The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion

πhe child Advisors Ronald G. Barr Robin L. Jarrett Joel Best Jerome Kagan Jerome Bruner Sudhir Kakar Michael Co...

423 downloads 5256 Views 15MB Size Report

This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. If you own the copyright to this book and it is wrongfully on our website, we offer a simple DMCA procedure to remove your content from our site. Start by pressing the button below!

Report copyright / DMCA form

DOWNLOAD PDF

πhe child

Advisors Ronald G. Barr

Robin L. Jarrett

Joel Best

Jerome Kagan

Jerome Bruner

Sudhir Kakar

Michael Cole

Lourdes de León

William Damon

Robert A. LeVine

Judy Dunn

Hazel Rose Markus

Wolfgang Edelstein

Vonnie McLoyd

Heidi M. Feldman

Jay Mechling

Heidi Fung

Peter C. Murrell, Jr.

Carol Gilligan

Dorothy E. Roberts

Susan Goldin-Meadow

Barbara Rogoff

Joseph P. Gone

Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe

Jacqueline J. Goodnow

Martin T. Stein

Linda Gordon

Collette A. Suda

Harvey J. Graff

Michael S. Wald

Patricia Marks Greenfield

Thomas S. Weisner

Neal Halfon

Ruth Enid Zambrana

Giyoo Hatano

πhe

Child a n e n c yc l ope dic c om pa n ion

editor in chief Richard A. Shweder editors Thomas R. Bidell Anne C. Dailey Suzanne D. Dixon Peggy J. Miller John Modell

The University of Chicago Press

*

Chicago and London

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2009 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2009 Printed in the United States of America 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09

1 2 3 4 5

isbn-13: 978-0-226-47539-4 (cloth) isbn-10: 0-226-47539-5 (cloth) While the contributors whose work appears in this volume are distinguished experts in their fields, their contributions are in no way intended to provide guidance for any medical, psychological, or legal circumstances of specific individuals. The information contained herein is general, based on cumulative data from large populations. It cannot substitute for a personal and specific analysis of a given child. For that, readers must consult trained professionals. Our hope is that the Companion will enable readers to contextualize what they learn from professionals and make more informed use of their services. —The Editors Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The child : an encyclopedic companion / editor in chief, Richard A. Shweder ; editors Thomas R. Bidell . . . [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-226-47539-4 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-226-47539-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Children—Encyclopedias. I. Shweder, Richard A. II. Bidell, Thomas R. HQ767.84.c55 2009 305.2303—dc22 2008043805 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1992.

Contents List of “Imagining Each Other” Essays vi About the Editors

vii

List of Contributors

ix

Introduction: An Invitation to the Many Worlds of Childhood xxvii A–Z Entries 1 Legal Citations 1055 Index 1059

“Imagining Each Other” Essays How a Green Race Car Helped Randy Cope with Asthma • 49 Learning to Weave in a Maya Community • 58 Formality and Fun in Kinship Relations among the Gusii • 82 Muslim Children with Autism Learn to Pray • 87 Perfecting Gender in a New England Boarding School • 113 Marks Make the Man in Kenya • 116 Aía Ke Ola I Nā Kūpuna: Family-Based Care in Native Hawaiian Culture • 154 Launching a Reproductive Career in Kenya • 164 Empowering Girls in Sierra Leone: Initiation into the Bondo Society • 168 Growing Up Hearing in a Deaf Family • 239 Literacy without Schooling among the Vai of Liberia • 303 Trial by Fire: Emotional Socialization among Canadian Inuit • 310 The Parenting Style of a Turkish Reformer • 317 Memories of Childhood on an Israeli Kibbutz • 334 A Far-Flung Fairy Tale: Beauty and the Beast • 364 Learning to Like Chili Peppers • 370 Treating Hmong Children in America: Two Case Studies • 436 Educated at Home in the United States • 454 Summer Camp for Diabetic Children: A Stigma-Free Zone • 478 Our Language: A Friendship That Transcended Linguistic and Cultural Borders • 546 The Luminous Books of Childhood • 575 Counting on the Body: Arithmetic Learning in Oksapmin Culture • 598 A Hindu Brahman Boy Is Born Again • 625 The Color Brown • 646 Italian Children and the Mysterious La Befana • 659 Learning to Fictionalize in the Black Belt of Alabama • 663 Some Prodigious Pretenders • 748 Girls as Adversarial Virtuosos • 750 Using Rap to Re-create a Southern Heritage • 760 An African American Grandmother Combats Racial Hatred • 776 Early Childhood Education in Japan • 782 The School of the Republic: Muslim Girls’ Dress and Identities in French Public Schools Parents as Deities in Hindu Family Life • 854 To Know Shame Is to Be Near Courage: Moral Socialization in Taipei • 900 Children as Family Caregivers in Mexico • 903 Dream Interpretation in the Amazon • 914 On Infants Sleeping Alone • 918 The Mathematical Life of Brazilian Street Children • 960 Tourette Syndrome in Indian Ayurvedic Medical Practice • 998 A Refugee’s Childhood in the West Bank • 1023 Work before Play for Yucatec Maya Children • 1040

