Abstract
In most books and papers about the separation process of infants and young children, the focus is on the relationship between parents and children. In this Viennese research about toddlers’ transitions from home care to day care, the impact of relational experiences became increasingly evident in the way young children experience, and work through, separation. Against that background observational material is used to describe interactions between observed children and caregivers as well as interactions between the children and their peers. The paper also discusses ways in which peer relationships were helpful or not for toddlers struggling with primitive anxieties and other strong feelings. The paper goes on to consider young child observation used as a single-case research tool in order to develop a more general theory. It takes into account endeavours to develop a theory already undertaken by Esther Bick and in many subsequent publications where observational material is discussed. Methodological investigations of this issue, however, are rare. The authors argue that the acceptability of using the Tavistock Observation Model as a research tool is supported by discussing its methodology.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful for the stimulating comments. The authors also want to thank Trudy Klauber for her editorial support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
2. On this point, see the volume edited by Urwin and Sternberg (Citation2012), which is entirely devoted to research matters. Relevant articles can also be found in the volumes by Rustin and Bradley (Citation2008), Diem-Wille (Citation2009, Citation2011), Diem-Wille and Turner (Citation2009, Citation2012) and Adamo and Rustin (Citation2014). Relating to point (1) see, for example, Lazar (Citation2000), M. J. Rustin (Citation2002, Citation2006), Elfer (Citation2011) and the dispute between Groarke (Citation2008, Citation2011) and M. J. Rustin (Citation2011a, Citation2011b). With reference to point (2) see, for example, Urwin (Citation2007) and Elfer (Citation2007, Citation2010, Citation2011, Citation2014).
3. These are the working group of the ‘Institute of Instructional and School Development’ of the ‘Alpen-Adria University in Klagenfurt’, directed by Gertraud Diem-Wille and by Agnes Turner (since 2012), and the research unit ‘Psychoanalysis and Education’ of the Department of Education at the University of Vienna, chaired by Wilfried Datler.
6. We are very grateful to Ellen Weizsaecker (Citation2010) for her committed contribution to this project and for her careful work in the single-case study she published.
7. The first number after the date indicates the number of the observation from which the quotation is taken. The number after the slash refers to the page of the report from which the passage has been extracted.
8. With reference to psychoanalytic and developmental-psychological theories, it was assumed that the transitional processes from home care to out-of-home day care is experienced by infants and young children as a painful process of separation, so that the transition can be considered to be successful if a child succeeds, alone or with someone’s assistance, in (1) experiencing and expressing pleasure and enjoyment in their new care environment; (2) exploring and investigating situations in their new environment with interest; and (3) taking part in interactions with peers and adults.
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Funding
This paper is based on the research project ‘Toddlers’ Adjustment to Out-of-Home Care’, financed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and run by Wilfried Datler (Department of Education/Research Unit ‘Psychoanalysis and Education’) in cooperation with Lieselotte Ahnert (Department of Developmental Psychology) at the University of Vienna. Members of the research team were Nina Hover-Reisner (project coordination), Katharina Ereky-Stevens, Tina Eckstein-Madry, Antonia Funder, Maria Fürstaller, Michael Wininger, Margit Datler, Tamara Katschnig and Gregor Kappler. For further information see:
http://www.univie.ac.at/wiki-projekt/?section=home
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