Some Psychological Difficulties of Evacuation
- Author:
Edna M. Henshaw, B.A.
Organizer, Child Guidance Council
In the consideration of the success or failure of evacuation it must be remembered that evacuation is essentially an emergency measure. foster- Evacuation is a temporary foster-homing. In nonra1 ^ Wartime homing of children with unsatisfactory homes is carried out y ex ? aj evacuation was designed for the child coming from the bac groun j being home who was supposed to be sufficiently buoyant and a apta e ? moved to any other home and thus so many thousand children were o so many thousand homes. Although it was hoped that some se ec ion managed by the reception committees, in fact there was so litt e time or c? tion between the various local authorities involved, that selection mere y form of the more enterprising householders quickly picking ihe chi ren ey looked most attractive, sometimes with disastrous effects on t ose un children who were left to the end. , usance Now after four months abandonment of evacuation has been sugges e of the difficulties and unnecessary burdens that have been force upon ou rather than on the difficulties of the children. It has been generally supposed that because children ave e holidav towns for the wide open spaces of the country this means an envia e coun that never ends. This indefiniteness of period has been an importan co factor in many of the difficulties that have arisen. Parents w o pax e with their children, householders who willingly received chil ren, an themselves had not contemplated enduring the new regime for any eng o After the first month, with no end in sight and no evident danger, questioning at unrest began.
Children at boarding school know that the term has an end, and so adjust them- selves accordingly. Parents may part with their children for a time confident that their relationship with them will stand temporary separation. Householders are prepared to upset their routine to help in a national emergency. But when the period involved may be of any length from one to six years it demands a more highly developed relationship between all the parties concerned. Particularly is the uncer- tainty of period distressing in any cases of maladjustment or psychological difficulty. In following up some of the difficulties reported from the Reception areas of a Northern town, it was found that the cases fell into similar categories to those used in the classification of cases in child guidance clinics, except that as the difficulties were in nearly every case referred by the householder, there was an inevitable emphasis on the symptoms with the highest nuisance value. Nail biters, stammerers and cases of backwardness were naturally not looked on with the same horror as enuretics and pilferers.
It was found in addition that the cases could be roughly classified into those arousing the antagonism of the householder, as for example, pilfering, lying, rowdiness and wandering, and those arousing disgust as well, such as enuresis, faecal incon- tinence, lack of cleanly habits, and undesirable sexual behaviour. It must be noted that this disgust was often aroused by the condition of the children on evacuation. Dirty heads and dirty and inadequate clothing were factors quite outside the child’s own control but nevertheless seriously prejudiced his chances of adjustment in the billet. The homesick, backward, or timid child usually aroused the pity of the householder and where the latter reported such a case, it was in search of infor- mation for the good of the child rather than for his own convenience. Of course a vast number of householders treated every type of difficulty with enlightened understanding and unfailing patience. In some cases they have been rewarded by a cessation of the difficulty,though often this has been established too long to respond immediately even to the greatest consideration.
In the absence of any normal child guidance facilities difficulties could only be alleviated through some modification of the actual situation, but in every case it was found worth while to make a detailed investigation of the case along child guidance lines, obtaining a family history of the child’s development from the parent, a school report where possible from the teacher normally dealing with him, in addition to interviewing’ the receiving householder and the child himself. Adopting this method it was possible to furnish the householder with information which helped her in dealing with the difficulty and in understanding the child’s point of view. It was also possible by this detailed investigation to dispell the often grossly exaggerated rumours of an evacuee’s misdeeds.
In the investigation of householders’ allegations it has to be borne in mind that although in the area under consideration there was no compulsory billeting, there was nevertheless an obligation on the householder once having taken an evacuee to keep him unless some good reason for not doing so could be given. In most districts rebilleting was an arrangement between the householder and the billeting officer, though in some districts a tribunal was formed before which complaints were brought. In these circumstances exaggeration and mis-statement are hard to avoid. But the child having lost his character is difficult to rebillet and the parent has no redress. Similar discontent was felt by parents in the few cases of evacuees coming before the Juvenile Court in the Reception area. They felt that had the child been under their care at home it would not have happened. In some cases their immediate response has been to bring all their children back as a protest.
