From Anthropology to Child Psychotherapy : Cross Cultural Observations of Infants and Turbulent Environments

The central issue of the thesis is the innovative development of the Bick infant
observation method into detailed, long term, cross-cultural video recording.
Videos have been made which record individual infant development in UK, Western
India, Nepal and Finland. Other observational videos demonstrate how the application
of recent developmental theory can improve the care of infants in children's
institutions.
These are being used for teaching in over fourty countries but it is suggested that more
detailed filmed records from these counties, and others, are needed.
It is argued that video is invaluable for teaching and conference presentation as it
substitutes seeing an actual situation for merely listening to or reading an individual
verbal record. Further reasons for using the medium of video are fully discussed.
There is a review of previous cross-cultural child development research recognising that
it has been lacking in the area of infancy and that regrettably, it is not always included
in the teaching of developmental theory.
A major issue researched is the effects on children of turbulent environments: an
environmental catastrophe (The Chernobyl disaster), the threat of nuclear war, an actual
war (in Former Yugoslavia), the breakdown of a political system (in Russia), Day
Nurseries and an Orphanage.
The importance of human touch - a much neglected developmental issue in the West - is
examined and visually recorded in a cross-cultural context as are beliefs about the
nature of children.
The papers, books and videos are all informed by attachment theory,
psychoanalysis, systems theory and anthropology.

PhD by publication. Videos mentioned in the text are not available in this version.