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Biomedical subjects

S Juni

Publications and source records attributed to S Juni.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Conceptualizing defense mechanisms from drive theory and object relations perspectives.

Analyzing common defensive features from dual theoretical perspectives, repression is postulated as the underlying mechanism, and is differentiated from denial and suppression. Acting out and intrapunitiveness are interpreted as polar options within displacement. Drive theory and object relations implications are outlined in the conceptualization of intellectualization, reaction formation, and projection, particularly as they are elaborated by basic tenets in defense theory.

Acting Out

Reliability of the Weak Opiate Withdrawal Scale for inter-city opiate users.

The reliability (Kuder-Richardson 20) of the 84-item Weak Opiate Withdrawal Scale was estimated for a sample of 70 inner-city men who used opiates and had passed through the acute withdrawal stage. Analysis suggested modification of the scale to exclude negatively worded as well as cognitively sophisticated items which elicit unreliable and paradoxical responses from this population.

Adult

Sex roles as factors in defense mechanisms and object relations.

For this study, 150 men and 164 women completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Data analyses showed that Turning Against the Object related negatively to femininity, Reversal of Affect related positively to femininity, and that the inner-oriented mode of object relations was associated with femininity. For women only, masculinity related positively with Principalization and Reversal of Affect, and negatively with Turning Against the Self. We interpret the results by viewing the measured defenses as being linked to aggression and its sex-role correlates.

Adult

Safe sex behavior in drug-addicted males as a function of object relations.

An inventory of sexual behavior was administered in a hospital detoxification program to 127 drug-addicted males, who also completed a modified form of the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) which yields a measure of object relations. Condom use was shown to be related to an object relations mode that typifies the individual who can structure reality and needs without requiring an integral aspect of "the other" in his approach. Standardization and factor analytic data are also presented for the DMI and the object relations measure for this population. The resulting pattern and the small effect size are discussed within the reality constraints of the addicted patient, as well as within the psychometric parameters inherent in psychoanalytic research.

Adult

The role of the object in drive cathexis and psychosexual development.

Alternate axes are explored in the orthodox formulation of drive cathexis and psychosexual development, with implications for corresponding object relation modes engendered by these processes. Somatic and defensive aspects are shown to impact on the function of the "other" as the individual matures. The separation/individuation process is subsumed into this overall developmental continuum, and the centrality of the object as a focus in cathexis and drive delineation is critically evaluated. The homeostatic notion of equilibration is appealed to in synthesizing the factors emerging from the analysis.

Cathexis

DMI-measured defenses and HIV-related risk behaviors in i.v. compared to non-i.v. substance abusers.

The Defense Mechanism Inventory (DMI) and The Risk Behavior Inventory (RBI) were administered to substance abusers hospitalized on a drug detoxification service. The groups were categorized on the basis of self-reported IV versus non-IV substance abuse. Significant between-group differences were obtained on the DMI and RBI. The non-IV group responded less often than the IV group with the Turning Against Object (TAO) response option, resulting in higher scores when Turning Against Self (TAS), Reversal (REV), Principalization (PRN) and Projection (PRO) were summed into a single score. Significant within-group differences were obtained for DMI response levels and defenses. Both groups relied less on TAO at the thought level and more on PRN and REV as primary defenses. The IV group reported twice as many risk behaviors as the non-IV group and risked HIV exposure through needle use and sexual transmission modes. Consideration was given to the role of principalization and denial within the addicted individual's defense structure and the relationship of these defenses to HIV-related risk behavior.

Adult

Defensive style: state or trait?

The susceptibility of the Defense Mechanism Inventory (Gleser & Ihilevich, 1969) to situational stress variables was evaluated by an experiment where 54 men and 52 women were given half the inventory, then were given word puzzles to solve which were either easy or difficult, and finally given the second half of the inventory. Results showed that the composite measure of defensive style, which contrasts the acting-out defenses from the inward focusing ones, was not affected differentially by the experimental manipulation. The specific defense indices were affected by the experimental manipulation for men but not for women. The composite measure is thus shown to be a basic trait impervious to situational stress, while the specific defenses are seen more as resembling situational states.

Defense Mechanisms

Anality: a theory of erotism and characterology.

The psychogenesis of anality is in the psychosexual events of the second year of life. An analysis of that phase of development centers on the biological determinants of psychological development, specifically on the erotization of the excretory functions. The social structures interfering with this process are examined. The interrelationship of feces, child, and penis are analyzed within the context of the total libidinal spectrum of development and object relations. Bipolarity is seen as an integral facet of the anal character, manifested in the retentive-eliminative continuum and in the aggressive-erotic divergences. These trends are examined in detail vis-à-vis the ultimate ossification of the anal adult. In this context, the percept of anal-sadism is introduced and alternate interpretations of the phenomenon are suggested. Various characteristics frequently associated with anal characterology are discussed and an attempt is made to demarcate the status (as integral or peripheral) of these traits. Sociocultural contingencies of anality are also considered, particularly with regard to Western institutions. The major pathological maladaptions related to anality are detailed. These include the obsessions and rigid superego development, paranoia, and homosexuality. The status of anality is then evaluated from the ego-psychological perspective, and interpersonal and societal factors are considered. What emerges is a unitary construct of anality which incorporates both erotism and characterology.

Defense Mechanisms

Bilateral skin conductance, finger pulse volume, and EEG orienting response to tones of differing intensities in chronic schizophrenics and controls.

Skin conductance (SCOR), finger pulse volume (FPV-OR), and EEG orienting responses were examined to repeated tones of either 60- or 90-dB intensity in chronic schizophrenics, nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients, and normals. SCOR reaffirmed previous findings with schizophrenics displaying significantly more frequent nonresponsiveness to 60-dB tones, and faster habituation among patients who did respond. Increased stimulus intensity decreased the incidence of nonresponsiveness to the level of controls, but did not alter the rapid habituation of schizophrenics. These results generalized fully to the FPV-OR, despite the independence demonstrated between SCOR and FPV-OR, but did not generalize to EEG response. There were no significant differences between schizophrenics and controls in EEG reactivity-only in background activity, particularly in a slowing of dominant alpha frequency in schizophrenics. Schizophrenics displayed the same degree of bilateral asymmetry as controls in both SCOR and EEG; there was no evidence of a specifically schizophrenic asymmetry. Schizophrenics nonresponsive in either SCOR or FPV-OR showed significantly greater Conceptual Disorganization and Emotional Withdrawal, and significantly less Excitement than responders in blind clinical ratings on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. None of the findings could be attributed to the effect of neuroleptics. Comparisons between medicated and nonmedicated patients showed no drug-associated effect on any OR variable under study. Drug effects were apparent only in skin conductance level (SCL). Neuroleptics were associated with a significant reduction in SCL in both schizophrenics and nonschizophrenics, together with a flattening of an otherwise incrementing SCL among schizophrenics.

Acoustic Stimulation

Theoretical foundations of reaction formation as a defense mechanism.

Among the defense mechanisms, reaction formation is presented as the most stable, pervading the entire personality structure. The source of the defensive energy is explored within the context of drive theory, paralleling superego development and the processes of functional autonomy of other drive derivatives. The dynamics of balancing affect against behavior are analyzed with reference to the adaptive function of compulsion. Reaction formation is shown to relate closely to repression in its capacity for comprehensive impulse negation. the centrality of reaction formation within the constellation of anal characterology is underlined. Implications of the defense are discussed for empirical and clinical research in psychoanalysis.

Defense Mechanisms