ABSTRACT
Work with sado-masochistic patients has occupied analysts over several decades, both because of the complex structure of their pathology and the technical difficulties they present in treatment. In a schema, behaviour and relationships of the anal-aggressive phase can be viewed as precursors of sadomasochistic functioning. The chapter examines that child analytic material will introduce a developmental viewpoint that will aid theoretical conceptualization and clinical understanding. Although Alan's violent and murderous attacks on animals and other children and the way h became excitedly engrossed in such attacks, suggested direct sadistic drive expression, treatment also revealed other contributory elements. ?. Abraham has suggested "two different pleasurable tendencies in the anal-sadistic phase: a more primitive one of expelling the object and destroying it, and a late: one of retaining and controlling it". Both these stages are seen by Abraham to involve "partial-love" rather than "object-love" and to be characterised by feelings of ambivalence.
