This article explores the psychological impact of parental abuse on a 3–4-year-old girl residing in an institution. Based on observations in various settings, the study examines how the child’s traumatic experiences have shaped her internal world, resulting in the development of defence mechanisms such as dissociation and splitting, which serve as coping strategies to manage the overwhelming anxiety, fear and helplessness associated with her traumatic past. The findings underscore the necessity for specialised therapeutic approaches to support attachment recovery, enhance self-esteem and foster emotional regulation in vulnerable young children.
AinsworthM. S. (1979). Infant–mother attachment. American Psychologist, 34(10), 932.
2.
AinsworthM. D. S., BleharM. C., WatersE., & WallS. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Erlbaum.
3.
BowlbyJ. (1979). On knowing what you are not supposed to know and feeling what you are not supposed to feel. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 24(5), 403–408.
4.
CyrC., EuserE. M., Bakermans-KranenburgM. J., & Van IjzendoornM. H. (2010). Attachment security and disorganization in maltreating and high-risk families: A series of meta-analyses. Development and Psychopathology, 22(1), 87–108.
5.
DimitrijevićA. (2020). Silence and silencing of the traumatized. In Silence and silencing in psychoanalysis (pp. 198–216). Routledge.
6.
FrankelJ. (2002). Exploring Ferenczi’s concept of identification with the aggressor: Its role in trauma, everyday life, and the therapeutic relationship. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 12(1), 101–139.
7.
FreudS., & ChaseH. W. (1925). The origin and development of psychoanalysis. In Sigmund Freud’s lectures at Clark University, 1910. Clark University. [These five lectures were delivered by Freud at Clark University. The lectures were translated from the German by Harry W. Chase and revised by Freud. Modern Library.]
8.
GranqvistP., SroufeL. A., DozierM., HesseE., SteeleM., van IjzendoornM., SolomonJ., SchuengelC., FearonP., Bakermans-KranenburgM., SteeleH., CassidyJ., CarlsonE., MadiganS., JacobvitzD., FosterS., BehrensK., Rifkin-GraboiA., GribneauN., … DuschinskyR. (2017). Disorganized attachment in infancy: A review of the phenomenon and its implications for clinicians and policy-makers. Attachment & Human Development, 19(6), 534–558.
9.
HesseE., & MainM. (2000). Disorganized infant, child, and adult attachment: Collapse in behavioral and attentional strategies. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 48(4), 1097–1127.
10.
KleinM. (1952). The origins of transference. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 33(4), 433–438.
11.
Lyons-RuthK., & JacobvitzD. (1999). Attachment disorganization: Unresolved loss, relational violence, and lapses in behavioral and attentional strategies. In: CassidyJ. & ShaverP. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 520–554). The Guilford Press.
12.
MainM., & SolomonJ. (1986). Discovery of a new, insecure-disorganized/disoriented attachment pattern. In YogmanM. & BrazeltonT. B. (Eds.), Affective development in infancy (pp. 95–124). Ablex.
13.
MainM., & SolomonJ. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganised/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In GreenbergM. T., CicchettiD., & CummingsE. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years (pp. 121–160). University of Chicago Press.
14.
MusicG. (2016). Nurturing natures: Attachment and children’s emotional, sociocultural and brain development. Routledge.
15.
RosenfeldH. (1983). Primitive object relations and mechanisms. The International Journal of Psycho-analysis, 64, 261.
16.
Van IjzendoornM. H., SchuengelC., & Bakermans–KranenburgM. J. (1999). Disorganized attachment in early childhood: Meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae. Development and Psychopathology, 11(2), 225–250.