•

818

About the Editors Editor in Chief richard a. shweder is a cultural anthropologist and the William Claude Reavis Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. After receiving his PhD from Harvard University in 1972, he taught for a year at the University of Nairobi in Kenya before moving to Chicago. For the past forty years, he has been conducting research in cultural psychology on moral reasoning, emotional functioning, gender roles, explanations of illness, ideas about the causes of suffering, and the moral foundations of family life practices in the Hindu temple town of Bhubaneswar on the east coast of India. In 1982 he received the American Association for the Advancement of Science SocioPsychological Prize for his essay “Does the Concept of the Person Vary Cross-Culturally?” He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a past president of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, and a former associate editor of the journal Child Development. He has been a member of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development and has cochaired planning groups at the Social Science Research Council on the topics “Culture, Health, and Human Development” and “Law and Culture.” He is author of Thinking Through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology (1991) and Why Do Men Barbecue? Recipes for Cultural Psychology (2003) and editor or coeditor of many books in the areas of cultural psychology, psychological anthropology, and comparative human development.

Editors thomas r. bidell, EdD, is an independent scholar who received his graduate training in cognitive development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He formerly taught graduate and undergraduate courses in developmental psychology and education as an assistant professor at Boston College. He is interested in the application of constructivist and dialectical principles to the understanding of children’s construction of knowledge in sociocultural contexts, including educational settings, and in the role of human agency in interweaving biological and social di-

mensions of human development. His publications include the article “Vygotsky, Piaget, and the Dialectic of Development” in Human Development (1988), the coauthored chapter “Between Nature and Nurture: The Role of Human Agency in the Epigenesis of Intelligence” in the edited volume Intelligence, Heredity, and Environment (1996), and the coauthored article “Dynamic Development of Action and Thought” in the sixth edition of the Handbook of Child Psychology (2006). anne c. dailey is the Evangeline Starr Professor of Law

and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She holds a BA cum laude from Yale University and a JD magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. She teaches and writes primarily in the areas of family law and psychology and the law. Her current research examines the place of children in a liberal society, drawing on the insights of developmental psychology to argue for greater public investment in early child care. Her publications include “Developing Citizens,” published in the Iowa Law Review in 2006, and “The Ideal of Reason in American Constitutional Law,” published in the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association in 2005. In 2003, she won the CORST prize from the American Psychoanalytic Association for the best essay in law and culture. suzanne d. dixon, MD, MPH, is a behavioral and developmental pediatrician, a professor emerita at the University of California, San Diego, and a clinical professor at the University of Washington. Her research and advocacy activities have centered around the effect of perinatal conditions on the health and welfare of children and families, cross-cultural differences in behavior and development, and the nature of interaction between parents and children. She has provided consultation and professional education around the world on perinatal health. She is coeditor of and contributor to the professional text Encounters with Children: Pediatric Behavior and Development, now in its fourth edition. She is editor in chief of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and lectures widely on topics related to child development. She has written and edited

v iii •

ab out the edit o rs

extensively for lay audiences on parenting and child health and development. She currently practices medicine and does advocacy work in Montana. peggy j. miller, PhD, is a developmental and cultural

psychologist and a professor in the Departments of Communication, Psychology, and Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is an expert on early socialization, approaching this problem through the prism of everyday talk in families and communities. She is best known for her innovative research on working-class children’s narratives and for her comparative studies of narrative as a medium of socialization in Taiwan and the United States. She is author of Amy, Wendy, and Beth: Learning Language in South Baltimore (1982), coeditor of Interpretive Approaches to Children’s Socialization (1992) and of Cultural Practices as Contexts for Development (1995), and coauthor of Raise Up a Child: Human Development in an African-American Family (2003). She is also coeditor of the book series Child Development in Cultural Context at Oxford University Press.

john modell is professor emeritus of education and so-

ciology at Brown University. Although he received his PhD from Columbia University in history, his professional concerns have altered over the years and have most recently focused on three broad issues: the way lifetimes are put together, socially and developmentally; children’s progress through institutions of formal education, seen as a historically embedded part of their lives; and the failed synthesis of the social and behavioral sciences that seemed so promising in the United States in the two decades following World War II. He is author of, among other works, Into One’s Own: From Youth to Adulthood in America, 1920–1975 (1989), coeditor of Children in Time and Place (1993), and editor of a special issue of Comparative Education Review titled “Schooling and School-Learning in Children’s Lives” (1994). Especially formative for him was his membership (1994–2001) in the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Pathways through Middle Childhood.

Contributors Titles of “Imagining Each Other” essays are given in italics. jamie l. abaied

kim ambrose

ruth huntley bahr

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

School of Law, University of Washington

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida

Suicide

Substance Abuse: Legal and PublicPolicy Perspectives

frances e. aboud

marvin e. ament

katharine baker

Department of Psychology, McGill University

Chicago-Kent College of Law

Prejudice and Stereotyping

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles

gabrielle d. abousleman

Liver Disorders and Diseases

Wellesley College

jeffrey d. anderson

Crime Victims, Children as

Department of Anthropology, Colby College

Center for Multicultural Education, University of Washington–Seattle

douglas e. abrams

Native American Religious Traditions

Multicultural Education

School of Law, University of Missouri–Columbia

michael w. apple

marilyn barr National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome

Rehabilitative Services for Youth

School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison

paul r. abramson

Curriculum

Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

lewis aptekar

Masturbation

Department of Counselor Education, San Jose State University

amy adler

Street and Runaway Children

School of Law, New York University

rosalind arden

Pornography, Child libby adler

Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London

Northeastern University School of Law

Genetics: Behavioral Genetics

Prostitution, Child

martha e. arterberry

fuambai sia ahmadu

Department of Psychology, Colby College

Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago

Empowering Girls in Sierra Leone: Initiation into the Bondo Society

Perception barbara ann atwood

Speech Disorders

Rape james a. banks

Shaken Baby Syndrome ronald g. barr Centre for Community Child Health Research, Child and Family Research Institute, BC Children’s Hospital and University of British Columbia

