Early Family Life Research Articles

Woodrow Wilson to 1902: A Review Essay

Compilation of the Wilson Papers began in 1958. Twelve volumes have thus far appeared, bringing the record to mid-1902. By that date, in his forty-sixth year, Wilson had reached the culmination of his career as professor and was about to assume the presidency of Princeton University. The Papers, chronologically arranged, record little prior to 1873 when, at age seventeen, Wilson entered Davidson College. Thus, since they reflect neither boyhood nor early youth-except the daydreams of a teenager who fancied himself now admiral, then general (of the British navy and army respectively) -they yield little against which to test the supposition of a stern, if loving, father, who exacted perfection from an admiring, though resentful, son. But neither is such supposition precluded. The Georges (Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House: A Personality Study, 1956) may be right in ascribing to Wilson a love-hate attitude toward his father and-in terms of subsequent bridling against threats to his ego-deducing therefrom a psychological explanation of th2 repetitive pattern of triumph followed by fiasco in his Princeton presidency, his governorship, and, finally, in his peacemaking. Though lacking in anecdotal accounts of early family life (for which Ray Stannard Baker's biography remains the chief source), the Papers, beginning with Wilson's year at Davidson, contain many letters from home, but regrettably without counterpart of Wilson's to his parents, since hardly any have survived (that of 16 December 1888 being the earliest among the very few exceptions). With Woodrow away from home, his health, comfort, and spirits were objects of a mother's solicitude, while of exceptional interest are the letters of Joseph Ruggles Wilson to his son. A minister, leader in the southern Presbyterian church, a man of intellect and wit, and of quick, forceful expression, the elder Wilson's letters portray an unusual relation between father and son. There is in these letters no suggestion of constraint or of reticence. Quite the opposite, the impression is of an unembarrassed opening of mind and heart. To be sure, the unabashed terms of affec-

Maternal deprivation reconsidered

THE concept of “maternal deprivation” is one that rapidly caught the imagination of both the general public and professional workers. It became widely accepted that severe distortions in a child’s early family life could have long-lasting effects on his later development, and “maternal deprivation” has been thought to be the cause of conditions as diverse as mental subnormality, delinquency, depression, dwarfism, acute distress and affectionless psychopathy l-1, 21. Most writers have recognized that the experiences covered by the term “maternal deprivation” are diverse and complex, but nevertheless there has been a tendency to regard both the experiences and the outcomes as one syndrome which can be discussed as a whole [3]. Thus, in Ainsworth’s critical review of the topic in 1962 [l], the term “deprivation” was repeatedly used in the summary of findings as if it were a single entity, although earlier in the paper she had indicated that it was not. Furthermore, in recent years theorists have been inclined to the view that most of the ills of deprivation are accountable for in terms of lack of an attachment to a mother-figure [l, 4, 5J.t The purpose of this paper is to question these assumptions. It will be suggested that “maternal deprivation” includes many different types of experiences involving lack, loss and distortion; that little progress is likely to occur until the separate effects of each experience are determined [6J; that different psychological mechanisms account for different types of outcome; and finally that the term “maternal deprivation” is misleading in that in most cases the deleterious influences are not specifically tied to the mother and are not due to deprivation. Reference to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary shows that deprivation means “dispossession” or “loss”. While loss is probably an important factor in one of the syndromes associated with “maternal deprivation” a review of the evidence suggests that in most cases the damage comes from “lack” or “distortion” of care rather than from any form of “loss”. As there are several reviews [l, 2, 6-121 which summarize the findings on the various effects of deprivation and several critiques [6, 13-151 which discuss the assets and deficits of the many studies of maternal deprivation, these aspects of the topic will not be considered here. Instead attention will be focussed on “why” and “how” children are adversely affected by those experiences included under the term “maternal deprivation”; I shall take for granted the extensive evidence that many children admitted to hospital or to a residential nursery show an immediate reaction of acute distress; that many infants show developmental retardation following admission to a poor quality institution and may exhibit intellectual impairment if they remain there for a long time; that there is an association between delinquency and broken homes; that affectionless psychopathy sometimes follows multiple separation experiences and institutional care in early childhood; and that dwarfism is particularly seen in children from rejecting and affectionless homes. The evidence on factors which modify the effects of deprivation has been discussed elsewhere [7] and this

The Chiropractic Physician: A Study of Career Contingencies

A career contingency model was used to identify a sequence and interaction process that provides one explanation of how and why certain individuals become chiropractors. The majority of these thirty practitioners not only had a role model influencing them in an early, adventitious career choice, but chiropractic was found to be a large part of their early family life. Most were involved in a serious illness or injury that was not treated successfully by an osteopathic or a medical doctor, but was by a chiropractic physician. This study suggests that the personal interest manifested by these chiropractors in their patients, and in people in general, may be one important difierentiation between chiropractors and the established medical profession.

Physical Society : Rutherford Memorial Lecture

THE fourth Rutherford Memorial Lecture of the Physical Society will be given by Dr. Ernest Marsden on Decenafber 14, at 5 p.m., at the Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, S.W.7. Dr. Marsden was formerly professor of physics at Victoria University College, Wellington, and until recently secretary of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research ; he is at present in London acting as scientific adviser to the High Commissioner of New Zealand and to the New Zealand Government. Dr. Marsden was closely associated with Rutherford in the experiments leading to the conception of the nuclear theory of atomic constitution and also in those leading to the demonstration of the disintegration of nitrogen by a-particles ; he has collected much information on the early family and student life of Lord Rutherford in New Zealand. His lecture will deal with some of these early memories and will show how Rutherford's inspiring personality influenced his research staff. A film will be shown entitled "Transformation of Elements", demonstrating the early experiments which led to the idea of the nuclear atom.

The Role of the Guest: A Study in Child Development

T I-IE IMPORTANCE of family and home experience in the child's development is recognized by all the sciences dealing with human behavior; much less attention has been given to the factors and processes involved. Particularly striking is the failure to study such an important factor as the role of the guest. What is the role of the guest in family life, with particular reference to the child's development? This article is a report on one phase of a larger study on the role of the guest. It is based on an analysis of 200 published autobiographies, to ascertain to what extent the authors made any reference to guests in their early home life or personal development. The only basis of selection was that the authors must have written to some extent of their early life. This particular use of autobiographical material in the study of behavior can be related to the discussions of Allport, Krueger, Burr, Murchison and others.1 Its use in the present study has a specific purpose, in addition to any other values inherent in it. This purpose is to show to what extent and in what ways persons, chiefly of distinction and intelligence, who survey in maturer years the scenes of their childhood, emphasize, without the promptings or suggestions of a research project, the role of the guest in their early family life and personal development. In other words, how do persons to whom the importance of a guest has not been suggested by questioners and questionnaires write of family guests in their early life development? It is believed that the answer to these questions is of value: first, as an indication of the importance which authors of autobiographies attach to the role of the guest; second, as a revelation of the ways in which the guest is considered to be important; and third, for the leads which it suggests for the personal interviews which constitute a subsequent part of a larger study.