Defining character integrity.
Previous work on the integrity of character is reviewed and a contemporary definition offered using concepts of subordinate and supraordinate schematizations of self and relationships with others. The definition is clarified by a developmental perspective on possible growth in character integrity over the life cycle. Three types are defined by patterns in sense of identity, object relations, and defensive control of emotion. Such type formulations are useful because technique can be varied according to the inferred level of character integrity.
Horowitz
Mardi
M
University of California San Francisco, 94143, USA. Mardi@itsa.ucsf.edu
D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010553:Personality Development; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012649:Self Concept