiencing himself as the oedipal victor. Unconsciously, Rodney feared his exacerbated incestuous wishes. He projected them upon his mother and subsequently incorporated them in his fantasies. His regression to more infantile dependency feelings was defensive. Rodney's father was an unsuitable object for identification. He was disinterested in Rodney and emotionally unavailable. Rodney, however, sought his father, whose lack of loving acknowledgement resulted in a lack of affirmation of Rodney's masculinity. Mother provided for Rodney the loving acknowledgement he lacked in his relationship with father. She was emotionally sustaining, an energetic, vibrant personality, who was seen by Rodney as a "superior human being." Rodney consciously idealized his mother toward whom he unconsciously also had ambivalent feelings. Rodney's identification with mother was not counterbalanced by the presence of a strong, loving father figure whom he could have used as a suitable model. This led to the development in Rodney of a strong sense of effeminization. Rodney in his homosexual fantasies assumed the so-called "feminine victimized" role. The regression to the negative oedipal phase contributed to an exacerbation of erotic, father-directed feelings, intensified by the identification with mother. Rodney was fixated in his quest for father's love. In addition, Rodney's unconscious guilt related to father and mother directed incestuous impulses, and his intense aggressivesadistic feelings contributed to the masochistic cast of his masturbation fantasies. Rodney's narcissistic aims and the quality of his narcissism changed during the analysis. His grandiosity almost disappeared. Rodney's goals became realistic and he acquired the skills necessary to achieve them. Inhibitions related to the "fear of success" were worked through. This enabled Rodney to compete successfully. His healthy narcissism derives from the success of his many achievements. Though Rodney remained a basically narcissistic personality, he did derive great pleasure from being a giving person. This was one of the many ways in which he identified with his mother. At the present, Rodney's identifications are selective and do not evoke intrapsychic conflict.     

Some thoughts on the ego ideal. A contribution to the study of the "illness of ideality"

Man searches continuously for the time when he was his own ideal--a time that is coincident with primary fusion with the mother. The fantasy of this fusion underlies the incest wish. Because of his helplessness, the child must postpone the realization of his incest wish and project it forward into the future. However, if the subject chooses the pathway of the oedipus complex and identification with the father to realize his incestuous fantasy, circumstance may lead him to circumvent the oedipal shpere and, through the mechanisms of regression, return to the mother of primary fusion. As in Aesop's adage, the ego ideal is at the source of the best and the worst of things.     

The transformative effects of illness

In "The Soft Core" Arturo Vivante examines the bonds between a middle-aged son and his aging father. Years of habit that had solidified into accustomed but uncomfortable ways of behaving and interacting with each other are altered when the father's stroke evokes a tumultuous range of emotions in the son, leading him, in the end, to feel compassion, not just for his father but also for himself. Vivante shows the reader that illness has the ability to transform an individual who is willing to reexamine and reevaluate the meaning he or she gives to life. This process, however, is not an easy one, as it is often undertaken as in the story, when the individual fears the death of self or of a loved one. The suffering, though, can transform. The self-awareness gained leads to a more gentler way of being, and compassion results. This compassion is borne of understanding, recognition, and appreciation that the frailties of human nature exist in each of us. Recognizing and applying this to all manner of relationships in our lives is the wisdom that compassion gives to our existence.     

Roald Amundsen--a study of personality

Roald Amundsen is the most famous of the Norwegian polar explorers. His ancestors came from a group of islands south-east of the Oslofjord. From being fishermen and sailors, they progressed to becoming captains and shipowners in the course of two generations. Amundsen's father, Jens, stayed at sea until his ship went down with all the crew. Roald was 14 years of age at the time, the youngest of four competing brothers. Jens had left the close-knit local family community before that, and bought a flat in the capital, Oslo, so that his sons could get a better education. Roald's mother wanted him to study medicine. He did as she wished for a time, but was not at all interested. When his mother died, he abruptly left the university and went to sea, which had been the tradition in his family for decades. As a young boy he was an admirer of Sir John Franklin and his explorers of the Northwest Passage. Fridtjof Nansen became his ideal. The biographies about Roald Amundsen are very diverging--some hold him a hero, others reflect a strongly critical attitude. Here, the author tries to define his personality and places him firmly within the narcissistic domain. His tendency to seek the company of married women, but to take immediate flight when they really became interested reflects an Oedipus complex from before puberty. The tragic death of his father, the sea captain, may have been a supposition; puberty can be seen as a period of coping with ambivalence towards an earlier idealized father. His genius combined ambitious goals with a sharp eye for details as regards the equipment used in his expeditions. In his travels in the Arctic and the Antartic he was driven forward by the energy of the nation. His heroic death, trying to save his earlier "enemy", Nobile, was probably caused by an urge for self-destruction.     

