Children at Play: Clinical and Developmental Approaches to Meaning and Representation
Slade, Arietta and Wolf, Dennie Palmer (eds.) (1994).
New York: Oxford University Press; 313 pages. $45.00. ISBN 0195044142.
For children in our culture and many others as well, pretend play is a central activity of childhood. Children as young as two years old select objects and enact simple sequences of action that provide vivid depictions of such everyday experiences as preparing food, putting the 'babies' to bed, or administering 'medicine.' Pretense of the early years is rapidly followed by more complex play that involves social interaction and collaboration, a wide range of props and other materials, and the development of scenarios embodying fantasy as well as reality themes. What are the meanings of these activities, for the child at play and for the observing psychologist, teacher, or therapist?
Children at Play is presented as a volume that 'bridges the gap' between approaches of clinicians and developmental research psychologists. The collection also represents a bringing together and, to some extent, integration of theoretical perspectives on play: psychoanalytic thinking, cognitive-developmental theory of the kind embodied in Piaget's work, and to a lesser extent, social cognitive theory. As Bernard Kaplan (n.d.) argued some years ago, psychoanalytic and cognitive-developmental theories both exemplify the root metaphor of organicism identified by Stephen Pepper (1957). Although differences between the two perspectives should not be minimized, underlying compatibility of assumptions and complementarity of foci provide the basis for genuine integration. Another theoretical stream surfaces in a few chapters; this stream is sometimes identified with systems theory and at other times with Werner and Kaplan's (1963) organismic-developmental approach, but in any case emphasizes the role of symbolizing processes and interactions among participants in creating both momentary situations and more enduring realities.
The 14 chapters, presented in three sections, reflect attention to the overarching topics of: (1) affect in symbolization, (2) relationships and symbolization, and (3) differences and distortions in symbolic functioning. While none of the chapters focuses explicitly on the child's interactions with the physical environment, or effects of physical or geographic environment on the child's functioning, there are repeated (although incidental) references to the kinds of materials that children use in play. More prevalent is emphasis on social environmental context. Peer interaction and cultural background are considered to some extent but most attention is given to the young child's interactions with mother or therapist.
The forms of these interactions, and their implications for further development, come in for close scrutiny. For example, in Chapter 1, Greenspan and Lieberman define the 'adaptive environment' as one that fosters the child's use of the symbolic mode, sets appropriate limits, and employs words and other mediational forms such as expressive gesture. Such environments provide empathetic support as well as encouragement for exploration, and recognize each child's individual style (including preferences for specific toys). A maladaptive environment, by definition, is one which fails to 'support the development of representational capacities' (p. 11), to provide support or limits, and so forth. A chapter by Scarlett reviews some points of convergence and difference between psychoanalytic and developmental perspectives. Watson explores research bearing on theoretical relations between anxiety and pretend play. He concludes that pretending often serves the important function of communicating to another, although only sometimes can the child use play to express and alleviate her anxieties. The other two chapters in the book's first section draw on clinical case material to show how children's conflicts and concerns are revealed through play, and to critically examine different modes of therapeutic response. Here Drucker shows how the child, in cooperation with the therapist, uses successive episodes of play to construct an evolving metaphoric representation of her experience that provides several levels of understanding. Slade (one of the editors) emphasizes the distinction between in-depth interpretation and the value, at time, of 'playing along' as a way of bringing the child to engagement and to the possibility of symbolic representation.
The remaining three chapters in Section II are linked by the idea that early mother-infant exchanges centered on play constitute the matrix in which symbolization emerges and takes shape. Drawing on her study of two-year-olds in their home environments, firstly a form of play in which the children begin to exchange roles with their mothers ('I'm leaving. You cry') is examined. The interpretation links this form of play to issues of self-other differentiation and identification. Bergman and Lefcourt trace the evolution of self-other action play through Margaret Mahler's subphases of separation-individuation. The final chapter in Section II, by McCune and her associates, presents a research study focused on pattern of play interactions between mothers and their infants. Findings support the hypothesis of mutual regulation and provide a basis for intervention strategies.
