Sunday, August 23, 2009

Szondi Ego Stage IV, [k- p-] 'Little men little women" appear.





Stage IV. [ k- p-]


With the appearance of subjects who dislike both components of the Szondi 'Sch' Ego, at the same moment in time. This generally occurring when such subjects enter school, and begins getting used to a regularized but partial separation from their parents and other caretakers, This occurring along with submission to others who demand they begin a submission to the learning environment. They are expected to be toilet trained, have the rudiments of speech, and be able to relate with the other children and to attend to the teacher without paroxysmal events derailing the process. Which in today's schools is a carefully organized process.


As students of the Szondi Test, our actual test findings come first, the clinical empirics, if known, second and only then can we see for ourselves enough to attempt to reconcile our findings with our theories.

Why, we ask, does a 6 year old, who cannot possibly understand what the genic types of our reagent photos represent, who just a year before liked and same time disliked the [k] gene type photos, now start to only dislike them and show [k- p-], And only a few will start to like paranoid gene line, [p] photos until they are past age 7? In addition, some appear to never at any age, to like the [p] photos.



Stage IV, Disciplined Ego (Sometimes called 'Drill' Ego to reflect the externally imposed aspect.) Suggested also is "Little men and little women Ego (most of whom behave well.)"

[k- p- is the ego picture of the child whose ego has been "successfully" broken down by the overwhelming strength of the imposition. The setting's first appearance as the most frequent Sch setting, occurs at approximately the age of schooling, and remains the leading configuration, among the sixteen possible variations that exist within the Szondi Test for the Sch Vector, through all the age groups.



This means that the most frequently used ego-dynamism throughout life, in an unselected general population, corresponds to that of the "broken-in" six year old child, who, on the basis of experience, has discovered that the adult reward and punishment impositions are stronger than he, and that non-conformity does not work well. (One theory of psychoneurosis is some non-conforming desires forcibly suppressed, early in life are not really given up, but repressed, lie unconscious and cause symptoms later in life.)

Since we cannot actually test infants, but we can reconstruct it theoretically from the manner in which changes in the Sch vector reflect the observable process through which the child deals with life and comes to accept reality.


The observations as presented by Susan Deri are:


I First the adualistic stage, [k0 p-] which corresponded to the complete lack of differentiation between baby person and environment; i.e., the two were experienced as a continuous unit.


II. Then came the dualistic stage [k+ p-], Here the [k] component we assume indicates the emergence of the Ego, the first feelings of being an entity separated from the environment. At this stage, however, the child still feels lt self as omnipotent because, instead of total dependence on a formless environment, objects become recognized as such, Freud believes the infant at his state can hallucinate for short term satisfaction characteristics of any of these need-objects himself or it can cry and rage to force change,


III. There follows, the stage of the breaking down of the omnipotent infant [k+] narcissism strivings. The change represented by a [k-] appearing, making the [k] have minus component. as in a sense, then ambivalent, [k±].


The [k±] arrival was the first indication of recognition of the limitations of one's own ego. A first recognition limited view of that real force that impact him comes from the objects and persons of the environment. The result was a restless paroxysmal behavior, assumed to correspond to the child's unconscious wish to escape the limitations (by now recognized) using its own power. This is the intermediate stage of half-narcissism and half-acceptance of reality. [Deri]



IV. There then appears the [k- p-] configuration, in which now the lack of [k+] strivings shows that [k+] strivings for omnipotence and automatic introjective have been given up nearly completely. and [k-] strivings (negation and repression) have become active. This could be called the stage of the disciplined ego. Again, it is an open question whether the willingness to submit oneself to discipline is brought about by education (its imposition forces) or the more "natural" growth process or whether it is the result of both factors.



The age at which [k- p-] first appears as the most frequent Sch setting coincides with the age at which children's behavior becomes a child level version of realistic. (Little men, little women, not yet really so.) Alternatively, in a satire it might be that “the little wild horses are broken.”


When this occurs it is observable the fantasy play and "make-believe" are given up almost completely, replaced by provided ready made 'story' material, books, movies, video games etc. There is also a noticeable reduction in the amount of physical activity for the sheer pleasure of physical motion.



Children's games at this stage become more organized and goal-directed, and achievement recognition over the burning of energy becomes the more pronounced aim. Children between six and nine are also at an age at which they become increasingly interested in factual knowledge and in learning to manipulate real objects. One could say that this age group is actual object orientated and not ego-oriented.



Children and adults who yield the Sch [k- p-] act according to their most unsatisfied need and strivings yet are unaware of these underlying sources of motivation. Later by our experimental test findings we will attempt to prove this assertion against what we can attribute to strivings belonging to the other settings not belonging to the Szondi Sch Vector but to the other three heredity spheres, each also built as gene bound reciprocal psychiatric named types.


Ego setting, [k- p-] is empirically associated with the lack of psychological insight although many with it seem to function well and show good practical intelligence. It is the Ego setting most frequently in all age groups from six years on.

It should be noted here that the appearance of the high frequency of this ego-picture coincides with the developmental phase at which we assume the child has gone beyond the actuality of the first Oedipal period and enters latency.


Since we have discovered that this is the most common Sch reaction in the unselected adult population, we also must assume:



1) The latency period is a point of fixation strongly favored for a great number of adults.

2) Accord a great number of adults must have psychologic characteristics similar to those of children from six to nine years old.

3) [k- p-] in the clinically symptomless population-is given primarily by those subjects who are extremely realistic, "down to earth" individuals. These are the people for whom "a spade is a spade"; that is, the people by whom the world is perceived and accepted at face value. They are overwhelmed by concrete objects and by reality to such an extent that there is no psychic energy left for introspection. Ego processes as such are not cathected; the person is occupied with solving what to him seem to be "real" problems, and he often considers preoccupation with one's own needs and psychologic welfare to be a ridiculous waste of time. [Deri]


Among the various occupational groups, this Sch con-figuration is found most frequently among the non-intellectual occupations. It is most frequent (approximately 50 per cent) in the group comprising physical laborers, less frequent in business occupations, and is quite rare in professions involving intellectual sublimation. Of all professional groups, it occurs with probably least frequency in psychologists and psychiatrists. The low frequency of the configuration in this group is to be expected since it is comprised of professions which specialize in exactly those problems which most subjects with [k- p-] consider no problems at all.[Deri]

It is worth while to mention an apparent contradiction in the findings that on one hand [k- p-] is the prototype of the disciplined and conforming ego, while its pathologic significance relates to the most antisocial forms of pathology, in psychoses as well as among the various forms of criminality. Most the data on criminology that is here accessible are outdated and in German, but still worth discussing as teaching examples.




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