Abstract:

This is an explorative survey of twenty mothers of three and four year olds growing up on communal farms that are being privatised today.
Twenty to thirty years previously these mothers had been raised in communal nurseries on the Kibbutz, cared for in groups of eight to ten with three caretakers for twenty out of twenty four hours a day during the week and all day on the Sabbath till the evening.
They saw their parens at specified times in the afternoon for about three to four hours a day. The hours spent with their parents were supposed to be "quality" time with the children set up for play communication and leisure Washing, laundry, feeding and sleeping were supervised by caretakers leaving the parents free.

Around fifteen years ago the parents demanded that the children return home to sleep and be cared for by themselves.
Many factors influenced this decision. Studies made by Dr Avi Sagi and Ora Aviezer of Haifa University using the Strange Situation model of Mary Ainsworth and the Adult Attachment Interview noted an atypical amount of Imsecure attachment behavior in the children and a difficulty in function on the part of the parents and a feeling of wanting to normalize the situation

As I am a clinician visiting the childrens houses of the Kibbutz for the past thirty years I have written several papers on these children and their attachment to the parents My artice Dialogues at Risk was published in1987 and included in my book Patchwork Karnac Books 2007

Now I am seeking the patterns of attachments of these communally raised parents using the Adult Attaachment Interview Protocol of Mary B Main , interviewing mothers about their attitudes patterns and ability to develop secure attachment despite their own communal experiences which many perceive as disturbing and traumatic for them and their own parents

How have their experiences colored and shaped their own attitudes? Can attachment and maternal response to the infant/childrens needs survive and flourish despite ecological and contextual difficulties? Have they been able to relate differently to their childrens needs than their caretakers and parents related to their needs? Have they been able to learn flexibility?

Because of the size of the sample no clear general conclusions have been attained but a field of research has opened and should be pursued by larger samples and in other similar situations where their is discontinuity and extreme change in child rearingpractices from one generation to the next.

Keywords:

Communal education, secure attachment, maternal attitudes, cultural change and their infulence.