ABSTRACT
Identification is defined as a transformation of the self, whereby the self becomes similar to the external object. The process of identification, in normal development, is fostered in part by the natural daily separations from the object. The significant number of children people see identify with the characteristics of a lost, disturbed parent. During the early years of life, as the child builds a coherent representation of the object, he at first splits off and separates the good and the bad aspects of the object. In early childhood the good “fairy godmother” stands in bold contrast to the bad “old witch”. A major task in development is, over time, to integrate the loving and frustrating aspects of the mother into a whole object, and build a realistic image of that object. The function of the “negative identification” was the maintenance of a special sense of self, and this was done in harmony with the idealized object.
