BRUNO BETTELHEIM ( a Jewish philosopher who was born in Vienna, Austria in 1930).
Between 1938 and 1939 he was in two concentration camps in Austria and he was released before the Second World War took place. After that, he immigrated as a refugee to the United States in 1939. Some months later he became an American citizen.
After his days in the concentration camps, he published an article in which he described the dynamics there. Despite the fact that many people knew about the cruelty suffered by the prisoners in such places, up to that moment nobody had ever talked about that so openly. When the Second World War finished and Auschwitz became famous for the large number of Jewish killed there, everybody got to know that his words hadn’t been in vain.
As a Director of the University of Chicago's Orthogenic School, a home that treated emotionally disturbed children, Bettelheim became known especially for his work with autistic children. He made changes and set up an appropriate caring environment for a new therapy, in which children could form strong attachments with adults .
In The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self, Bettelheim supported the “refrigerator mother” theory of autism in which, he said that this illness had an emotional origin rather than a neurological condition. He claimed that autism was caused by the emotional frigidity of the children’s mothers who were cold and distant, and the lack of stimuli during the first years of life, when language and motor skills developed. Consequently, many mothers of these children suffered from blame and guilt because of the belief that autism resulted from their inadequate parenting. In contrast, Bettelheim assured that a child would internalize the care and love experienced during his childhood only if he was treated with loving care. This attitude of the parents would help a child build up his self-esteem, and the child, in turn, would wish to care and protect himself and his own body.
Most of his work was influenced by his dreadful experience in the concentration camps and he also related autistic children to conditions in those camps. Bettelheim used the poem Togesfuge (the English version, Death fugue)written by Paul Celan (1) about the death camps, with its famous description of "black milk", and compared his terrible experience there with the carelessness of a mother towards her child and her unconscious desire of death. He said that when one was forced to drink black milk from sunrise to sunset, whether in the camps of Nazi Germany or while lying in a luxury cradle, if there was a deep unconscious death wish, in either situation, a living soul had death for a master.
In his writings in which he covered a wide range of topics, he insisted on the idea of feeling guilty because he managed to survive in the concentration camps.
In The Uses of Enchantment (1976) Bettelheim analysed fairy tales in terms of Freudian pychology: he believed that traditional fairy tales, with the darkeness of abandonment, rivalry, witches and death, allowed a child to wrestle with his fears. If he could read and interpret these stories in his own way, Bettleheim suggested, he would have a greater sense of meaning. This author thought that if a child managed to developed a strong ego when very young, he would be able to face difficult situations more easily when grown up by engaging with these socially evolved stories. In addition, he would be better prepared for his future experiences.
Between 1938 and 1939 he was in two concentration camps in Austria and he was released before the Second World War took place. After that, he immigrated as a refugee to the United States in 1939. Some months later he became an American citizen.
After his days in the concentration camps, he published an article in which he described the dynamics there. Despite the fact that many people knew about the cruelty suffered by the prisoners in such places, up to that moment nobody had ever talked about that so openly. When the Second World War finished and Auschwitz became famous for the large number of Jewish killed there, everybody got to know that his words hadn’t been in vain.
As a Director of the University of Chicago's Orthogenic School, a home that treated emotionally disturbed children, Bettelheim became known especially for his work with autistic children. He made changes and set up an appropriate caring environment for a new therapy, in which children could form strong attachments with adults .
In The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self, Bettelheim supported the “refrigerator mother” theory of autism in which, he said that this illness had an emotional origin rather than a neurological condition. He claimed that autism was caused by the emotional frigidity of the children’s mothers who were cold and distant, and the lack of stimuli during the first years of life, when language and motor skills developed. Consequently, many mothers of these children suffered from blame and guilt because of the belief that autism resulted from their inadequate parenting. In contrast, Bettelheim assured that a child would internalize the care and love experienced during his childhood only if he was treated with loving care. This attitude of the parents would help a child build up his self-esteem, and the child, in turn, would wish to care and protect himself and his own body.
Most of his work was influenced by his dreadful experience in the concentration camps and he also related autistic children to conditions in those camps. Bettelheim used the poem Togesfuge (the English version, Death fugue)written by Paul Celan (1) about the death camps, with its famous description of "black milk", and compared his terrible experience there with the carelessness of a mother towards her child and her unconscious desire of death. He said that when one was forced to drink black milk from sunrise to sunset, whether in the camps of Nazi Germany or while lying in a luxury cradle, if there was a deep unconscious death wish, in either situation, a living soul had death for a master.
In his writings in which he covered a wide range of topics, he insisted on the idea of feeling guilty because he managed to survive in the concentration camps.
In The Uses of Enchantment (1976) Bettelheim analysed fairy tales in terms of Freudian pychology: he believed that traditional fairy tales, with the darkeness of abandonment, rivalry, witches and death, allowed a child to wrestle with his fears. If he could read and interpret these stories in his own way, Bettleheim suggested, he would have a greater sense of meaning. This author thought that if a child managed to developed a strong ego when very young, he would be able to face difficult situations more easily when grown up by engaging with these socially evolved stories. In addition, he would be better prepared for his future experiences.
On top of that, this psychologist described how the child's imagination was served by romantic stories, especially the ones that foster the child's developing mind. As well as, Bettelheim highlighted the important collaboration of parent and child in sharing fairy tales to improve the child's developing sensibilities.
Not only did a kid need those skills, but also a moral education communicated and taught through fairy tales.
He also discussed the emotional and symbolic importance of fairy tales for children, including the ones considered too dark, such as those collected and published by the Brothers Grimm.
Bettelheim suffered from depression and in 1990 he committed suicide.
References:
Bruno Bettelheim From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Bettelheim
Bruno Bettelheim. Autism World available at www.autism-world.com/index.php/2007/03/20/bruno-bettelheim/
In the Case of Bruno Bettelheim available at www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9706/articles/finn.html -
(1) Paul Celan Romanian poet (1920-1970) who was also a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp in Poland and committed suicide after being liberated.
Retrieve:
May 25th
Bettelheim suffered from depression and in 1990 he committed suicide.
References:
Bruno Bettelheim From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Bettelheim
Bruno Bettelheim. Autism World available at www.autism-world.com/index.php/2007/03/20/bruno-bettelheim/
In the Case of Bruno Bettelheim available at www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9706/articles/finn.html -
(1) Paul Celan Romanian poet (1920-1970) who was also a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp in Poland and committed suicide after being liberated.
Retrieve:
May 25th
May 27th
