Thinking about Winnicott and the origins of the self.

Reading Rodman's "Winnicott: Life and Work" has induced some considerations in the author who for years has shared Winnicott's "research analysis" in the field of potential space. Among these considerations is the rarely remarked affinity between Erikson and Winnicott in their view of human nature as well as in their seeing basic trust as the essence of good growth. For Winnicott particularly maternal functions have great maturational value, facilitating the process which takes infants from their first sensory experiences to mentalization, where father will exist in reality.

On the origins of the battered child syndrome: abuse as acting out of preverbal events.

The clinical description of a chronically acting out boy, now 14 years old, physically abused by parents and especially by mother, has been the starting point for presenting some concepts on the nature and prevention of child abuse. This patient's life history included repeated hospital admissions, beginning the second month of life and lasting for periods of months. His violent acting out towards objects and people, but particularly his continuous negativistic attitudes towards parents, and his rejection of his mother and home were each time the setting for battles in the family.