The Anti-social Tendency
Connected to the concept of holding is 'pre-delinquent behaviour, which Winnicott calls "the anti-social tendency". He says of this: is not a diagnosis. It...may be found in a normal individual, or in one that is neurotic or psychotic'. Instead, Winnicott saw it as a cry for help, as a search for holding not previously found within the family itself. 'Antisocial activity for Winnicott is an expression of the delinquent child's sense of loss, a rupture of an earlier integration the child carried within him'. In response, the 'child whose home fails to give a feeling of security looks outside his home for the four walls...looking to society instead of to his own family or school to provide the stability he needs'.
Read more about this topic: Donald Winnicott
Famous quotes containing the words anti-social and/or tendency:
“Of all the anti-social vested interests the worst is the vested interest in ill-health.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“When any relationship is characterized by difference, particularly a disparity in power, there remains a tendency to model it on the parent-child-relationship. Even protectiveness and benevolence toward the poor, toward minorities, and especially toward women have involved equating them with children.”
—Mary Catherine Bateson (20th century)