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A year ago in Vol. 2, No. 2 (December 1968) of this Journal, Shirley Hoxter reviewed films No. 1 and 2 of this series. They are the films of Kate aged 2 years 5 months and Jane aged 17 months. Both children were in temporary foster care with the Robertson family whilst their mothers were confined in hospital for the birth of a second baby. The film of John, here under review, and two further film studies of children in temporary fostercare, i.e. Mark aged 2 years 4 months and Lucy aged 21 months, will complete the series. In every instance the studied child conforms to the basic criteria for inclusion into the project. He or she is a firstborn and loved child from a stable family background who has not previously been separated from the mother. The study is part of a long established research project concerning the effects on children of separation from the mother in early life. Most of us know James Robertson's earlier films of Laura (“A Two Year Old Goes to Hospital”) and Sally (“Going to Hospital with Mother”) which made a lasting impact on those responsible for shaping the lives of children admitted to hospital and which especially brought to public notice the need for frequent visiting by parents, where the mother cannot accompany the child. We have come to expect a quality of sensitive and painstaking care in Mr. Robertson's films and the study of John does not disappoint us in this respect. In contrast, however, to the positive response evoked by the films of Kate and Jane, the impact of John's hour by hour increasing misery and deterioration becomes almost unbearable for the viewer. No words, I think, could convey John's stress reactions as powerfully as the camera does, and a listener would perhaps become less emotionally involved with the child's devastating experience than the viewer and listener. The simple though pertinent commentary spoken by Joyce Robertson lends emphasis to the happenings on the screen.
John's circumstances conform to the criteria for