Chapter 7

Developmental aspects of identities

Number of identities

The number of identities is determined by several factors. The first is the relative difficulty of different forms of adaptation. Selye (1978) termed redevelopment adaptation as any response which required a system to undertake a completely new response or activity. Development adaptation involves the further development of a similar activity as the one the system is currently performing. Redevelopment adaptation is much more difficult than development adaptation. For example, if you have never acted like a seductive 6 year old, it is hard to do it the first time. However, if you already have an identity that is a seductive six year old, some basic modifications might make it a suitable seductive adult that can handle adult dating experiences. The adaptive energy involved in redevelopment adaptation means that the process of developing new identities is used only when necessary.

Strong systemic inhibitions against using the MIR for minor stressors would be expected. This model also predicts that the more inconsistent the behaviour of the abuser or the more varied the trauma, the more identities will emerge as a result, which concurs with Braun's (1986) double-bind theory. Also, identities would emerge slowly at first, being present mostly as fragmented aspects that would follow a developmental path. In adulthood, the DCS is predicted to produce identities more easily, by blending existing identities.

If our personality develops over time as a result of shared memories and common constitution, the same process should occur for identities. In most individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder, only a handful of identities are well defined (Dell & Eisenhower, 1990; Kluft, 1991). Often, there are several fragmented and less developed identities. Kluft (1988) observed that in individuals with many identities, only a few were ever fully developed, and individuals with extremely high numbers of identities often had no single identity that was ever particularly well developed. Alternate identities seem to develop by interacting with their environment and building integrative processes within their own functions. Many identities, however, can be related to a single trauma or event that appears to be their point of origin (Dell & Eisenhower, 1990). Presumably, all identities begin in less differentiated form, and a handful go on to develop more fully in order to carry out specific functions.

Social and cultural contexts

Gender roles

In 62.6% of individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder, there are identities who are male and identities who are female (Ross, Norton & Wozney, 1989). Rivera (1989) discusses the ways that the identities act out the sex roles and power dynamics that mirror the social construction of gender. By using a social constructionist viewpoint, Rivera expands the concept of gender as more than the physical aspects of the individual, but sees gender as a referent contained within a social context of classification. Gender can be applied to objects, inanimate forces in nature and many types of polarities and complementary aspects of a variety of phenomena.

Rivera comments that in her work she finds that women with multiple personality "it is very common for their vulnerable child personalities and their seductive and/or compliant personalities to be female and their aggressive protector personalities to be male" (Rivera, 1988, p. 43). The conflicts within the DCS closely resemble the gender conflicts in society at large (Rivera, 1989). This is an example of how social constructs determine the shape of the multiple identity response within the appropriate social context. If 38% of girls are sexually abused by the age of 18 (Russell, 1986) and over one million women a year in Canada are assaulted by their partners (MacLeod, 1987), it is obvious why women who have survived this abuse would be torn between their identification as a woman, and at the same time create an identity in response to the desire for some of the seemingly powerful aggressiveness of the masculine gender role. Women may find their anger too frightening or unacceptable to deal with. It is common for survivors of abuse to have powerful fantasies of revenge or torturing their perpetrators (Bass & Davis, 1988). Having suffered at the hands of abusive rage, such feelings will conflict with a traditional feminine self image. Some aspect of the stereotypical role is simply learned behaviour. If no model of constructive anger exists, then abused children learn that anger is released through rage and destruction. Differentiating abusiveness and anger is a difficult task for many women (Bass & Davis, 1988). One individual describes how the fear of vulnerability triggered her defensive identities, which were modeled on stereotypically male, abusively-modeled notions of strength.

"I could be trying to argue, pursing my lips and trying to keep from shaking, until they come up to me. Sometimes they stood behind me, sometimes in front of me, and they'd say cold, colder than Clint Eastwood, colder than my Dad, 'Fuck you pig. Don't fuck with me. You don't know who you're talking to' in a voice that did not sound very much like mine and scared the shit out of people. I would be inside thinking 'Excuse me? Are you sure this is a good idea?' but they would curse and swear and bang the table. It worked. Scared the hell out of everyone, scared the hell out of me. I hated them. I thought I could use them, but all those years they watched my Dad and learned a lot" (Whyte Ravyn, 1990).

