Research notes: John Bowlby’s critical evaluation of the work of René Spitz.

Horst, Frank C. P. van der; Rosmalen, Lenny van; Veer, René van der

doi:10.1037/hop0000127b

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…For instance, Spitz’s Grief transmitted the importance of ‘motherly love’ through a direct ‘appeal to the emotions’ ( Nichtenhauser, Coleman, and Ruhe, 1953 : 146): following a classic narrative line of problem, crisis, and resolution, the film contrasted disturbing close-ups of distraught institutionalized babies with joyful scenes of social play after ‘mother's return’. 9 John Bowlby differed in theoretical approach from Spitz, but A Two-Year Old Goes to Hospital similarly mobilized a strong narrative frame and emotionally charged close-ups (of a weeping and distressed girl) to provide ‘evidence’ of ‘emotional disturbances’ in a young child due to ‘separation’ from her mother ( Bowlby and Robertson, 1953 : 425; Van der Horst, Rosmalen, and Van der Veer, 2019 ; Van der Horst and Van der Veer, 2009 ). In Fries’ films, these techniques of narrative and visual dramatization were used only sparsely, if at all.…”

Section: Fries’ Moving Pictures: a ‘Different Way Of Thinking’ About ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother-blaming revisited: Gender, cinematography, and infant research in the heyday of psychoanalysis

Rietmann

2023

History of the Human Sciences

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This article examines cinematographic observational studies of infants conducted by a loosely connected group of female psychologists and physicians in the USA from the 1930s to the 1960s. Largely forgotten today, these practitioners realized detailed and carefully planned research projects about infant behavior in a variety of settings—from the laboratory to the well-baby clinic. Although their studies were in conversation with better-known works, such as John Bowlby's research on attachment and René Spitz's films on institutionalized infants, they differed in a close examination of individual characteristics of babies and a critical attitude toward contemporary notions of ‘pathological mothering’. In closely following the work of several researchers, including but not limited to pediatrician Margaret Fries (1898–1987), the clinical psychologist Sibylle Escalona (1915–96) and her team members—child psychiatrist Mary Leitch (1914–?) and avant-garde photographer Ellen Auerbach (1906–2004)—and psychologist Anneliese Korner (1918–2010), I argue that their cinematographic works shed a more nuanced light on the landscape of infant research and child psychiatry in the mid 20th century, and open a way for alternative readings of gender, psychoanalysis, and scientific observation at that time.

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Section: Fries’ Moving Pictures: a ‘Different Way Of Thinking’ About ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother-blaming revisited: Gender, cinematography, and infant research in the heyday of psychoanalysis

Rietmann

2023

History of the Human Sciences

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“…Essa pesquisa também foi a base para a preparação do livro The First Year of Life, cerca de 20 anos após a publicação do primeiro artigo. Van der Horst, van Rosmalen & Van der Veer (2019) destacam precisamente isso quando comentam as impressões de Bowlby sobre seu encontro com Spitz, em 1950: " (Spitz) finalizou suas observações um ano atrás e está ocupado escrevendo suas coisas. Ele parece ter um grande volume de artigos para publicação, mas evidentemente não fará nenhuma observação adicional" (Bowlby, 1950;citado em Van der Horst, van Rosmalen & Van der Veer, 2019, p.206).…”

Section: Discussão E Conclusãounclassified

Pluralismo metodológico e interdisciplinaridade nas pesquisas psicanalíticas de René Spitz

Goliath

Simanke

2022

Memorandum

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O artigo aborda as pesquisas de René Spitz sobre o desenvolvimento das psicopatologias precoces infantis, enfatizando seus aspectos metodológicos e a maneira como o autor procura articular a investigação experimental e a perspectiva clínica e teórica da psicanálise. Os principais métodos e os procedimentos complementares de suas pesquisas empíricas são apresentados e discutidos, a partir da análise das publicações originais do autor. Críticas e debates que cercaram seus trabalhos à época são também revisitados e analisados. Em conclusão, argumenta-se que os trabalhos de Spitz, apesar de suas limitações, constituem um exemplo histórico significativo de como a psicanálise pode se beneficiar de uma perspectiva mais plural e interdisciplinar e suas pesquisas clínicas e empíricas.

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A tale of four countries: How Bowlby used his trip through Europe to write the WHO report and spread his ideas

Horst

Nelson

Rosmalen

et al. 2019

J History Behavioral Science

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Attachment theory, developed by child psychiatrist John Bowlby, is considered a major theory in developmental psychology. Attachment theory can be seen as resulting from Bowlby's personal experiences, his psychoanalytic education, his subsequent study of ethology, and societal developments during the 1930s and 1940s. One of those developments was the outbreak of World War II and its effects on children's psychological wellbeing. In 1950, Bowlby was appointed WHO consultant to study the needs of children who were orphaned or separated from their families for other reasons and needed care in foster homes or institutions. The resulting report is generally considered a landmark publication in psychology, although it subsequently met with methodological criticism. In this paper, by reconstructing Bowlby's visit to several European countries, on the basis of notebooks and letters, the authors shed light on the background of this report and the way Bowlby used or neglected the findings he gathered.

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Research notes: John Bowlby’s critical evaluation of the work of René Spitz.

Cited by 7 publications

References 10 publications

Mother-blaming revisited: Gender, cinematography, and infant research in the heyday of psychoanalysis

Mother-blaming revisited: Gender, cinematography, and infant research in the heyday of psychoanalysis

Pluralismo metodológico e interdisciplinaridade nas pesquisas psicanalíticas de René Spitz

A tale of four countries: How Bowlby used his trip through Europe to write the WHO report and spread his ideas

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