THE MAGIC YEARS

by Selma Fraiberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 27, 1959

The magic years are the first six years of life, and this psychiatric interpretation of them is an outstanding- and we use the word advisedly- orientation for the parent, original in much of what it has to say, definite (and there has been so much fuzziness of vision, as well as slackness of sentiment in this particular area), and knowledgeable. While Mrs. Fraiberg is dealing with the first formative phase and the early responses of the child to the world around him, the points she has to make have an application well beyond this particular period and extend the implications and importance of the book for the parent- troubled or untroubled- of any child- troubled or untroubled. In returning the word mental- to mental health, she indicates that there is something more involved, and more to be demanded, than ""happiness"", ""security"", ""adjustment"" (a delinquent may have achieved the highest adjustment to his group). She also reinstates the functions of many of the responses which a protective-permissive insulation has attempted to remove; anxiety serves a real social purpose, as a cushion for danger; guilt is important in the development of conscience; and why should a child be deprived of his right to know grief- as well as pleasure? The young child must acquire independence- by means which are not always in the adult's interests; he must achieve controls, and repressions are necessary too; knowledge- and imagination- offer ways of overcoming fears; and the problem is to find a harmony between the child's drives and the conscience he must develop; it is only the neurotic who maintains a cold war of compromise with the conflicts he cannot work out. If much of this seems abstract, most of Mrs. Fraiberg's points are well supported (she is a psychiatric social worker) and there is specific guidance (on feeding, toilet training, sex education, etc.)....... A really rewarding book, with a perspective which reverses many of the extremes which a child-centered world has indulged; and while having something significant to say- it also says it very well.

Pub Date: April 27, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION