Abstract
Some of the clinical and theoretical issues thought to be involved in the psychology of “replacement children” are discussed. A developmental framework is proposed within which to view such children. The replacement child is becoming an identifiable clinical syndrome, and a developmental framework is sorely needed to encourage more systematic research. A replacement child perceives his status differently on both a cognitive and emotional level within the context of each developmental phase, and the affective and associative links need to be reworked each time. We view the status of being a replacement child as a developmental interference insofar as demands are placed on the child's immature ego which he might not yet be equipped to cope with.
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This research has been carried out under the auspices of the Child Psychoanalytic Study Program, Youth Services (Director, Humberto Nagera, MD).
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Legg, C., Sherick, I. The replacement child—A developmental tragedy: Some preliminary comments. Child Psych Hum Dev 7, 113–126 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01464035
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01464035