Book Reviews : The Unattached Mary Morse Penguin Books 3s. 6d
| Author | Joan Mccarthy |
| Date | 01 June 1966 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455056601200214 |
| Published date | 01 June 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
76
Deprivation
and
Education
M.
L.
Kellmer
Pringle
Longmans
Green
42s.
6d.
Dr.
Kellmer
Pringle’s
theme
is
the
rela-
tionship
between
learning
and
emotion.
She
believes
that
in
modern
educational
theory
this
relationship
is
not
sufficiently
recognised.
In
her
view
emotion
and
intellect
constantly
interact
and
the
basis
of
educational
success
or
failure
is
laid
in
the
experiences
of
a
child
in
the
pre-
school
years.
A
child
whose
basic
needs
are
adequately
met
by
loving
parents
learns
much
by
informal
means
and
is
ready
to
go
forward
emotionally
and
in-
tellectually
when
formal
teaching
begins.
As
the
title
indicates
Dr.
Pringle
is
pri-
marily
concerned
with
deprived
children
living
in
institutions
whose
early
exper-
iences
have
often
been
too
disturbing
to
allow
them
to
make
educational
progress
commensurate
with
their
ability.
The
first
part
of
the
book
presents
a
series
of
investigations
carried
out
be-
tween
1954
and
1961
into
the
relation-
ship
between
deprivation
in
childhood
and
the
capacity
to
learn.
Children
of
various
ages
in
residential
care
were
tested
for
language
development
and
verbal
skills
and
the
results
were
meas-
ured
against
the
degree
of
deprivation
suffered.
Marked
backwardness
in
lan-
guage
development
was
found,
particu-
larly
in
children
who
had
been
separated
early
from
their
mothers.
Assuming
that
language
development
is
the
basis
of
future
educational
progress
these
children
start
with
an
initial
handicap
which
becomes
cumulative.
A
further
intensive
comparison
was
made
between
two
groups
of
severely
deprived
children,
one
ranked
as
&dquo;severely
maladjusted&dquo;,
the
other
as
&dquo;notably
stable&dquo;.
The
most
sig-
nificant
finding
was
that
prolonged
separation
from
parents
does
not
neces-
sarily
lead
to
maladjustment
and
educa-
tional
failure.
The
quality
of
human
relationships
available
to
the
child
seems
to
be
the
crucial
factor.
If
a
child
in
care
has
the
opportunity
to
form
an
enduring
relationship
with
a
dependable
adult
in
the
world
outside,
the
damaging
effects
of
separation
and
institutional
life
can
be
lessened.
After
demonstrating
the
close
link
be-
tween
emotional
adjustment
and
educa-
tional
progress
Dr.
Pringle
considers
some
practical
implications
of
her
find-
ings
in
the
field
of
child
care
and
educa-
tion.
The
conclusion
that
pre-school
years
are
vital
for
the
formation
of
learning
patterns
and
emotional
response
leads
her
to
advocate
more
nursery
school
provision
and
to
call
for
further
research
into
this
period.
She
has
much
to
say
about
&dquo;enriched
environments&dquo;
for
deprived
children
in
which
there
is
deliberate
stimulation
of
speech,
play
and
creative
activities.
Later
on
remedial
education
may
lead
to
improved
emo-
tional
adjustment
as
well
as
better
attainment.
Before
cure,
prevention.
Dr.
Pringle
argues
the
need
for
a
comprehensive
preventive
service
to
give
help
with
family
problems
long
before
breakdown
is
reached.
Her
proposals
are
well
worth
examining
at
a
time
when
social
services
dealing
with
the
family
are
in
process
of
reorganisation.
The
book
assembles
a
number
of
articles
reprinted
from
specialist
journals
and
it
is
perhaps
inevitable
there
should
be
a
certain
amount
of
overlapping
and
repetition.
There
is,
however,
a
unifying
theme
and
the
problem
about
how
best
to
mobilise
community
resources
to
fore-
stall
or
prevent
deprivation
is
examined
with
vision.
It
is
to
be
hoped
the
book
will
stimulate
further
research
to
which
there
are
many
pointers.
Its
contents
are
relevant
to
all
who
have
to
do
with
de-
prived
children,
particularly
child
care
workers.
E.
C.
GABBITAS
The
Unattached
Mary
Morse
Penguin
Books
3s.
6d.
I
seem
to
remember
J.
MacAllister
Brew
writing
something
like
this
about
twenty
years
ago.
And
then
there
was
the
Barge
Club
and
various
other
ventures
and
enthusiasms
to
cajole,
care
for
and
try
to
make
sense
out
of
the
youths
and
girls
who
seemed
to
remain
untouched
in
the
ordinary
give
and
take
of
a
crazy
mixed-
up
world
with
which
most
of
us
managed
to
reconcile
ourselves.
The
term
unclub-
bable
was
used,
an
ugly
word
seeming
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