Melanie Klein and infant observation

Abstract

The author (the late Susan Sherwin-White) uses evidence of Melanie Klein’s interest in babies and young children in unpublished notes in the archive as well as her publications. Klein uses her observations to infer what happens in children’s minds and their internal worlds. She used her findings alongside her analyses of children to develop her ‘theoretical conclusions’ about psychic development from the earliest weeks of life. Her revolutionary developments of psychoanalytic theory have been wrongly attributed to her dominant interest in internal life and the character of babies and children without very much attention to external reality. This ground-breaking paper makes it clear that Klein was extremely interested in what could be seen and felt by close observation of their behaviour and play; she repeatedly emphasized the importance of consistent, loving care in healthy development. The author’s meticulous research gives a fascinating and enlightening account of Klein’s interest in the links she perceived between the way children were treated and their happiness, ability to trust and to develop well. This posthumous paper is a wonderful addition to our knowledge of Klein’s understanding of primitive mental states and of the significance of the contribution of both external and internal factors to healthy development.