Reflecting on the knowledge used when caring for an intensive care patient and his/her family

Carper's four ways of knowing are used to structure a reflection on the knowledge used by an associate nurse in intensive care when caring for her patient, his wife and son. John, the patient, had previously undergone a sex change operation as well as cardiac surgery. His current period in intensive care was due to pancreatitis and involved numerous returns to theatre. He eventually died following multi-organ failure. The reflection focuses on the associate nurse's feelings when trying to act as an advocate for both John and his wife at the time of the patient's pending death.     

Common phobias

Mrs. Brown, a 65-year-old woman, was terrified of being alone at night and suffered from nyctophobia. Her husband had been dead for several years, and her 40-year-old son lived in another state with his family. She often called him in the middle of the night in a state of panic, and he felt helpless about her situation. She lived in a senior housing community that never had any problems with crime. Nonetheless, she lived in a continual stage of anxiety.     

Prostate cancer: 6. Surgical treatment of localized disease

A 65-year-old man undergoes a routine checkup before retiring. His wife has urged him to have his prostate examined, because she has read about testing for prostate cancer and a friend has just died of this disease. During the rectal examination, the man's physician discovers some firmness in the right lobe of the prostate gland. The patient has had no urinary symptoms and is in excellent general health. Sexual function is normal. There is no history of prostate cancer; his father died of a stroke at age 86 years. Testing shows that the patient's prostate-specific antigen level is 9.3 ng/mL, and he is referred to a urologist. Transrectal ultrasound-guided needle biopsy reveals adenocarcinoma with a Gleason score of 7 (intermediate grade). At a follow-up meeting with his physician, the patient says, "I have been doing some research, and it appears that I should have treatment. However, what is less clear to me is what form of therapy is best--surgery or radiation treatment. Please tell me what you can about the state of the art with respect to surgery."     

Surgical treatment of ventricular septal defect complicated by pulmonary hypertension at high altitude

Home care providers have a professional and legal obligation to help prevent their elderly patients from being abused and neglected by family members and other home care providers. The elderly are often in a vulnerable situation because they depend on family members or others to help with personal care, housekeeping chores, and money management. A recent article in a major newspaper illustrates the problem. It reported that Mr. X, who was 84 years old, had been without food or water while he lay curled in the trunk of his car for 2 days before he was found by the police. When found, he reported that he saw daylight only when his housekeeper lifted the car trunk lid to ask him if her forgery of his check looked authentic. After he was rescued, he acknowledged that he was confused about why his housekeeper, who had befriended him, had turned on him. He expressed concern for her and hoped she would get a break in her sentencing. "She didn't kill me," he said. This situation is not that unusual. Elder abuse and neglect is a major public health problem in the United States, with most cases hidden from public scrutiny. The National center on Elder Abuse reports that cases of domestic abuse against the elderly increased from 117,000 in 1986 to 241,000 in 1994, and that represented only a fraction of older Americans who were abused and neglected in their homes. The Center estimates that 818,000 elderly Americans were victims of various types of domestic abuse in 1994. They believe the rise in reported cases illustrates a growing pattern of violence and neglect among the nation's expanding elderly population.     

The Boy With Two Kingdoms: Ontogeny of a narrative.

Explores a 3-yr-old boy's attempt to come to terms with the event of his parents' divorce at the same time that he was trying to consolidate a sense of self that would enable him to negotiate the rocky path of oedipal development. The article traces his infantile construction (within his treatment) of an increasingly complex narrative ("The Boy With Two Kingdoms") to comprehend and cope with troubling internal and external demands. It is also intended to shed light on how such a narrative is modulated and maintained and how it eventually becomes embedded in the ongoing demands of character. Using case material, the author reveals the ways in which the realms of self, fantasy, and destiny intersect in the life of a young child. The shift from preoedipal to oedipal development is traced, and the inherent reparative possibilities in narrative process, as it is embedded in psychoanalytic treatment, are demonstrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Porter Foley, Jr. (1910–1994): Obituary.

Memorializes John Porter Foley, Jr., who was known for his early work on the conditioned responses in primates and abnormal behavior of humans, and later for his work in industrial psychology. Foley's interest in evaluation and training led him to a position as the Director of the Psychological Corporation's Industrial Division, and later to the establishment of his own consulting organization, J. P. Foley and Associates. Foley's work also included collaborations on testing research with his wife, Anne Anastasi, a former president of the American Psychological Association. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dalmas A. Taylor: 1933–1998.

