Normal Family Life Research Articles

Winifred Wagner oder Hitlers Bayreuth

Hamann, Brigitte. Winifred Wagner oder Hitlers Bayreuth. Munchen: Piper, 2002. 688 pp. euro26.90 hardcover. Having completed her highly acclaimed study of Hitler's early years in Vienna (Hitlers Wien. Lehrjahre eines Diktators), Brigitte Hamann was looking for a vantage point from which she could train the lens of Alltagsgeschichte on the succeeding stages of Hitler's career. She could not have seized upon a more suitable and rewarding subject than the life of Winifred Wagner. It takes the observer into the eye of the storm and offers us glimpses, strikingly vivid and intimate, of the functioning of the Third Reich. No other group of people, not even his old comrades, was allowed to come as close to him as Winnie and her four children were. They sat on his knees and called him uncle Wolf; after their own father's death, they came to regard him as their substitute father-no one more fervently than Wieland, the composer's grandson and heir apparent. To the extent that Hitler had any need for the warmth of a normal family life, he experienced it at Bayreuth, where he stopped more frequently between 1923 and 1940 than anyone had realized. It is no exaggeration to say that Winifred may be regarded as a key figure for the understanding of social and cultural history in 20th century Germany. To produce an adequate account of this paradigmatic figure, access to primary sources is crucial. In this regard, like many scholars before her, Hamann ran into some major road blocks. Access to materials under the control of Wolfgang Wagner was granted only selectively, even though he originally had proposed to Hamann to write a biography of his mother. Winifred's letters to Wieland were withheld by Wieland's descendents. Most importantly, however, the voluminous papers of both Siegfried and Winifred, including personal letters by Hitler and other Nazi bigwigs, remain locked away in the safe of a Munich bank. The precise nature of Hitler's entanglement with the Wagners won't be known, therefore, until those archival treasures are made available. The Wagners, in contrast to the Mann family, are notorious for this practice of stonewalling; it merely continues a Tradition der Verhinderung (364), for which primarily Winifred must be held responsible and about which Hamann, as any historian would, writes with a good deal of bitterness. Normally, such denial of access would be fatal to any serious scholarly work. Not so in this particular case because there exists a great deal of primary sources scattered in various places that is accessible. Furthermore, there are local and national newspapers, published and unpublished memoirs, and, last but not least, Hans Jurgen Syberberg's legendary 1975 film interview with Winifred, expertly analyzed here by Hamann. It is a measure of her caliber as a researcher that she located an impressive array of unpublished sources, such as letters, diaries, and memos. Chief among them are the uncensored papers of Friedelind, the rebellious daughter and author of a controversial memoir about her life at Wahnfried; the lively letters of Lieselotte Schmidt, a picture book Nazi who, until her death in 1938, served as Winifred's secretary and helped with the upbringing of the children; the diaries of Gertrud Strobel, archivist at Wahnfried; and countless letters to sundry friends by Winifred, who was a tireless and refreshingly frank letter writer. The narrative that Brigitte Hamann has woven from this rich, not infrequently juicy material can only be characterized as absorbing. Her sober-minded biography of Winifred is devoid of rhetorical exhibitionism and authorial vanity-devoid also of cumbersome theoretical reflections. Hamann's style is unpedantic; she wears her scholarship lightly despite the nearly two-and-a-half thousand notes which are extremely laconic, sometimes too much so. Only on rare, but well-timed occasions does she step forward to offer a critical comment in her own voice. But the intellectual discipline of a conscientious historian is in evidence throughout, even when she merely appears to be piecing together shreds of evidence. …

Important aspects of care and assistance for children 0-7 years of age being treated for cancer. Parent and nurse perceptions.

Aspects of care and assistance that are important for children aged 0-7 years who are being treated for cancer were examined. Parents ( N=57) and nurses ( N=59) were asked: "What caring aspects are important in ensuring that your child/the child feels cared for?" and "What help, if any, does your child/the child need outside the hospital?". Data were analysed by content analysis. The following aspects of care were identified: amusement, clinical competence, continuity, emotional support, family participation, honest communication, information, participation in decision making, satisfaction of basic needs, social competence, the parents are well cared for, and time. Parents most frequently mentioned social competence and amusement, while nurses most frequently mentioned continuity and information. The following aspects of assistance were identified: accessible care, amusement, emotional support, family life, meeting friends, normal life, practical support, rehabilitation and school support. At least a third of the children did not need any assistance, according to parents and nurses. Parents most frequently mentioned family life, meeting friends and practical support. Nurses most frequently mentioned normal life and family life. Taken together, the results indicate that not only a family but many more people need to be involved to help children with cancer to be cured not only in a biological but also a psychosocial sense.

