Boundaries of reasoning in cases: The visual psychoanalysis of René Spitz

Abstract

This article argues that the foundational separation between psychoanalysis and experimental psychology was challenged in important ways by psychoanalytic infant researchers. Through a close examination of American psychoanalyst René Spitz (1887–1974), it extends John Forrester’s conception of reasoning in cases outside classic psychoanalytic practices. Specifically, the article interrogates the foundations of reasoning in cases—the individual, language, and the doctor–patient relationship—to show how these are reimagined in relation to the structures of American developmental psychology. The article argues that the staunch separation of experimental psychology and psychoanalysis, reiterated by philosophers and historians of psychology, is flimsy at best—and, conversely, that the maintenance of these boundaries enabled the production of a cinematic case study. Spitz created films that used little language and took place outside the consulting room with institutionalized infants. Yet key aspects of the psychoanalytic case, as put forth by John Forrester, were depicted visually. These visual displays of transference, failure, and interpersonal emotions highlight the foundations of what Forrester means by reasoning in cases. The article concludes that Spitz failed at creating classic psychoanalytic evidence, but in so doing stretched the epistemology of the case.

Thinking in multitudes: Questionnaires and composite cases in early American psychology

“…How this kind of information might be combined into a composite whole remained elusive for decades (Young, 2017, 2018). The abbreviated individual case thus remained central to this work right through to its results, evidencing a certain hybrid form of scientific thinking (see Morgan, 2020; Weitzenkorn, 2020) that spanned case, natural historical, and statistical modes.…”

Pluralismo metodológico e interdisciplinaridade nas pesquisas psicanalíticas de René Spitz

“…Os filmes produzidos pelo autor e sua colaboradora Katherine Wolf são produto do Projeto de Pesquisa Psicanalítico sobre Problemas na Infância, no qual foram filmadas 366 crianças com o objetivo de estudar o comportamento geral de crianças (Weitzenkorn, 2020). São divididos em temas, cada um tratando de uma síndrome estudada por Spitz e sua equipe.…”

“…Um total de dez filmes foram colocados em circulação pela Biblioteca de Filmes da Universidade de Nova Iorque (New York University Film Library). São estes: 1) Luto: Um Perigo na Infância (1947) (Weitzenkorn, 2020).…”

“…O trabalho foi realizado a partir da análise das publicações do autor que descrevem seus estudos empíricos e de alguns de seus colaboradores, e das que tem por tema a metodologia de pesquisa, excluindo-se os de cunho estritamente teórico. Quanto ao material audiovisual produzido por ele, foram utilizados os filmes originais quando disponíveis e descrições dos mesmos quando indisponíveis (Emde & Harmon, 1983;Weitzenkorn, 2020). Se recorre também, quando possível, à escassa literatura secundária existente, configurando-se como uma revisão bibliográfica Memorandum 39, 2022 Belo Horizonte: UFMG ISSN 1676-1669 -DOI: https://doi.org/10.35699/1676-1669.2022.36326 3 comentada.…”

Thinking in, with, across, and beyond cases with John Forrester

“…The special issue then turns from one exemplary individual to another, as Rachel Weitzenkorn’s article focuses on American psychoanalyst René Spitz. In ‘Boundaries of Reasoning in Cases: The Visual Psychoanalysis of René Spitz’, Weitzenkorn (2020) directs our attention to visual records of cases, specifically the films that Spitz and colleagues made to showcase and analyse the distress of institutionalized infants. Whilst Spitz ‘claimed that the mechanical gaze of the camera enabled generalizable and standardized observations, rather than the specific story a case might tell’ (ibid.…”