Racial stereotypes

Little exploration has been done in deconstructing the cross race identities found in individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Anecdotal evidence indicates that it follows similar lines as the stereotyping process that produces cross gendered identities. Caucasian, Western individuals can have identities that reflect the evil, aggressive, sexualized or tough stereotypical identities who are represented as people of colour. For example, The Troops for Truddi Chase (1987) describe the protector "Mean Joe" as a large Black man who was capable of great physical strength. Naming identities as "Black" and "White" also represents good and evil conflicts, regardless of their perceived race, but in accordance to the racist linguistic icons of Western society, such as White Catherine and Black Catherine (Chase, 1987) and Eve White and Eve Black from the Three Faces of Eve (Sizemore & Huber, 1988).

Adityanjee, Raju & Khandelwal (1989) also describe the "glamorized", Westernized identities that emerged in Indian cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder. The identities preferred to speak English rather than Hindi and adopted Westernized manners. Wilbur (1984b) reported on a Caucasian patient who had a Native American identity who represented spirituality and other-worldliness. Although Ross, Norton & Wozney (1989) report that 21.1% of identities are cross-racial, little systematic research has been conducted on determining what social constructs and purposes these identities have in common. Part of the relative rarity of cross-racial identities may be due to the racial segregation in society (Lorde, 1984). A Caucasian child may have little access to other children or adults of colour, whereas many significant others are likely to be of different genders. Fike (1990b) reports two cases of Black and Hispanic identities in Caucasian children, who represented childhood friends that were seen as either "tough" or provided comfort and friendship to the child. I would predict that people of colour would be more likely to have Caucasian-identified identities, as part of the racial oppression includes greater contact with the dominant Caucasian culture and the necessity of learning to adapt to the Caucasian dominated society in a way that Caucasian children would not be required to interact with or learn the social values and mores of marginalized cultures (Lorde, 1984).

The cultural manifestation of the MIR

A study by Adityanjee, Raju & Khandelwal (1989) details 3 cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder encountered by the authors in three years of work in psychiatric clinics. In each case there were only 2 personalities, one primary personality and an identity that emerged in an episodic fashion, usually after an overnight sleep. The alternate identities were more glamorized self-images of the adolescents, who often spoke English rather than Hindi, were more Westernized and otherwise led more glamorous lives.

The authors report that one girl "behaved very formally, as if she were a guest, and spoke in English, addressing her family members by their names. She expressed a desire to wear jeans and wanted to play badminton. She also complained that the food was not to her taste" (p. 1608)

They frequently denied knowing their families, and in one case, claimed that the parents of a friend were really her parents. The authors note that the Hindi cinema frequently portrays a dramatic change in behaviour after a sleep or an accident, which is how the transition occurred in all of the teenagers. In all cases, the individuals had desires which conflicted with those of their families, either in terms of school expectations or sexual desires.

Kleinmann (1977) notes that a person labelled mentally ill would be strongly stigmatized in traditional Indian families and the person would essentially be unmarriageable. Because marriage is the only means of leaving the family of origin and economically necessary for survival (especially for girls), one would expect that the MIR would adapt itself to dealing with this situation. The MIR would not be effective as a survival mechanism if it resulted in remaining in the family of origin indefinitely or in destroying the means necessary for economic survival.

This may explain why possession states are more common as a release or means of restitution (Adityanjee, Raju & Khandelwal, 1989). It may also explain why Adityanjee, Raju & Khandelwal's patients were all middle-class Westernized individuals, who's families had few of the traditional stigmas about mental illness and brought their children to the psychiatric clinic immediately for treatment. In such as family, Dissociative Identity Disorder would be an effective form of adaptation.