Crying and Colic; Shaken Baby Syndrome victoria r. barrio Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, and Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego

Birthmarks; Skin Disorders and Diseases bruce a. barshop

janet e. ainsworth

James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona

Seattle University School of Law

Custody

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego

Criminal Procedure, Children and

wayne au

Metabolic Disorders keith c. barton

Lajee Center, Bethlehem

Department of Secondary Education, California State University, Fullerton

A Refugee’s Childhood in the West Bank

Curriculum

Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Indiana University–Bloomington

david m. altschuler

megan babkes stellino

Social Studies, History, and Geography

Institute for Policy Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

School of Sport and Exercise Science, California State University, Fullerton

patricia j. bauer

Prisons for Youth

Athletic Development

Memory

nidal al-azraq

Department of Psychology, Emory University

x •

con trib ut ors

diana baumrind

thomas r. bidell

eyla g. boies

Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley

independent scholar

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego

Authority and Obedience

Development, Theories of: Overview; Learning; Mental Processes

alan a. beaton

mat thew g. biel

marc h. bornstein

Department of Psychology, University of Swansea

Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Hospital

Handedness

Depression

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

kathryn becker-blease

shelley h. billig

Department of Psychology, Washington State University–Vancouver

RMC Research Corporation

Sexual Abuse: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Community Service and Service-Learning lynne m. bird

Immunizations

Perception; Research on Child Development: The Practice of Child Development Research stephanie bornstein Center for WorkLife Law, Hastings College of the Law, University of California

rachael behrens

Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego

Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Congenital Anomalies and Deformations

Identity

amahl bishara

Work and Home Life, Confl ict between: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

deborah c. beidel

Department of Anthropology, Tufts University

john r. bowen

Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida

A Refugee’s Childhood in the West Bank

Department of Anthropology, Washington University

Fears, Phobias, and Anxiety Disorders; Mental Illness

susan h. bitensky

marc bekoff

International Rights of the Child

The School of the Republic: Muslim Girls’ Dress and Identities in French Public Schools

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder

brian h. bix

christine brabant

Pets

School of Law and Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota

Faculty of Education, University of Sherbrooke

forrest c. bennet t

Best Interests of the Child

Educated at Home in the United States

Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington

peter blanck

jeana r. bracey

Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University

Gesell, Arnold (Lucius); Motor Development

Disabilities, Care of Children with: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

marylène bennour

chloe g. bland

richard g. braungart

Department of Psychology, University of Geneva

Department of Psychology, New School for Social Research

The Maxwell School, Syracuse University

Piaget, Jean

Morality

patricia a. brennan

bethany r. berger

myra bluebond-langner

Department of Psychology, Emory University

School of Law, University of Connecticut

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, Rutgers University–Camden

Tobacco

Death, Children’s Experience of

Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Native American Children, Laws Governing

Michigan State University College of Law

laura e. berk

nathan j. blum

Department of Psychology, Illinois State University

Division of Child Development, Rehabilitation, and Metabolic Disease, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Independence, Dependence, and Interdependence; Social Development

Self-Esteem

Youth Movements

inge bretherton

Ainsworth, Mary D(insmore) Salter; Bowlby, John

Intellectual Disability

cora collet te breuner

marvin w. berkowitz

robert wm. blum

College of Education, University of Missouri– St. Louis

Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University

University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital

Kohlberg, Lawrence

Abortion: Psychological Perspectives

jacqueline bhabha

barry bogin

School of Law, Harvard University

Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University

Immigration, Children and: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Evolution of Childhood, Biological

Substance Abuse: Medical Perspectives jean l. briggs Department of Anthropology, Memorial University

Trial by Fire: Emotional Socialization among Canadian Inuit

c o n t r ib u t o r s

• xi

karen j. brison

elizabeth b. caronna

ross e. cheit

Department of Anthropology, Union College

Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine

Pacific Island Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in

Self-Injury deanna b. cash

Department of Political Science and A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions, Brown University

david g. bromley

School of Education and Human Development, Lynchburg College

Sexual Abuse: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

School of World Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University

Cults

Autism Spectrum Disorders, Education of Children with

jeanne brooks-gunn

daniel cervone

National Center for Children and Families, Columbia University

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Narrative

Child Care: Effects on the Child

Personality: Personality Traits

Department of Psychology, St. Olaf College

geoffrey l. brown

seth chandler

Self-Esteem

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Houston Law Center

wendy k. chung

Insurance, Children and

Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center

Attachment, Infant natalie d. brown Department of Psychology, Kansas State University

Advertising judith becker bryant Department of Psychology, University of South Florida

