This is a highly condensed statement of observations from the author's wide experience with infants and young children. One who has worked with young patients and their mothers will be impressed with the psychobiological pertinence of Ribble's findings. It remains for them to be formally integrated into expanding psychoanalytic theory.

The tendency towards 'functional disorganization' is a consistent phenomenon among infants who suffer from deviations in maternal care and handling. Eating, sleeping, and elimination are disturbed, motor and psychic organization may be affected, even life itself may be threatened. There is a potential danger from sudden or premature separation from the mother (or from a poor relationship to her) for a long period of time because of the slow maturation of