Routledge Broken Bounds: Contemporary Reflections on the Antisocial Tendency (The Winnicott Studies Monograph Series)

In 2009-2010, The Squiggle Foundation, whose aim is to stimulate interest in the work of Donald Winnicott, organized a series of lectures on the theme of "the antisocial tendency". These lectures are offered here to the wider public much as they were originally given. The speakers, each one an established figure in child care policy or in the residential and therapeutic management of disaffected youngsters, reflect on society's changing attitudes towards antisocial behaviour and its manifestations over the past half century. They consider how altered childrearing practices, the greater incidence of family break-up, and the increasing part played by central government in the determination of child care policies, have contributed to a shift towards the more punitive attitudes towards "wayward youth" prevalent today. Brief, pointed, and accessible, these lectures address topics of contemporary social concern by identifying some of the underlying questions to be asked regarding the child, the family, and society in a mass-communication and mass-organized environment. Review "There are few in the broad world of psychoanalysis who do not find themselves enlivening their conversations from time to time with much cherished quotes from the imaginative mind of D. W. Winnicott. His writings are filled with such fine observations that it is impossible not to be captured by the insights that he drew from them. He learnt a great deal from his experiences as a paediatrician, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and made a major contribution to the understanding and significance of the early mother/infant relationship. This monograph, which marks the fortieth anniversary of his death, pays tribute especially to his enduring concept of the anti-social tendency. There is much here of interest to a wide readership. Child development; individual, residential, and systemic therapy; a history of social policy; and the relationship between child and state are just some of the subjects covered. All the contributors have been inspired in one way or another by the creativity of Winnicott's compassion and intuition, invaluable in its relevance to the perplexities of our time."--Peter Wilson, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, co-founder and former Director of YoungMinds, and Clinical Adviser About the Author Christopher Reeves