CHAP'fER-ll

KAREN HORNEY: NEW WAYS IN PSYCHOANALYSIS

 47

CHAPTER-II
KAREN HORNEY: NEW WAYS IN PSYCHOANALYSIS

Psychoanalysis is a branch of psychology which took its beginnings in

medicine. It was earlier a part of the medical discipline that endeavoured to find some

thorough scientific treatment for mental disorder. Munroe wrote in the preface to the

Schools of Psychoanalytic Thought (1955), that psychoanalysis is an "offshoot

of psychiatry - the branch of medicine concerned with mental illness" (v).

Psychoanalysis is also known by the name of "depth psychology," because it deals

with unconscious motives and conflicts. It sometimes uses the name "emotion

psychology" because it revolts against the intellectualistic emphasis of nineteenth

century psychology.

As a movement within psychiatry, psychoanalysis aims at providing therapy for

emotionally disturbed. The subject matter of psychoanalysis is abnormal behaviour,

and it depends upon clinical observation rather than laboratory experimentation. It

examines the emotional and irrational aspects of human life. All through the

nineteenth century, there were two main schools of thought in psychiatry - the

somatic and the psychic. The somatic school looked for some organic disturbances of

the brain behind abnormalities of behaviour, whereas the psychic school sought the

causes of illness in the mental or psychological sphere. The twentieth century

psychologists with psychoanalytic learnings, prefer "psychic" tendency rather than the

dominant "somatic" tendency of the nineteenth century. Psychoanalysis has had a deep

and pervasive influence in many fields including literature, philosophy, religion,

ethics, and art.

 48

Psychoanalysis was conceived and guided for thirty-five years by Sigmund

Freud (1856-1939). It was outcome of the intellectual environment in which he lived,

and of the social surroundings in which he grew up. As a social scientist, he was

attracted to civilization, human culture, and human relationships. But Newtonian

physics, Einsteinian revolution, and Darwin's theory of evolution opened up a

scientific approach to the understanding of human behaviour. Freud tried to understand

the behaviour of his patients by using the concepts of force and energy dynamics. He

introduced methods of scientific investigation into the area of irrationality. In his

New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (1965), Freud mentioned that,

"Psychoanalysis is a branch of science and can subscribe to the scientific

'Weltanschauung' " (181). The word 'Weltanschauung' comes from German for

'investigation'.

The word "Psychoanalysis" refers to the theories of Freud, the

psychotherapeutic methods and investigation based upon them. The issues of love and

hate, of sexuality and destructiveness, and of life and death are focussed in his

theories. The theories of Freud grew and developed during his medical practice. He

commented upon the areas of mental health and illness, of an individual's development

and decline, of religion and sin, and of creative arts and destructive desires. The

unconscious psychological phenomena, and psychopathology of French tradition were

two major formative influences in Freud's thought which remained fundamental to him

to the end.

In psychoanalysis, mental activities are discovered through the analysis of

verbal speech. Freud was particularly impressed by Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893),
 49

the leading neurologist of France, who used hypnosis in the treatment of hysteria. From

Charcot, he learned about a sexual basis for psychological problems. Freud was also

influenced by Joseph Breuer (1842-1925), an eminent physiologist of Vienna, from

whom he learned about the "talking cure" and the use of hypnosis for hysterical

neuroses. Breuer treated his young patient Anna 0 ., who had developed hysteria while

caring for her dying father. He found that under hypnosis, she could remember

emotional experiences that seemed to have given rise to specific symptoms. During

this so-called cathartic method, he observed that her symptoms disappeared after

giving conscious expression to disturbing emotions and memories. Anna called it her

"talking cure" or "chimney sweeping."

Breuer described Anna's case to Freud in 1882, who was keenly interested in

hypnotism, and tried it out successfully on other patients. From these experiences,

Freud learned that "both the release of repressed emotion, which was called

abreaction, and the making of conscious of what was unconscious had therapeutic

effects" (Fine 20). During the treatment, the patients often developed emotional

attachments to their therapists. Freud referred to these emotional attachments as

"transference," which was later seen as a necessary part of the therapeutic proccess in

psychoanalysis.

Freud described Anna's case in a book he wrote with Breuer entitled Studies in

Hysteria ( 1895), which is often considered the starting point of psychoanalysis. Later

on, he found that many patients could not be hypnotized, and those who were

hypnotized, experienced some alteration in their initial symptoms and returned with a

different set of symptoms. Freud abandoned hypnotism in 1896, and replaced it with
 50

psychoanalytic method. This replacement of hypnotism by the psychoanalytic method

was made possible by his another discovery "free association." He wrote to the Berlin

physician Wilhelm Fliess, of his preoccupation with setting up a new system of

psychology, in his letter of April 2, 1896 :

When I was young, the only thing I longed for was philosophical

knowledge, and now that I am going over from medicine to psychology

I am in the process of attaining it. I have become a therapist against my

will ; I am convinced that granted certain conditions in the person and

the case, I can definitely cure hysteria and obsessional neurosis.

(The Origins 162)

The technique of free association was developed by Freud because he was

disillusioned with the other therapeutic methods. In free association, the patient is

encouraged to say freely and spontaneously whatever comes to mind, no matter how

trivial, embarrassing, or foolish it may appear. Schultz mentions in A History of

Modem Psychology (1969), that the "basic aim of Freud's developing method of

psychoanalysis was to bring into conscious awareness memories or thoughts that had

been repressed and that were presumably the source of the patient's abnormal

behavior" (273).

In fact, repression is the cornerstone of Freud's theories. He points out that

"the theory of repression is the cornerstone on which the whole structure of

psychoanalysis rests. It is the most essential part of it" (On The History 16). By the

technique of free association, he found that many of these repressed memories were

of a sexual nature. Most of his patients in the course of free association reported the
 51

traumatic sexual experiences in their childhood. Freud regarded these sexual

memories and experiences of his patients as indicative of the pathology of their

illness. However, in his letter, of October 10, 1898, to Wilhelm Fliess, he admitted

that, "How can I ever hope to gain an insight into the whole of mental activity, which

was once something I proudly looked forward to?" (The Origins 269).

Freud's "self-analysis" is one of the greatest discoveries of all times. It is on

par with Einstein's principle of relativity and Darwin's theory of evolution. He

undertook the task of self-analysis by studying his own dreams because it was difficult

for him to analyze himself by the technique of free association. He discovered that

dreams are an expression of unconscious desires. He was convinced that the

unconscious desires of dreams often stem from childhood. All dreams express a

disguised satisfaction of repressed wishes or desires. According to Freud, as

Woodworth notes, "In dreaming ... one is attempting to find, some gratification for

unfulfilled wishes" (162). During analysis, he found that dreams often hold certain

clues to the underlying causes of disorder. His self-analysis culminated in the

publication of a book in 1900 as 'Die Traumdeutung' (The Intemretation of Dreams),

which was considered his greatest work. The effect of his self-exploration on the

further development of his theories was enormous. He reached his most important

discoveries only through self-analysis. It was his self-analysis that changed his

direction from neurology to psychology, and created a complete new science,

psychoanalysis. In Psychology (1962). Miller mentions the views of Freud :

"Psychoanalysis is my creation .... Forten years I was the only one occupied with it ....

