Children’s Fears

The emotional behavior of children has received much consideration during recent years from clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. However, the practical work of such clinicians and the underlying theoretical assumptions have had insufficient foundation in scientific investigations. The psychological experimentations of John B. Watson two decades ago have until quite recently gone unchallenged by one group while the assumptions of such men as Freud, Jung and Adler have been rather widely accepted by another. Because of the practical significance as well as the theoretical implications; studies into the emotional life of children have great importance.
This monograph presents a series of studies made over a period of three years at the Child Development Institute of Teachers College, Columbia University. The general purpose of the studies has been to investigate the types of fears that are most prevalent at various ages and to analyze this material for indications of developmental trends and causal factors. A variety of methods have been used in order to bring to light as much material as possible from several sources: direct observations of children by parents and other adults; interviews with parents and teachers; interviews with children concerning their own fears; questionnaires to adults concerning childhood and present fears; observations of children in controlled, experimental situations; case studies. These several approaches to the subject have given the authors a vast amount of material for analysis and interpretation. The investigation has become a general survey of the field which gives a basis for evaluation of much of our previous knowledge and opens up many important areas for more intensive study. The experimental study of the fears of young children as reported in Part III was undertaken by Dr. Frances Holmes. One of the significant features of the experiment was that the laboratory situations were set up to duplicate as nearly as possible actual situations which had been observed to produce fear in children of this age. The problem was not to try to frighten children but rather to observe the responses of a group of children to situations that sometimes brought fear from some children. Dr. Holmes showed unusual skill in handling an experiment which might have had some emotional hazards for young children. It is possible that her ability with children brought a minimum rather than a maximum display of fear. In Part IV of the monograph Dr. Jersild has made a penetrating analysis of the fears of young children, bringing together our present information, critically evaluating methods of guidance, and indicating areas that need further study. He points out the limitations of the observational method for the study of the non-overt fears of older children which take the form of anxieties, phobias, and the like.
He further indicates the difficulty of detecting what might be called “mild fears” such as “feelings of doubt and insecurity, lack of confidence, vacillation in making decisions, and countless reactions in which the individual withdraws or retreats or hesitates in the face of an issue.”
This study, in contributing toward a better understanding of the fears overtly exhibited by children in daily life, also provides a basis for the investigation of those more subtle aspects of fears in childhood which play such an important role in the personality development of children.
From Introduction by
Lois HAYDEN MEEK, Director
Child Development Institute
Teachers College, Columbia University