Communication, Development of

ruth chao

eva chian-hui chen Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

grace e. cho

Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside

Genetics: Genetic Testing

Asian American Children

Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University–Brandywine

heather a. chapman Department of Biology and Medicine, Brown University

Pediatrics vignet ta e. charles

cindy dell clark

How a Green Race Car Helped Randy Cope with Asthma; Illness and Injury, Children’s Experience of; Summer Camp for Diabetic Children: A StigmaFree Zone; Myths, Childhood

University of Chicago Law School

Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University

Rights, Parental

Abortion: Psychological Perspectives

eve v. clark

e. stephen byrd

sarah a. chase

Department of Education, Elon University

Brown University

Department of Linguistics, Stanford University

emily buss

Hearing Impairments, Education of Children with; Physical Disabilities and Other Health Impairments, Education of Children with natasha j. cabrera Department of Human Development, University of Maryland at College Park

Latino Children in the United States

Perfecting Gender in a New England Boarding School ira j. chasnoff Children’s Research Triangle, Chicago, and University of Illinois College of Medicine

Substance Abuse, Parental: Effects on the Child talal a. chatila

Language: Language Development kathryn cochrane Department of Psychology, Emory University

Memory david cohen Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago

Reproductive Technologies: Medical Perspectives

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles

sally s. cohen

naomi cahn School of Law, George Washington University

Immune Disorders

Parens Patriae

pinka chat terji

Child Care: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

carolyn m. callahan Curry School of Education, University of Virginia

Department of Economics, University at Albany, State University of New York

Yale University School of Nursing

bertram j. cohler Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago

Advanced Placement Program

Substance Abuse, Parental: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

june carbone

louise chawla

School of Law, University of Missouri–Kansas City

College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center

alan cole

Nature, Children and

Buddhism

Reproductive Technologies: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Bettelheim, Bruno; Winnicott, D(onald) W(oods) Department of Religious Studies, Lewis & Clark College

x ii •

con tributors

michael cole

jim cummins

sherman dorn

Department of Communication, University of California, San Diego

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

Department of Psychological and Social Foundations, University of South Florida

Cognitive Development; Education, Informal; Literacy without Schooling among the Vai of Liberia

Bilingual Education

Dropouts

hugh cunningham

nancy e. dowd

School of History, University of Kent

james p. comer

European History, Childhood and Adolescence in

Levin College of Law and Center for Children and Families, University of Florida

michael cunningham

Family: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

School Achievement

Department of Psychology, Tulane University

w. jay dowling

margaret connell szasz

African American Children

Department of History, University of New Mexico

sarah l. cutrona

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas

Comer School Development Program, Yale University

Musical Development

daniel thomas cook

Department of Internal Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, and Harvard Medical School

Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University–Camden

Eating and Nutrition; Feeding, Infant; Malnutrition and Undernutrition

Attachment Disturbances and Disorders

Consumers, Children as

anne c. dailey

judy dunn

peter w. cookson, jr.

School of Law, University of Connecticut

Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

Divinity School, Yale University

Child: Legal Perspectives

Siblings

Boarding Schools

peggy cooper davis

donna eder

catherine r. cooper

School of Law, New York University

Rights, Termination of Parental

Department of Sociology, Indiana University–Bloomington

felicia de la garza mercer

Peers and Peer Culture

Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

carolyn pope edwards

Native American Children

Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Identity harris m. cooper Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University

Masturbation eric dearing

jennifer dunlap School of Medicine, Tulane University

Departments of Psychology and Child, Youth, and Family Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Homework

Lynch School of Education, Boston College

hoosen coovadia

Poverty, Children in: Effects on the Child

Gender: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Whiting, Beatrice B(lyth)

mary jo deegan

j. shoshanna ehrlich

Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Department of Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston

Lathrop, Julia Clifford

Abortion: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu Natal

Human Immunodeficiency Viral Syndrome: International Medical Perspectives william a. corsaro

david dilillo Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Department of Sociology, Indiana University–Bloomington

Watson, John B(roadus)

Friendship; Italian Children and the Mysterious La Befana; Subcultures, Youth

Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, State University of New York–Buffalo

jenifer crawford Department of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

greg dimitriadis

Popular Music; Using Rap to Re-create a Southern Heritage

lawrence f. eichenfield Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, and Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego

Birthmarks; Skin Disorders and Diseases jerrold eichner

Freire, Paulo (Reglus Neves)

University of California, San Diego, and University of Washington School of Medicine

Great Falls Clinic, Montana, and Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine

gary creasey

Child: Physiological Perspectives

Respiratory Diseases

murray dock

nancy eisenberg

Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

Department of Psychology, Arizona State University

Teeth

Empathy

Department of Psychology, Illinois State University

Independence, Dependence, and Interdependence

suzanne d. dixon

c o n t r ib u t o r s

linda d. elrod

katherine hunt federle

jennifer j. freyd

School of Law and Children and Family Law Center, Washburn University

Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University

Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Visitation kenneth emo College of Education and Counseling, South Dakota State University

Status Offenses heidi m. feldman Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine

Sexual Abuse: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives lawrence s. friedman

Museums

Disabilities, Care of Children with: Medical Perspectives

Division of Primary Care Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego

lia epperson

martha albertson fineman

Adolescence

School of Law, Santa Clara University

Emory University School of Law

reva c. friedman-nimz

Education, Discrimination in: Racial Discrimination

Dependency, Legal

Department of Curriculum and Teaching, University of Kansas

dale j. epstein National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Department of Policy Studies and International Center for Transcultural Education, University of Maryland at College Park

