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The authors, psychologists from the University of Natal, discuss a standardized form of sudden weaning in sixteen Zulu children, nine male and seven female,
aged fifteen to twenty-four months. A control group of ten children ranged in age from thirteen to thirty-six months. The mean age of weaning was nearly nineteen months. The reasons for weaning were: ability to walk and to talk well enough to be understood when demanding food, ability to obtain food from the pot if hungry, and ability to compete successfully with siblings. In all cases the breast was smeared with the bitter juice of the aloe in the presence of the child.
It is apparent that every child was disturbed. This disturbance lasted from one to seven or more weeks. Every child showed an increase in aggressive behavior following weaning and this symptom showed the greatest tendency to continue. The earlier the weaning occurred the more marked were the aggressive symptoms. Weaning at a later age produced increased concern for strangers, greater facility in the use of language, and more independence; it seemed to be also a socializing and maturing influence. In earlier weanings this did not appear to be true. The reaction to weaning was not simple frustration but, after an initial disturbance, was followed by a series of adaptive changes in the organism. It may be a most powerful stimulus to ego development.