'The repression and the return of bad objects': W. R. D. Fairbairn and the historical roots of theory

One of the seminal, if solitary, figures of the British Object Relations School was the Scotsman W. R. D. Fairbairn. In this paper the author relates some of the distinctive features of Fairbairn's thinking to traumatic aspects of his country's history, especially the harsh, repressive traditions of Scottish Presbyterianism, which were magnified in confusing ways by his sexually puritanical parents. The two World Wars are shown to have played an important role in liberating Fairbairn from these constraints, influencing both his choice of career and, notably, the evolution of his ideas.