Morrison provides a critical history of analytic and psychiatric attempts to make sense of shame, beginning with Freud and culminating in Kohut's understanding of shame in terms of narcissistic phenomena. The clinical section of the book clarifies both the theoretical status and treatment implications of shame in relation to narcissistic personality disorder, neurosis and higher-level character pathology, and manic-depressive illness.

Andrew P. Morrison

Introduction. Part I: A Theoretical Framework. Some Theoretical Perspectives on Shame. Primitive Object Relations, Early Narcissism, and Shame. Shame and Narcissism. Shame and Self Psychology: Kohut's Contributions. Part II: Clinical Applications. The Case of Mr. Dowland. Some Shame-Related Phenomena. Shame and Defense. Shame and Narcissistic Pathology. Shame and Neurotic (Differentiated Character) Conditions. Shame and Manic-Depressive Illness. Epilogue.