Latino Children in the United States

Mann, Horace

Department of Anthropology, Brunel University

kurt w. fischer

Kinship and Child Rearing

susan m. ervin-tripp Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Sociolinguistic Diversity

barbara finkelstein

College of Law, University of Iowa

Gifted and Talented, Education of Children Identified as peggy froerer

Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

heidi fung

Development, Theories of: Cognitive Theories; Development, Theories of: Dynamic Systems Theories

Discipline and Punishment; Shame and Guilt; To Know Shame Is to Be Near Courage: Moral Socialization in Taipei

ann laquer estin susan m. fisher

• xiii

Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica

Marital and Nonmarital Unions: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Departments of Psychiatry and Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago

wyndol furman

gary w. evans

Freud, Sigmund

Romantic and Sexual Relationships

College of Human Ecology, Cornell University

kathleen flake

karen c. fuson

Built Environment, Children and the

Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University

School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University

katherine prat t ewing

Mormonism

Mathematics

Department of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University

constance flanagan

cynthia garcía coll

Inter-College Minor in Civic and Community Engagement, Pennsylvania State University

Departments of Education, Psychology, and Pediatrics, Brown University

Islamic Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in

Department of Psychology, University of Denver

Civic Education

Ethnic Identity

ayala fader

barbara r. foorman

marsha garrison

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fordham University

Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University

Brooklyn Law School

Judaism

Reading

jeffrey fagan

leanne m. fox

School of Law, Columbia University

Division of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Adult Criminal Justice System, Children in the

Parasitic Infections

paula s. fass

nathan a. fox

Department of History, University of California, Berkeley

Kidnapping

Department of Human Development, Institute for Child Study, University of Maryland at College Park

robert b. faux

Orphanages

Child Support lawrence m. gartner Departments of Pediatrics and Obstretics/ Gynecology, University of Chicago

Breastfeeding suzanne gaskins Department of Psychology, Northeastern Illinois University

Work before Play for Yucatec Maya Children mary gauvain

Department of Psychology, Duquesne University

samantha francois Department of Psychology, Tulane University

Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside

Galton, Francis

African American Children

Planning; Problem Solving

x iv •

con trib utors

richard j. gelles

lester f. goodchild

william a. greenhill

School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania

School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries, Santa Clara University

Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

Domestic Violence

Hall, G(ranville) Stanley

Teeth

jennifer a. gelman

marjorie harness goodwin

steven r. guberman

Department of Education, Marymount University

Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

School of Education, University of Colorado, Boulder

Physical Disabilities and Other Health Impairments, Education of Children with; Visual Impairments, Education of Children with

Girls as Adversarial Virtuosos

Museums

howard r. d. gordon

andrew m. guest

Workforce Education and Development Program, University of Nevada–Las Vegas

Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Portland

lee thomas get tler

Vocational Schools and Training

Toys and Games

Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University

linda gordon

christian guilleminault

Department of History, New York University

Sleep: Sleeping Arrangements

Welfare: U.S. Historical Perspectives

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stanford University

perry gilmore

dana r. gosset t

Sleep: Physiology of Sleep

Department of Language, Reading, and Culture, University of Arizona

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

kaaryn gustafson

Our Language: A Friendship That Transcended Linguistic and Cultural Borders

School of Law, University of Connecticut

Labor and Delivery

Welfare: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

adele eskeles got tfried

jacqui hadingham

Department of Educational Psychology, California State University, Northridge

Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, University of KwaZulu Natal

Class Size

Work and Home Life, Confl ict between: Effects on the Child

theresa glennon

allen w. got tfried

Human Immunodeficiency Viral Syndrome: International Medical Perspectives

Beasley School of Law, Temple University

Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton

gene v glass Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, Arizona State University

Suspension and Expulsion gwen m. glew Department of Genetics and Developmental Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital

Work and Home Life, Confl ict between: Effects on the Child

gunhild o. hagestad University of Agder, Kristiansand and Norwegian Social Research

Grandparents

alma got tlieb

wendy haight

Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Motor Development

School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Newborn, Rituals for and Care of the

susan goldin-meadow

tomas graman

An African American Grandmother Combats Racial Hatred

Departments of Psychology and Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago

Department of Languages and Literature, Carroll College

michael r. haines

Foreign Language Education

Family: Economic and Demographic Perspectives; Mortality

Gestures; Sign Language claire golomb Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston

gary granzberg Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg

Department of Economics, Colgate University

neal halfon

Artistic Development

Multiple Births: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, University of California, Los Angeles

artin göncü

maxine greene

Health, Disparities in

College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago

Teachers College, Columbia University

daniel p. hallahan

Play: Developmental Perspectives

Arts Education; Dewey, John patricia marks greenfield

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

Department of Psychology and FPR-UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development, University of California, Los Angeles

Native American Religious Traditions

Learning to Weave in a Maya Community

joseph p. gone

Curry School of Education, University of Virginia

Autism Spectrum Disorders, Education of Children with; Hearing Impairments, Education of Children with; Visual Impairments, Education of Children with

c o n t r ib u t o r s

meghan c. halley

leslie joan harris

gilbert herdt

Department of Anthropology and Schubert Center for Child Studies, Case Western Reserve University

School of Law, University of Oregon

Departments of Sexuality Studies and Anthropology and National Sexuality Resource Center, San Francisco State University