·~ ! '2._2..3(;.9
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 52

On the basis of his study of dreams, Freud produced his theory of the

unconscious. For him, the unconscious is one of the major ingradients of

psychoanalytic psychology. Most of the human activities are guided by the

unconscious. In an article "The Future of Psychoanalysis" (1990), Orgel points out

that "the core idea of psychoanalysis begins with the assumption that in every human

being there is an unconscious mind" (1). Freud discovered that unconscious wishes

and impulses directly or indirectly influence the behaviour of human beings. He

devised many techniques to find out the unconscious. Commenting on these

techniques, Freud, as quoted by Jones, wrote, "I received the profoundest impression

of the possibility that there could be powerful mental processes which nevertheless

remained hidden from the consciousness of man" (238). It appeared to him that the

unconscious consisted of those experiences which were repressed because of the ethical

and moral pressures of society.

Along with these, the unconscious included instinctive desires, which were so

often of sexual nature and were not allowed to manifest themselves in the conscious

awareness. He discovered that rational activities of a person may serve unconscious

motives: "the ego is not master in its own house" (SE 17: 143). According to him, the

purpose of psychoanalysis is to bring back to the ego "its mastery over lost

provinces of ... mental life" (23: 173). The unconscious tendencies direct the entire

mental life of a person. Frued gave the description of "Freudian slips" in his book

The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1904). He suggested that casual slips of the

tongue, forgetting, failures to carry out actions, and all other minor slips are

unconsciously determined. All wishes or desires which are not satisfied, remain in the
 53

unconscious, and when they are discharged in dreams, in errors, in neurotic symptoms,

or in abnonnal behaviour, the unconscious becomes known. According to Freud,

whatever is prohibited must be desired. He argued that incest and parricide must be

strong unconscious desires. In his view, all these can be understood by the systematic

analysis of the unconscious and many psychological problems can be removed through

this understanding.

Freud laid great emphasis on sexual drive as an influence upon experience and

behaviour. According to him, the sexual instinct is mainspring of action. In his book,

Three Essays on Sexuality ( 1905), he expressed that sexual instinct becomes evident

in infancy, so the frustrations of human life have their roots in the early stage of

development. His theory of infantile sexuality, as he wrote, was a "theoretical extract

from very numerous experiences." In Freud's view, as Woodworth notes that the

"individual's sex life began in infancy and not at puberty" (177). He divided the sexual

life of man into three periods such as infantile sexuality, the latency period, and

puberty. The period of infantile sexuality, from birth to the age of five, is further

divided into three pregenital stages of psychosexual development- the oral, the anal,

and the phallic.

In the opinion of Frued, the sex drive of the infant is auto-erotic ; it is not tied to

any other person as a love object. The aim of the infantile sex drive is to get

satisfaction by self-stimulation or to discharge tension by thumb-sucking, biting, and

the like. Freud believed that the child is polymorphous perverse who derives pleasure

from any bodily activity. His theory of the libido explains the manifestations of

infantile sexuality.
 54

The concept of libido was utilized by Freud to ext.ibit the basic Ti!otivating

instinct with which every child is born. Libido comes from the Latin word "libado"

for lust. The energy of the sexual instinct is called libido. It is tiJ.e basic psychic

energy which aims at the gratification of pregenital instincts. Libido is the

pleasure-seeking drives of the child. The object choice comes from the

transformations of libido. Freud regarded libido as a kind of energy that can be

attached to love objects, and can be withdrawn from them when the action becomes

complete. As Munroe notes, " ... Freud's view of the libido as a kind of energic quantum

which may be thought of as initially moving rather free 1.y from one object to another

and also as becoming 'bound' or 'fixated' with greater or less permanence on specific:

objects" (7 5).

When the free expression of the infant's libidinal impulses is prevented,

various handicaps develop in the personality. These handicaps are - self-love or

narcissism, father or mother fixations, sadism, homosexuality, and other kinds of

abnormalities. According to Freud, the libidinal frustration is the direct cause of

neurosis. He writes :

the sexuality of neurotics has remained in, or been brought back to, an

infantile state. Thus our interest turns to the sexual life of children, and

we will now proceed to trace the play of influences which govern the

evolution of infantile sexuality till its outcome in perversion, neurosis,

or normal sexual life. (SE 7 :172)

At the age of four or five, the child's libido begins to attach itself to the other

person or persons. The child develops a desire for love of the parent of the opposite
 55

sex, and at the same time, he becomes fearful of the parent of the same sex. The boy,

who becomes sexually attached to his mother, perceives her father as a rival for her

love. Similarly, the girl shifts her affection to her father and becomes hostile to her

mother. This attachment for the parent of the opposite sex and the hostility towards the

parent of the same sex is called the Oedipus complex. The terminology comes from

Sophocles' (496-406 BC) Greek tragedy, in which the lame hero, Oedipus, unwittingly

killed his father, Laius, the king of Thebes, and married his mother Jocasta.

In Freud's view, as Reuben Fine writes, "Infantile sexuality culminates in the

Oedipus complex" (66). The boy represses his incestuous love because of the threat

of castration by the father. The little girl transfers her love to her father as she

obscurely feels that her mother is responsible for her castrated condition. According

to Freud, the penis envy plays an important role in the psychology of women. In his

New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (1933), Freud writes about a girl who

"is wounded in her self-love by the unfavourable comparison with the boy who is so

much better equipped, and therefore ... repudiates her love towards her mother, and at

the same time often represses a good deal of her sexual impulses in general" (172).

Freud assumed that Oedipus complex is the source of all personality structure.

Much of the forces of the Oedipus complex are either lost or reduced to a minimum in

the years of the latency period. He believed that its solution comes earlier for the boy

than for the girl. However, for the girl in his view, the Oedipus situation may never be

thoroughly resolved. Freud later revised his theory of the unconscious and through his

paper The Ego and the Id, which was published in 1923, he introduced the tripartite

structure of human personality. He described the mental apparatus as consisting of

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three major provinces - the id, the ego, and the superego.

Freud's idea of infantile sexuality and biological orientation of the Oedipus

pattern aroused strong opposition from many directions. His over-emphasis on sex in

his theories was criticized by the culturalist or environmentalist school which began to

appear in the 1930s. The culturalist school, or the neo- Freudian school of

psychoanalysis accepts the findings of early Freud but differs from him on other

matters. Freud ignores the possibility of social and cultural influences on personality

As Munroe writes, "he [Freud] profoundly distrusted environmentalist theories that

attempt to explain 'everything' by social ... causes" (117). The neo-Freudians believe

that human behaviour is not the result of biological forces, but of social conditioning.

The neo-Freudian analysts suggest that psychoanalysis should focus on the

"influences reaching the child from the family, the school, the culture ... since the

family, the school, and the culture differ in different countries and change in the course

of time, we have to expect corresponding differences and changes in child

development ... and in the frustrations and maladjustments of the emotional life"

(Woodworth 204). These socially-oriented psychoanalysts are Karen Homey, H.S.

