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Amongs the criticisms made of studies on separation and deprivation the most frequently quoted and, perhaps, the most valid is that there is often no clear distinction made between separation and deprivation and that the terms are used to cover periods which range from a few weeks to many years. It has also been pointed out that most of the relevant research has been retrospective and that this method is subject to many pitfalls, the most glaring of these being the distortion of material with increasing delay in recall. In addition, little attempt has been made to relate findings to the length of time of separation, previous experience of separation and the quality of mothering prior to separation. An added factor, one which has to be met in all researching in the field of human behaviour, is that people are often unwilling to use others to gain knowledge without giving anything in return. The present study seems to have met this challenge with the offer, by one of the authors, of a limited case-work service to the families who took part in the research. Careful reading of the material leads one to suspect that this resulted in little loss of accuracy as there was, at all times, an awareness of the possibility of error from this source. This book presents the results of a study of the effects on children aged from one to three years of a relatively brief separation from their families. There were ten children in the separated sample and their behaviour was compared, where possible, with that of ten children in a control sample. Those who experienced separation were observed at least once in their own homes, by one of the workers, prior to the separation from the family, and during their stay in the residential nursery they were observed by the two authors and a colleague. During their stay in hospital, the mothers were visited by the case-worker, and it is of considerable value to the study that their reactions to the separation and impending reunion were observed a