A Hundred Years of Latency

Abstract

A focus on the latency phase is used to illustrate how theory and developmental research have influenced our psychoanalytic views of development over the past hundred years. Beginning with Freud's psychosexual theory and his conception of latency, an historical overview of the major psychoanalytic contributions bearing on this developmental period over the past century is presented. Recent longitudinal research in latency supports a nonlinear dynamic systems approach to development. This approach obliges us to reconsider our linear theories and how we think about and work with our patients.

The Development of Values in Middle Childhood: Five Maturation Criteria

“…However, recent work demonstrates that children have a meaningful understanding of values already at age 5 (Twito-Weingarten & Knafo-Noam, 2022). This gap may reflect a theoretical notion of middle childhood as a latency period, with little significant development (see Knight, 2014, for discussion). This leaves an intriguing question: What happens to values in middle childhood?…”