Sullivan, Erich Fromm, Abram Kardiner, Sandor Rado, and Henry Murray.

Karen Horney (1885-1952) is one of the most distinguished psychoanalytic

theorists after Freud. She is known for her influential and innovative theories of

psychoanalysis. As a mental therapist, she worked in the Freudian tradition. But after

fifteen years of work by Freud's method in Berlin, in Chicago, and in New York, she

deviated from Freudian theory and methodology by emphasizing environmental

and cultural, rather than biological. factors in the genesis of psychological problems.
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Homey challenges Freud's whole system of therapy and theory. She rejects Freud's

biological determinism, his theory of instincts and libido, his assumption of sexuality

as the omnipotent factor in personality development, his theory of Oedipus complex,

and his theories concerning female sexuality. "All these theories," Homey states, "are

open to criticism and must be regarded rather as an historical burden which

psychoanalysis carries than as its pivotal center" (NW 17).

Homey brought to psychoanalysis a new understanding of the importance of

culture and environment. She pioneered such concepts as real self, self-realization,

and the idealized image. Wolman remarks that she refuses to accept "the very essential

principles of Freud and introduce[s] new and challenging hypotheses" (346). Homey

emphasizes cultural conditions and interpersonal relations that mould the personality.

She puts forward society as the first cause in psychology. According to her, culture is

the determining element of personality. Human nature is the product of culture, and

interpersonal relations are the key that opens the door to the study of human nature.

Karen Clementina Theodora Danielsen was born in a small village Eilbek, near

Hamburg, Germany on September 16, 1885. She was the second child of Wackles

Danielsen, a devout Bible reader and the captain of a ship, and Sormi Danielsen, who

was a free-thinker. Karen spent much time with her intelligent and dynamic mother

because her father was often at sea for long period. As an outstanding student, she

declared her interest in medicine in her early days, and attended the Hamburg

Real gymnasium in 1901. It was quite unusual for a woman to study medicine at the end

of the nineteenth century, but with the encouragement of her mother, she went to

Berlin for medical, psychiatric, and psychoanalytic training and became "one of the
 58

first women in Germany to study medicine" (Viney, and King 393).

She met Oscar Homey at the University ofFreiburg, and they married in 1909.

In 1915, Karen Homey received her degree, M.D. from the University of Berlin, and

started practising as a psychoanalyst. Homey was an expert clinician, and she mainly

treated the neuroses of the upper middle class. She was a founding member of the

Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute. She rose to prominence in the psychoanalytic

community in the period surrounding the World War I. Homey was an orthodox

Freudian teacher at this Institute from 1920 to 1932. It was Karl Abraham

(1877 -1925), who recognized her intelligence and wrote to Freud about her potential.

Dr. Franz Alexander invited her to be Associate Director of the Chicago

Psychoanalytic Institute, and she left Germany in 1932.

After two years in Chicago, Homey moved to New York and joined the faculty

of the orthodox Freudian New York Psychoanalytic Institute. In the United States, she

interacted with analysts such as Erich Fromm, Max Wertheimer, Harry S. Sullivan, and

Margaret Mead. This led to develop her original thinking. Rubin and Steinfeld write :

Seeing patients from different cultural backgrounds helped broaden her

[Homey's] thinking, so that she began to develop ... 'culturalist'

perspective. This new thinking culminated ... to viewing the effects of

culture on individual psychodynamics and psychopathology ... a shift away

from instinct theory towards viewing the individual as developing within

a cultural matrix mediated by the family environment. (3)

As she was dissatisfied with the orthodox Freudian theories, she broke with

the New York Psychoanalytic Institute in 1941, and found the Association for the
 59

Advancement of Psychoanalysis. She served as a teacher at New School for Social

Research, and lecturer at New York Medical College. Homey also conducted a private

practice in psychotherapy. In addition, she served as founding editor of the

American Journal of Psychoanalysis. At the time of her death in 1952, in New York

City, she was Dean of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis.

In 1937, Karen Homey published her first book The Neurotic Personality of

Our Time, which took a critical stand against orthodox doctrines. Homey revised and

refined her theories in subsequent books including Self-Analysis (1942), Our Inner

Conflicts (1945), and Neurosis and Human Growth (1950). In addition, she wrote a

series of papers between 1922 and early 1930s, that revealed her long-standing

distaste for Freud's conception of female sexual development. In her papers such as :

"On the Genesis of the Castration Complex in Women, " "The Flight from

Womanhood," "The Dread of Women," and "The Denial of the Vagina," she attributed

sexual differences between men and women to cultural rather than biological factors.

The posthumous collection of these papers appeared in 1967 under the title Feminine

Psychology. Her Final Lectures ( 1987), is a set of lectures that she delivered the year

she died.

Karen Homey's early life experiences prepared her for wider perspectives. Her

passion for travel, and interest in strange and far-off places was generated by her

occasional voyages that she made with her father during her childhood. Her great

interest in the twentieth-century science was amply clear from her decision to be a

physician and a psychoanalyst. Certain aspects of her immediate milieu also affected

her outlook. She was well-informed of Marxism, which she shared with Fromm, Reich,
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and the socialists and progressive thinkers of Central Europe. Homey was certainly

aware of the unequal status of women. She surveyed "female persecution ranging from

Biblical admonishments to the senseless slaughter of witches" (Viney, and King 395).

The issues of her time deeply affected her : " ... economic depression of 1929-

1939, the atrocities of the Nazi regime" (Stagner352). She supported liberal causes

and relief organizations generously. William James, George Groddeck, and Erich

Fromm were major influences on Homey's thinking. They helped her to recognize

the importance of viewing the self and its changes. AbramKardiner, and George Simmel

made her aware of the dynamic influences of social and cultural forces on personality.

She was also influenced by the existential philosopher Soren Kierkegaard 's

insight into the tragedy of modem man. The concept that "one can lose one's soul and

somehow not miss its absence" is reflected in her view of alienation of the self.

Horney shared with psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich similar experiences

concerning the existence and force of characterological defenses. As a

socially-oriented psychoanalyst, she drew her inspiration from Adler. Moreover, she

interpreted her concepts against the background of American industrial civilization.

She emphasized the influence of America, which gave her, as J .A.C.Brown quotes,

"courage to proceed along the lines which I considered right. Furthermore, acquainted

with a culture which in many ways is different from the European taught me that many

neurotic conflicts are ultimately determined by cultural conditions" ( 132). Homey

gained the awareness of multitudinous layers of illusory perceptions, thoughts, and

feelings from the teachings ofD.T. Suzuki, and Zen Buddhism.

Homey's theory, a unique combination of Freudian and Adlerian concepts, deals

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primarily with the causes and dynamics of neurosis. Like Freud, she puts stress on

unconscious intrapsychic conflicts, and like Adler, she emphasizes the importance of

social and environmental conditions. Homey notes that the "formulation I have sketched

... puts the environment and its perplexities into the center. Among the environmental

factors, however, that which is most relevant to character formation is the kind of

human relationships in which a child grows up" (NW 78). Her writings make an

important contribution to the area of personality theory. She feels that the study of

personality cannot be divided into units or compartments. For her, the entire

personality is a functioning unit, and it can only be studied as a unified entity. As

Munroe writes, "Homey tends to consider the movement of the personality as a whole

as the determining factor" (517). Homey believes that the study of conflicts and

defenses can be useful in understanding the personality.

