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This volume, based on works presented in March 2011 at the prestigious Annual Margaret Mahler Symposium in Philadelphia, examines the profound impact of the dynamics of primary object relations on childhood development and behavior. The Margaret Mahler Symposium began in 1970 and the works discussed at the symposium began to be published in annual volumes in 1991. The collection at hand includes an introduction, four papers and subsequent discussions, and a conclusion; each piece is a contribution by a separate author collaborating to elucidate the complicated topic of maternal-child relations.
While the mother's role is consistently instrumental in childhood development, parenting itself is continually affected by industry, technology, and social organizations. The formula-feeding mother, the foster mother, the stepmother - the implications of the word “mother” evolve with societal changes. The strengths of this compilation examining the relationship between The Mother and Her Child lie in its practicality and relevance to our current society, in which the nuclear family is a fading institution.
Akhtar's introduction to the volume outlines 12 categories of maternal tasks: holding; containing; protecting and nourishing; awakening the libidinal potential of her child's body; introducing the child to his inner world; evoking the core self and helping consolidate gender identity; imparting ego skills; seeing goodness in the child; surviving; letting go of the child; remaining available as a psychological “home base”; and helping the child bear the Oedipal situation and teaching the child to respect the father. While these functions are important, Akhtar acknowledges that no mother will be able to meet all of them to their ideal extent. In fact, a mother who is able to reasonably meet her child's needs in most ways, most of the time, is generally a “good-enough mother” in the terms of British psychoanalyst Donald . Moreover, we can see this principle illustrated by pointi