Developmental Problems in Childhood
- Author:
Margaret Lowenfeld,
iV1-R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Gollancz. 1935. 8/6. The subject of play is one that is claiming ?re and more the attention of psychologists educators and others who are concerned the developmental problems of childhood.
Only slightly understood in the past, the work of the present century has done much to throw light upon the importance of play and also phan- tasy, dreams, day-dreaming and so on, these subjects being found of importance in the educa- tion and medical care of children and adoles- cents. The work of the psycho-analysts and the development of play techniques for the study of childhood are characteristic of the present time. The study of the subject of play, by one who is actually engaged upon therapeutic work, and presented as is this volume in non-technical language, is, therefore, likely to be of interest to all who have to do with children.
Dr Lowenfeld’s book is a rich and detailed descriptive survey of the games and play of children of all ages, based very largely upon her work and observation at the Institute of Child Psychology. Most of the examples are drawn from the study of child patients at the Institute. At the same time the findings and conclusions of the book are supported by an extensive exploration of, and quotation from the literature of the subject.
The book consists largely of an exposition of a new classification of play worked out by the author, in which she recognises theories of play put forward by earlier writers (Froebel, Groos, Hall, Sully, etc.), but supplements these views by what has been added to knowledge in recent years by the experimental psychologists on the one hand, and the psycho-analysts on the other.
The types of play enumerated follow roughly the order of the child’s development: “1. Play as Bodily Activity; 2. Play as Repetition of Experience; 3. Play as Demon- stration of Phantasy; 4. Play as Realisation of Environment; 5. Play as Preparation for Life.” Other sections deal with ” Group Play “, ” The Comic Element in Play “, and ” Child- ren who Cannot Play.” There is a useful bibliography and an index.
Dr Lowenfeld regards play as no extraneous or unimportant manifestation, a mere ” em- broidery ” on the canvas of life, but as giving expression to the child’s personality, as being of fundamental importance in the child’s develop- ment, as well as of significance in the diagnosis of abnormality. There is a commendable breadth in this point of view, recognising as it does the value of the psycho-analytic contri- bution as applied to certain forms of play, but realising also that this is not necessarily applic- able to the whole field. The reviewer is par- ticuarly interested in the author’s attitude to the social development of children: “No child combines naturally with his fellows before the age of four or five years . . (p. 322). An authoritative statement on this point is valuable because of the tendency on the part of some educators to attempt too early to secure reactions to social situations.
The author’s descriptions of the play activi- ties of the children at the Institute, and of the materials used, are varied, entertaining and full of useful psychological material. Dr Lowen- feld has given generously from her own observa- tions and those of her assistants. At the same time the more theoretical exposition in relation to this material is somewhat disappointing, being rather scanty, and consisting largely of com- ments interspersed among the numerous ex- amples. The general exposition is not in- timately related to the actual examples given, nor is there any attempt to show what a particular game or phantasy meant to the child, or to interpret the symbolism either of the game itself or the particular choice of materials. On first opening the book one is led to hope for a fuller discussion of this functional aspect of play. In those cases in particular where a sequence of dramatic play is described showing a gradual change with each repetition in the content or structure of the game, some indica- tion of what this change of content signifies, its relationship to the child’s developing attitudes, would have been extremely valuable. This phenomenon of sequence or spontaneous repetition, which the author calls ” progressive phantasy ” (pp. 171 ff.) can be traced in the imaginative or phantasy activities of most children, and appears full of significance for development. It is probably by a study of such sequences that the central problem of learning and of adjustment in general can best be in- vestigated, thus making manifest the function of the play activity, and its importance for education as well as for preventive medicine.
The volume teems with examples of interesting mental mechanisms, and a fuller exposition of this subjective aspect would, in the reviewer’s opinion, have made the book more valuable and meaningful to the average reader.
However, the volume as it stands is a useful handbook on the subject of play and the materials of play, and presents a useful classi- fication of types of play, as well as a wealth of valuable and delightful description. In the conclusion there is a reference to a possib^6 volume on child logic. It is certain that an) reader of the present volume, will eagerj) anticipate a further work from Dr Lowenfel upon the subject of childhood experience. R.G.
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.