eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
The first sensory input in life comes from the sense of touch while a baby is still in the womb, and touch continues to be the primary means of learning about the world throughout infancy, well into childhood. Touch is critical for children's growth, development, and health, as well as for adults' physical and mental well-being. Yet American society, claims Tiffany Field, is dangerously touch-deprived.
Field, a leading authority on touch and touch therapy, begins this accessible book with an overview of the sociology and anthropology of touching and the basic psychophysical properties of touch. She then reports recent research results on the value of touch therapies, such as massage therapy, for various conditions, including asthma, cancer, autism, and eating disorders. She emphasizes the need for a change in societal attitudes toward touching, particularly among those who work with children.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262296953 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | MIT Press |
| Publication date: | 02/28/2003 |
| Series: | A Bradford Book |
| Sold by: | Penguin Random House Publisher Services |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 200 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Preface vii
1 Touch Hunger 1
2 Touch as Communication 19
3 Touch in Early Development 45
4 Touch Deprivation 69
5 Touch Messages to the Brain 87
6 Touch Therapies 119
7 Infant Massage 145
8 Massage Therapy for Children, Adolescents, and Adults 161
Afterword 189
Notes 193
Index 241
What People are Saying About This
Tiffany Field makes it clear how much each of us has missed about the personal, scientific, and policy implications of touch. Touch, the most universal, comforting, and caring of the senses remains unstudied and unused as a way of healing and bringing people together. Field's book is essential reading for every healer—from physician to social worker to daycare teacher, to every policy maker with concerns about violence and drugs, and to everyone of us who want to love someone and express that love.
Since it provides the infant with a sense of security and well-being right from the first, touch is surely one of the most important sensory experiences the infant will get.
Tiffany Field has brought to bear her energy and intelligence on the topic of touch for at least three decades. With this new edition she again shows why she is the leading scientist in the study of touch and how it influences our lives.
What a great addition to our understanding of the biology of touch.
In the first edition of Touch in 2003, Tiffany Field opened our eyes to the importance of touch in all aspects of well-adjusted human life, and revealed how much the lack of touch was associated with unhappiness and insecurity in children and loneliness and depression in the elderly. In her second edition, Field marshals new evidence to show that modern youth experience a near absence of touch in social contacts because of the rise of digital social media. The emerging picture that Field paints of psychological distress and social malfunction resulting from the lack of caring touch is disturbing and urgently important to every parent and educator. Touch reminds us that we need more than free hugs at the street corner, we need a program for rediscovering our humanity.
Through two decades of work, Tiffany Field has given the recently considered themes of touch research and application much of their tone. Her tightly crafted, well-written, and timely book summarizes efficiently and interestingly the vast array of facts on touch from the cross-species, cross-cultural, laboratory-research, developmental, and clinical/therapeutic literatures. Touch is a must read for scientists and practitioners, parents and teachers, and all those interested in insuring that humans thrive in their developmental course.
Tiffany Field makes it clear how much each of us has missed about the personal, scientific, and policy implications of touch. Touch, the most universal, comforting, and caring of the senses remains unstudied and unused as a way of healing and bringing people together. Field's book is essential reading for every healer—from physician to social worker to daycare teacher, to every policy maker with concerns about violence and drugs, and to everyone of us who want to love someone and express that love.
—Edward Z. Tronick, Ph.D., Director of the Child Development Unit, Children's Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
In the hands of Tiffany Field, touch, 'the mother of the senses,' finds its muse. An engagingly written book coursing from the physiology lab to 'new age' therapy, Touch never fails to stimulate.
—Lewis Leavitt, Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Director, Waisman Center on Human Development and Mental Retardation, University of Wisconsin-MadisonThrough two decades of work, Tiffany Field has given the recently considered themes of touch research and application much of their tone. Her tightly crafted, well-written, and timely book summarizes efficiently and interestingly the vast array of facts on touch from the cross-species, cross-cultural, laboratory-research, developmental, and clinical/therapeutic literatures. Touch is a must read for scientists and practitioners, parents and teachers, and all those interested in insuring that humans thrive in their developmental course.
—Jacob L. Gewirtz, Director, Child Development Laboratory, Director, Behavior Analysis Program, and Professor of Psychology, Florida International UniversityThe healing powers of touch have been observed for centuries. Touch is the first scientific treatise on the topic. Field blends together historical, biological, and psychological perspectives on touch and provides valuable insights for the promotion of health and well-being.
—Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor, Child Development and Education, Teacher's College, Columbia UniversityThe study of the five senses has largely focused on sight and hearing. Professor Field's work forces us to consider the overwhelming importance of touch to normal human development, especially in the realm of emotions. Touch stands as a major contribution to the understanding of human needs.
—Michael Lewis, University Distinguished Professor, Institute for the Study of Child Development, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and author of Altering Fate: Why the Past Does Not Predict the FutureWhat a great addition to our understanding of the biology of touch.
—Marshall Klaus, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, author of Your Amazing Newborn and Mothering the MotherIn the hands of Tiffany Field, touch, the 'mother of the senses' finds her muse. An engagingly written book coursing from the physiology lab to 'new-age' therapy, Touch never fails to stimulate.
—Lewis Leavitt, Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Director, Waisman Center on Human Development and Mental Retardation, University of Wisconsin, MadisonTiffany Field makes it clear how much each of us has missed about the personal, scientific, and policy implications of touch. Touch, the most universal, comforting, and caring of the senses remains unstudied and unused as a way of healing and bringing people together. Field's book is essential reading for every healer—from physician to social worker to daycare teacher, to every policy maker with concerns about violence and drugs, and to everyone of us who want to love someone and express that love.
—Edward Z. Tronick, Ph.D., Director of the Child Development Unit, Children's Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical SchoolIf you're numb to the power of touch, you will not be once you read Tiffany Field's book. She masterfully integrates not only the seminal contributions in the field, but the state-of-the-art science as well. Written by the authority in the field, Field's book will increase public awareness about how touch impacts public policy, research, and our everyday lives.
The healing powers of touch have been observed for centuries. Touch is the first scientific treatise on the topic. Field blends together historical, biological, and psychological perspectives on touch and provides valuable insights for the promotion of health and well-being.
In the hands of Tiffany Field, touch, the 'mother of the senses' finds her muse. An engagingly written book coursing from the physiology lab to 'new-age' therapy, Touch never fails to stimulate.