As a psychotherapist, Homey considers herself a disciple of Freud, and accepts

several principles of classic psychoanalysis. She mentions that, "fundamentally my

interpretation rests on Freudian ground" (NP x). For her, there are three basic

postulates which Freud contributed to the science of psychology- psychic processes

are strictly determined, the actions and feelings are unconsciously motivated, and

the motivations are emotional in nature. Homey believes in psychic determinism. "I

regard," she states, "as the most fundamental and most significant of Freud's findings

his doctrines that psychic processes are strictly determined" (NW 18). According to

her, all vital phenomena are rigidly determined by the principle of cause and effect.

Wolman points out that, "[Homey] believes in absolute causality ... everything that

happens has a cause and, in tum, produces effects" (34 7).

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In particular, Homey accepts the principle of unconscious motivation. In her

view, man's activities are often guided by the factors, unknown to the man himself. In

fact, any mental process may be described as unconscious when the individual is not

aware of its full implications, forcefulness, and consequences. The unconscious

motivations remain unconscious because of repression. These repressed desires may

be reactivated in the process of therapy. Moreover, Homey admits that these

unconscious motivations are emotional in nature. In Contemporary Theories and

Systems in Psychology (1979), Wolman notes that, "Homey ... explains the emotional

content of the unconscious" (347). The motivations of a man's attitudes and actions

lie in emotional forces, which always conflict. In addition to these postulates,

there are three major contributions in her view that Freud made to the practice of

psychotherapy- transference, resistance, and free association.

In the process of analytical therapy, Homey remains faithful to Freud. She

retains the essential features of existing psychoanalytic technique. For Homey,

transference is the patient's emotional reactions towards the analyst. It is not the

repetition of infantile attitudes towards the analyst, who represents the parental figure.

Homey states that the "sexual desires concerning the analyst are usually interpreted as

repetitions of a sexual fixation on the father or mother, but often they are not genuine

sexual wishes at all, but a reaching out for some reassuring contact to allay anxiety

(NP 159-60). The patient clings to the analyst in one way or other to alleviate his

anxiety. Sometimes, the progress of psychotherapy is delayed by resistance.

According to Homey, resistance indicates that treatment is proceeding in the right

direction, and it must continue to probe in the same area. She opines that free
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association is "unreserved talking," or "talking without selection." The true purpose of

free association is to enable the therapist "to get a feeling, an impression, to gain

insight into how the patient's mind works" (Lectures 37). In this process, the patient

reveals himself to the therapist with utter frankness.

Freud's primary interest was careful and thorough inquiry, and therapy was of

secondary importance to him. He was highly regarded for his clinical findings. Yet,

the formulations based on his observation and experiences have given rise to much

controversy. On the contrary, Homey's primary interest was therapy. Her ability for

clinical research was expressed by her careful investigation, collection of data, and the

testing of hypotheses formulated by herself. These hypotheses were further verified

in the therapeutic situation for making an exact and clear statement. For his own

psychoanalytic theories, Freud applied "closed system," which was based on the

concept of "strict determinism." In this psychoanalytic situation, the patient was

variable, and the psychoanalyst and environment were the fixed coordinates. Homey's

"open system" was similar to the field theories of twentieth century physics. Her

orientation was rooted in holistic and organismic philosophies that display the field

relationships between organism and environment.

Karen Horney feels that Freud's basic assumptions are determined by

philosophical beliefs prevalent in the nineteenth century. Freud assumes that,

"Biology is truly a land of unlimited possibilities ... "(SE 18 : 60). Homey ignores the

biological foundations of psychoanalysis. She challenges the biological determinism

that is implicit in Freud's instinct theories, in his emphasis upon unchangeable

instinctive forces, and in his tendency to explain the psychological differences

 64

between the sexes on the basis of anatomical differences. In his view, the oral, the anal,

and the phallic phases as well as the Oedipus complex are innately determined, so they

remain unaffected by environmental and cultural forces.

In her Schools of Psychoanalytic Thought ( 1955), Munroe notes that, "Homey

takes up the cudgels against the Freudian description of the dynamic role of specific

biological (sexual) needs" (343). Homey does not accept the theories of Freud

regarding developmental stages as well as the Oedipus complex. She states that, "[Freud]

has assumed that the instinctual drives or object relationships that are frequent in our

culture are biologically determined 'human nature' or arise out of unalterable

situations (biologically given 'pregenital' stages, Oedipus complex)" (NP20). In the

introduction to Feminine Psychology ( 1967), Kelman mentions that Freud's theories

are based on "anatomic immutables- 'anatomy is destiny' "(9). Homey denies Freud's

belief that "anatomy is destiny."

Freud was interested in Darwinian evolution, and like Darwin, he was inclined

to take a biological view of man. Homey does not admit "his [Freud's] over-emphasis

on the biological origin of mental characteristics" (NP 20). She does not agree with

Freud that personality development depends on hereditary and constitutional factors.

For her, constitution is not something fixed at birth and unchangeable throughout life,

but it can be affected by cultural and environmental interactions. Homey feels that,

"psychoanalysis should outgrow the limitations set by its being an instinctive and a

genetic psychology" (NW 8). For her, as Wolman mentions, "Constellation is more

important than constitution; environment is more relevant than heredity" (348).

According to Homey, the "culture concept" is of recent origin. It implies that

 65

human societies differ from each other in striking ways. In Freud's theories, as Brown

notes that, "cultuml phenomena are regarded as having developed from essentially

biological and instinctual origins" (135). Moreover, Freud makes generalizations about

human nature for the whole of mankind, though his generalizations are based on the

observation of only one culture zone. Horney does not agree with Freud that "human

nature is the same the whole world over." She writes:

Freud's disregard of cultural factors not only leads to false

generalizations, but to a large extent blocks an understanding of the real

forces which motivate our attitudes and actions. I believe that this

disregard is the main reason why psychoanalysis ... seems in spite of its

seemingly boundless potentialities to have come into a blind alley.

(NP 20-21).

As a "non-libido analyst," Horney criticizes the libido theory of Freud. His

libido theory in Horney's view, is an instinct theory. To Freudians, the libido theory is

absolutely essential for the psychological interpretation of human behaviour. Horney

considers that human behaviour is the product of cultural influences, and not of

instinctual forces. Freud regards libido as the core of personality, which later

develops into ego and superego. Munroe states that, "[Horney] rejects the Freudian

instinct theory, and also the Freudian structural approach (id, ego, superego)"

(347-48). Freud's theory regarding the different stages of libidinal development-

the om!, the anal, and the phallic- meets with Homey's disapproval. According to

Horney, this theory of fixed stages of development is based on hereditarian principles.

The development of a child depends upon culture, and child-rearing pmctices. It

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cannot be dictated by fixed stages.

