ABSTRACT
The single attribute of phallic shape united otherwise dissimilar objects under the common symbolic word flush. Greenacre stressed the interference with the developing sense of the infant’s own body, the effect upon the emerging ego, and the possible consequences for later sexual development. This chapter discusses infant seminal observations in relation to the influence of such developmental events upon the establishment of mood and defensive organisation. Developmental details of Ruth S. Eissler first year of life were difficult to elicit from her mother, who had been anxiously preoccupied with the future fate of a congenital defect in Ruth. Yet inspite of a fairly smooth development in the motoric, perceptual, and other areas, her developing object relations were of a peculiar nature. The corrective device worn against the perineal area during the first year had surely aroused genital sensations, resulting in greater than average instability of genital schematisation.
