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Jame's Robertson, his work on separated children in hospitals

5 replies

ElenorRigby · 20/05/2009 16:10

Anyone heard of this guy. He was a psychoanalyst and associate of Bowlby. He did work looking at the effect of separation of children from their parent's when children went into hospital in the 1950's. In those days parents could not stay with their children overnight and visiting hours very restricted. This continued into the 1970's in some hospitals.
He made a film of a 2yo girl called Laura in 1952. From wikipedia
"Laura, aged 2, is in hospital for 8 days to have a minor operation. She is too young to understand her mother's absence. Because her mother is not there and the nurses change frequently, she has to face the fears, frights and hurts with no familiar person to cling to. She is extremely upset by a rectal anaesthetic. Then she becomes quiet and "settles". But at the end of her stay she is withdrawn from her mother, shaken in her trust."
Just wondering if anyone knows of work in this field...

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moopymoo · 20/05/2009 16:14

looked at some of this when I studied attachment theory - but focused mainly on bowlby. imo a lot of the work is interesting but a bit disquieting and it would be unethical to study children in this way today. what are you looking to find out?

ElenorRigby · 20/05/2009 16:22

It's something I always wondered about moopymoo. When I was 3 I was hospitalised for 6 weeks, miles away from my parents in the 1970's. I would like to know more about the study and if any more work has been done on the effects such separation has had on people as adults.

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Milliways · 20/05/2009 16:25

My mum wasn't allowed to see me until the day after a major operation when I was 7. It was quite nasty waking up, feeling a lot of pain, not really understanding the armpit to toes plaster cast, and not having my Mum!

She was allowed in for visitors hour only, and any sweets bought in were put in the pot to be shared on the ward.

moopymoo · 20/05/2009 16:34

the film is 'a two year old goes to hospital' just had a look and i cant find it o youtube. I would be wary of exploring by yourself too far if it something that is around for you today. in my (limited) experience of work with adults who have differing degrees of attachement disorder, it would be how the reintegration into the family took place that had the more lasting effect - if this was a rare time in a lifetime of securely attached parenting then it would be less damaging than if the home circumstances reinforced separation feelings. It would be a great thing to work on in counselling though - I am a great beleiver in using counselling to safely explore these sort of things that we carry around with us. hth

moopymoo · 20/05/2009 16:35

i dont seem to be able to spell today. heyho!

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