ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the parent-infant relationship it is necessary to attempt a brief statement of the theory of infant emotional development. The infant and the maternal care together form a unit. Certainly if one is to study the theory of the parent-infant relationship one must come to a decision about these matters, which concern the real meaning of the word dependence. One half of the theory of the parent-infant relationship concerns the infant, and is the theory of the infant’s journey from absolute dependence, through relative dependence, and, the infant’s journey from the pleasure principle to the reality principle, and from autoerotism to object relationships. The other half of the theory of the parent-infant relationship concerns maternal care, that is to say the qualities and changes in the mother that meet the specific and developing needs of the infant towards whom she orientates. A further development is in the capacity for object relationships.