Freud observes the pervasive importance of sexuality in human life. He notices

the role of sexuality in the behaviour of infants and children. Homey does not reject

the pleasure principle, but she refuses to identify it with sex. Wolman remarks that,

"Homey does not deny the pleasure principle, but she objects to regarding it as

sexuality. The pleasure principle should be applied to any type of satisfaction, since

there is no evidence that all kinds of satisfaction are derived from sex" (349). Homey

rejects the idea of infantile sexuality, one of the fundamental tenets of Freudian

thinking. In Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), Carl Jung expresses his

view on Freud's conception of infantile sexuality that, "A strictly Freudian analysis ...

is exclusively a sex-analysis, based upon the dogma that the relation of mother and

child is necessarily sexual" (339-40). Freud's theory of infantile sexuality is not

acceptable to Homey. As she writes, "There is no evidence, for instance, that the

tenderness between mother and child is of a sexual nature" (NP 148). The pleasure

principle is not the only principle inhuman behaviour. The theory of Homey is based

on two principles- safety and satisfaction.

In opposition to Freud, Homey discards all further development of the libido

theory. Freud believes that the emergence of the Oedipus complex at about five years

of age is a predetermined necessity in human growth. Homey opines that this whole

development depends on the way the child is treated. It is the result of parental behaviour

and home environment. She does not agree with Freud that the Oedipus complex is

universal. She mentions the factors which may generate this complex - "lack of

harmony in marriage, as a result of conflicting relations between the sexes: unlimited

 67

authoritative power of the parents ; taboos on every sexual outlet for a child ;

tendencies to keep a child infantile and emotionally dependent on the parents and

otherwise isolating it" (NP 84). When a child feels that any expression of hostile

impulses against his parents will endanger his security, he represses them. The

repression ofhostile impulses results in developing anxiety. In Homey's view, as Brown

notes "One way to allay this anxiety is to cling to one of the parents, and a child will do

so if there is any chance of thus receiving reassuring affection" (138). Consequently,

there will be passionate clinging to one parent and jealousy or hatred towards the other

parent. The resultant picture looks exactly like the Oedipus complex. Homey regards

this phenomenon as the manifestation of neurotic conflict.

For Horney, Freud's thinking is "mechanistic" in its outlook, which suggests

that all changes are caused by physical and chemical forces only. She opposes "[Freud's]

tendency to regard psychic manifestations as the result of chemical-physiological

forces." Freud's mechanistic thinking implies that later reactions are nothing but

a repetition of past reactions. After the age of five nothing much happens in an

individual's development. He believes that the attitudes of a mature person are only a

repetition of the same attitudes of childhood. As birth is the first form of anxiety, later

forms of anxiety are only a repetition of this birth anxiety. In his opinion, as Woodworth

notes that a "repressed wish or experience remains isolated and unchanged in the

unconscious to crop up from time to time in dreams, lapses, or neurotic disturbances"

(206).

Horney is of the view that past is explanatory, so useful to the

patient. But she does not accept the principle of repetition-compulsion.

 68

As Homey mentions:

Freud tends to regard later peculiarities as almost direct repetitions of

infantile drives or reactions .... We recognize that the connection

between later peculiarities and earlier experiences is more complicated

than Freud assumed : there is no such thing as an isolated repetition of

isolated experiences ; but the entirety of infantile experiences combines

to form a certain character structure, and it is this structure from which

later difficulties emanate. (NW 9)

According to Homey, a normal or a neurotic character structure develops in

early childhood. This development depends primarily on the child's home

environment and the way he is treated by his parents. It is important to note that

Horney worked out the neurotic character structure of her patients with great

thoroughness.

Horney challenges the Freudian view of "women as infantile creatures whose

lives are dominated by penis envy" (May 233). Horney implicitly opposes Freud's

theory of penis envy in women. His interpretation of the fact that women often wish

they were men in terms of woman's biological inferiority is criticized by Homey. Freud

does not accept that the two sexes are completely equal in position and worth. He

regards women as the deficient beings. His idea of the psychological differences

between the sexes is based upon his biological assumption that woman is a castrated

man. Freud publicly condemned the socio-cultural theory of Homey. In his paper

"Female Sexuality" (1931), he focuses on the pre-Oedipus stage in the little girl :

Some authors are inclined to disparage the importance of the child's

 69

first, most primal libidinal impulses, laying stress rather on later

developmental processes ... for example, K. Homey ... is of the opinion

that we greatly over-estimate the girl's primary penis-envy and that the

strength of her subsequent striving towards masculinity is to be

attributed to a secondary penis-envy, which is used to ward off her

feminine impulses, especially those connected with her attachment to

her father. (5 :252-72)

Homey openly criticizes Freud's theory of female sexual development. It is

culture, not constitution, that produces the differences between men and women. The

cultural factors compel men to accept certain character trends and women others. She

argues that ''penis envy" is not a normal development in females, but an uncommon and

pathological manifestation. Homey does not agree with Freud that women are

emotionally and intellectually inferior to men. According to her, women's sense

of inferiority is acquired from male-oriented society and psychology. She was of

the view that "medicine and psychiatry were 'male-only' professions"(Morgan et

al.587).

Moreover, Homey uses her maternal experiences to invert Freud's theory.

In particular, she puts forward her concept of "womb envy," that may be produced in

males because of their incapacity for pregnancy, childbirth, and mothemood. In Homey's

view, as Viney and King write, "psychoanalysts discuss penis envy but disregard the

possibility of womb envy despite evidence from several cultures and mythologies that

men envy women's ability to bear and nurse children" (395). Homey finds that women's

psychology is determined by a natural identification with the mother, not with the
 70

father. She does not deny the existence of sex distinctions, but emphasizes the

similarities of the two sexes as members of the human race confronting similar

challenges. She believes that "what psychiatry and personality theory needed was a

'psychology of persons' " (Morgan eta!. 587). Homey rejects a number of Freudian

ideas that define women as inferior to men.

In addition, Homey efforts to include moral dimension in human life within the

purview of psychoanalysis. Freud was criticized for "being unethical and degrading the

dignity of men" (Wolman 200). In Homey's opinion, Freud has "overthrown the

'moralistic' attitude" (ore 177). For him, the practice of psychoanalysis is not tainted

by moral conception. Homey criticizes "Freud's skepticism, pessimism, and

disregard ofreligion and ethics ... " (Roback 333, emphasis added). She differs from

Freud in her insistence that psychoanalysis holds ethical positions. Many moral issues

in her view are compulsive demands, that are dictated by individual's particular

character structures. She mentions that "the patient's morals in part result from his

neurosis and in part contribute to its maintenance, the analyst has no choice but to

be interested in them" core 178). Her views on neurotic guilt and healthy

moral judgement are useful to psychoanalysis. She makes distinctions between

self-aggrandizing martyrdom and genuine taking of responsibility.

It is evident that Homey's approach is growth-oriented and life-affirming.

In Self-Analysis ( 1942), she states that, "Psychoanalysis ... has not only a clinical value

as a therapy for neuroses but also a human value in its potentialities for helping people

toward their best possible further development (37). The purpose of psychoanalysis,

and psychotherapy in her view, is to awaken man's constructive desire to gain a more
 71

adequate personality and better personal relationships. According to Horney,

Freud's view of human nature is "pessimistic." Freud's paper "Instincts and Their

Vicissitudes" ( 1915), focuses on his disbelief in human goodness, as noted by Brown,

"Hatred is at the bottom of all the relations of affection and love between human

beings; hatred in relation to objects is older than love" (139).

