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In this sense, it becomes a defence:
according to Hannah Segal,
"The individual, producing a
phantasy of wish-fulfillment, is not only avoiding
frustration and the recognition of an unpleasant
external reality, he is also, which is even more
important, defending himself against the reality of
his own hunger and anger - his internal reality.
Phantasies, moreover may be used as a defence
against other phantasies".
The distinction between defence mechanism
and phantasy depends, Segal claims, on "the
différence between the actual process and
its specific detailed mental representation". She
gives a good example of this: repression, a defence
mechanism, can be actually experienced and
recounted by a patient as an inner dam which could
burst under the pressure of a flood. "What an
observer can describe as a mechanistn is
experienced by the person himself as a detailed
phantasy."
Two arguments
can be put forward:
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1°)-either
the anxiety and its "phantasmatic support"
(support fantasmatique) are displaced into
mathematics, and defences are
directed against mathematics, so directly
containing the anxiety;
2°)-or the
anxiety is contained in some other way and
defences can be seen to be mounted against
this anxiety, mathematics serving as an
instrument of this defence.
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Mathematics, then, through the phantasies
that it calls forth, can be either that which you
can defend yourself against, or - on the other hand
- that which participates in a defence against
anxiety. It can even sometimes, by splitting, serve
as both.
Methodology
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I have tried to study some of the
different defence mechanisms employed
against mathematics by using a
questionnaire with a group of 614 students
from the public educational establishments
of the Marne department.
The questionnaire
called for agreement or disagreement (on a
five point scale) with representative
statements covering those themes that came
up most frequently in 64 preliminary
interviews. These interviews, lasting 45
minutes, were recorded and later
transcribed.
The same survey was carried out in
Québec, in Belgium,
in U.S.A., in Ontario
and in Gread
Bretagne;
( National
comparisons)
the three samples amounted in all to 2000
students (about 45 % of these being
girls). The results were statistically
analysed in some detail. (My
bibliography)
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