Freud's Concept of the Family

In: Telos, Band 30, S. 93-115

Abstract

Examined critically is S. Freud's concept of the family. Research is based on a careful reading of Freud's major texts: his case studies, metapsychological writings & essays on society & history. Freud provides important first steps in conceptualizing the family as an emotional structure, but, in the last analysis, his intrapsychism & individualism prevent him from elaborating a concept of the family which comprehends it as a structure. Instead Freud views the child naturalistically & underplays the importance of the interactions between the child & its parents in the formation of the psyche. Those determinants which are particular to the Victorian family are not distinguished by Freud from other family patterns. Freud's concept of the family is ahistorical & requires extensive rethinking before it can provide an adequate basis for the historical study of the family. AA