Abuse and Neglect: Effects on the Child maureen t. hallinan Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame

Religious Instruction; Religious Schools diane f. halpern Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College

Critical Thinking robert halpern Erikson Institute

Conduct, Legal Regulation of Children’s; Property and Contract, Children’s Rights to richard jackson harris Department of Psychology, Kansas State University

faye v. harrison

Circumcision, Female

Department of Anthropology and African American Studies Program, University of Florida

jacob r. hickman

Davis, (William) Allison

Treating Hmong Children in America: Two Case Studies

giyoo hatano Human Development and Education Program, University of the Air

margaret r. hammerschlag

National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching and Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University

gillian hampden-thompson Department of Educational Studies, University of York

Single Parents sydney l. hans

ylva hernlund independent scholar

Concepts, Children’s: Overview

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sexual Development: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Advertising

Child Care: Historical and Cultural Perspectives Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center

thomas hatch

Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago

pamela c. high Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, and Hasbro Children’s/Rhode Island Hospital

Pediatrics melissa hines

School Reform

Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, University of Cambridge

mary c. hayden

Play and Gender

Department of Education, University of Bath

w. alan hodson

International Baccalaureate Program

Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington

betsy hearne

Neonate

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

joan heifetz hollinger

Folk and Fairy Tales; A Far-Flung Fairy Tale: Beauty and the Beast; Literature: Children’s Literature

Adoption: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California, Davis

walter r. heinz

Department of Psychology, Lancaster University

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Apprenticeship

Books on Child Development, Landmark

bernard e. harcourt

charles c. helwig

julia m. hormes

University of Chicago Law School

Department of Psychology, University of Toronto

Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania

Concepts, Children’s: Concepts of the Social World

Food Aversions and Preferences

heather hendershot

Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California–San Francisco

School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago

Mother-Child Relationship: Developmental Perspectives robin l. hansen

Firearms sophie haroutunian-gordon School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University

Plato

Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences, Universität Bremen

School of Law, University of California, Berkeley

brian hopkins

mardi horowitz

vinay harpalani

Queens College and City University of New York Graduate Center

School of Law, New York University

Media, Children and the

Status

paula k. ivey henry

Personality: Psychoanalytic Perspectives

judith rich harris

School of Public Health, Harvard University

erin mcnamara horvat

independent scholar

Mother-Child Relationship: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

College of Education, Temple University

Birth Order

• xv

Ogbu, John U(zo)

xvi •

con trib utors

andrew j. hostetler

jerri ann jenista

jerome kagan

Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor

Department of Psychology, Harvard University

Homosexuality and Bisexuality: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Personality: Personality Development

Infectious Diseases

cigdem kagitcibasi

luis a. huerta

janis h. jenkins

Department of Psychology, Koc University

Department of Organization and Leadership, Teachers College, Columbia University

Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego

The Parenting Style of a Turkish Reformer

School Reform

Psychiatric Illness, Parental

sudhir kakar

kwang-kuo hwang

lene arnet t jensen

independent scholar

Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University

Department of Psychology, Clark University

Moral Development

A Hindu Brahman Boy Is Born Again

vera p. john-steiner

julie kaomea

Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico

College of Education, University of Hawai‘i at Ma¯noa

Creativity

Aia Ke Ola I Nā Kūpuna: Family-Based Care in Native Hawaiian Culture

Confucianism and Taoism; Confucius joseph e. illick Department of History, San Francisco State University

American History, Childhood and Adolescence in

anna d. johnson

michael imber

National Center for Children and Families, Columbia University

School of Education, University of Kansas

Child Care: Effects on the Child

Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London

deborah j. johnson

Inhelder, Bärbel

Education: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives; Schools

Department of Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State University

evan imber-black

Race and Children’s Development

Center for Families and Health, Ackerman Institute for the Family

michelle c. johnson

annet te karmiloff-smith

daniel j. karr Department of Ophthalmology and Pediatrics and Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health and Science University

Vision: Vision Abnormalities

Rituals, Family

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bucknell University

carolyn jackson

Islam

School of Education, Regent University

Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University

kathleen w. jones

Emotional Disorders, Education of Children with

Schools, Single-Sex kristin janschewitz Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Slang and Offensive Language

Department of History, Virginia Tech

Mental Health Care: Historical and Cultural Perspectives peter r. jones Ofﬁce of the Vice Provost, Temple University

ian jarvie

Juvenile Delinquency; Juvenile Justice System

Department of Philosophy, York University

courtney g. joslin

Films linda jarvin

School of Law, University of California, Davis

kenneth a. kavale

michael kavey Lambda Legal

Homosexuality and Bisexuality: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives kathryn keenan Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago

Oppositional Defiant Disorder frank kessel

Binet, Alfred

Pregnancy and Childbirth, Legal Regulation of

College of Education, University of New Mexico

timothy jay

kara joyner

Department of Psychology, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University

Research on Child Development: Historical Perspectives

Slang and Offensive Language

Childbearing, Adolescent; Contraception

Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group

jaana juvonen

pilyoung kim

Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Department of Human Development, Cornell University

Bullying

Built Environment, Children and the

Department of Education, Tufts University

brinda jegatheesan Department of Educational Psychology, University of Washington–Seattle

