- Title
- Narcissistic defenses and alienation in the life of Howard Hughes: a case study
- Creator
- Sandison, Alida
- Subject
- Hughes, Howard -- 1905-1976
- Subject
- Narcissism Self psychology Personality disorders
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Doctoral
- Type
- DPhil
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/35038
- Identifier
- vital:33609
- Description
- Narcissism is a personality configuration which has both normal and pathological personality expressions. It is associated with a very broad field of literature and theoretical formulations, put forward to understand it. To add to this knowledge base, the aim of the research was to explore and describe narcissistic defenses and the consequent alienation of others within the narcissistic personality configuration. The aim was attained through the exploration of the life of Howard Hughes, by examining the interplay between Kernberg’s Object Relations Theory (1974; 1975; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1992; 2001) and Hughes’s lived experiences. Hughes was chosen as the subject as he is renowned for being an eccentric billionaire who was revolutionary in his effect on the world, but concurrently disturbed within his personal pathologies. The study took the form of a case study. Data was collected using Yin’s (1994) guidelines for data collection, which include using multiple sources of evidence, creating a case study database, and keeping and maintaining a reliable chain of evidence. Data was furthermore collected and analysed using Miles and Huberman’s (1994) strategy of data analysis which consists of three steps, namely data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Research findings confirmed the presence of primitive defense mechanisms associated with the lower level pathologies described by Kernberg within Hughes’ patterns. Findings confirmed the defense mechanisms as alienating others. Learnings produced were presented in a model to be used in clinical practice to support others in interaction with narcissistic individuals. Steps outlined included, understand, decontaminate and reconstruct, reaffirm reality, and find something positive.
- Format
- xiii, 287leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Alida Sandison.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |