Lóczy - An Unusual Approach to Mothering

First published in 1973, this book gives a detailed account of and critical reflection on Lóczy, the residential nursery as seen by two notable French early childhood professionals, Dr Myriam David psychiatrists and Geneviève Appell psychologist. They start their report by describing the orphans’ everyday life and the carers’ way of work at Lóczy at the time. Then they go on to discuss the principles underlying the Pikler approach and how they were applied in care situations, during periods of free play and other activities, and with regards to the social relationships between child and caregiver as well as among children themselves. The carefully created environment and the unique institutional structure made observation-based studies possible, which in turn helped further improve that environment and structure.

Geneviève Appell is a recognised authority for early childhood, with a major interest in the problem of displacement and the care of neglected children.  She has worked as a psychologist in nurseries and crèches, participated in research commissioned by the World Health Organization, worked with John Bowlby, authored and co-authored books, and made educational films. She dedicated a great part of her work to the further education of staff in foster homes for young children and to the research carried out in these institutions. Her work was greatly influenced by the Pikler approach, so much so that she co-founded the Association Pikler Lóczy in France in 1984 and directed it between 1984 and 2004.

In 1962, with the help of John Bowlby, and collaboration of Geneviève Appell, Myriam David received a scholarship from the World Health Organisation to conduct a study on "children separated from their mothers for the first 3 months of life and up to their 4 years". It is said that David and Appell are the only two to be quoted by Bowlby. As a specialist of neglected and maladjusted children, David wrote numerous articles and books on the subject, and was involved in the training of professionals, psychologists, doctors and social workers all through her career.  
David founded two institutions for children: Soisy Family Centre sur Seine (therapeutic foster care) in 1966 and a specialised home care unit for children within the Rothschild Foundation in Paris in 1976 - renamed in 2006 the Myriam David Centre.