Direct observations and video recordings of mother‐infant dyads are used to study the organization of fantasmatic interactions. The infant is represented in the mother's fantasmatic life as the child of the desire for maternity and is represented in her imaginary life as the child of the desire for pregnancy. During pregnancy, therefore, the fetus serves a dual function for the mother: One function is fantasmatic, marked by its mother's intrapsychic conflict; the other function is imaginary, as constructed from the mother's latent thoughts. Evidence from clinical studies illustrates the role of life events in structuring both the fantasmatic and the imaginative infant. Therapeutic interventions can be facilitated by having parents view videotapes of their interactions with their infants. Other implications for therapeutic interventions are suggested.
The interfaces between the intrapsychic, interactional, and intergenerational domains are a new frontier. As a pilot, we exposed ourselves to a complex but controllable situation as viewed by people whose main interest is in one of the three interfaces; we also fully integrated the subjects in the team, to learn about their subjective perspectives and to provide them with an enriching experience. We started with a brief “triadification” sequence (i.e., moving from a “two plus one” to a “three together” family organization). Considering this sequence as representing at a micro level many larger family transitions, we proceeded with a microanalytic interview, a psychodynamic investigation, and a family interview. As expected, larger patterns of correspondences are emerging. Central questions under debate are: What are the most appropriate units at each level of description and what are their articulations between these levels? What is the status of “triadification”?
John Bowlby's research on attachment led him to propose the construct of internal work ing models. Subsequent research on these models allowed American researchers to describe the processes involved in the intergenerational transmission of attachment. In France, the focus has been on parents' infantile conflicts with the grandparents of their infants. This emphasis led to the designation of “the trans generational mandate,” a systemic concept. This mandate is given to an “imaginary infant” (born with the desire of a pregnancy) and to the fantasmatic infant (born from the desire of parenthood): This fantasmatic child thus becomes the infant of the maternal grandfather. The infant responds to these maternal and paternal representations by a process of parentification. In parent‐infant interactions at the actual and fantasmatic levels, origins of scripts that will enrich future narratives are apparent. The tree of life extends its roots into the family past, but also allows the transmission of cultural affiliation. This process is complicated in cases of parental pathology or in nuclear bigenerational Western families.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.