Freud believes that "aggression ... is a vital part of our biological nature" (Viney,

and King 384). But Horney does not accept this belief that the strong manifestations

of aggressiveness are instinctual in nature. For her, hatred and aggressiveness are not

innate forces, but the products of culture. In The Neurotic Personality of Our Time

(1937), Horney mentions certain societies, as described by Margaret Mead in her

Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies- the "Arapesh" in New Guinea,

wherein the attitudes of affection, and compliance with the wishes of others are the

prominent features, and the "Kwakiutl Indians" of the Pacific Northwest, in which

aggressive behaviour is viewed as the mark of a "real man" and hence is encouraged and

rewarded.

Indeed, Horney is at variance with Freud in regard to basic instincts. Freud

argues that "the instinct of self preservation is certainly of an erotic kind, but it

must nevertheless have aggressiveness at its disposal if it is to fulfill its purpose"

(SE 23 :209). Freud's instinct theory is denied by the entire sociological school of

neo-psychoanalysis. In the opinion of Horney, "No 'death instinct' and no inherited

Eros instinct: man depends upon environment" (Wolman 352). Although Horney does

not reject love in interhuman relationship, she rejects Eros, as an inherited and

instinctual force.
 72

Homey opposes the conception of Freud that man is born to suffer. She does

not accept that instinctual and unchangeable forces affect the development of

personality. As the herself insists, her approach to life, is optimistic, and she believes

in the possibility of a change in personality. Homey proclaims :

Freud's pessimism as regards neuroses and their treatment arose from

the depths of his disbelief in human goodness and human growth. Man,

he postulated, is doomed to suffer or to destroy .... My own belief is that

man has the capacity as well as the desire to develop his potentialities

and become a decent human being .... I believe that man can change and

go on changing as long as he lives. (OIC 12, emphasis added)

Like Adler, she propounds an optimistic theory of social change, and

change in personality. For her, there is flexibility in personality. In the introduction to

Feminine Psychology ( 1967), Kelman notes the view of Homey that, "Constitution ...

represented plastic possibilities to be shaped by organismal environmental

interactions" (13). In her theories, like adler, the stress is on the natural creative

potentiality of man. This optimistic belief in human potentiality is common to her and

Sullivan. Homey relies upon the general human tendency towards constructiveness. In

Neurosis and Human Growth (1991), she notes that, "we believe that inherent inman

are evolutionary constructive forces, which urge him to realize his given potentialities

.... It means that man, by his very nature and of his own accord, strives toward

self-realization, and that his set of values evolves from such striving" (15, emphasis

added).

Horney believes that each individual has the capacity to develop his
 73

potentialities in constructive ways. Psychopathology is required when this desire

towards positive growth is hampered by external social forces. Homey always searches

for better ways to alleviate human suffering. She attempts to point the way to better

societies, to better families, and through them, to better people. In the opinion of

Homey, "Society can and should be improved and then men will be happier and healthier"

(Wolman 352).

The work of Homey deals primarily with the causes and dynamics of neurosis.

"Psychic phenomena," she writes, "are always intricate." For her, there is no such thing

as a universal normal psychology. Normality, in her view, is a term that suggests the

importance of cultural implications. The conception of normality varies with the

culture. Homey states that, different cultures have different concepts of the good and

the normal. What is regarded as normal behaviour in one culture may be neurotic

elsewhere, and vice versa. The term "neurotic," while originally medical, cannot be

used without a detailed knowledge of the influences that the particular culture exerts

on the individual. Homey remarks that, "one criterion we apply in designating a person

as neurotic is whether his mode of living coincides with any of the recognized behaviour

patterns of our time" (NP 14). What constitutes normal or neurotic can only be

decided when we consider the cultural conditions in which an individual is functioning.

According to Homey, deviation "from the pattern common to the particular

culture" is indicative of a neurosis. She notes that, "neuroses are deviations from the

normal pattern of behaviour" (19). Homey defines neurosis as "any deviation from

normal, efficient behaviour" (Marx, and Hillix 393). In Schools of Psychoanalytic

Thought (1955), Munroe notes that, "Homey uses the word [neurosis) for any
 74

deviation from ... basic human potentiality" (344). However, Horney opines that

persons may deviate from the cultural patterns without having a neurosis, while many

persons, who according to surface observation are adapted to the existing patterns of

life, may have a severe neurosis.

In particular, Horney often corroborates her theoretical insights by referring to

the findings of anthropology. "With us," she states, "a person would be neurotic

or psychotic who talked by the hour with his deceased grandfather, whereas such

communication with ancestors is a recognized pattern in some Indian tribes" (NP 15).

Horney pays enough attention to the differences in culture because for her, "neurosis

are culturally based" (Sahakian 272). All human beings experience guilt feelings in

regard to murder, while the Eskimos do not feel that a murderer should be punished.

According to Homey, these variations are also found within the same culture. Her

observation of our culture is that the ideals taught are essentially discrepant. As Munroe

writes:

Our culture as a whole simultaneously sets forth the Christian ethic -

with emphasis on brotherly love, turning the other cheek, the inheritance

of the meek- and the go-getter, the tough, self-reliant philosophy of a

pioneer or capitalistic society .... Honesty as an ideal is difficult to

reconcile with the concomitant ideal of business shrewdness ....

Self-interest and competition loom large in our culture, along with

admonitions to self-sacrifice, altruism .... (384-85)

In her writings, Horney makes an acute observation of the opposing values that

exist in our culture. For her, these discordant values produce conflicts in human
 75

beings. She states that the "contradictions embedded in our culture are precisely the

conflicts which the neurotic struggles to reconcile" (NP 289). Homey is the first

psychoanalyst who emphasizes the effect on the individual of the efforts to live up to

these conflicting ideals. In an article "Culture and Neurosis" ( 1936), Homey, as noted

by Dyal, suggests that the neuroses are due to "difficulties caused by the conflicting

character of the demands which a culture imposes on its individuals" (416). As a

psychoanalyst, Homey attempts to give an accurate picture of the neurotic person who

lives among us, with his anxieties, with his conflicts, and with his difficulties. A

neurotic person is different from the normal person in his reactions.

There are two traits that Homey believes to be present in all neurotic

persons - rigidity in reaction, and a discrepancy between potentialities and

accomplishments. By "rigidity in reaction" she means, lack of that flexibility which

enables an individual to react differently to different situations. The normal person

behaves in a manner which is flexible and suited to the requirements of the situation.

