- 1 Letter to Mrs P. Aitken
- 2 D. W. W. on D. W. W.
- 3 The Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry Observed as a Group Phenomenon
- 4 The Concept of a Healthy Individual
- 5 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 6 Environmental Health in Infancy
- 7 Review: <i>The Successful Step-Parent</i>
- 8 Delinquency as a Sign of Hope
- 9 The Non-Pharmacological Treatment of Psychosis in Childhood
- 10 Review: <i>A Home from Home</i>
- 11 A Tribute on the Occasion of Willi Hoffer’s Seventieth Birthday
- 12 Foreword to <i>The Hands of the Living God</i>
- 13 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 14 Obituary: James Strachey
- 15 Review: <i>Absent: School Refusal as an Expression of Disturbed Family Relationships</i>
- 16 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 17 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 18 Letter to a Colleague
- 19 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 20 Letter to Margaret Torrie
- 21 Letter to Margaret Torrie
- 22 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 23 Letter to Wilfred R. Bion
- 24 Letter to Gillian Nelson
- 25 The Aetiology of Infantile Schizophrenia in Terms of Adaptive Failure
- 26 Letter to Charles Clay Dahlberg
- 27 Playing
- 28 Review: <i>How to Survive Parenthood</i>
- 29 The Concept of Clinical Regression Compared with that of Defence Organization
- 30 Trips into Partisanship
- 31 Letter to Arthur Miller
- 32 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 33 Letter to Marjorie Spence
- 34 Letter to Marjorie Spence
- 35 Review: A Collection of Children’s Books
- 36 Letter to R. S. W. Dowling
- 37 Addendum to ‘The Location of Cultural Experience’
- 38 Mirror-Role of Mother and Family in Child Development
(p. 211) Mirror-Role of Mother and Family in Child Development
- Chapter:
- (p. 211) Mirror-Role of Mother and Family in Child Development
- Author(s):
Donald W. Winnicott
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med:psych/9780190271404.003.0038
In this paper, Winnicott takes the subject of the mother’s face for the baby as the precursor of the mirror in the child’s emotional development. He explores the normal and pathological aspect of this idea, also referring to the work of Lacan on ‘Le Stade du Miroir’. Winnicott writes that, if all goes well, the baby gets a reflection of himself and his state by looking at the mother’s face, and if he does not, the baby withdraws from exploring himself in the mother. Clinical cases are described.
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- 1 Letter to Mrs P. Aitken
- 2 D. W. W. on D. W. W.
- 3 The Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry Observed as a Group Phenomenon
- 4 The Concept of a Healthy Individual
- 5 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 6 Environmental Health in Infancy
- 7 Review: <i>The Successful Step-Parent</i>
- 8 Delinquency as a Sign of Hope
- 9 The Non-Pharmacological Treatment of Psychosis in Childhood
- 10 Review: <i>A Home from Home</i>
- 11 A Tribute on the Occasion of Willi Hoffer’s Seventieth Birthday
- 12 Foreword to <i>The Hands of the Living God</i>
- 13 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 14 Obituary: James Strachey
- 15 Review: <i>Absent: School Refusal as an Expression of Disturbed Family Relationships</i>
- 16 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 17 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 18 Letter to a Colleague
- 19 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 20 Letter to Margaret Torrie
- 21 Letter to Margaret Torrie
- 22 Winnicott’s Wisdom
- 23 Letter to Wilfred R. Bion
- 24 Letter to Gillian Nelson
- 25 The Aetiology of Infantile Schizophrenia in Terms of Adaptive Failure
- 26 Letter to Charles Clay Dahlberg
- 27 Playing
- 28 Review: <i>How to Survive Parenthood</i>
- 29 The Concept of Clinical Regression Compared with that of Defence Organization
- 30 Trips into Partisanship
- 31 Letter to Arthur Miller
- 32 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 33 Letter to Marjorie Spence
- 34 Letter to Marjorie Spence
- 35 Review: A Collection of Children’s Books
- 36 Letter to R. S. W. Dowling
- 37 Addendum to ‘The Location of Cultural Experience’
- 38 Mirror-Role of Mother and Family in Child Development