Individual meaning and increasing complexity: Contributions of Sigmund Freud and René Spitz to developmental psychology.

Abstract

This chapter highlights contributions of two psychoanalytic pioneers-Sigmund Freud and Re& Spitz (1887-1974)-to developmental psychology. Although more than a generation apart, their lives crossed in a way that left the younger man feeling a deep sense of intellectual continuity with the investigative spirit of his predecessor. Freud is known as the founder of psychoanalysis, but today's reader may find surprise in the extent to which his contributions frame a good deal of our contemporary developmental thinking. Spitz, closer to our time, applied Freud's approaches to observations and on-the-spot experiments with infants. His contributions are more accessible to us, and, because they are more recent, they may be more difficult to evaluate in historical perspective.

The impending death of psychoanalysis.

“…This approach involves repudiating psychoanalysis as it is currently conceptualized, allowing the theory to die altogether, and waiting to see which psychoanalytic concepts reemerge in other domains of psychologytransformed, renamed, refrained, and renewed. Emde (1992) and others have noted how psychoanalytic concepts have had a powerful (albeit subtle and often unacknowledged) influence on contemporary developmental theory. Similar arguments have been made regarding social cognition research (Westen, 1991) and cognitive models of mental processing without awareness (Bornstein & Pittman, 1992).…”

Towards the Incorporation of Forgiveness Therapy in Healing the Complex Trauma of Parental Incarceration

“…The physical and emotional deprivation associated with parental imprisonment appears consistent with Spitz's anaclitic depression (Reis and Grenyer 2002). The failure of object relations associated with the separation from a love object brought about by parental incarceration, may frequently lead to excessive interpersonal concerns among children including intense feelings of loneliness and dread of total abandonment (Emde 1992;Emde et al 1965). Bowlby (1969Bowlby ( , 1973Bowlby ( , 1981 in his classic attachment and loss trilogy described intra and interpersonal dynamics related to mourning and grief that appear very much in keeping with those experienced by minor children who are separated from their parents through imprisonment.…”

Historical Perspectives on Contemporary Research in Social Development

“…Although interest in these phenomena was apparent from the earliest research on psychological development, no history of social development as a coherent fi eld of inquiry has previously appeared. Rather, existing historical accounts have addressed particular research topics (e.g., Eisenberg, 2002 ;Hartup & Laursen, 1999 ;Maccoby, 1992aMaccoby, , 1992bModell & Elder, 2002 ), the contributions of infl uential researchers (e.g., Arnett & Cravens, 2006 ;Cahan, 2003 ;Cairns, 1992 ;Emde, 1992 ;Grusec, 1992 ;Horowitz, 1992 ;White, 1992 ), and institutions and organizations that have shaped social development research (e.g., Hartup, Johnson, & Weinberg, 2002 ;Sears, 1975 ;Senn, 1975 ). This chapter aims to distill from these disparate efforts a historical perspective on contemporary research in the fi eld.…”