Dependency and Japanese Socialization: Psychoanalytic and Anthropological Investigations in Amae

10. Current Issues in Anthropology and Psychoanalysis: Some Concluding Observations

C H A P T E R 1 0 Current Issues in Anthropology and Psychoanalysis: Some Concluding Observations Earlier chapters have presented information about aspects ofdependency theory, psychocultural observations of Japanese behavior, and methodological issues concerned with research in both cross-cultural and developmental contexts. This concluding chapter represents a synthesis, and will cover three conceptual areas: the first concerning dependency manifestations and theory; the second regarding epistemology and method in the human sciences,- and the third involving the juxtaposition of theory and practical considerations in psychoanalysis and anthropology. Conclusions Concerning Dependency as a Social-Scientific and Psychological Construct The utility of "dependency" as a constructional term in social and psychological research has been seriously questioned in the last twenty years. As reviewed in chapter i, the concept is seen as having accumulated increasingly complicated and diffuse meanings . First regarded as a trait description of an essential need system in the infant/mother partnership, the term expanded to define requirements for physical attachment, nutrition, warmth, security, 328 Current Issues in Anthropology and Psychoanalysis / 329 and emotional satisfaction. The acknowledgment of alternate drives, and the multivariate nature of dependency situations, have seriously reduced the capacity of this term to be operationalized in studies of later infantile and juvenile behaviors. Introduced in 1960, the term "attachment" has gradually replaced "dependency" as a constructional expression. "Attachment" more concisely refers to the emotional and instrumental factors present in specific intimate partnerships. In developmental psychology, "dependency" has been demoted to a qualitative term defining the expression of needs involving nonexclusive affiliation constituted during various periods of the lifespan. Another extension of dependency theory has involved the introduction of the term "interdependency," which takes into account the reciprocal exchanges in dyadic or multiplepartner sharing of need solicitation and need gratification. In these situations, a variety of interdependent connections may be examined , dealing with both emotional and instrumental factors pertaining to the continuity of relationship, reciprocity of need fulfillment, and negotiation of fluctuating states of obligation, trust, and mutuality . Distinctions concerning the differences in attachment, dependency , and interdependency have clarified some of the conceptual problems inherent in typifying characteristics of close, affiliative partnerships. However, other problems remain. One of these involves distinguishing between the strong bonds of partnership present in asymmetrical relationships based upon status (or power) versus those primarily based on emotional ties modeled on an infant /mother paradigm. This has been addressed analytically by Lebra (1976), in her apt distinctions concerning "dependency of obligation " and "dependency of indulgence." Since status recognition based on age, gender, social role, and economic power is ubiquitous , a strong argument may be made for a structural basis separately accounting for the dependency connected to obligation or deference (as in on], distinguished from dependency connected to indulgence and nonsexualized love (as in amae). However, as Lebra has suggested, these and other modes of dependent interconnection may overlap. Thus, persons may be involved in interdependent relationships characterized by security and love, coexisting with the intimidation and fear generated by subordination to a status superior. Psychoanalytic theories of dependency raise yet other problems concerning putative structures ("drives," "defenses") that dynami- 330 / Conceptual and Theoretical Dimensions cally activate and channel personal behaviors involving close affiliation . As Parens and Saul (1971) observe, psychoanalytic theory posits a fundamental libidinous drive underlying the infant/mother attachment, which also accounts for intense, positive affiliations developed later in life. Nonsexualized affiliations such as the dependency of indulgence, obligation, or pity (Lebra 1976) are seen as secondary drives, energized through a redirected or sublimated sexual drive (libido). Previous chapters have summarized other positions within and outside psychoanalysis that argue for a separate and freestanding structural basis accounting for nonsexualized affiliation and operating as an ego instinct. A possible resolution of this conflict in psychoanalytic theory might be to consider that there are at least three separate drives that are potentially activated in intense, interpersonal affiliations: sexual, indulgent, and status oriented . Partnerships characterized by strongly held emotional bonds might then be examined as reflecting one, two, or all three of these drives, singly or in combination. Problems that involve the differential cultural framing of dependency experience have also been reviewed. The ideological disparagement of dependency in Western life has been emphasized in terms of pathologizing helplessness, and promoting idealized versions of individualism, independency, and self-sufficiency. Also, the structural egocentricity of Western descriptions of self have been contrasted to sociocentric explanations of self (or personality) in more collective definitions...