Long-term results of hemipelvis reconstruction with allografts.

Thirteen patients underwent pelvic reconstruction by massive allografts after resection of a malignant tumor (primary in 10 patients and metastatic in three patients). In 10 patients, the tumor involved the acetabulum and iliac wing and was reconstructed by a hemipelvic allograft; this was accompanied by a hip arthroplasty in nine of the patients. In three patients, a femoral metaphyseal tumor extending to the acetabulum was reconstructed by a total acetabular allograft and a composite proximal femoral allograft prosthesis. Two patients (20%) had a local recurrence, and one patient died of massive pulmonary embolism. Postoperative complications were one infection and two dislocations. At 3 years, one cup loosening and one acetabular fatigue fracture required surgery. The functional result was excellent in two patients whose gluteal muscles could be spared, good (allowing a normal family life) in six patients, fair in two patients, and poor in two patients. Seven patients had a Musculoskeletal Tumor Society rating greater than 60% of normal (the mean rating in 12 patients was 56.4%). No evidence of long-term deterioration was seen in the patients with the longest followups (7, 8, 10, and 14 years). Reconstruction of the hemipelvis with massive allografts and arthroplasty is a rewarding but demanding procedure and should be reserved for physically active patients who are in good general health and are expected to have a response to anticancer therapy. The procedure is particularly suitable for patients with primary tumors.

Comment les parents apprécient-ils un hôpital de jour en oncologie pédiatrique

The aim of this study was to assess parental opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of a pediatric oncology day hospital (DH) so that the structure can be better adapted to the children's needs and parents' expectations, and provide a potentially valid alternative to conventional hospitalization (CH). Over a 15-days period, 39 parents of children treated at a DH were approached and asked to fill in a questionnaire on their opinion of the advantages and disadvantages of a DH compared to a CH. The results of this survey were significant. The majority of parents preferred the DH to the CH (69% versus 15%). The illness was perceived as being less severe; and as the child was not continually in the CH context, he/she was able to forget the illness and the hospital to some extent, and was therefore not as anxious. The DH appeared to be better adapted to the child's needs and facilitated the pursuit of normal family life and everyday activities, but imposed constraints on social and professional activities. On the other hand, the CH provided a reassuring treatment context including more comprehensive information, and in particular a better integration of the child and careful monitoring of the disease within the oncology department, and closer relations between the different parents visiting the hospital. In spite of the high preference rate for the DH, in some instances certain disadvantages could outweigh the advantages, e.g., fatigue due to journeys to and from the hospital, or living too far away from the DH; a lack of punctuality, which meant that the parents were unable to plan their day with any certainty; insufficient comfort (noise, a limited number of rooms available); inadequate information; a lack of privacy; and the anxiety connected with having to assume too much responsibility. Overall, it was concluded that the parents appeared to appreciate the aims of the DH (i.e., limiting the treatment constraints imposed on the patient and on the parents themselves, thereby maintaining the quality of family life, assuring adequate treatment, reducing cost of treatment). However, the authors consider that the DH has to be organized in such a way that it takes into account the following: the social aspects, i.e., living conditions, parents' social, economic and professional status; parents' and children's psychological traits, expectations; and access to a local care system. The DH should also have sufficient means and staff at its disposal. Without taking these factors into consideration, the DH and other alternatives to the CH will not be able to adequately care for the patients, or meet the parents' expectations, and may even have a negative effect on the family.

Neurosurgery in Victoria, Australia: training and practice compared with the United Kingdom

In the UK there are currently great changes taking place in both higher surgical training and consultant practice. Australia inherited the British system, many aspects of which it retains, but has moved to a US type training programme. Recent experience of British and Australian neurosurgical practice allows useful comparisons to be made with possible benefit to both. Neurosurgery in Australia is a more consultant based service than that in the UK, with 73 consultants for a population of 18 million. Consultants work primarily from their private rooms and consultant numbers in the public sector are misleading as few of them approach full time. Neurosurgical training is organized on a national basis with a finite training programme. This consists of a rotation of different jobs supplemented by consultant led lectures and tutorials. Training is regularly monitored, with a final exit examination.The disadvantages are the relative lack of operating whilst training, many neurosurgeons becoming accredited with the personal operating experience expected of a British registrar; and the working hours; most trainees work 1 in 1, which precludes any sort of normal family life. In summary, the relative strengths of the British and Australian systems are largely complementary, there being ample scope for each to learn from the other.