Muslim Children with Autism Learn to Pray

jane k. kim

Sports Injuries

c o n t r ib u t o r s

• xv ii

eleanor d. kinney

scot t d. krugman

teresa m. lee

Indiana University School of Law–Indianapolis

Department of Pediatrics, Franklin Square Hospital Center

Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian

Health Care Funding

Helfer, Ray(mond) E(ugene); Kempe, C(harles) Henry

steven j. kirsh Department of Psychology, State University of New York–Geneseo

Comic Books marc kleijwegt Department of History, University of Wisconsin–Madison

aaron kupchik

Department of Psychology, George Mason University

Comfort Habits

Adult Criminal Justice System, Children in the

Department of Anthropology, Brown University

amy kyratzis

Foster and Kinship Care: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

The Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara

woody klein

Sociolinguistic Diversity

Department of Journalism, Iona College

anthony laker

Clark, Kenneth B(ancroft)

Department of Human Performance and Physical Education, Adams State College

Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University

elyse brauch lehman

Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware

Ancient Mediterranean World, Childhood and Adolescence in

louise w. knight

Genetics: Genetic Testing

jessaca b. leinaweaver

neal s. leleiko Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, and Hasbro Children’s/Rhode Island Hospital

Eating and Nutrition; Feeding, Infant; Malnutrition and Undernutrition

Physical Education; Sports

robert lemelson

Addams, Jane

albert lamb

Foundation for Psychocultural Research

stephan a. kohlhoff

independent scholar

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Neill, A(lexander) S(utherland)

helen a. leroy

beryl langer Sociology Program, La Trobe University

Harlow Laboratory of Biological Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Popular Culture

Harlow, Harry F(rederick)

craig b. langman

caroline field levander

Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, and Children’s Memorial Hospital (Chicago)

Department of English, Rice University

Kidney and Urinary Tract Disorders and Diseases

Department of Psychology, Kenyon College

mat thew a. lapierre

robert a. levine

School of Law, Stanford University

Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

School Funding

Television

kathleen kostelny

hilary lapsley

Child: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Socialization of the Child

global child protection consultant and independent scholar

independent scholar

sarah e. levine

Violence, Children and

Benedict, Ruth (Fulton); Mead, Margaret

Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University

waud kracke

kandyce larson

Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Formality and Fun in Kinship Relations among the Gusii

Dream Interpretation in the Amazon

Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, University of California, Los Angeles

jeffrey j. kripal

Health, Disparities in

Gastrointestinal Disorders

campbell leaper

nomi c. levy-carrick School of Medicine, New York University

Bateson, Gregory

Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz

barry krisberg

Gender: Gender Development

mark lewin

National Council on Crime and Dependency

jay lebow The Family Institute, Northwestern University

Division of Cardiology, Seattle Children’s Hospital

Reform Institutions for Youth

Family Systems Theories

Heart Disorders and Diseases

Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center

Sexually Transmitted Diseases jill e. korbin Department of Anthropology and Schubert Center for Child Studies, Case Western Reserve University

Abuse and Neglect: Effects on the Child william s. koski

Department of Religious Studies, Rice University

Innocence, Childhood michael p. levine

Eating Disorders

joseph levy School of Medicine, New York University

Gastrointestinal Disorders

x v iii •

con tribut ors

jin li

thomas d. lyon

amy kerivan marks

Department of Education, Brown University

Gould School of Law, University of Southern California

Self Development

Witnesses, Children as Legal

jeffrey liew

avram h. mack

Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, and Department of Human Development, Brown University

Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University

Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Hospital

Empathy

Conduct Disorders

angeline s. lillard

colin m. macleod

Department of Psychology, University of Virginia

Department of Philosophy and School of Law, University of Victoria

Concepts, Children’s: Concepts of the Psychological World

Freedom of Speech

shumin lin Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago

Narrative

Lorenz, Konrad (Zacharias)

War, Children and

robert lindsley

manamohan mahapatra

sylvia l. m. martinez

Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

Department of Anthropology, B.J.B College, India

College of Education, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Development, Theories of: Cognitive Theories

Parents as Deities in Hindu Family Life

Schooling, Inequalities in

joseph l. mahoney

martin e. mart y

deborah l. linebarger

Department of Education, University of California, Irvine

Divinity School, University of Chicago

Extracurricular Activities

mary ann mason

anthony n. maluccio

Graduate Division, University of California, Berkeley

Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Television yi hui liu School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, and Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego

Health Screening sonia livingstone Department of Media and Communication, London School of Economics and Political Science

Computers: The Internet elin e. lobel Department of Kinesiology, Towson University

Dance heather m. lord

dario maestripieri

School of Social Work, University of Connecticut

Ethnic Identity anne rossier markus Department of Health Policy, George Washington University

Health Care Systems for Children: United States; Health Care Systems for Children: International Perspectives james marten Department of History, Marquette University

Sacramental Family Life

Property, Children as

Social Work

ruth mason

sarah c. mangelsdorf

School of Law, University of Connecticut

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University

Attachment, Infant; Temperament susan vivian mangold University at Buffalo Law School, State University of New York

Taxation, Children and gareth b. mat thews Department of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques jane mauldon

