ABSTRACT
Habit making According to many writers, particularly those of the psychoanalytic persuasion, toilet training is one of the most important and fundamental experiences for the child, and one which can have far-reaching repercussions upon his whole personality and future character development. To control the excretion of bodily waste until it can be deposited in what is considered by adults to be the 'proper' place-that is, away from the immediate eating and living quarters-seems certainly to be an accomplishment which infants universally are expected to acquire at some time during the first five years or so, whether the lesson is early and traumatic as it is for the Tanala child of Madagascar, slapped for wetting its mother at six months, or whether, as among the Siriono of South America, its inculcation is very gradual and gentle, and full independence in toileting not expected before the age of six.l Every child must, sooner or later, willingly or unwillingly, come to terms with sphincter control; for most children, it will be the mother in particular who provides the motivation for learning. And, whether or not we believe character to be deeply affected by the atmosphere in which this learning takes place, in our own culture at least toilet training is likely to be an important focus of emotional interaction between the mother and her child during his early years. Frequently, it appears to involve intense anxiety and tension on both sides. The mother's own deep feelings and inhibitions seem quickly to become aroused by this situation, particularly those connected with attitudes of shame towards the naked body and of disgust towards its excrements. The child in his turn may react to his mother's tension by developing fears or aversions surrounding either the excretory act itself
or the potty or lavatory to which his mother seems to attach so much emotional value; or he may learn that in his performance or non-performance he has a potent weapon against his mother which he can use at will to secure her praise, her discomfiture or at least her attention. Either reaction on the part of the child is seen by the mother as an obstinate refusal to co-operate, which in its turn tends to increase her own emotional involvement and, through her, often that of the whole family.
