THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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Simultaneously, however, the life instinct finds expression in the projection of libidinal
impulses onto the .first object, thereby creating a good breast which too is internalised as a
defence against persecutory anxiety (Klein, 1946). Although it is the same object which
is simultaneously loved and hated, this reality cannot be acknowledged by the infant for
fear that if good and bad internal objects are integrated, the bad will destroy the good
object upon which the infantile ego depends for its existence and development. The early
developmental solution to this dilemma is to employ the defensive fantasy ofsplitting the
object into two, thereby creating polarised and dissociated good and bad objects. Because
the original object is split, the infant then relates in a dualistic fashion to two antagonistic
part-objects, which are respectively loved and hated. These good and bad internal figures
form the nucleus ofthe infantile superego (Klein, 1952a).
In addition to the primary defences of splitting and introjection of the good object a
number of associated defences protect the infant from persecutory anxiety. The most
important of these are idealisation and denial. Idealisation is a fantasy in which the
positive attributes ofthe good part-object are defensively exaggerated:
as a safeguard against the fear ofthe persecuting breast. While idealization is
thus the corollary of persecutory fear, it also springs from the power of
instinctual desires which aim at unlimited gratification and therefore create
the picture of an inexhaustible and always bountiful breast - an ideal breast"
(Klein, 1946, p. 7).
Klein emphasises the distinction between a good object and an idealised one, based on
the extent ofthe aggression, and accompanying intensity ofsplitting defences:
A very deep split between the two aspects of the object indicates that it is not
the good and bad objects that are being kept apart but an idealized and
extremely bad one. So deep and sharp a division reveals that the destructive
impulses, envy, and persecutory anxiety are very strong and that idealization
serves mainly as a defence against these emotions (Klein, 1957, p. 192)
Importantly, idealisation promotes further splitting because "parts of the ego attempt to
unite with the ideal object" (Klein, 1946, p. 10). At the same time, the psychic existence