title: Empirically based Suggested Insights into the Concept of False-Self Defense: Contributions From a Study on Normalization of Children With Disabilities.
abstract: The concept of the false self has been used widely in psychoanalytic theory and practice but seldom in empirical research. In this empirically based study, elevated features of false-self defense were hypothetically associated with risk factors attendant on processes of rehabilitation and integration of children with disabilities, processes that encourage adaptation of the child to the able-bodied environment. Self-report questionnaires and in-depth interviews were conducted with 88 deaf and hard-of-hearing students and a comparison group of 88 hearing counterparts. Results demonstrate that despite the important contribution of rehabilitation and integration to the well-being of these children, these efforts may put the child at risk of increased use of the false-self defense. The empirical findings suggest two general theoretical conclusions: (1) The Winnicottian concept of the environment, usually confined to the parent-child relationship, can be understood more broadly as including cultural, social, and rehabilitational variables that both influence the parent-child relationship and operate independently of it. (2) The monolithic conceptualization of the false self may be more accurately unpacked to reveal two distinct subtypes: the compliant and the split false self.
authors.forename: Adva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eichengreen
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoofien
authors.forename: Eytan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bachar
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires