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J I Downey

Publications and source records attributed to J I Downey.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Psychoanalysis and sexual fantasies.

Psychoanalysis began as a depth psychology, heavily based on the sexual experiences and memories of patients. A long-term treatment, utilizing a free association method, psychoanalysis has provided a window onto the meanings and functions of fantasy, including sexual fantasy. Although psychoanalysis has produced some scientific research, the field has tended to rely on observational data collected from individuals studied in depth. Sex research on the other hand, carried out by investigators from different disciplines is based on empirical investigation. Each field has made contributions fundamentally important to the other. In this article, we review psychoanalytic ideas about human sexuality and distinguish those that have been invalidated by systematic research from those that remain useful. Perhaps, the single most important revision of psychoanalytic theory during the past century was concerned with the psychological development of girls and women. We separately discuss the development of the sexes, and stress the need for bridge building between psychoanalysis and sex research.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Female homosexuality: classical psychoanalytic theory reconsidered.

The psychoanalytic theory of female homosexuality occupies an unusual position in modern psychoanalytic thought because it continues to be influenced by models of the mind that have largely been discarded in other areas of psychoanalytic psychology. Psychoanalytic ideas regarding female homosexuality are considered here from an historical perspective. It is suggested that modern psychoanalytic theory about sexual orientation in women must include recent contributions on the psychological development of women, the psychoanalytic psychology of male homosexuality, and relevant extraanalytic observations.

Female↗
PubMed1996

Multifetal pregnancy reduction: psychodynamic implications.

New reproductive technologies, such as advanced infertility treatments, may have significant implications for women's psychological experience of pregnancy and motherhood. This paper examines some of the psychodynamic implications of multifetal pregnancy reduction, a medical procedure in which some of the fetuses in a multiple pregnancy are aborted while other fetuses are carried to term. Forty-four women who had undergone pregnancy reductions were interviewed about their emotional experience of this medical intervention and their subsequent pregnancies. A qualitative analysis of their experience was conducted from five psychoanalytically-informed vantage points: drive theory, ego psychology, object relations theory, self psychology and a developmental perspective. Women experienced having to abort some of their fetuses as a stressful and distressing life event, and a fourth of the women experienced bereavement reactions which impaired their functioning for at least two weeks. Conscious and unconscious responses to the procedure included ambivalence, guilt, and a sense of narcissistic injury, increasing the complexity of their attachment to the remaining babies. However, the achievement of the developmental goal of parenting healthy birth children helped most women feel that they had made the right decision for themselves and their families. Further research is indicated, including interviews before the reduction and long-term follow-up of mothers and surviving children.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Biology and the oedipus complex.

Recent observations in the behavioral and neurosciences have raised questions about the ubiquity of the oedipus complex as well as about its significance for psychological development. The authors argue that the construct Freud called the oedipus complex in males is best examined in its component parts. One component--the incestuous wish--does not occur in all individuals. Another component--the boy's urge to engage competitively with other male figures, including the father--does appear to be biologically based in testosterone's effect on the brain and to be manifested in childhood rough and tumble play behavior. It is proposed that reexamination of the oedipus complex in light of recent findings about the brain and behavior is indicated and that play, in particular, can usefully be considered as a separate developmental line.

Aggression↗
PubMed1994

Homosexuality.

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Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