René Spitz
Encyclopedia
René Árpád Spitz was an American psychoanalyst
of Hungarian
origin.
and died in Denver, Colorado. From a wealthy Jewish family background, he spent most of his childhood in Hungary. After finishing his medical studies in 1910 Spitz discovered the work of Sigmund Freud. In 1932 he left Austria and settled in Paris for the next six years. and taught psychoanalysis
at the École Normale Supérieure
. In 1939 he emigrated to the United States and worked as a psychiatrist at the Mount Sinai hospital
from 1940 until 1943, Spitz served as a visiting professor at several universities before settling in Colorado
. He based his observations and experiments on psychoanalytic findings, developed by Freud. Some of Freud's ideas are still present in contemporary developmental thinking. Where Freud did psychoanalytic studies in adulthood, Spitz based his ideas on empirical research in infancy.
It was in 1935 that Spitz turned to the area of child development
. He was one of the first researchers who used child observation. Not only disturbed children found his interest, but he also focused on the normal child development. He pointed out the effects of maternal and emotional deprivation. This became the field of his greatest contributions.
Spitz valued several aspects: Infant observation and assessment, anaclitic depression, hospitalism
, developmental transitions, the processes of affective communication, and understanding developmental complexity.
Spitz developed the term ‘anaclitic depression’ for partial emotional deprivation (the loss of a loved object). When the love object is returned to the child within a period of three to five months, recovery is prompt. If one deprives a child longer than five months, they will show the symptoms of increasingly serious deterioration. He called this total deprivation (hospitalism).
In 1945 he did research on hospitalism in children in a foundling home. He found that the developmental imbalance caused by the unfavourable environmental conditions during the children's first year produces a psychosomatic damage that cannot be repaired by normal measures. Another study of Spitz showed that under favourable circumstances and adequate organisation a positive child development can be achieved. He stated that the methods in foundling homes should therefore be carefully evaluated.
Spitz recorded his research on film. The film Psychogenic Disease in Infancy (1952) shows the effects of emotional and maternal deprivation on attachment
.
The film was the cause of major change, especially in childcare sections of institutes, homes and hospitals, because people gained knowledge about the impact of deprivation on child development.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
of Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
origin.
Biography
Rene Spitz was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and died in Denver, Colorado. From a wealthy Jewish family background, he spent most of his childhood in Hungary. After finishing his medical studies in 1910 Spitz discovered the work of Sigmund Freud. In 1932 he left Austria and settled in Paris for the next six years. and taught psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
at the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
. In 1939 he emigrated to the United States and worked as a psychiatrist at the Mount Sinai hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital may refer to:*Mount Sinai Hospital, New York*Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto*Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute, Miami, Florida*Mount Sinai Hospital, Cleveland*Mount Sinai Hospital, Milwaukee...
from 1940 until 1943, Spitz served as a visiting professor at several universities before settling in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. He based his observations and experiments on psychoanalytic findings, developed by Freud. Some of Freud's ideas are still present in contemporary developmental thinking. Where Freud did psychoanalytic studies in adulthood, Spitz based his ideas on empirical research in infancy.
It was in 1935 that Spitz turned to the area of child development
Child development
Child development stages describe theoretical milestones of child development. Many stage models of development have been proposed, used as working concepts and in some cases asserted as nativist theories....
. He was one of the first researchers who used child observation. Not only disturbed children found his interest, but he also focused on the normal child development. He pointed out the effects of maternal and emotional deprivation. This became the field of his greatest contributions.
Spitz valued several aspects: Infant observation and assessment, anaclitic depression, hospitalism
Hospitalism
Hospitalism was a pediatric diagnosis used in the 1930s to describe infants who wasted away while in hospital. The symptoms could include retarded physical development, and disruption of perceptual-motor skills and language...
, developmental transitions, the processes of affective communication, and understanding developmental complexity.
Spitz developed the term ‘anaclitic depression’ for partial emotional deprivation (the loss of a loved object). When the love object is returned to the child within a period of three to five months, recovery is prompt. If one deprives a child longer than five months, they will show the symptoms of increasingly serious deterioration. He called this total deprivation (hospitalism).
In 1945 he did research on hospitalism in children in a foundling home. He found that the developmental imbalance caused by the unfavourable environmental conditions during the children's first year produces a psychosomatic damage that cannot be repaired by normal measures. Another study of Spitz showed that under favourable circumstances and adequate organisation a positive child development can be achieved. He stated that the methods in foundling homes should therefore be carefully evaluated.
Spitz recorded his research on film. The film Psychogenic Disease in Infancy (1952) shows the effects of emotional and maternal deprivation on attachment
Attachment theory
Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...
.
The film was the cause of major change, especially in childcare sections of institutes, homes and hospitals, because people gained knowledge about the impact of deprivation on child development.
Ego development
Spitz noted three organising principles in the psychological development of the child:- the smiling response, which appears at around three months old in the presence of an unspecified person;
- anxiety in the presence of a stranger, around the eighth month;
- semantic communication, in which the child learns how to be obstinate, which the psychoanalysts connect to the obsessional neurosisObsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
.
Books
- Spitz, R.A. (1957). No and yes : on the genesis of human communication. New York : International Universities Press.
- Spitz, R.A. (1965). The first year of life : a psychoanalytic study of normal and deviant development of object relations. New York : International Universities Press.
Articles
- Spitz, R.A. (1945). Hospitalism—An Inquiry Into the Genesis of Psychiatric Conditions in Early Childhood. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1, 53-74.
- Spitz, R.A. (1951). The Psychogenic Diseases in Infancy—An Attempt at their Etiologic Classification. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 6, 255-275.
- Spitz, R.A. (1964). The derailment of dialogue: Stimulus overload, action cycles, and the completion gradient. Journal-of-the-American-Psychoanalytic-Association, 12, 752-774...