Introduction

In this small book I would like to describe my experience of two infant observations. The difference between them will become apparent as I proceed with my description. The social and economic backgrounds of the two families could not have been more diverse. In the first I was moving in a wealthy upper-class Anglo-French family whereas in the second I went to the outskirts of London to a poor, gloomy working-class area. The characters of the various members of the two families were also quite distinct and the two babies, on the whole, were developing very differently. Yet in spite of these factors I was more and more struck by many similarities in the development, or rather non-development, of both babies, and this was my main reason for deciding to select, put together and compare these two among the many babies which I had observed.

The observations were upsetting experiences for me; they felt almost unbearable at times, yet I learnt a lot through them. They led me to look at other situations in a different way as I gradually realised that the phenomena I was observing were much more common and widespread than I had originally believed. Nevertheless, I hope that my account will read as an interesting ‘story’ and place these sad events in a constructive perspective. Each observation follows a course of several years, and the first one in particular now has the benefit of many years' hindsight.

In each case I start by describing my initial contact with the two mothers and then go on to describe the other members of the families. After that I try to trace the development of each situation and, in particular, of each baby as I was able to observe it. Through reasons of space I report only a few observations in detail and my description is done mainly through my retrospective account of them. At the end of the book I try to review the two observations and to draw some general conclusions. These are by no means theories for, if any thing, I was left with more questions th