Clarifying the concept of normalization.

To refine and develop the concept of normalization. While firsthand accounts, clinical observation, and numerous studies suggest that parents of children with chronic conditions often strive to lead a normal family life, the distinguishing characteristics of normalization need to be understood before evaluating the feasibility and consequences. Conceptualizing these efforts as normalization, researchers have identified cognitive and behavioral strategies used by parents to normalize family life. A total of 33 articles representing 14 studies were selected through computer-assisted searches of the topic from 1966-1997, hand searches of nursing journals from 1970-1997, and analysis of reference lists. Key words in the searches included: adaptation, psychological; chronic disease; disabled persons; family; child; adolescence; parent-child relations; models, psychological; and nursing theory. Articles (N = 19) that applied and expanded the concept comprised the sample used in the analysis. A normalization construct was used. Attributes for normalization were inductively derived based on the most recent methods for refining and developing concepts, with special attention to how family and illness affect manifestations of normalization. The attributes identified in 1986 remained relevant, but required revision and expansion to reflect a contemporary understanding of normalization. Unique manifestations of normalization were identified within certain illness and family contexts. Knowledge synthesized from previous studies can enhance how normalization is used in future qualitative and quantitative research and in theory development. Findings indicate the need for researchers to build on the current state of knowledge and continue to further develop the concept. Understanding the findings can also sensitize clinicians to the complex process of normalizing when a child has a chronic condition.

Psychosocial work environment and mental health among travelling salespeople

Travelling salespeople have a rather unusual working environment, with long periods of absence from their firm and a low level of social contacts with colleagues. Furthermore, they are exposed to high demands in their work, which may conflict with a normal family life. In this paper a cross-sectional study of psychosocial work environment and mental health of Danish travelling salespeople is described. A sample of 1,306 travelling salespeople filled in a questionnaire (response rate 68%). The results indicate that poor mental health is associated with a number of demand indicators: number of working hours per week, number of customers per week, non-day work, and a high level of perceived job demands. On the other hand, the number of hours spent with customers per week is positively associated with mental health. The authors did not find the expected associations between poor mental health and several factors such as number of hours away from firm, nights away from home, and a low degree of perceived support from colleagues and superiors. It is concluded that the main stressors of travelling salespeople are long working hours, many customers, non-day work and high perceived psychological demands in general.

Medical Marriages: Promises and Problems-Reply

In Reply. —It is ironic that we received the Kellys' response to our article on the same day that we witnessed the demise of yet another young medical marriage. This couple's story was painfully familiar. Filled with positive intentions and expectations, they married during his third year of medical school. All went reasonably well for the first 2 years, but her resentment of his prolonged absences during his clinical years of training increased. Residency brought the hope of a more normal family life. But 3 years, 1 child, and too many missed family events later she proclaimed that the marriage had been a mistake. did not get married to spend my life alone. I don't care if you are a doctor. My question is what kind of husband and father will you be? The answer is 'not good enough.' I want a divorce. Our attempts to get this wife to reconsider

High functioning autistic children and the construction of “normal family life”

This study examines the social construction of normal family life among the parents of children with high functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome. The meaning of the concept of normal family life is reviewed, and a constructionist perspective is employed to understand the parents' evaluations of their families. The results present a description of the factors used as evidence for or against family normality and the variations in such perceptions according to the gender of the parent and the child's autistic symptoms.

Holding On: Parents' Perceptions of Premature Infants' Transfers

To describe parents' perceptions of their infants' transfers within a regional system of perinatal care. Qualitative; grounded theory methodology. Interviews were conducted in an office adjacent to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), in an intermediate care unit (IMCU), and in the homes of parents. Fifteen parents of premature infants were recruited and interviewed during the 3 days before their infants were transferred from a NICU to an IMCU or home. The 15 parents were interviewed again during the 5 days after the initial interview to learn their feelings about the transfer. After consent was obtained, unstructured interviews were recorded and transcribed. Analyses of the data were ongoing, and the second interviews with parents were more focused. Parents identified four phases that described their transfer experience. Within the four phases, four categories were identified to depict parents experiences further. The core category of holding on reflected the belief that transfer home would become a reality and normal family life eventually would ensue. Nurses in NICUs and IMCUs have a responsibility to educate the parents of infants at high risk. Nurses sensitive to parental perceptions of neonatal transfer can better facilitate a positive transfer experience.

