Thinking About Children [Hardcover]

D. W. Winnicott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 1996

A lifetime of thinking about the nature of the child and the origins of human nature is distilled in this single rich volume. D. W. Winnicott is increasingly recognized as one of the giants of psychoanalysis whose influence, not only in the behavioral sciences but also in literary and cultural studies, continues to grow. He is represented here in the full scope of his insights, observations, and clinical experience.Of the work included, which covers over forty years of his writing, only three essays have previously been published in book form. Ranging from his extraordinarily observant case histories to landmark theoretical advances, Thinking About Children covers issues of enduring interest such as autism, adoption, early infant development, psychosomatic problems, and family relationships. Winnicott’s empathy and wit burst through in each chapter, while his deep understanding of the unity of mother and baby, of mind and body, prefigures some of the newest concepts in medicine and psychology.A comprehensive bibliography of all Winnicott’s writings, together with a helpful introductory analysis of the place of individual concepts in the development of his thought, make this book indispensable to those who know Winnicott’s work and an ideal introduction to those who have not experienced the astonishing clarity and depth of his thought.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Winnicott (1896-1971) was a British pediatrician, psychoanalyst, theorist, and clinician renowned for his theories on child development. His Therapeutic Consultations in Child Psychiatry (Basic, 1971) and others are considered standard works. Here, the editors have compiled over 30 of Winnicott's essays originating as lectures, talks, reports, letters, and papers between 1930 and 1970. According to the book's list of original sources, fewer than ten of the essays have been published elsewhere. The wide range of topics, e.g., sleep refusal, delinquents, skin sensation, adoption, and autism, are related to various stages of development from infancy through early adolescence. Written in nontechnical language and addressing several topics, this book treats subjects with less depth than the author's more focused works. A good overview of Winnicott's observations and thinking for libraries with comprehensive collections in psychoanalysis or child development.?Carol R. Nelson, Ball State Univ. Lib., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Thirty-two mostly short, previously uncollected papers and talks by the pioneering British pediatrician and psychoanalyst, who died in 1971. Influenced by both Anna Freud and Melanie Klein, Winnicott is deeply interested in ``the whole field of infant and child development and of the distortions of development that are either psychogenic or else secondary to various kinds of physical disorder.'' A founder of the British object relations school of psychoanalysis, he deviated from Freud's emphasis on individual psychosexual development to focus on the ``infant-mother constellation.'' (There is little here on the influence of the father, or of siblings, on a child's development.) He urges understanding and tolerance for the full range of children's emotional needs, including the expression of aggressiveness and hatred. And in contrast to some of his psychoanalytical colleagues, Winnicott also strives to sympathize with (rather than merely blame) parents whose children are undergoing great emotional difficulties. For example, with a fine understanding that seems the product of his half-century of pediatric work, he notes in one of three pieces on autism that the ``parents of autistic children are puzzled, and lonely, and potentially loaded up with guilt feelings, and yet they have to go on caring for these children whatever the cause.'' Unfortunately, only about half of these essays should have been preserved in book form; many of the rest deal with the kind of technical, even esoteric, medical or psychological issues that will interest only a relatively few specialists. Others are dated (e.g., a book review from 1930), while still others have the overly chatty, somewhat run-on style of unedited talks. Ray Shepherd, Jennifer Johns, and Helen Taylor Robinson provide an informative and fluidly written, if somewhat cursory, introduction to Winnicott's thought. This collection by an unquestionably seminal thinker and practitioner should be selectively dipped into, rather than read straight through. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (June 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201407000
• ISBN-13: 978-0201407006
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic papers by a great, humane doctor, April 30, 2000

By 

Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thinking About Children (Paperback)

This is wide-ranging collection of Winnicott's writings on assorted topics of childhood and adolescence. It is especially important as a set of historic writings. His kindness and intelligence prevails. Winnicott was a child psychoanalyst with an especially tender heart, and his love of children, and respect for the efforts of families - often against unnerving odds - is obvious. However, it should be noted that some of his theories, while advanced in good faith and respected at the time they were introduced, have been disproven over the years. For example, enuresis (bed-wetting) is now known to be something that psychoanalysis does not "cure." (It is often inherited, and afflicted children outgrow it, period.) His articles on adolescence, written more than thirty years ago, are not "current," but still valuable. Winnicott's discussion of autism, while humane and well-meaning and enlightened for its time, is also somewhat off the mark, in light of contemporary findings on autism. Nonetheless, there is much that is valuable in this collection of papers. "The Niffle," with its report on a discussion about God that a small boy has with his father, reminds the reader again that Winnicott was not only capable of great love and understanding, but of awe.

Definitely worth reading.