Clare Winnicott

Clare Winnicott, OBE (born Clare Nimmo Britton; 30 September 1906 – 17 April 1984) was an English social worker, civil servant, psychoanalyst and teacher. She played a pivotal role in the passing of the Children Act 1948. Alongside her husband, D. W. Winnicott, Clare would go on to become a prolific writer and prominent social worker and children's advocate in 20th century England.

Early life Born in the northern seaside town of Scarborough, Yorkshire and nicknamed "Elsie", Clare was the eldest of four children. Her father, James Nimmo Britton, a Scot who had migrated south, was a gifted Baptist cleric whose oratory skills led to considerable growth in attendance at the numerous churches to which he had been assigned. Her mother was Elsie Clare Slater. James Britton also founded the Avenue Baptist church in Southend-on-Sea where the Britton family was very socially involved. In 1949, Clare's mother was elected the first woman deacon of the Avenue Baptist Church. Clare's skills as a talented communicator and compassionate guardian of those in need can be drawn back to the example set by her mother and father throughout her life as young adult. As a teenager Clare was a leader in her Sunday school, and actively participated in the Christian youth organization, the Girls' Brigade. She became well known across the United Kingdom, and this led to invitations to lecture at other universities. One of her students in that period was Olive Stevenson who would become highly influential as a Social Policy academic and administrator.

In 1954, she presented her work at a United Nations seminar on social work. She wrote a paper, "Casework Techniques in the Child Care Services," after her address at the 1954 United Nations Seminar on European Social Services. Her paper was well received and later published in academic journals in Britain and in the United States. Partly as a result, Winnicott lost her post, but she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. The year of her husband's death was also the year she was awarded the Order of the British Empire, which he was unable to witness. For about ten years she taught and supervised in the psychoanalytic section of the British Association of Psychotherapists (BAP).

She ran a small analytic practice and offered clinical supervision to colleagues until she died as a result of skin cancer on April 15, 1984.

Legacy Clare Winnicott's contributions had a profound impact on childcare and social work,

Joel Kanter has argued that Winnicott's legacy as a psychoanalyst suffered due to the more prominent standing of her husband. Others, such as Brett Kahr and F Robert Rodman, have noted her influence over the work of her husband.

The Clare Winnicott Prize, named in her honour, was instituted in 1986 by "GAPS" (Group for the Advancement of Psychodynamics and Psychotherapy in Social Work, inspired by Clare Winnicott and founded in 1971 by Sally Hornby) for an innovative essay on a social work theme by a previously unpublished social work practitioner or student. The award includes publication of the piece in The Journal of Social Work Practice.

Selected writings C. Britton and D. W. Winnicott, "The problem of homeless children". The New Era in Home and School 25, 1944, 155–161 C. Britton, 'Children who cannot play' (London 1945) C. Britton, 'Remarks' in "The Oxfordshire Hostels Scheme". Report of Child Guidance Inter Clinic Conference. 1946, 29–35, 42–43 C. Britton, "Residential management as treatment for difficult children". Human Relations 1 (1), 1947, 2–12 C. Britton, "Child care" in C. Morris (ed.): Social Work in Great Britain. London 1950 C. Winnicott, "Casework techniques in the child care services". Social Casework, 36 (1), 1955, 3–13 C. Winnicott, Child Care and Social Work: A Collection of Papers Written between 1954 and 1963. Hertfordshire: 1964 C. Winnicott "Communicating with children (I)". Child Care Quarterly Review 18 (3), 1964, 85–93 C. Winnicott "Communicating with children (II)". Social Work Today 8 (26), 1977, 7–11 C. Winnicott, 'Fear of Breakdown: A Clinical Example'. International journal of psychoanalysis. 61 (1980). 351–357 D. W. Winnicott. "A reflection" in S. Grolnick and L. Barkin (eds.) Between Fantasy and Reality. Transitional Objects and Phenomena. New York: 1978, 15–33