The Indispensable Man

The Indispensable Man Mark O. Hatfield (bio) Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. By Nelson Mandela. Little, Brown, 1994. 558 pp. On 10 May 1994, South Africa held celebrations to mark the inauguration of the first president it had ever chosen through nonracial elections. The new president was Nelson Mandela, a 75-year-old black man who decades earlier had initiated an armed struggle against the white-controlled apartheid regime and spent 10,000 days in prison for his revolutionary activities. His release from this long captivity in February 1990 marked the beginning of the end of apartheid. This memoir is Mandela’s own story, tracing his life from boyhood to the leadership of the outlawed African National Congress (ANC), the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize that he shared with then-President Frederik W. de Klerk, and the presidency. Mandela had earlier put his story on paper, only to have it confiscated when construction workers accidentally uncovered its hiding place. The present volume, written and published after his 1990 release, gracefully and reflectively combines an account of his life with the larger story of the growth of the revitalized ANC and the efforts of nonwhite South Africans to claim the freedom so long denied them. He describes the larger aspects of the struggle against apartheid, always emphasizing that it was a collaborative effort bringing together vast numbers of people, while retaining the essential human tone and singular outlook of an autobiographer. Some passages are as striking as they are simple, such as the sentence where he tells of being allowed to embrace his wife after 21 years of enforced physical separation. [End Page 165] Mandela’s narrative takes us back beyond the already-familiar terrain of his later public career, into the world of black South Africa and its tribal history. Born in a small village in the Xhosa-speaking southeastern region of Transkei in 1918, Mandela was groomed—as his father had been before him—to serve as a counselor to the rulers of the Thembu tribe. His domestic ties were strong—Mandela ruefully notes how often his work as a freedom fighter deprived him of any possibility of a normal family life—and his education extensive. He attended University College of Fort Hare, an institution founded by Scottish missionaries that was the only residential center of higher learning available to blacks in South Africa. Later he read law at the University of Witwatersrand, completing his course of studies in 1942. It was at school, Mandela observes, where he learned that the simple freedoms of his provincial, rural boyhood were an illusion: the harsh truth was that he and all South Africans of color were shut out of the political system and denied fundamental rights. While living in Johannesburg, Mandela gravitated to the three-decade-old ANC, which he joined in 1944. It was not long before Mandela and other rising young figures like Walter Sisulu and Mandela’s law partner Oliver Tambo began to mount a militant challenge to the ANC’s aging leadership. Unhappy with the passive-protest strategy of past years, the younger men began to orchestrate strikes and publicly denounce the official policy and ideology of apartheid, or racial separation, that the National Party (NP) government of Prime Minister D.F. Malan elaborated in a string of measures starting in 1948 and stretching into the early 1960s under successive NP cabinets. For Mandela, the essential principles of the long struggle for freedom are to be found in the ANC’s 1955 Freedom Charter, which emphasizes nonracialism, liberty, and individual rights. First arrested and imprisoned in 1952 for his role in the “Defiance Campaign” of nonviolent civil disobedience directed against apartheid laws, Mandela was free in time to take part in the deliberations that led up to the drafting and presentation of the Charter. The official response was the arrest on charges of high treason of 156 antiapartheid activists in late 1956. For the next four and a half years, Mandela and his colleagues were in the dock, with Mandela himself acting as defense counsel for the final year of this “Treason Trial.” When the court at last found the defendants not guilty in...

An End to Institutionalization?

Although welfare services for children in Hong Kong are well provided for, in comparison with other countries in the region, much still has to be done. This paper describes the development of foster care and small group homes and critically examines attempts to end the institutionalization of children. It offers suggestions as to how improvements can be made in the service to ensure a more normal family life for children in substitute care.