Presents an obituary for Dalmas A. Taylor, who passed away in his sleep on January 26, 1998. Dalmas was a natural leader, a wise and accomplished politician and administrator, and a mentor and teacher. The prelude to his academic career came from his formal education at Case Western Reserve University (BA), Howard University (MA), and the University of Delaware (PhD). Dalmas was elected president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45 of APA) in 1991 and served two terms when the president-elect passed away before she could assume her position. His fellow deans also elected him to the presidency of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences in 1991. When he was elected president of Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues in 1996, it was a punctuation mark for a life of leadership, scholarship, and advocacy. His devilish, twinkling eyes, his indomitable spirit, his deep commitment to justice and fairness, and his intense desire for effective action will all be missed. In addition to his daughter Monique, he is survived by his wife, Faye; two other daughters, Carla Monardes and Courtney Taylor; his father, Robert Taylor, Sr.; three brothers; three sisters; and a grandson. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Recent Court Experience.

Because of the recent interest in the testimony of the psychologist as an expert witness, I would like to share a recent court experience with APA members. A patient murdered his estranged wife during the time he was being evaluated for treatment at the Hamm Memorial Psychiatric Clinic, a privately endowed community clinic. He was seen once in May, 1955, by the psychiatric social worker and the psychiatrist; but he did not return until November of the same year, at which time he again saw the psychiatrist, who referred him to me for psychological evaluation. Eight days after I saw him, he shot and killed his wife. The entire psychiatric team was subpoenaed by the defense attorney to testify in the Ramsey County District Court as to the patient's mental condition prior to and at the time of the murder. In addition, the defense attorney requested that the psychiatrist, as well as myself, evaluate him in the jail as to his mental condition subsequent to the murder. The first professional member called to the witness stand was the psychiatric social worker, who was questioned rather briefly as to her impressions of the defendant at the time he was first referred. I was called to testify immediately afterwards and was subjected to questioning and cross-examination for a five-hour period. One hour was spent in qualifying me as an expert in terms of education, experience, academic appointments, and the like. The remainder of the time was devoted to an analysis of the psychological tests, as well as my clinical opinions as to the psychological condition of the patient. No attempt was made by the prosecuting attorney to harass me personally, although he would occasionally intersperse such comments as, "You are not a qualified psychiatrist, are you?" or, "You do not have an MD degree, is that right?" At the same time, he did not raise objections when the defense attorney asked for my diagnostic impression or opinion as to whether or not the patient knew right from wrong at the time of the shooting. Following my testimony, the psychiatrist was called to the witness chair and gave essentially the same picture based on his evaluation of the patient. The jury deliberated six hours and the defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. An informal polling of the jurors after the trial by the attorney for the defense revealed that the jury at no time questioned my expertness and fully accepted me as a professional member of the community. The majority agreed that the patient was psychotic but apparently did not feel he was insane. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Watson Murray Rothney (1906–1987).

Presents an obituary for John Watson Murray Rothney, who died in Roswell, New Mexico, on July 1, 1987, after a lengthy illness. He was one of the early and continuing influential persons in guidance, counseling psychology, and counselor education and was particularly famed for his longitudinal research in school counseling. He attributed his early interest in longitudinal research to W. F. Dearborn with whom he worked on the Harvard Growth Studies involving 2,000 school children in the early 1930s. He also worked on the Dartmouth Study on Vision and Motivation in the late 1930s. John Rothney was deeply committed to education, to the University of Wisconsin, to his family, to his colleagues, and to his students. He was highly respected and left his mark and influence on all individuals and institutions that had the good fortune to experience involvement with him. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, two sons, Jim and Scott, and two grandchildren. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Freudian construction of sexuality: the gay foundations of heterosexuality and straight homophobia

In developing his theory of male sexual preference, Freud asserted that heterosexual as well as homosexual preferences required explanation, that neither could be assumed to be innate. His theory of the oedipal complex, however, held that the heterosexual outcome was the "normal" resolution, while the homosexual outcome represented arrested sexual development. In the normal resolution the boy identifies as a male with the father, gives up the mother as a love object, and later substitutes another woman of his choice for the mother. The author of the following article, following the theorizing of Laplanche, claims that there is an unavoidable homosexual component or residue in the heterosexual resolution which is implicit in Freudian theory. In the resolution of the complex the boy has the choice of both parents as love objects or as persons with whom to identify. In the heterosexual resolution the boy identifies with the father as a rival for the mother's affection. But love and identification are not entirely discrete processes. The identification with the father involves love for the father. The heterosexual resolution of the oedipal conflict is bought at the price of the homosexual resolution which, however, is not completely surrendered. The homophobia of heterosexual males, the author asserts, is the result of the remnants of homosexuality in the heterosexual resolution of the oedipal conflict.     

