Melitta Schmideberg earned her M.D. from Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in 1927, marking the beginning of a professional career that transitioned from classical psychoanalysis to the clinical treatment of juvenile delinquency. Throughout her decades in the United Kingdom and across the Atlantic, she focused on practical therapeutic frameworks for offenders rather than solely adhering to theoretical psychoanalytic traditions.
Early Education and Psychoanalytic Training
Born in 1904 in Ružomberok, Austria-Hungary, Schmideberg was the daughter of Melanie Klein and Arthur Klein. Following a period in Budapest, she moved to Berlin to study medicine. She married Austrian psychoanalyst Walter Schmideberg in 1924. By 1929, she had commenced analytic training under Max Eitingon and Karen Horney, further undergoing analysis with Hanns Sachs. She became an associate member of the British Psychoanalytical Society in 1932 and a full member the following year.
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Schmideberg developed significant professional and personal friction with her mother, Melanie Klein. Beginning in 1933 or 1934, she initiated analysis with Edward Glover as a means to achieve individuation. Her resentment intensified following the 1934 death of her brother, Hans, in a climbing accident. She eventually resigned from the British Psychoanalytical Society in 1944, characterizing her mother’s followers as prioritizing slogans over scientific standards.
Work with Offenders
From 1933 to 1945, she worked with the Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency. In 1950, she founded the Association for the Psychiatric Treatment of Offenders (APTO). This organization provided free individual and group therapy. She developed a model of wraparound support involving probation officers, social workers, and teachers to provide a network of therapeutic influences. In 1958, she launched The APTO Journal, later known as the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.
Literary Contributions
Her academic output spanned clinical observations and theoretical papers. During the London Blitz, she recorded social reactions to air raids, observing shifts in localism and sexual desire. Her notable publications include Children in Need in 1948, Short Analytic Therapy in 1950, and Principles of Treating Borderline Cases in 1955. She concluded her professional trajectory with My Experience of Psychotherapy in 1974.
Fast facts
- Born: 1904, Ružomberok
- Died: 1983, London
- Medical degree: 1927, Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
- Citizenship: United Kingdom
- Language: German
- Primary field: Psychiatry and psychoanalysis
Questions readers ask
What was the core of Schmideberg's work with offenders?
She utilized a 'group therapy in reverse' model, which involved building a supportive network of professionals and social contacts around an individual.
Why did she resign from the British Psychoanalytical Society?
She resigned in 1944 due to ideological conflicts with her mother, Melanie Klein, and the existing psychoanalytic leadership.