Evidence of Radiation-Induced Reduction of Height and Body Weight from Repeated Measurements of Adults Exposed in Childhood to the Atomic Bombs

Reduction of growth from exposure to atomic bomb radiation has been examined using individuals under 10 years old at the time of the bombing (ATB) and a growth curve analysis based on measurements of height and weight made in the course of the 4th-7th cycles of the Adult Health Study examinations (1964-1972). As expected, the largest difference in growth to emerge is between males and females. However, a highly significant reduction of growth associated with dose (DS86) was observed among those survivors for whom four repeated measurements of height and weight were available. Longitudinal analysis of a more extended data set (n = 821), using expected values based on simple linear regression models fitted to the three available sets of measurements of height and weight on the 254 individuals with a missing measurement, also indicates a significant radiation-related growth reduction. The possible contribution of such factors as poor nutrition and disruption of normal family life in the years immediately after the war is difficult to evaluate, but the effects of socioeconomic factors on the analysis of these data are discussed.

Science and family in the great embryo debate.

The public debate following the Warnock Report has furnished the interpretative context in which embryo research and the technology of assisted reproduction have begun to be institutionalised in Britain. Social scientists have been quick to examine this debate and to assess how far it has fostered changes in the established patterns of, and ideals of, kinship and family relationships. In the present study documentary evidence is used to argue that the central theme of the public debate was not so much the new forms of social parenthood made possible by assisted reproduction, on which analysts have tended to concentrate, as the supposed threat to the continuation of ordinary family life posed by what many people saw as the creation of real, living persons outside the kinship system. Widespread controversy over this issue was generated by the existence of long-standing and contrasting definitions of family membership. Nevertheless, all the major groupings involved in the controversy justified their views and their practical proposals by linking them to the maintenance of the conventional, small scale, heterosexual family unit. Thus the overall effect of the public debate has not been to promote widespread consideration of new kinship patterns, but to ensure that the research and technology of assisted reproduction have been accepted and bureaucratically organised as social practices consonant with a conservative ideal of normal family life.

The physical, psychological, and socioeconomic costs of pediatric trauma.

This prospective study examined the physical, psychological, and socioeconomic effects of injuries on children and their immediate families. Ninety-two injured children admitted with minor (ISS less than 16) or major (ISS greater than or equal to 16) injuries were compared with a control group of 59 children admitted during the same period with acute appendicitis. The two populations were similar in mean age, sex ratio, parental age and work status, and number of siblings. The parents of the injured children had a lower level of education than those of the controls. Fifty-four percent of the minor injury patients and 71% of the major injury patients had persistent physical limitations at 12 months in contrast to none of the controls. Thirty-eight percent of minor injury patients had pre-existing behavioral disturbances compared with 14% of major injury patients and 10% of controls. Behavioral disturbances among major trauma patients showed a sharp rise to 41% at 12 months and tended to persist in cases with continuing physical limitations. The major injury patients and those with significant head injuries exhibited a decrease in academic performance; minor injury patients and those without head injury showed no change. Maternal malaise rose sharply to about 40% in both injury groups in contrast to 7% in the controls and was more common in the presence of persistent physical limitations. Only 73% of families in the major injury group had returned to normal family life compared with 87% of the minor injury group and 100% of controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The Reaction of the Family to the Institutionalization of an Elderly Member: Factors Influencing Adjustment and Suggestions for Easing the Transition to a New Life Phase

The institutionalization of an elderly person is a crisis for the family. Using case illustrations, this article presents three major factors affecting family reactions and adjustment (the expectations of society, family roles and expectations, and the impact of the move upon daily family life), suggests that nursing home placement be viewed as a step in the normal family life cycle, and discusses ways in which rituals could be used to ease the tradition to the post-placement phase of the family.

Return to normalcy: Nutrition and feeding practices in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

While Cambodian society continues its slow recovery from a decade of war and trauma, the longer‐term consequences of the human losses and disruption of normal family life experienced during the 1970's on child nutrition and feeding practices are unknown. The study assessed the anthropometric status of 379 children from birth to 35 months in the Municipality of Phnom Penh; examined breast‐feeding, supplementary feeding practices and dietary composition; analysed the nutrient content of infant foods, and attempted to measure the influence of four different physical and socio‐economic environments on child nutritional status. Nutritional status varied according to urban environment (weight‐for‐age 0.0<0.05); weight‐for‐height (p <0.01). Densely populated urban zones showed the lowest rates for malnutrition, peripheral industrial zones the highest; low density urban and rural areas showed intermediate rates. Levels of maternal education and daily food expenditures varied with nutritional status and may explai...

