107B: Latency and Pre-Adolescence
Instructors
David Sawyer, M.D.
Natalia van Hissenhoven, LCSW
December 4, 2024 – February 26, 2025
Wednesdays, 8:40 – 10:00 pm
No class: 12/25, 1/1, 2/5
Course Description
This course will focus on the psychoanalytic understanding of development from the resolution of the Oedipus Complex to puberty. We will study ego development, character formation and the elaboration of defensive structure based upon the increasing complexity of ego function and the crystallization of the super-ego. The similarities and differences in development during latency in boys and girls will be discussed. A major goal will be to demonstrate how the developmental issues of latency appear clinically in the analyses of both adults and children.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe the developmental steps of latency ages 6-12.
- Describe the important interactions of neurological, cognitive, and psychodynamic meaning of these steps.
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS ARE CONFIRMED.
I. Introduction to Latency and Reviewing Oedipal Phase
CLASS 1: December 4, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1905). The period of Sexual Latency in Childhood and Its Interruptions. SE 7:176-179.
Freud, S. (1925). Inhibitions, Symptoms, and Anxiety. SE 20: 114-116.
Freud, S. (1924). The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex. SE 19: 173-179.
Freud, S. (1909). Family Romances. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IX (1906-1908): Jensen’s ‘Gradiva’ and Other Works, 235-242.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Becker, T. E. (1965). Panel Reports—Latency. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 13:584-590.
Loewald, H. (1980). The Waning of the Oedipus Complex. In: Papers on Psychoanalysis. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. pp. 384-404
II. Defining Latency
CLASS 2: December 11, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Furman, E. (1991). Early Latency. In: The Course of Life Vol. III., Ed. by Greenspan and Pollack, Madison: IUP, pp. 161- 203.
Knight, R. (2005). The Process of Attachment and Autonomy in Latency: A Longitudinal Study of Ten Children. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 60:178-210.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Bornstein, B. (1951). On Latency. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 6:279-285.
Buxbaum, E. (1980). Between the Oedipus Complex and Adolescence: The “Quiet Time.” In: The Course of Life, Vol II. pp. 121-135.
Knight, R. (2014). A Hundred Years of Latency: From Freudian Psychosexual Theory to Dynamic Systems Nonlinear Development in Middle Childhood. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 62:203-235.
Nagera, H. (1991). The Four to Six Years Stage. In The Course of Life. Vol. III, Ed. by Greenspan and Pollack, Madison: IUP, pp. 1-11.
III. Case Report Illustrating Latency Issues: Childhood Case with an Adult Follow-Up
CLASS 3: December 18, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Colarusso, C. The Analysis of a Neurotic Boy. In: The Psychoanalytic Study of Lives Over Time. Cohen, J. & B. Cohler, Eds. (2000), Academic Press, Hillsdale, NJ., Chapter 2, pp. 17-48.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Colarusso, C. A Child Analytic Case Report: A 17 year Follow-Up. In: The Psychoanalytic Study of Lives Over Time. Cohen, J. & B. Cohler, Eds. (2000), Academic Press, Hillsdale, NJ., Chapter 3, pp. 49-66.
Rangell, L. (1950). A Treatment of Nightmares in a Seven-Year-Old Boy. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 5:358-390.
Winnicott, D.W. (1965). A Child Psychiatry Case Illustrating Delayed Reaction to Loss, In Drives, Affects, Behavior, vol.2, Ed. by M. Schur, IUP, pp. 212-242.
IV. Comprehensive Model for Latency and more case reports
CLASS 4: January 8, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Gilmore, K. & Meersand, P. (2013). The Latency Phase. In Normal Child and Adolescent Development: A Psychodynamic Primer (pp.141-177). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Meersand, P. (2017). Early Latency and the Impact of the Digital World: Exploring the Effect of Technological Games on Evolving Ego Capacities, Superego Development, and Peer Relationships. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 70:117-129.
Novick, K. K. (1983). Modes of Communication in the Analysis of a Latency Girl. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 38:481-500.
Palmer, A. (1988). Heidi’s Metaphoric Appeal to Latency: A Journey through the Oedipus Complex. PSC 43: 387-397.
Shapiro, T. and Perry, R. (1976). Latency Revisited: The Age 7 Plus or Minus 1. PSC 31: 79-107.
Vliegen, N. (2009). Two People Playing Together: Some Thoughts on Play, Playing, and Playfulness in Psychoanalytic Work. Psychoanal. St. Child, 64:131-149.
Waelder-Hall, J. (1946). The Analysis of a Case of Night Terror. PSC 2: 189-227. (A classic- one of the first child cases written up)
V. Aggression
CLASS 5: January 15, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Baker, K.E. (2012). “My Brakes Are Broken” Case Presentation of a Latency Age Boy Struggling with Affect Regulation. Psychanalytic Social Work, 19(1): 22-42.
Kaplan, E.B. (1976). Manifestations of Aggression in Latency and Preadolescent Girls. PSC 31: 63-76.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
David, J. (1993). The Reaction of an Early Latency Boy to the Sudden Death of his Baby Brother, PSC 48: 277-292.