Contrary to this, the neurotic person is not able to perceive the real demands of the

situation. He expresses a tendency to act in pre-detennined ways. His reactions are

unconsciously detennined by his own neurotic needs, and are often inappropriate to

the external situation. In Homey's view, as Brown notes that a "normal person treats

each situation as it arises on its own merits, while the neurotic brings to it his own

fixed ideas" (139). Moreover, the normal person becomes suspicious only when he

senses the insincerity of the person confronting him, whereas the neurotic person

remains suspicious all the time. In The Neurotic Personality of Our Time (1937),

Homey mentions some other traits that, "A normal person will be spiteful if he feels an
 76

unwarranted imposition; a neurotic many react with spite to any insinuation, even if he

realizes that it is in his own interest. A normal person may be undecided, at times, in a

matter important and difficult to decide ; a neurotic may be undecided at all times"

(22-23).

Similarly, a discrepancy between the potentialities of a person and his actual

achievements may be due to internal factors. The neurotic person, for instance, may be

unproductive in spite of gifts and opportunities for their development. For Homey, it

is indicative of a neurosis, if in spite of having all the possibilities of feeling

happiness, a person cannot enjoy what he has. In the opinion of Homey, as Brown

notes that the "[normal] individual may be frustrated by harsh realities which cause him

to fail in spite of himself, but the neurotic brings about his own failure. The former is

frustrated by external events, the latter by conflicting tendencies within himself' (140).

Thus, the presence of conflicting tendencies is an essential characteristic of a

neurosis.

There are certain factors that Homey finds in all neuroses - anxieties or fears,

and the defenses built up against them. She states that, "a neurosis is a psychic

disturbance brought about by fears and defenses against these fears, and by attempts to

find compromise solutions for conflicting tendencies" (NP 28-29). However, this

disturbance can only be considered neurosis when it deviates from the culture pattern

of the social group to which the individual belongs.

According to Homey, a neurosis affects the personality. She distinguishes

between the simple "situation" nuroses and the "character" neuroses. The situation

neurosis does not reveal the neurotic personality, but a momentary lack of adaptation
 77

to a diftlcult situation, while the "defonnations of the personality" can be seen in the

character neurosis. In Horney's view, as Brown writes, "A nonnal person may develop

... a 'situation neurosis' when his relatively normal mind is confronted by an external

situation full of conflicts .... The true neurosis, however, is the 'character neurosis',

and in this case ... external factors may accentuate or bring out certain personality

defects" (140).

In her psychoanalytic practice, Homey tends to see the character structure of

her patient, how it functions in his personal relations, and how it can be improved. For

her, the compulsive character structure is entirely different from the hysterical

character structure. Analyzing the theories of Karen Homey, Woodworth mentions

that the "character structure, first established by the child's experiences and reactions,

is evidently about the same as Adler's 'style of life,' but the idea is more fully worked

out by Homey. She does not regard it [character structure] as absolutely fixed and

unchangeable by later experiences and reactions" (207). Thus, she focuses her

attention on the character structure. In her view, the fonnation of both the character

structures- the nonnal, and the neurotic depends upon cultural influences.

Like other psychoanalysts of her time, Horney pays more attention to character

disturbances than to the symptoms of neuroses. She states that the "character

fonnation is more important than symptoms, because it is character, not symptoms,

that influences human behaviour" (NP 31). In the foreword to the 1991 reissue of

Neurosis and Human Growth, Jeffrey Rubin and Stephanie Steinfeld mention:

[Horney] no longer theorizes about the essential nature of femininity or

masculinity. This was because she had come to the conclusion that ...
 78

cultural forces made these distinctions impossible to know at present ...

the character types ... described as feminine or masculine were

pathological manifestations [character disturbances] that could appear

in both men and women. Homey saw cultural biases as leading women

to adopt certain character trends and men others. (8)

For Horney, all character neuroses are based upon the disturbances of

character. In her article "Culture and Neurosis" (1936), Horney affirms, as noted by

Dyal, that the "real source of ... psychic disorders lies in character disturbances, that

the symptoms are a manifest result of conflicting character traits .... When analyzing

these character traits ... one is struck by the observation that, in marked contrast to the

divergency of the symptomatic pictures, character difficulties invariably center around

the same basic conflicts" (411).

Homey is of the view that the character disturbances are produced by the

specific cultural conditions, or difficulties. In her opinion, the problems of

competition, or rivalry, fears of failure, emotional isolation, distrust of others and of

our own selves - may be present in a neurosis. In fact, the majority of people

confront the same problems in a culture. However, the neurotic persons are more

affected by these problems than the normal individuals. Homey mentions that the

neurotic persons "differ only in quantity from the problems bothering the normal

person" (NP 34). According to her, "Neurosis ... is always a matter of degree"

(OIC27).

In her theory of neurosis, Homey brings into prominence two concepts - the

need for satisfaction, and the need for safety. Each person has certain fundamental
 79

needs such as food, rest, and affection. Horney states that all these needs tend to seek

satisfactioin. However, these primary needs are not regarded as the decisive factors in

human behaviour. In her opinion, a man cannot enjoy the satisfaction of his needs

unless he feels safe. This need for safety, or security is socially created. For Horney,

the decisive factor in human behaviour is "the need for safety, the need to be secure

and free from fear .... Man needs safety and avoids fear .... Fear is the greatest enemy of

man's health and happiness, and search for safety is the guiding principle in human

behaviour (Wolman 350). In A History of Modern Psychology (1969), Schultz

mentions that, "[Horney] claimed that the decisive driving power for man is the need

for safety, security ... " (302).

For Horney, the basic principle of human behaviour is the need for security.

However, this need for security does not function universally. It functions only when

the person is threatened. Horney emphasizes the importance of security in childhood.

According to her, the helpless child tends to seek security in a world which he

experiences as hostile and threatening. Her concept of helplessness as experienced by

the child "provides a predisposition for the future development of pathological

conditions ; it does not lead to a striving for superiority, but ... accentuates a

predilection for security" (Marx, and Hillix 393). This feeling of insecurity hampers

the normal development of a child, and it may create neurosis. In Homey's view,

as Wolman notes that the "Neurosis is a result of insecurity, and it may develop in

childhood .... A society based upon competition contributes substantially to

development of insecurity and is conducive to neurosis" (353).

As a psychoanalyst, Homey reveals that there is a close relationship between

 80

security and anxiety. According to her, lack of security produces anxiety in a child.

In the place of Freud's life and death instincts, she regards fear and anxiety as basic

emotions. She distinguishes between anxiety and fear. For her, fear is an emotional

reaction to a real danger, while anxiety is an emotional reaction to an imaginary danger.

She states that, "fear is a reaction that is proportionate to the dagner one has to face,

whereas anxiety is a disproportionate reaction to danger ... in the case of fear the

danger is a transparent, objective one and in the case of anxiety it is hidden and

subjective" (NP 42-44).

Homey considers that anxiety is the fundamental force in human behaviour. In

his Contemporary Theories and Systems in Psychology (1979), Wolman mentions that,

"Homey regards anxiety as a basic feeling and a counterpart to love" (350). Thus,

Homey describes "anxiety as the dynamic force" (NP 149), which stems from the

helpless and powerless status experienced by child. When a child does not get security

from his home environment, he feelG anxiety. In the opinion of Homey, this "anxiety ...

is generated by a lack of security" (Chaplin 438). In addition, Homey believes that

anxiety is the center of neurosis.