Difficult situations for children in billets have arisen when open criticism of the child’s parents has been indulged in by the foster parents, or where the foster parent openly sides with one member of the family against another. The sentiments for parents, and brothers and sisters, seem to become stronger as a result of the breaking up of the family unit and any external interference destroys the feeling of security which these sentiments provide. An example of a boy of eleven shows the effect of this. He had been billeted with his elder brother of fourteen, the householder took the side of the younger boy on every possible occasion because she had noticed that the mother favoured the elder one. She openly criticized the mother for this favouritism, endeavouring to compensate the younger. The result, however, was an increase in anxiety in the younger boy and a slight tendency to enuresis in the first weeks of evacuation developed into a nightly occurrence. When asked about his home his reply was, ” I’d rather be at home, anyone would.” In this case the householder, overzealous to make up to the child for what she felt to be a defect in his home, was in fact increasing his difficulty.
A similar situation for the child is sometimes created when the billet is of a higher social stratum and the child was originally received in a verminous condition, the householder afraid of a recurrence of infection does not ask the visiting mother to come in, but lets her wait on the doorstep until the child is ready and then sends them out to walk the village street feeling conspicuous and unhappy. It is the subsequent elaboration of a few occasions of this nature that has given rise to lack of understanding and antagonism between town and country people.
Householders receiving children have varied in their attitude towards them from complete detachment, supplying merely their physical needs, to complete possession, treating the child so much as their own, that jealousy has arisen between the parent and householder. In a few happy cases children unwanted in their own homes have found perfect foster-homes, which may possibly become permanent.
Evacuation has emphasized the reality of social stratification, and it has shown the greater rigidity of this stratification in the adult than in the child. The child under five accepts the manners of any community, the child up to eleven quickly adjusts himself to a stratum above his own, and it is unusual for him to be upset by being placed in one below. The adolescent finds change difficult, particularly if it is downwards, but it is the parent who has the most difficulty in adaptation and who is sometimes quick to resent a child being billeted in a home not as good as her own, and who sometimes removes a child from a better home because of her own class consciousness.
Evacuation has illustrated the wide range of parental attitude in all strata of society, from those who are relieved that for a time at least someone else should have the responsibility of their younger children, to those who are so over anxious that they are unable to contemplate evacuation for their children under any circumstances. Between these two extremes there is every gradation and there is evidence to show that for successful evacuation the parent’s attitude is as significant as the house- holder’s. Contrary to popular expectation the child coming from an ideal home giving him emotional security and ordered comfort has found it easier to settle, even in an indifferent billet, than the child from an indifferent home.
In some instances ill cared for children from slum homes have found the un- wonted restrictions and regulations more than they could manage. Early bedtimes, sitting at table for their meals, cultivating table manners, routine washing, dressing and undressing, was in such contrast to their normal mode of life that they either made conscious efforts to get back home again or developed indirect retaliatory behaviour. A boy of ten having been moved from a billet where he had been very happy to a house of much higher social standing explained that he had nothing against the householder but that everything was “too different “. When interviewed in his own slum home he was radiant, ” in your own yard there is such lots to do “. A similar sentiment is expressed by a secondary school boy who had returned home when his own school reopened, ” Mum, isn’t it good to poke the fire.”
The difference in play between town and country children has been a trouble to some boys. In the town back yards there is nearly always some form of mock gangster play, reproduced from the latest film, going on. Any available material is used, any available earth dug up, and often lively feuds between adjoining territories. In country villages and small towns this type of play is not so usual, the neighbour- hood is more self-respecting, and the available earth is cultivated. There is in fact more space and more freedom but it takes the town child some time to learn to use it, and in the learning he may earn serious disapproval. There has been striking evidence of the normal part played by the cinema in the town child’s life. A boy of ten being moved from a country billet after three months said, “I don’t mind where I go as long as it’s near the pictures.” His weekly visit to the pictures was the most real thing in his life. Earning pocket money loses some of its significance when there are no pictures to spend it on.
