Prejudice as a function of self-organization

This article reviewed the traditional psychoanalytic theories of the develo pment and maintenance of prejudiced attitudes and affects. To this body of understanding, the authors offered a self psychological perspective. They d escribed the treatment of Sandy, a woman who presented with extreme express ions of prejudice, to illustrate how self psychology provides a framework f or understanding the narcissistic roots of her prejudice and a therapeutic stance for promoting the transformation of her prejudiced attitudes and aff ects. From this perspective, prejudice is understood not as the displacemen t or projection of aggression, but as an expression of a vulnerable, fragme ntation-prone self-organization struggling to overcome a traumatic developm ental history.