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CHILD
PSYCHOTHERAPY,
WAR
AND THE
NORMAL CHILD
Selected Papers of
MARGARET
LOWENFELD
Edited by
Cathy Urwin and John
Hood-Williams
CHILD PSYCHOTHERAPY,
WAR AND THE
NORMAL CHILD
The names of Anna Freud, Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott are
well known as pioneers in child psychotherapy throughout the Western
world. Margaret Lowenfeld was as influential before and after the
Second World War. A leading figure in the history of the treatment of
emotionally disturbed children, she developed a form of therapy and an
approach to children's minds which remain unique.
While researching infant feeding and the problems of child care,
Lowenfeld recognized the significance of children's play, both for what
it revealed about stages of development and as a process in itself. Unlike
her contemporaries within psychoanalysis, Lowenfeld viewed play not
only as a medium through which children could work through their
emotional conflicts, but also as a cognitive process - giving access to a
child's mind. Her starting-point was always the meaning given to its
playing by the child, and this collection introduces Lowenfeld's work
for the first time in a systematic way.
In a thoroughly researched introduction and.critical assessment,
Cathy Urwin situates Lowenfeld's work within the history of
psychoanalysis, the Child Guidance movement, and developmental
psychology. She goes on to compare Lowenfeld's observations of
preverbal states of mind with the work of psychoanalytic innovators in
the Kleinian tradition in understanding the origins and functions of
thinking and symbol formation.
Cathy Urwin is a research fellow in the Child Care and DC,velopment
Group at the University of Cambridge. The late John Hood-Williams
was a child psychotherapist, trained by Margaret Lowenfeld, with wide
clinical experience.
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CHILD
PSYCHOTHERAPY,
WAR AND THE
NORMAL CHILD
e-book page iv 01/10/2013 08:50 Page iv
Copyright © The Dr. Margaret Lowenfeld Trust, 2014.
Published in the Sussex Academic e-Library, 2014.
SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS
PO Box 139
Eastbourne BN24 9BP, UK
and simultaneously in the United States of America and Canada
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the publisher.
Errata:page 243, para 3, line 4, for British Psycho-Analytical Society read British
Psychological Society; page 272, fig. 2 has been reversed from left to right;
page 282, fig. 14 is reproduced upside-down and has been reversed
from left to right.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Lowenfeld, Margaret
Chid psychotherapy, war and the normal child.
1. Children. Psychotherapy
I. Title. II. Urwin, Cathy III. Hood-Williams, John
618.92’8914
ISBN 978-1-84519-084-2 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-78284-025-1 (e-pub)
ISBN 978-1-78284-026-8 (e-mobi)
ISBN 978-1-78284-027-5 (e-pdf)
This e-book text has been prepared for electronic viewing. Some features, including
tables and figures, might not display as in the print version, due to
electronic conversion limitations and/or copyright strictures.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements IX
PARTONE
MARGARETLOWENFELD by Cathy Urwin
1 Introduction 3
2 Growingupthrough Culture 12
ChildrenofTwoNations 14
MedicalTrainingthroughthe FirstWorldWar 25
FurtherExperienceofWar 30
MedicalResearchin the Community 35
3 TheFoundationoftheChildren'sClinic,1927-31 41
PracticalBeginnings 44
NewPremisesandan InstitutionalStructure 47
FromResearchto Psychotherapy 51
Observationand FacilitationofPlay
and Communication 53
FurtherExpansions 57
TheExperimentEvaluated 59
4 InaugurationandDevelopmentofthe
InstituteofChildP_~ychology,1931-9 69
TheoriesofPlay 74
Philosophicaland SocioculturalFoundations 80
Neurosis, Normalityand Creativity 87
TheTheoryofthe Protosystem 94
CHILDPSYCHOTHERAPY, WAR AND THE NORMALCHILD
5 ImpactandAftermathoftheSecond WorldWar 100
Psychology, CultureandPoliticalSystems 101
Post-warReconstruction 107
DevelopmentsinChildPsychotherapyinBritain 109
TheoreticalDevelopmentsandtheirRelation
toPsychoanalysis I17
FurtherResearchintoCultureandEducation 123
TheLastYears 128
6 Retrospective 133
Editors' Note
PARTTwo
SELECTEDPAPERS
7 The BackgroundinResearch 143
ORGANIZATION ANDTHERHEUMATIC CHILD [1927] 147
RESEARCHES INLACTATION (WITH SIBYLTAITE
WIDDOWS) [1928] 157
8 FromMedicinetoChildPsychology 171
A NEW ApPROACH TOTHEPROBLEMOF
PSYCHONEUROSISINCHILDHOOD [193I] 177
PSYCHOGENIC FACTORSINCHRONIC DISEASEIN
CHILDHOOD [1934] 215
9 The Needfor aNew Methodinthe
TreatmentofEmotionallyDisturbedChildren 235
A THESIS CONCERNINGTHEFUNDAMENTAL
STRUCTUREOFTHEMENTO-EMOTIONAL
PROCESSESINCHILDREN [1937] 247
THEWORLD PICTURES OFCHILDREN:
A METHOD OFRECORDING AND
STUDYING THEM [1939] 265
Discussion 29°
10 Theoretical ConceptsDeveloped 310
DIRECTPROJECTIVETHERAPY[1944] 315
THE NATUREOFTHEPRIMARYSYSTEM[1948] 325
CONTENTS
11 QuestionsofTherapeutic Technique 346
PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOTHERAPY ApPLIED TO THE
SITUATIONOF THE WITHDRAWN CHILD [1951] 351
THE STRUCTUREOF TRANSFERENCE [1954] 363
12 LaterConcerns 368
THE ADOLESCENT'S SEARCHFOR IDENTITY [1966] 371
COMMUNICATION WITH CHILDREN [1967] 375
NoteontheDrMargaretLowenfeldTrust 388
Bibliography 389
Index 399
Acknowledgements
John Hood-Williams, the co-editor of this book, sadly died
while it was being printed. He was Director of Studies at
MargaretLowenfeld's clinic (TheInstituteofChildPsychology)
and became a Trustee from the creation of the Margaret
Lowenfeld Trust:
His experienceand enthusiasmcontributedsignificantlyto the
evolution ofDr Lowenfeld's ideas in both the United Kingdom
and the United States. The Trustees hope that this book will
commemoratebothhis contributionand theirappreciationofit.
The editors are very grateful for the financialsupport for the
publication ofthis book provided by the Margaret Lowenfeld
Trust, which holds the copyright on Margaret Lowenfeld's
previously unpublished writings.
Along with the publishers we would like to thank the
following for permission to reproduce copyright material
written by Margaret Lowenfeld, which first appeared as shown
here:
Lancet (1927) 'Organisation and the rheumatic child', p. 1177;
Journal ofObstetrics and Gynaecology ofthe British Empire (1928)
'Researchesin lactation', by MargaretLowenfeldand SibylTaite
Widdows, 35, 1:14-30; British Journal of Medical Psychology
(193I) 'A new approach to the problem of psychoneurosis in
childhood', 1,3:194-227; Medical Women's Federation Newsletter
(1934) 'Psychogenic factors in chronic disease in childhood',
July: 1-18;BritishJournalofMedicaIPsychology (1939) 'TheWorld
pictures ofchildren', 18:65-101; Psychotherapy andPsychosomatics
and the publishers S. Karger A.G., Basel, Switzerland (1956)
'The structure of transference', published in Acta Psychother
apeutica Psychosomatica eOrthopaedagogica, 3:502-7.
