Educators are witnessing an underlying shift toward recognizing the effects of relationships on development for youth and adults alike in many contexts. Parenting, teaching, mentoring, youth work, out-of-school programming, and therapy have all had shifts in underlying theory, such as attachment models, resilience studies, and feminist psychology,…

The number of children diagnosed with autism is rapidly increasing. While autism is not a new disability, many families are still embarking on unforeseen journeys with their children. The autism spectrum has broadened, and with increased awareness in recent years, it is undetermined which aspect has the greatest impact on the increasing numbers.…

Adults condemn violence but teach children to fight back. The message that aggression is legitimate causes grave harm to untold numbers of children and youth in our violent culture. Children are literally losing their lives trying to gain "respect" and preserve their "dignity." The author draws on extensive direct professional work with violent…

Fairy tales dramatize a widely held presumption that children are at high risk of abuse in stepfamilies. The idea seems almost accepted as fact, yet it has never been adequately tested. This paper provides detailed information about life in blended and stepfamilies. Sections focus on (1) stepmothers; (2) children's views of their stepmothers; (3)…

When studied closely, it is evident that children who seem to be developing through their own interactions with the environment are really benefiting from adult interactions in the process. The developing child must form a dyadic relationship with a caretaking adult. The complex workings of that dyadic unit now preoccupy researchers as they study…

This paper examines a case study of family play therapy in Israel. The unique contributions of play therapy are evaluated including the therapy's accessibility to young children, its richness and flexibility, its exposure of covert patterns, its wealth of therapeutic means, and its therapeutic economy. The systematization of the therapy attempts…

This paper examines recent formulations derived from different lines of conceptual development within psychoanalytic theory in relation to the anorexic and bulimic syndromes. The case history, clinical picture, and course of treatment of a bulimic adolescent girl are reviewed. This discussion illustrates the profound consequences upon cognition of…

The paper examines the development of language in the deaf blind child with emphasis on the child's motoric behavior and imitation as the initial step in language acquisition. Discussed are the following early developmental stages: symbionic (the close physical and emotional identification of child with the mother to be or new mother); resonance…

Psychosocial theory, based on the ideas of Erik Erikson and Robert Havighurst, is proposed as a useful framework for conceptualizing the potential for growth within the family. Erikson's (1950) eight stage theory of psychosocial development and Havighurst's (1959) concept of developmental tasks are used to take account of the stages of development…

Four National Public Radio interviews with single parents, their children and concerned others are recounted in these transcriptions. The interviews cover a wide range of topics, including problems faced by single parents (for example, routine difficulties of managing daily chores and emotional difficulties); single parents' perceptions of the…

A model of parental behavior as adaptation in agrarian and urban-industrial societies is proposed and examined in light of the evidence in this volume. The model is based on the concept of parental investment strategies for allocating time, attention, and domestic resources to raising children. (RH)

Disputes claims concerning the association between strange-situation behavior around 12-20 months of age and subsequent child performance. Maintains studies have precluded causal inferences about the direction and nature of effects, finding associations only when the quality of care received was stable, thus, precluding inferences about the…

The values and ambitions of parents which lead them to expect high, early achievement from young children and which cause them to pressure early childhood educators to accelerate formal academic instruction are examined. Implications for early childhood educators in terms of policy and practice are discussed. (PCB)

Principles of the book, "The Hurried Child" by David Elkind, are applied to gifted children. The areas of school, media, parents, and peers are examined in the context of their "hurried effects" on gifted children. (DB)

Discusses the potential role of temperament dimensions for the development of mother-infant attachment relations as measured by the Strange Situation Assessment. (HOD)