Each of the chapters in Section III focuses on contrast in play (and related forms of simbolic functioning) among children of different populations, backgrounds, or proclivities. Tarullo examines gender-related patterns of language and play that emerge in the narratives of seven-year-old boys and girls. Grounding her interpretation in Carol Gilligan's work, Tarullo identifies marked contrasts. At the same time, she suggests that children from different social backgrounds may structure gender roles in different ways. In the chapter by Fein and Kinney, focus shifts to exploring forms and sources of difference between 'master players' and those who have difficulty entering and using free play situations in the kindergarten setting. Excerpts from research observations make clear the nature of interactions between master players and those less apt, and provide a basis for the authors' interpretation of affective differences and suggestions for intervention.
Another chapter in section III, by Kruger and Wolf (the second editor of the book), traces the evolution of a child's play narratives in relation to her changing relationship with her mother with the aim of showing how 'transactions between the child and her environment determine how these transactions facilitate or hinder adaptation as both the child and her surroundings change and evolve' (p. 283). The authors argue that such a transactional perspective precludes interpreting changes (in child's temperament, play style, etc.) in terms of simplistic cause-effect models.
The remaining three chapters in section III concern the play of children who are coping with extreme life difficulties. Blum and her associates report an extended study of deaf children which shows that these children tend to experience difficulty moving beyond earliest forms of symbolic play. They suggest that the child's early symbolic play may be related to the quality of the mother-child relationship, while more developed play requires some kind of language-based competence. Cicchetti, Beeghly and Weiss-Perry compare the emergence of symbolization in Down syndrome children and autistic children to develop their argument that where the basic social-communicative system is intact, symbolic functioning develops in a normal pattern. Autistic children, showing extreme disruption of communicative orientation, are unable to pretend. Down syndrome children, by contrast, take first steps in the 'normal' sequence, albeit at a slower pace. In the final chapter of the book, Tingley takes up a recurrent theme of the volume -the role of mother-child interactions in the emergence and development of pretend play. Her study shows that relations among mothers' emotional status, their ability to engage in pretend play with their children, and the outcomes for the children are complex. Contrary to common sense expectations, for example, the children of depressed mothers do not necessarily have a lessened capacity or inclination for symbolic play.
Children at Play provides rich empirical material and theoretical discussion on the emergence and development of children's play. However, more commentary by the editors would have enhanced the strength and usefulness of the book. First, it should be made clear that the book is concerned with two distinct kinds of connections: integration of psycho-analytic and other developmental theory perspectives, and links between theory and clinical practice. Second, some discussion of the different approaches to gathering and using observational material would have been informative (In fact, we find an interesting array of methodologies: the use of case study material of several kinds, naturalistic in-home observation, systematic study of mother-infant dyads over time, analysis of narratives gathered in the school setting, etc., but with no discussion of the relative value or appropriateness of these methods in relation to problems under study.) Third, while the third section of the book deals with 'difference' in terms of gender, ability and disability, relatively little attention is given to cultural variation or, more generally, to the question of remaining universals, variation, and difference. It is not necessary that this topic be included in the form of a chapter but it should be explicitly recognized by the editors.
This volume probably contains as many chapters from a social or cognitive developmental orientation as from psychoanalytic thinking, but the latter seems a more pervasive thread– perhaps because the earlier chapters are couched in these terms. Those who are unsympathetic or relatively unfamiliar with psychoanalytic perspectives will learn a great deal from this book, for they will see how contemporary psychoanalytic thinking is brought to bear on phenomena of children's play. For others, the collection of chapters will serve as an important resource and an impetus to exploring further integrations of theoretical perspectives on play as well as connections between theory and practice in this domain. Indeed Slade and Wolf have succeeded in their aim of building bridges.
References
Kaplan, B. (n.d.). Lectures on Developmental Psychology. Worcester, MA: Clark University (unpublished manuscript).
Pepper, S. (1957). World Hypotheses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Wemer, H. and B. Kaplan (1963). Symbol Formation. New York: Wiley & Sons.
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