The Effect of an Unsatisfactory Mother-daughter Relationship upon the Development of a Personality

This article analyses the evolution of the mother–daughter relationship in China, and describes the mothering characteristics of four generations of women, which in sequence includes “foot-binding mothers”, “mothers after liberation”, “mothers after reform and opening up”, and “mothers who were only daughters”. Referring to Klein’s ideas about the mother–child relationship, especially those in her paper “Some reflections on ‘The Oresteia’ ”, the author tries to understand mothers and their impact on their daughters in these various periods of Chinese history, so as to explore the mutual influence of the mother–daughter relationship in particular, and the Chinese cultural and developmental context in general.

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Crossing Borders in Search of the Mother-Daughter Story: Interdependence across Time and Distance

Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services ◽

10.1606/1044-3894.3814 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 89 (4) ◽

pp. 631-639

Author(s):

Ruth Ann Belknap

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Data Collection ◽

Narrative Analysis ◽

The United States ◽

Mothers And Daughters ◽

Analysis Techniques ◽

Mexican Culture ◽

Mother Daughter Relationship ◽

Field Notes ◽

Distance Data

Although studies have identified the importance of the mother–daughter relationship and of familism in Mexican culture, there is little in the literature about the mother–daughter experience after daughters have migrated to the United States. This study explores relationships between three daughters in America and their mothers in Mexico, and describes ways in which interdependence between mothers and daughters can be maintained when they are separated by borders and distance. Data collection included prolonged engagement with participants, field notes, and tape-recorded interviews. Narrative analysis techniques were used. Findings suggest mother–daughter interdependence remains. Some aspects may change, but the mother–daughter connection continues to influence lives and provide emotional and, to a lesser extent, material support in their lives.

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Family Psychic Transmission and Anorexia Nervosa

Psico-USF ◽

10.1590/1413-82712016210316 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 635-649 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Élide Dezoti Valdanha-Ornelas ◽

Manoel Antônio dos Santos

Keyword(s):

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Young Woman ◽

Family Relationships ◽

Emotional Development ◽

Female Body ◽

Maternal Grandmother ◽

Three Generations ◽

Mother Daughter Relationship ◽

Mother And Daughter

Abstract Studies show that family relationships can act as mediating agents in triggering and maintaining the symptoms of anorexia nervosa (AN), especially the mother-daughter relationship configuration, which contains unconscious elements transmitted inter-generationally. This study aimed to understand the role of intergenerational psychic transmission in the articulation of anorexic symptoms in a young woman in treatment. Three generations of women of the same family were interviewed: maternal grandmother, mother and daughter, all diagnosed with AN. Some psychic contents that could not be elaborated were identified in the reports and these were, subsequently, converted into legacies transmitted to later generations. Feelings of inhibition and shame regarding sexuality and the female body, transmitted from grandmother to mother and from mother to granddaughter, seem to have blocked the emotional development in all generations. Incorporating these findings into treatment may facilitate the processing of the transmitted unconscious contents, contributing to the reorganization of the family's psychodynamic functioning.

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