Self and Others: Selected Works of R d Laing Vol 2 by Laing R. D.;

Author:Laing, R. D.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

FURTHER EXAMPLES OF CONFIRMATION AND DISCONFIRMATION

1. During direct observation of the relationship between a six-month-old child and its mother, the occasions in which smiling occurred were noted. It was observed, first of all, that infant and mother smiled at each other not infrequently. It was then further observed that the mother, during the periods of observation, never once responded with a smile to the infant's initial smile at her. She, however, evoked smiling in the infant by smiling herself, by tickling and playing with the infant. When she was the evoker of the infant's smiles, she in turn smiled back, but she responded with a flat, dull look if the infant took the initiative (cf. Brodey, 1959).

2. A little boy of five runs to his mother holding a big fat worm in his hand, and says, ‘Mummy, look what a big fat worm I have got.’ She says, ‘You are filthy – away and clean yourself immediately.’ The mother's response to the boy is an example of what Ruesch (1958) has called a tangential response.

Ruesch writes:

‘The criteria which characterize the tangential responses can be summarized as follows:

The reply inadequately fits the initial statement.

The reply has a frustrating effect.

The reply is not geared to the intention behind the original statement as it is perceivable through word, action, and context of the situation. The reply emphasizes an aspect of the statement which is incidental’ (Ruesch, op. cit., pp. 37–48).

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