ABSTRACT
With the integration of object relations theory and a theory of the self into the mainstream of classical psychoanalytic theory, new models of personality development and of psychopathology are beginning to appear. Whereas earlier models emphasized drives, defenses and the interplay between them, these newer models focus on psychic structures and the processes of structuralization and internalization. These latter views begin with the notion that development involves the growth and differentiation of psychological functions that crystalize into more stable and enduring structures. Although psychic conflict can occur among these various structures and lead to symptoms and psychopathology as conceptualized in earlier views, the structures themselves can be pathological as a consequence of faulty or arrested development.
