Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology and Play Applied to Educational Practice and School Phobia.

Abstract

This research focuses on the findings of the science of psychoanalysis and on some of their applications to the practice of education, with a special focus on the problem of school phobia. The nature of psychoanalysis as a science is explored first, its foundations, its methods of research, and its general orientation explained. Next, the basic psychoanalytic principles are delineated and explained; these include the concepts of the unconscious, psychic structures, psychic determinism, internalization, multiple functions, drives and their manifestations, primary and secondary processes, primary and secondary autonomy, ego defenses, affects, and the psychoanalytic theory of cognitive development. The metapsychological perspectives (topographic, structural, genetic, economic, and adaptive) are also presented and explained. The organismic developmental theory of Heinz Werner is also presented with explanations of the orthogenetic principle and the measures used to evaluate developmental processes whereever they are found. The drive development theory is investigated in much greater detail, including recent theoretical revisions of psychoanalysis regarding female sexuality and the nature of the drive for environmental mastery. Object relations theory is investigated in depth, emphasizing its historical development and the importance of healthy early object relationships for later emotional well-being. An outline of childhood psychopathology is presented, and the phobias are placed within this outline. The literature on school phobia is presented along with the writer's data from the treatment of several school phobic children. The course of treatment and the etiology of the disturbance is shown. A study of play in human development follows, including a survey of play theories. Within this context, the developmental theory of Jean Piaget is presented. Drawing from all of the developmental theoretical material, applications for education are found which apply to the general school student population as well as to the school phobic child. Emphasis is placed on the use of play in education, on the importance of the teacher-student relationship, and on the interactive needs and drive motivations which should be tapped in the learning process.