According to Homey, neurosis is the result of a conflict between a child and his

environment. Discussing the theories of Homey, Sahakian states that the "Excessive

anxiety suffered as a result of interpersonal relations during the early period of family

life accounts for neurosis" (272). In her Neurosis and Human Growth ( 1991 ), Homey

writes:

I first saw the core of neurosis in human relations. Generally, I pointed

out, these were brought about by cultural conditions ; specifically, through

 81

environmental factors which obstructed the child's unhampered psychic

growth. Instead of developing a basic confidence in self and others

the child developed basic anxiety ... a feeling of being isolated and

helpless .... (366)

Basic hostility and basic anxiety are the two major components of Homeyan

thinking. Horney belives that an acute hostile impulse is the direct cause of

anxiety. She states that in the neuroses of our time "hostile impulses are the main

psychological force promoting anxiety" (NP 64). In her view, the helplessness of a

child is a crucial fact in human psychological development. A child, who is weak and

powerless, is dependent upon his parents for security and satisfaction. This process

helps the development of the real self which is the "central inner force ... [and] deep

source of growth" (NHG 17). If the child is well-treated by his parents,he learns that

people are generally helpful and warmly satisfying. Unfortunately, if he is badly treated,

he becomes helpless. The helplessness of the child leads to a basic hostility. In Homey's

view, the child's helplessness is the "primary condition forneurotic development when

actual difficulties in his surroundings make the outside world seem frustrating and

hostile at a time when the new organism is largely at the mercy of its environment "

(Munroe 345).

It is unfortunate for the development of a child, if he represses his hostility

towards his parents. A child cannot express hostility directly to the parents, he

represses it, which only increases his anxiety. In this way, a repressed hostility creates

anxiety : "Children caught in this bind-dependent on their parents, anxious because

of their parents, hostile toward their parents, and unable to express their trut.
 82

feelings directly ... "(Morgan et al. 587-88). As a result, the child may experience

"basic anxiety." In Histmy and Systems of Psychology ( 1975), Sahakian writes about

basic anxiety that, "Owing to the child's complete dependence upon parents, hostility

toward them that is repressed is experienced as basic anxiety, a childhood sense of

loss of love and respect" (272). In the social environment in which the basic anxiety

develops, the child grows up a feeling that the world is a frightening and dangerous

place. Horney states that "It makes a great difference whether the

reaction of hostility and anxiety is restricted to the surroundings which forced the

child into it, or whether it develops into an attitude of hostility and anxiety toward

people in general" (NP 88). In Horney's view, basic anxiety is the child's feeling that

the world is hostile and dangerous. In The Neurotic Personality of Our Time (1937)

Horney mentions :

the more difficult are his experiences in the family, the more will a child

be inclined to develop not only a reaction of hatred toward the parents

and other children but a distrustful or spiteful attitude toward everyone.

The more a child is isolated and deterred from making other

experiences of his own, the more such a development will be fostered ...

the more a child covers up his grudge against his own family, as for

instance by conforming with his parents' attitudes, the more he projects

his anxiety to the outside world and thus becomes convinced that the

'world' in general is dangerous and frightening. (88-89)

In her social theory, Horney emphasizes the importance of home environment

and the social structure within the family. She focuses on the way the growing child is
 83

treated by his parents. She believes that loving and reliable parents can create the

feeling of security in their children. Homey states that the "basic evil is invariably a

lack of genuine warmth and affection [from the parents]" (NP 80). Lacking the early

warmth, affection, security, and appreciation which allow the real self to develop soundly,

the child reared by erratic, indifferent, or rejecting parents becomes profoundly

insecure and apprehensive. According to Homey, some parents may sharpen the child's

sense of helplessness and insecurity through excessive interference, rejection,

indifference, isolation, hostility, or ridicule. This condition sets the stage for basic

anxiety. In Systems and Theories in Psychology ( 1963), Marx and Hillix write that the

"predominant reason that basic anxiety develops from parent-child relationships is the

absence of genuine love and affection, and this can almost invariably be traced to ...

parents "(393). In Homey's view, basic anxiety is counterproductive to growth as it

distorts a person's sense of real self.

Basic anxiety is a child's reaction to lack of acceptance in the family. Homey

makes it clear that basic anxiety is non-instinctual in nature, and it develops as a result

of coping with environment. Schultz mentions that basic anxiety is "not innate but

results ... from environmental factors ; it is socially created" (302). For Homey, basic

anxiety is an essential factor in personality development. She defines basic anxiety as

"the feeling a child has of being isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world"

(OIC 41). Such feelings arise in childhood in the case of a child whose parents fail to

give him "genuine warmth and affection," and who has lost "the blissful certainty of

being wanted". The child's spontaneous expansiveness is checked, and he is made to

feel guilty if he dares to show any independence. He is entirely rejected, or severely

 84

punished by his parents. He perceives his home environment as "unreliable,

mendacious, unappreciative, unfair, unjust, begrudging, and merciless" (NW 75).

Homey believes that unconditional love is absolutely essential for a child's

normal development. When it is refused, the child feels :

the environment as a menace to his entire development and to his most

legitimate wishes and strivings. He feels in danger of his individuality

being obliterated, his freedom taken away, his happiness prevented ... In

an environment in which the basic anxiety develops, the child's free use

of energies is thwarted, his self-esteem and self-reliance are undermined,

fear is instilled by intimidation and isolation, his expansiveness is warped

through brutality or overprotective 'love'. (7 5, emphasis added)

The environment provided the child and the way he reacts to his environment,

indeed, form the structure of his personality. Homey lays stress on early childhood

experiences and parents' relations with their children. In her view, psychic growth

requires warm and cordial interpersonal relations. She believes that anything that

disturbs the secure relations between the child and his parrents is capable of producing

basic anxiety. In the presence of basic anxiety, the person's "self-esteem and feeling

for others and for the realistic contours oflife situations are hampered" (Munroe 381).

Homey mentions that neurosis is a "disturbance in one's relation to self and to others"

(NHG 368).

For Homey, conflict is the core of every neurosis. She believes that neurosis is

the result of a conflict between individual strivings and environmental pressure. She

states that a "neurosis is brought about ... if this conflict generates [basic) anxiety"
 85

(NP 101). In A History of Psychology (1998), Viney and King mention that the child's

"basic anxiety ... manifest[s] itself in adult neurosis" (394). The neuroses are,

therefore, based on conflicts between individual desires and social requirements, and

they take their energy from basic anxiety.

Although Karen Horney is considered a deviationist, her intellectual origins are

deeply rooted in classical psychoanalysis. As a neo-Freudian psychoanalyst, Homey

tries to revise and restructure the fundamental assumptions of Freud. In her theories,

social factors are emphasized. For her, "not instinct, but custom molds." Through the

penetrating nature of her observations, she presents various character types as well as

character pathology in her writings. According to Homey, healthy growth depends

upon the surrounding conditions. In psychotherapy, she aims at reorganizing the self

through analysis. Her contributions to psychoanalytic theories and psychotherapeutic

practice are considerable. She introduces a new model of personality, and regards fear

and anxiety as the basic human emotions. Her environmentalistic approach

broadens the scope of psychoanalysis.

 86

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