Durrant, J. E. & Ensom, R. (2020). An Eriksonian Perspective on Physical Punishment and Its Impacts on Mental Health. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 73:30-45.
Kaplan, E. B. (1965). Reflections Regarding Psychomotor Activities during the Latency Period. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 20: 220-238.
Olesker, W. (2014). A Developmental View of Hostile Aggression. Journal of Infant, Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy, 13:298-307.
Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and Reality. New York: Basic Books.
Winnicott, D. W. (1968). Playing: Its Theoretical Status in the Clinical Situation. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49:591-599.
VI. Racial Identity in Latency
CLASS 6: January 22, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Jernigan, M.M. & Daniel, J.H. (2011). Racial Trauma in the Lives of Black Children and Adolescents: Challenges and Clinical Implications. Journ. Child Adol. Trauma 4: 123–141.
Swanson, D. P., Cunningham, M., Youngblood, J., & Spencer, M. B. (2009). Racial identity development during childhood. In Handbook of African American Psychology. Neville, Helen A.; Tynes, Brendesha M.; Utsey, Shawn O., eds. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications. pp. 269-281.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Quintana, S.M., Aboud, F.E., Chao, R.K., Contreras‐Grau, J., Cross, W.E., Hudley, C., Hughes, D., Liben, L.S., Nelson‐Le Gall, S. and Vietze, D.L. (2006). Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Child Development: Contemporary Research and Future Directions. Child Development, 77: 1129-1141.
Stoute B. J. (2021). Black Rage: The Psychic Adaptation to the Trauma of Oppression. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69(2), 259–290.
VII. Play and Fantasy Themes in Childhood
CLASS 7: January 29, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1914). On Narcissism: An Introduction. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIV (1914-1916): On the History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement, Papers on Metapsychology and Other Works, 67-102.
Meersand, P. (2009). Play and the Older Child: Developmental and Clinical Opportunities. Psychoanal. St. Child, 64:112-130.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Arlow, J. (1971). A type of play observed in boys during the latency period. In: Separation-Individuation: Essays in Honor of Margaret Mahler. ed. McDevitt and Settlage, IUP, NY pp. 157-171.
Karush, R. K. (1998). The Use of Dream Analysis in the Treatment of a Nine-year-old Obsessional Boy. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 53:199-211.
Oremland, J. D. (1973). The Jinx Game—A Ritualized Expression of Separation-Individuation. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 28:419-431.
Peller, L. (1954). Libidinal Phases, Ego Development and Play. PSC 9: 178-198.
Peller, L. (1959). Daydreams and Children’s Favorite Books. PSC 14: 414-433.
Plaut, E. A. (1979). Play and Adaptation. PSC 34: 217-234.
Slade, A. (1994). Making Meaning and Making Believe. In: Children at Play. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford. pp. 81- 107.
Solnit, A. (1987). A Psychoanalytic View of Play. PSC 42: 205-219.
VIII. Superego Development in Latency
CLASS 8: February 12, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Novick, K. K. & Novick, J. (1994). Postoedipal Transformations: Latency, Adolescence, and Pathogenesis. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 42:143-169.
Twemlow, S.W. (2000). The Roots of Violence: Converging Psychoanalytic Exploratory Models for Power Struggles and Violence in Schools. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 69(4): 741-785.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Dendy, E. B. (2010). Inherent Contradictions in the Ego Ideal. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 79:991-1023.
Etchegoyen, A. (1993). Latency—A Reappraisal. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 74:347-357.
Freedman, S. (1996). Role of Selfobject Experiences in Affective Development During Latency, Psychoanalytic Psychology 13: 101-127.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In A Different Voice. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Jacobson, Edith (1954). The Self and the Object World: Vicissitudes of their Infantile Cathexes and their influences on Ideational and Affective Development, PSC, vol. IX, pp. 75-127.
Kohlberg, L. (1963). Moral Development and Identification. National Society for The Study of Education Yearbook 62: 277-332.
Nass, M. (1966). The Superego and Moral Development in the Theories of Freud and Piaget. PSC 21: 51-68.
IX. Masturbation in Latency
CLASS 9: February 19, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Bornstein, B. (1953). Masturbation in the Latency Period. PSC 8: 64-79.
Clower, V. L. (1976). Theoretical Implications In Current Views Of Masturbation In Latency Girls. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 24:109-125.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Fraiberg, S. (1972). Some Characteristics of Genital Arousal and Discharge in Latency Girls. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 27:439-475.
Wermer, H. & Levin, S. (1967). Masturbation Fantasies—Their Changes with Growth and Development. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 22:315-328.
X. Early Puberty
CLASS 10: February 26, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
McCullers, Carson. (1946). The Member of the Wedding. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. pp. 3-37.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Harley, M. (1971). Some Reflections on Identity Problems in Prepuberty. In Separation-Individuation: Essays in Honor of Margaret S. Mahler. Eds. J.B. McDevitt and C. Settlage. New York: IUP: 385-403.
Knight, R. (2011). Fragmentation, Fluidity, and Transformation: Nonlinear Development in Middle Childhood. Psychoanal. St. Child, 65:19-47.
Blos, P. (1965). The Initial Stage of Male Adolescence. PSC 20: 145-158.