Defense Mechanisms Theoretical, Research and Clinical Perspectives [Hardcover]

The book is focused on defense mechanisms as theoretical constructs as well as the possibilities of their empirical registration by different methods, and the application of these constructs in different fields of psychology with special regard to concurrent and predictive validity. It is argued that defense mechanisms are in many ways to be seen as integrative constructs, not necessarily restricted to psychoanalytic theory and that the potential fields of their application have a wide ranging scope, comprising many fields of psychology. Consequently empirical studies are presented from the fields of clinical and personality psychology, psychotherapy research and psychosomatic phenomena and diseases. Methodological questions have a heavy weight in most of these studies.

• Provides coverage of relevant literature
• Covers different fields of application
• Attempts an integration of the contstruct of defense mechanisms into mainstream psychology
• Provides explanations of the theoretical basis of the construct of defense mechanisms

Chapter 1: Defense Mechanisms: Current Approaches to Research and Measurement

Chapter 2: A Critical Perspective on Defense Mechanisms

Chapter 3: Defense Mechanisms in the Clinic, the Laboratory, and the Social World: Toward Closing the Gaps

Chapter 4: What is a Mechanism of Defense?

Chapter 5: Percept-Genesis and the Study of Defensive Processes

Percept-Genetic, Projective, and Rating Techniques for the Assessment of Defense Mechanisms

Chapter 6: Defense Mechanisms and Cognitive Styles in Projective Techniques and Other Diagnostic Instruments

Chapter 7: Percept-Genetic Identification of Defense

Chapter 8: Contributions to the Construct Validity of the Defense Mechanism Tesl3+