Evacuation has illustrated the different needs of different ages of children. A study of nursery school and young children evacuated in self-contained groups and into private households suggests that the latter is the more satisfactory. The child established in a household quickly accepts the new routine, demands what he wants from the adult and adolescent members, is impervious to criticism and treats the home as his own. He quickly becomes attached to his foster parents and is usually appreciated. In this way he is probably more fortunate than the child evacuated as a member of a nursery school into a large house. In these instances in spite of untiring efforts of the school staffs often on duty for twenty-four hours in the day, it has been almost impossible to supply a sufficiently high concentration of adults, and in most instances the male influence has been absent. Home sickness in young children for their fathers has not been exceptional both in little boys and little girls. This occurs more frequently in cases where there is no adequate father substitute. A small enuretic on being taken home from a billet where he had been happy and well cared for, when told that he was going home to see his mother, only replied, ” I want to see my Daddy.” He was leaving a billet where the man was away a lot and saw practically nothing of him. Another child on being visited by her mother burst into tears because ” Daddy hasn’t come.’ Most children are anxious to see their fathers in uniform.
The fact that there have been comparatively few complaints of hooliganism is probably largely due to the male influence in the households.
A study of secondary school children evacuated illustrates very clearly the almost adult formation of sentiments in the older and more intelligent child. In particular they have shown a conscious appreciation of educational advantages to be gained in the Reception areas. They have been more independent of their environ- ment than the younger and less intelligent children. It is worth noting here that the imagined dangers to all adolescent girls predicted in the early days of evacuation have not in fact proved serious. This, however, was the reason given by many of the mothers of senior school girls for not allowing their girls to be evacuated.
There has been a higher incidence of enuresis in all ages of children than was expected. It is impossible yet to say how far this is due directly to evacuation causing a new anxiety situation, or whether in most cases the symptom had been present before evacuation hidden in the security of the child’s own home. In most of the cases where the history has been obtainable, evacuation seems to have caused a recurrence and increase in the symptom, in children who had previously been enuretic. More publicity in the first weeks of evacuation would have helped to prevent a great deal of the ill feeling that has arisen through this complaint. Parents fearing that their children would not be accepted if they admitted them to be enuretic, sent them out quite unprepared and it was many weeks before householders were provided with rubber sheets. The children themselves could have been sent out with more confidence to deal with criticism and blame which in many households they had to face, had the problem been more openly acknowledged.
Search for billets for admitted enuretics has not proved impossible. The behaviour of householders receiving these children can not be too highly praised. They have realized the child’s predicament and for no extra remuneration have accepted the added burden of daily washing. In some districts no effort has been made to find such homes, the children have instead been sent to existing convalescent homes or institutions, or special houses for them have been set up. Children sent to these homes are alleged to be there for treatment, but in fact they only serve as a temporary solution for the disposal of unbilletable children. From the child’s standpoint unless these Homes are run under the very best condi- tions they provide a poor alternative to the household billet.
There have been suggestions made from many sources that the whole evacuation scheme should have been run on a large camp or boarding school basis. It is diffi- cult to see how this could have been done in a satisfactory manner even if the premises had been available. Children are not normally kept at boarding school at the cost of 8s. 6d. a week, and the care of children in large groups is a skilled job requiring a
specialized personnel which would not have been available at such short notice and on so large a scale.
The problem child needs freedom, the homely security, and the affection which have been so generously given by the householders, even more than the normal well adjusted child who though he is sufficiently resilient to exist for a time without such amenities, by receiving them is storing up a sounder basis for his later development. A factor often overlooked in this connection is the actual fear of war. There is some evidence that this fear spreads more rapidly in a large group of children and is accentuated in the less real atmosphere of a boarding school or a home. As one very unhappy child, temporarily billeted in one of these homes said, ” I don’t like it here, but I don’t want to go home because I don’t want to be killed, but I don’t want Mummy to be killed either.” Illustrations of this fear for the parents can be found in child guidance clinic records after registration for evacuation had taken place. Although this degree of disturbance was abnormal, it may be supposed that the danger to homes and parents did not pass even the normal child unnoticed. This is borne out by anxiety symptoms in evacuated children awaiting B.B.C. News Bulletins, seizing newspapers and in adolescents’ letters home demanding news. It is possible that a more open discussion of the war with evacuated children would ease this difficulty. This may already be happening in some schools but the tendency in most foster-homes is to encourage repression and ignore the danger on the grounds that what the child does not talk about he does not worry about. Although evacuation in its present form has caused much inconvenience, this first experiment has shown that in an emergency necessitating a large scale rehousing of children, this can be done successfully along the present lines, both for children and householders. From the experience gained in the first months of evacuation, the rehousing of mothers seems to raise more difficult and fundamental issues of which evacuation into existing homes is not a satisfactory solution.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.