In[Klein]ed to Fall

Melanie Klein is fascinating to me because of her emphasis on children.  As we saw on the study guide, Klein believed that “a child’s free, undirected play reveals unconscious conflicts” (516).  She believed that as early as age two, children could be analyzed.  Although many of Klein’s views did not prevail, she did contribute to the development of child analysis and play therapy.  As I think about which category to place her under – Creation, Fall, Redemption, New Creation – I can see where she may have contributed to each of these.  I think she touches on creation when she emphasizes the mother-child relationship and the mother’s breast.  I think she touches on the fall because she is talking about 2 year old conflicted children here!  I would also argue that she touches on redemption and new creation because analyzing a very young child is hopefully for the purposes of helping them overcome whatever “unconscious conflicts” they are experiencing.  However, I am going to say that Melanie Klein mostly informs us of the fall.

Klein informs us of the fall for a number of reasons in my mind.  First of all, she placed more emphasis on interpersonal relationships than she did on biological drives.  I think she takes a good step here, widening her perspective beyond solely the biological.  But, I think it’s peculiar that she places the earliest and most interpersonal relationship with the mother and breast-feeding child.  I definitely agree with her, that  a mother and child’s relationship is critical.  We know that through history, as undernourished and under nurtured babies experience failure to thrive and death.  Where Klein is different though is that she believes that an infant views the mother’s breast as either good and satisfying or as frustrating and bad.  If the baby associates the breast as good, then he/she experiences feelings of love and of creativity.  Contrastingly, the baby that views the mother’s breast as frustrating experiences feelings of hate and destruction.  Klein continues on to say that “the emotions caused by the interaction of the infant’s experiences with the mother’s breast and with life and death instincts provide the prototype used to evaluate all subsequent experiences.”

Why does this inform us of the fall?  Well, Klein’s emphasis on the infant’s view of the mother’s breast is a fault in itself.  What determines whether the baby’s experience is a positive or negative?  The baby?  Also, Klein is suggesting that based on that interpretation, at the oral stage of life, the infant will then grow up using those life or death instincts for every following experience.  I believe that thinking also speaks to the fall.  That is a very pessimistic way to view a person’s life experiences I think.  Additionally, I know that young children really can have psychological problems.  Again, I think that speaks to the fall.  A two year old that needs to be analyzed for unconscious conflicts speaks on behalf of the human weaknesses, human dependencies, and human faults.  I do believe Klein’s views are helpful and got the ball rolling on some child analysis and therapy, however she mostly informs us of the fall of children and human development.