In this paper, the authors highlight features of the social and cultural context which surrounds services to children. Emphasis is given to the point that those who work with children exist within the same cultural landscape occupied by the children, parents and other parents. Whilst this landscape is diverse, it contains certain dominant,…

For Kant, education was understood as the "means" to become human--and that is to say, rational. For Rousseau by contrast, and the many child-centred educators that followed him, the adult world, far from representing reason, is essentially corrupt and given over to the superficialities of worldly vanity. On this view, the child, as a product of…

The articles in this section focus attention on (1) the historical shift in policies that affect the young men of this nation (2) how fatherhood policies and programmatic efforts are expanding and (3) how fatherhood practices and policies could and perhaps should be expanded and elaborated further. These efforts are linked to a growing body of…

Becoming the parent of a child diagnosed with learning disabilities can have a dramatic impact. Chrissie Rogers, the author of this article, is both a lecturer in education studies at Keele University and the mother of a daughter who has learning disabilities. She argues here that the pressures on mothers to produce "perfect" babies and to meet…

A developmental sequence of adult-infant social play is proposed in this paper. Many adult interactions with infants take the form of early social play, although such play is often thought to originate with the onset of peer interaction. The sequence of five levels proposed in this work is based on, and approximately reverses, the Howes (1980)…

Examining the adoption of Guatemalan children by US citizens, this article argues that adoptive parents make meanings and form identities through their participation in the adoption process and in their production of both Internet-based and spoken narratives about adoption. Using theories of globalization and narrative theory, the article…

The mother of a disabled teenager and a counselor for disabled students notes the frequent tendency of parents to be overinvolved with their handicapped child, recommends accepting the child with his/her handicap, and recounts her own experience realizing that her son's struggle for survival with dignity was ultimately his alone. (DB)

In this article, the author explores the performances and practices of motherhood and childhood as they materialize in a private elementary school setting in Ottawa, Canada. The author analyses the ways the ideology of intensive mothering and the intensification of children's lives intersect and inform one another in this setting. She argues that…

This paper offers a way of thinking about the process of parent-infant psychotherapy. I start by outlining some ideas as to what can go awry in troubled parent-infant relationships, and then a way of working with parents with pre-verbal babies. I suggest a model for understanding three interlaced levels at which change might occur if a…

Offers an explanation of why Cohn and Tronick's (1988) result replicates that of Kaye and Fogel (1980) in spite of important differences in the way interactive behavior is conceptualized, coded, and treated statistically. Suggests that stochastic variability in onset times has profound implications for the understanding of interaction process and…

Relatively little attention has been paid in the professional literature to the cult phenomenon: what it is; how it attracts converts; what differentiates the vulnerable youth from the non-vulnerable; the effects of cult membership on the convert's family; and, particularly, the ways in which the family can be aided. (Author)

Negotiating is important in family living, and children need to learn this valuable skill. Several tips on parent-child negotiating are presented as well as general guidelines for negotiating with preschoolers, elementary school children, and adolescents. (IAH)

According to these authors, it is correct to assume that mental health professionals, including psychologists, may not have adequate literature that provides an evidence-informed basis for making decisions about a parent's contact with a child whom he/she has sexually molested. Indeed, there are several sources of information that may negatively…

In this article, the author discusses and shares his opinion about violence in the media. He states that many of the students in class have honestly responded to his inquiries about violence in culture, that they are "fascinated" with violence in movies, in television shows, in video games, and in the music they listen to away from school.…

Describes the characteristics of the psychic child. Suggests ways in which parents, relatives, and friends may deal with these children. Pressures to conform or misunderstanding of psychic feelings and talents may cause the child to lose psychic skills or damage him emotionally. (Author/CB)