ABSTRACT
The communicative qualities of childhood innocence are evidenced in facial and bodily expression of core feeling states without defence. It is this that often moves us to the quick: the little child whose whole body is registering ecstasy, eyes alight, hands flapping, or who in the pits of desperate crying shows a look of absolute hurt as he throws himself on the ground. This innocence can no longer be found in the child locked in hate. He has defended against these raw, primary affect states. You will not find deep states of hurt or joy in this child’s face. Instead, you find a dead face, or a closed face, or a face registering seemingly far milder emotions. Because of his defences, this child is no longer capable of feeling the highs of sheer joy and delight, or the pain of deep hurt. In this sense, the child locked in hate is rather like an adult, whose defences cultivated over the years mean we rarely see these feeling states in wide-open, undefended facial expressions. If we do, we are often again deeply moved or energised.
