Deprivation of Empathic Care During Infancy:
Some Direct and Indirect Definitions

Column I of Table I outlines the definition of empathic care in relation to the observations presented in chapter 2. Conversely, column 2 of this table reciprocally draws attention to the definition of deprivation of empathic care. However, when information pertaining to empathic deprivation is uncertain, deprivation may have to be judged indirectly in relation to the caregiver's emotions.

TABLE 1

EMPATHIC CARE FOR INFANT

1. Enduring pleasurable emotional attachment to infant.

1a. Persisting, positive, pleasurable contacts (tactile, visual, auditory) with infant.

1b. Persisting attention to infant via tactile, visual, auditory contacts.

2. Tenderness, a basis for tranquilizing and comforting infant.

3. Resonant distress whereby the infant's unpleasurable distress activates the empathic caregiver's tender comforting protection.

DEPRIVATION OF EMPATHIC CARE FOR INFANT

1. Lack of enduring pleasurable emotional attachment to infant

la. Lack of persisting, positive, pleasurable contacts (tactile, visual, auditory) with infant

1b. Lack of persisting attention to infant via tactile, visual, auditory contacts

2. Lack of tenderness toward infant, lack of tranquilizing and comforting infant

3. Lack of resonant distress whereby the infant's unpleasurable distress fails to activate the caregiver's tender comforting protection


Since the emotions of hate, anger, disgust, dissatisfaction, fear, depression, withdrawal, and frozen affect run counter to resonance with an infant's pleasurable feelings, the diffuse presence of such emotions in the caregiving person would provide indirect indications of empathic deficiencies. Furthermore, an adult's verbal admission of one or more of these negative emotions of hate, anger, disgust, dissatisfaction, fear, depression, and withdrawal specifically directed toward a given infant would be assumed to indicate disturbances with respect to an adult's capacity for relating to an infant empathically (i.e., to support the infant's states of pleasure and to reduce the infant's states of unpleasure).

Mary Main lists some "aloof," "unapproachable"positions which a caregiver may display toward an infant, positions which suggest deficits of empathic care. Some indices of aversion are as follows:

1. Keeping the head at a different level from the infant's, or making no effort to align the head with the infant's, when this would be appropriate.

2. Keeping the body midline angled away from the infant.

3. Keeping the shoulders back rather than curved toward the infant.

4. Keeping the knees up or in some other position so that there is no opportunity for the infant to reach the lap chest/stomach.

5. Failing to shift posture to "follow" the infant's movements.

6. Arching back or away at the infant's approach.

7. Moving the neck and head back uncomfortably while holding the infant.

8. Moving into or remaining in uncomfortable postures, the relaxation of which would bring the parent into contact with the infant.

9. Folding the arms across the stomach as though to prevent the child's body from touching the parent's ventral surface, especially when the child is seated upon the parent's lap.

10. Wincing or flinching as the child moves into closer contact [Main, 1990, p. 487].

Furthermore, if empathic care of an infant involves maintenance of conditions that activate the infant's pleasure and interruption of conditions that activate the infant's distress, then deprivation of empathic care could be predicted via observation of an adult's

(1) increased tendency to interrupt pleasurable conditions and

(2) an increased tendency not to interrupt distressful conditions...

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