ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud stands as a landmark to understand the nature of human beings and their behaviour. Freud's most fundamental and abiding contribution was the suggestion that an aspect of the personality which profoundly influences people behaviour is unconscious. Freud's analysis concentrated on the inner world of the individual and he seemed often to inspire wholehearted adherence in his followers. The study of inner world and its influence on human behaviour, human functioning and human 'being' which agrees most nearly to how people are and which is most useful to social work practice is known as 'object relations'. Of the many contributors to work and writings of this perspective, three people stand out: Melanie Klein, W.R.D. Fairbairn and D.W. Winnicott. The two major shifts of emphasis from Freud's original formulation, from id to ego and from 'internal' to 'interaction' motivation, inevitably raise questions about what Freud called the libido: the instinctual, essentially sexual, powerful life drive.
