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VI. Ac. Edith Jacobson Expanding and further developing Hartmann’s (1950) concepts of self and object representations , Jacobson (1954, 1964) shifted away from energic to structural representational formulations . In her model, the microstructures of self and object representations , invested with affects, intimately relate to the macrostructures of id, ego and superego. Within this context she postulated that the development of self and object representations proceeds from a fused/merged undifferentiated representational matrix. In her work with psychotic and severely borderline patients, she observed that the processes of regression led to severe deterioration of object relations, ego functions and superego structure and function. In addition to the loss of self and object boundaries in psychosis, she described regressive refusion of self and object representations . Freud (1940) described libido as a force that brings together while aggression breaks connections. Jacobson applied these ideas to separation-individuation with libido acting to integrate opposing images of good and bad objects and good and bad self while aggression promoted separateness and differentiated images of self and other, pointing to an integration between classical drive theory and object relations theory. In Jacobson’s view (1954) the infant’s experience of pleasure or unpleasure is the core of her relationship with her mother (drive/structure model). From the start, experience is registered in terms of how it feels to the baby. She postulated that the feeling tone of one’s earliest experiences contributed to the consolidation of libido and aggression and lay the groundwork for self and object images determining how we ultimately feel about ourselves and others. Frustrating or upsetting experiences produce images of a frustrating, withholding mother and an angry frustrated self while more positive experiences lead to an image of a loving, giving mother and a happy contented self. Addressing the interplay between actual experiences and drives, Jacobson noted that in the infant, before the formation of self-other boundaries, when the earliest images are fused rather than distinct self-contained units, at the level of mental representation the child’s perception of the other directly shaped the experience of the self. In this state of primitive fusion objects become internalized parts of self images and ultimately one’s most profound sense of self is an outgrowth of these earliest images. Jacobson noted that the integration of good and bad images i.e. both the “good’ and “frustrating” mother facilitated the ability to integrate conflictual feeling states. Ultimately, affectively integrated images of self and other allowed for an increased capacity for more complex emotional experience. Early preoedipal experiences of maternal constraint and prohibitions produce early images around which the superego is then formed. In “Self and Object World”, a metapsychological mapping of the inner psychic structure, Jacobson (1964) sought to further reconcile Freud’s emphasis on the internal drive- bound processes with the importance of real experience by proposing a developmental model explicating their mutual ongoing interaction and influence. She described the development of the ego and superego in tandem with self and object representations, placing a major emphasis on the role of affect. She believed that an infant
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