Effects of migration on family structure.

This paper examines the situation and problems of migration on family structure, with emphasis on family reunification. The study is based on conditions and practices in Western Europe and Mediterranean countries relating to temporary labor migration. Most migrant workers have no intention of settling permanently and return to their country within a few years. The International Labour Office estimated in 1974 that at least 1/2 the migrant workers in Western Europe live without their families. Generally, migrants send for their families only when they are employed, earning adequate wages, and have adequate housing. Some reasons why migrants live apart from their families include 1) the receiving country discourages family immigration because it does not coincide with the economic necessities of migration policy and 2) some sending countries discourage it to ensure that the migrant worker returns to his own country. The main danger arising from family separation is that it frequently leads to the break up of the family. The leading European authorities recognize as a fundamental right the freedom of a migrant worker and his family to lead a normal family life in the receiving country. The author outlines the conditions for admission for residence and employment of migrant spouses and children for the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. All countries require that the head be in regular employment for some time and be able to provide his family with suitable housing. Other problems concerning the arrival of migrant spouses and children include 1) acquiring employment and social information and counseling, 2) education of children, 3) obtaining vocational training and adaptation and 4) achieving entitlement to social security benefits. The effects of migration in the family context in sending countries include 1) providing activities for migrants to maintain cultural links with their countries of origin and 2) acquiring the nationality of the receiving countries. Countries should facilitate the admission to employment of migrant spouses and children, by maintaining provisions for the reuniting of families and imposing no limits on admission to residence; and 2) by overcome obstacles to admission to employment, by observing existing recommendations. In conclusion, governments should give family cohesion 1st priority, regardless of regulations.

Dilatation, compensatory growth, or both after pneumonectomy during childhood and adolescence: A thirty-year follow-up study

The ventilatory function of 230 patients with pneumonectomy, performed at ages ranging from 2 to 40 years, has been followed for more than 30 years (mean 33 years). We have tried to analyze whether the available data gave information about the nature and the mechanisms adapting the remaining lung to the larger than normal pleural space and about the persistence of this adaptation in the longer term. There were 32 patients with a persistent, disturbed forced expiration (mean 50% of vital capacity). This group of patients was excluded from the study to answer the above questions, because the subdivisions of the total lung capacity in this group differed significantly from those in the group of 98 patients with a normal forced expiratory volume of 72% (mean) of vital capacity. The data of the 98 patients, who were subdivided into seven age groups at the time of pneumonectomy, permitted the following conclusions: In the youngest age group (0 to 5 years), the ventilatory capacity is hardly smaller than the predicted capacity for two lungs; this suggests that compensatory growth by way of hyperplasia might have been the most important adaptive mechanism in this group. In the age group 6 to 20 years, a significant difference is still found as compared to the group of patients operated on at an older age; this difference indicates that in this period compensatory growth, possibly mainly simple hypertrophy, still played an important but gradually decreasing role. The fact that the effect of the adaptational mechanisms could be observed more than 30 years after ablation of one lung, without loss in quality of function (i.e., forced expiratory volume constituting a normal percentage of the vital capacity), indicates that the adaptive mechanisms also compensate for the loss in lung tissue in the longer term. A striking finding was the stability of the tidal volume/functional residual capacity ratio, which, especially in the younger age groups, was very close to the predicted value for two lungs. This finding is in agreement with the fact that most persons with a healthy remaining lung lead a normal family and social life after pneumonectomy.

Dimensions of naturally occurring mother-infant separations during the first year of life

The goals of this paper are (1) to introduce a methodology developed to study mother-infant separations that occur in the context of normal family life, including but going beyond separations associated with maternal employment; (2) to present illustrative data that describe the range of separations experienced by one sample of infants; and (3) to demonstrate how a focus on specific underlying dimensions results in a more precise characterization of the separation experience. It is necessary to identify the specific dimensions on which mother-infant separations vary in order to clarify which aspects of separation are relevant to child outcome. Detailed histories of mother-infant separations and concomitant substitute care during the first year of life were obtained by interview from 144 middle-class mothers of first-born infants. Far from being an unusual event, separation from mother was a normal experience during infancy for this sample. Six types of separation were identified, the majority of which have not been studied previously. Analyses indicated that naturally occurring mother-infant separations can be differentiated statistically and compared in terms of amount of separation, stability of care, characteristics of caregivers, and characteristics of the substitute care setting.