A Girl's Childhood : Psychological Development, Social Change, and The Yale Child Study Center

A uniquely detailed study of child development theory and practice in the post–World War II era Sixty years ago, a group of prominent psychoanalysts, developmentalists, pediatricians, and educators at the Yale Child Study Center joined together with the purpose of formulating a general psychoanalytic theory of children's early development. The group's members composed detailed narratives about their work with the study's children, interviewed families regularly and visited them in their homes, and over the course of a decade met monthly for discussion. The contributors to this volume consider the significance of the Child Study Center's landmark study from various perspectives, focusing particularly on one child's unfolding sense of herself, her gender, and her relationships. 60 Years Ago The Yale Child Study Center Planned To Formulate A General Psychoanalytic Theory Of Children's Early Development. The Group's Expert Members Composed Detailed Narratives About Their Work With The Study's Children, Interviewed Families Regularly And Visited Them In Their Homes, And Over The Course Of A Decade Met Monthly For Discussion. This Book Considers The Significance Of The Child Study Center's Landmark Study From Various Perspectives, Focusing Particularly On One Child's Unfolding Sense Of Herself, Her Gender, And Her Relationships. The Child And Family Life At Midcentury / Stephen Lassonde -- Thinking About Methods : Longitudinal Research And The Reorientation Of The Postwar American Mental Sciences / Andrew M. Fearnley -- The Longitudinal Study And Its Setting / David A. Carlson -- The Right Place (and Persons) At The Right Time / Linda C. Mayes -- Notes On Notes : Results Of The Yale Longitudinal Study, As Evidence For History And Psychology / Virginia Demos And John Demos -- Archiving The Records Of The Longitudinal Study Of The Child / Diane E. Kaplan -- Selected Process Notes And Research Summaries From The Yale Longitudinal Study / Linda C. Mayes And Stephen Lassonde -- Looking In And Seeing Out / Stephen Lassonde And Linda C. Mayes -- A Dynamic Biography, Based On Direct Observation And Psychoanalytic Treatment In The First Ten Years With Follow-up To Age Fifty-five / Samuel Ritvo Et Al., With A Foreword By David Ritvo And Afterword By Evelyn -- Back In The Day : Child Psychoanalytic Emphases In The Yale Longitudinal Study Psychotherapy Of Nancy Miles / T. Wayne Downey. Edited By Linda C. Mayes And Stephen Lassonde ; Foreword By Deborah Weinstein. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. CONTENTS 7 FOREWORD 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 17 Introduction 21 1. “The Child” and Family Life at Midcentury 32 2. Thinking about Methods: Longitudinal Research and the Reorientation of the Postwar American Mental Sciences 61 3. The Longitudinal Study and Its Setting 91 4. The Right Place (and Persons) at the Right Time 115 5. Notes on Notes: Results of the Yale Longitudinal Study, as Evidence for History and Psychology 140 6. Archiving the Records of the Longitudinal Study of the Child 153 7. Selected Process Notes and Research Summaries from the Yale Longitudinal Study 178 8. Looking In and Seeing Out 211 9. A Dynamic Biography, Based on Direct Observation and Psychoanalytic Treatment in the First Ten Years with Follow-up to Age Fifty-Five 230 10. Back in the Day: Child Psychoanalytic Emphases in the Yale Longitudinal Study Psychotherapy of “Nancy Miles” 279 ABOUT THE VOLUME EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS 317 INDEX 321 The contributors to this volume consider the significance of the Yale Child Study Center's notable mid-twentieth century project evaluation of children engaged actively in play, conversation, and reflection about their relations to family members, peers, and the significant adults in their lives (known as the Yale Longitudinal Study) from the perspectives of various disciplines. In the case study that is the primary focus of the book, they offer a compelling view of the way one child came to understand herself in relation to those around her. Her interactions with others reveal an unfolding sense of self and an increasing facility with the "tools" of her gender across the decade of the study, an era characterized by a highly gendered social order and a rapidly changing configuration of social class. Book jacket Sixty years ago, a group of prominent psychoanalysts, developmentalists, pediatricians, and educators at the Yale Child Study Center joined together with the purpose of formulating a general psychoanalytic theory of children’s early development. The group’s members composed detailed narratives about their work with the study’s children, interviewed families regularly and visited them in their homes, and over the course of a decade met monthly for discussion. The contributors to this volume consider the significance of the Child Study Center’s landmark study from various perspectives, focusing particularly on one child’s unfolding sense of herself, her gender, and her relationships.