A new, automatic, non-radiometric system for culturing MB/BACT bacilli and its value in the microbiologic diagnosis of tuberculosis

A man had a quarrel with his wife. Suddenly he collapsed and became cyanotic. The woman supposed him to be dead. Because she was afraid of familiar requital, she opened the gas-cock of the cooking-range to pretend a suicide; methane emitted. The autopsy revealed a fresh cardiac infarction. Postmortem chemical analysis established methane in the blood. The question was, whether the methane had any importance for the death. By experimental inhalation of a methane-air-mixture (3%) we could expose, that the methane concentration in postmortem blood didn't have any relevance for the death.     

Review of Come here: A man overcomes the tragic aftermath of childhood sexual abuse.

Reviews the book, Come here: A man overcomes the tragic aftermath of childhood sexual abuse by Richard Berendzen, with Laura Palmer. Berendzen, former president of American University in Washington, D.C. was both the perpetrator and the victim of a psychosexual tragedy. This autobiography, however, focuses only on his own tragedy: his mother's sexual abuse of him. It completely ignores the tragic consequences of his own frightening, obscene phone calls which he admits making to 10-15 women who had placed ads in newspapers to provide child care. Although Berendzen states in his book that the fact that he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse does not excuse his crimes, he nonetheless repeatedly describes the terroristic phone calls as the result of a "compulsion" and "impulse." One of the women to whom Berendzen made repeated calls cooperated with the police to catch him, and his world fell apart. The rest of the book describes his resultant trials, humiliation, and grief as he faced his family, members of the American University community, the press and, briefly noted, the criminal justice system. Berendzen agonizes throughout much of this book with self-pitying, but moving, pathos over the consequences of his detection to his own life and career, as well as his family's and university's well-being. But nowhere does he agonize about the effect that terrorizing phone calls detailing child sexual abuse could have on women charged with watching children, women who may have vulnerable children themselves. This book may have been therapeutic for Berendzen, but it has left one of his victims, who says she "was doing pretty well until this came up," shaken again. Still, the book is significant and valuable, for therapists and the general public, for the lessons learned between the lines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kenneth E. Moyer (1919-2006).

Presents an obituary for Kenneth E. Moyer. Before becoming an internationally known expert in the field of aggressive behavior, Kenneth Evan (Keck) Moyer held jobs as an acrobat, a physical therapist, and a farmer. He served as a marine in World War II and was a consultant to the Norwegian government. The range of his life experiences amazed his friends, who wondered how he could have done all these things and still have acquired such a breadth of scholarly knowledge. Throughout his life, his scholarly pursuits had practical applications, and his practical endeavors had a scholarly basis. Keck died May 18, 2006, of an apparent heart attack. His son, Robert S. Moyer, a psychologist who recently retired from the faculty of Bates College, and his daughter, Cathy Noblick, a marriage and family counselor in New Jersey, survive him. Also surviving are five grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He was devoted to all of them and to children he supported through international programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Schreber: Father and son.

Reviews the book, Schreber: Father and son by Han Isra?ls (see record 1989-98605-000). In 1911, Sigmund Freud published a long paper about a German judge, Daniel Paul Schreber (1842-1911), who had been an inpatient in three psychiatric clinics from 1893 to 1902. Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts began to give intensive attention to the life and illness of Schreber, an interest that has continued to the present day. Now Han Isra?ls, has written a compelling and most unusual book about Schreber and his father, Moritz Schreber. From one point of view it is a historical tour de force, bound to evoke admiration from any professional historian for its research and scholarship. From another vantage point, it is an example of historical overkill. The dominant theme of Isra?ls's book is an exposé of the corrupt scholarship that has grown up around Moritz Schreber and hence Isra?ls's argument that after his death Moritz achieved fame and notoriety far out of proportion to his actual contributions. A second, minor theme is Isra?ls's agreement with the discovery made by the psychoanalyst Niederland that Moritz Schreber's writings provide information about the way he reared his children: "It has become apparent that the method of upbringing has left traces in the psychotic illness [of Paul Schreber]." When all is said and done, we are left with a book which, in spite of its compelling scholarship, yields almost no new information about Judge Schreber that would help us to understand him better. Furthermore, Isra?ls's book is likely to have little impact on the modern and incorrect views about Schreber's father. In the end, Isra?ls's book stands as a cautionary tale to lazy researchers and sloppy scholars. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)