Possession as a form of restitution

Although practices vary widely, Mulhern (1991) describes common patterns in possession. Possession often involves an ailment or the fear of an ailment that brings a person into the cult. The individual is absolved of all blame for her suffering, and her ailments are understood as a spirit demanding recognition. In order for the spirit to stop interfering in her life, she must accede to its demands. Relatives and friends are expected to assist her in pursing whatever is necessary to appease the spirit, or else they assume blame for her continuing illness. This can include material gifts, payment for ritual, seclusion, time allowed away from duties to travel to possession rituals and so forth (Mulhern, 1991).

Possession occurs far more frequently than Dissociative Identity Disorder in India, but not in North America (Adityanjee, Raju & Khandelwal, 1989). Possession occurs almost exclusively among women and in the poorer classes (Akhtar, 1988). Adityanjee, Raju & Khandelwal (1989) describe their interactions with possessed individuals, and remark that "the `possessing spirit', through the patient, makes various demands on the surroundings, usually on close relatives who humbly comply with them" (p. 1609). The main difference, which is significant, is that unlike in Dissociative Identity Disorder where the identities are concealed from observers, possession is a public event, acknowledged and witnessed by the community (Mulhern, 1991). This witnessing is part of what makes the possession so therapeutic, although therapy is not its only purpose. Possession is a much more public process than "going crazy" in North America (Levine, 1989), however, it exists within the defined social norms just the same. Mulhern (1991) argues that although possession beliefs and practices vary from culture to culture, in many cultures the reason for the spirit being angry at the family is not mentioned, only that the spirit needs care and attention. Although the spirits unmask the potential consciousnesses of the individual and expose the social order, they do so through symbolic representation. A violent male spirit may embody an impoverished woman who threatens the crowd, a child spirit may smear food over the body of its socially rigid host (Mulhern, 1991). Although the ceremony turns the social order on its head, it does not threaten to disrupt the prevailing social order (Mulhern, 1991). Possession does differ from Dissociative Identity Disorder in that it is experienced by a much larger portion of the population, and is regarded as a fairly normal part of religious life (Leavitt, 1993).

Relationships to animals

Another cultural determinant of the structure of the Dissociative Identity Disorder is evident in the portrayal of animals in the MIR. Among Western individuals living in urban areas, relationships with and understanding of animals develop largely from dealing with pets, zoos or the media. Hendrickson, McCarty & Goodwin (1990) reported on 5 cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder with animal identities. The animals named were either familiar pets, such as domestic cats, dogs and birds and in one case a panther. One woman's identities emerged from ritualized abuse which involved a wider variety, including a snake, dolphin, owl, hawk, large and domestic cats and dogs. They re-emerged when she began to explore New Age religion that encourages spiritual imagery of animal medicines. All of the identities could be traced back to witnessing the abuse or animals, participating or witnessing in the abuse of animals or bestiality, being forced to live or act like an animal or experiencing the traumatic loss of a pet.

The role of animals in society is reflected clearly. Animals are one of the few things lower in status than children and can be destroyed or tortured by an abuser with little risk of retribution. Torturing animals has been used by the abusers as a form of threat against the child, to demonstrate their fate, or as a form of punishment, to remove a loved ally from the child's life (Hendrickson, McCarty, & Goodwin, 1990). The abused individuals frequently identified with the animal, and perceived animals as helpless or innocent. Animals can also be used to displace rage at the abuser, if the abused child in turn abuses the perpetrators favoured pet (Bass & Davis, 1988).

Contrast these findings with the case of a Native American man who had several identities who were animals or spirits. Smith (1989) reported that the majority of identities were not human (7 out of 11 identities). The MIR emerged out of child abuse, but was informed by cultural values and beliefs. The animal identities represented medicines or powers consistent with traditional beliefs about the nature of the animals. Unlike the animal identities reported by Hendrickson, McCarty & Goodwin (1990), these identities represented wild animals common in Native religions, including the snake, wolf, bear, panther, turtle, owl and hawk. It is quite likely that in cultures where animals have a larger symbolic significance, or where contact with animals is more common, more animal identities will be found.

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