Abuse and Neglect: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

frank l. mannino

Welfare: Effects on the Child

Division of Neonatology, University of California, San Diego

linda c. mayes Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine

Extracurricular Activities

Multiple Births: Physiological and Medical Perspectives

terese j. lund

lisa m. marin

Lynch School of Education, Boston College

International Polytechnic High School, Los Angeles County Ofﬁce of Education

dan p. mcadams

Critical Thinking

Erikson, Erik H(omburger)

anne h. lundin

henry markovits

heather a. mccabe

School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal

Indiana University School of Law–Indianapolis

Moore, Anne Carroll

Logical Thinking

Health Care Funding

Bush Center, Yale University

Poverty, Children in: Effects on the Child

Development, Theories of: Psychoanalytic Theories School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University

c o n t r ib u t o r s

• x ix

martha k. mcclintock

cecilia menjívar

rachel y. moon

Departments of Psychology and Comparative Human Development and Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research, University of Chicago

Department of Sociology, School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University

Children’s National Medical Center and George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Immigration, Children and: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Sexual Development: Sexual Desire and Behavior

julie a. mennella Monell Chemical Senses Center

Department of Landscape Architecture, North Carolina State University

sean a. mcghee

Taste and Smell, Development of

Parks, Playgrounds, and Open Spaces

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles

usha menon

donald moores

Immune Disorders

Department of Culture and Communication, Drexel University

Department of Exceptional Student and Deaf Education, University of North Florida

lucy s. mcgough

Hinduism

Deafness

Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Lousiana State University

david d. meyer

rachel f. moran

College of Law, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

School of Law, University of California, Berkeley

Separation and Divorce: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Privacy, Family

robin c. moore

Affirmative Action, Children and; Education, Discrimination in: Gender Discrimination

john h. mckendrick

anne c. meyering

Director, Scottish Poverty Information Unit, School of Law and Social Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University

Department of History, Michigan State University

gilda a. morelli

Marketplace, Children and the

Family: Economic and Demographic Perspectives

Mother-Child Relationship: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

james j. mckenna

george f. michel

megan a. moreno

Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame

Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina–Greensboro

Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Sleep: Sleeping Arrangements; On Infants Sleeping Alone

Critical Periods

Substance Abuse: Medical Perspectives

joan g. miller

peter moreno

peter l. mclaren

Department of Psychology, New School for Social Research

School of Law, University of Washington

Department of Education, University of California, Los Angeles

Freire, Paulo (Reglus Neves) gary e. mcpherson School of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Music jay mechling Department of American Studies, University of California, Davis

Folklore, Children’s; Opie, Peter (Mason); Organizations for Youth

Department of Psychology, Boston College

Morality

Substance Abuse: Legal and PublicPolicy Perspectives

kenneth e. miller

kimberly j. morgan

Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights, Boston University

Department of Political Science, George Washington University

Refugee Children

Welfare: International Historical Perspectives

peggy j. miller Departments of Communication, Psychology, and Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign

jeylan t. mortimer Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota

Narrative; Self-Esteem

Work, Children’s Gainful: Effects on the Child

hugh mehan

bonnie j. miller-mclemore

jennifer haddad mosher

Department of Sociology and CREATE, University of California, San Diego

Divinity School, Vanderbilt University

St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

Eastern Orthodoxy

Classroom Culture

Protestantism; Rites of Passage: Religious Rites of Passage

andrew n. meltzoff

juliet mitchell

Anthropology Field Group, Pitzer College

Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington

Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge

Training, Child; Whiting, John W(esley) M(ayhew)

Imitation

Klein, Melanie (Reizes)

alexandra k. murphy

elizabeth g. menaghan

john modell

Department of Sociology, Ohio State University

Departments of Education and Sociology, Brown University

Goode, William J(osiah)

Davis, Kingsley

robert l. munroe

Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Princeton University

Work, Children’s Gainful: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

xx •

con trib ut ors

melissa murray

gary novak

henry c. ou

School of Law, University of California, Berkeley

Department of Psychology and Child Development, California State University, Stanislaus

Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, University of Washington

Federalism and Families william myers Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis

Development, Theories of: Behavioral Theories

Hearing: Hearing Abnormalities

larry nucci

willis f. overton

Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley

Department of Psychology, Temple University

Stages of Childhood

tonya m. palermo

william n. myhill

michelle oberman

Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University

School of Law, Santa Clara University

Disabilities, Care of Children with: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Rape

Department of Anesthesiology and PeriOperative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University

elinor ochs

Pain

Work, Children’s Gainful: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Development, Concept of

vivian gussin paley

pedram navab

Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stanford University

Language: Language and Social Life

The Color Brown

Sleep: Physiology of Sleep

stephen o’connor

St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College

Eastern Orthodoxy

Brace, Charles Loring

kristen d. nawrotzki School of Education, Roehampton University

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

harry pappas

jack l. paradise

Preschool and Kindergarten

vanessa oddo

Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

herbert l. needleman

Harvard Medical School

Ear Infections

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Substance Abuse, Parental: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Lead Poisoning

tara a. o’hanley

john m. neff Center for Children with Special Needs, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine

Hospitalization carol j. nemeroff Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn College

Magical Thinking katherine s. newman Department of Sociology, Princeton University

Work, Children’s Gainful: Historical and Cultural Perspectives jan nisbet Institute on Disability, University of New Hampshire

Department of Psychology, Boston College

maria e. parente Department of Education, University of California, Irvine

Extracurricular Activities steven parker

Mother-Child Relationship: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine

michael w. o’hara

Child: Physiological Perspectives; Self-Injury

Department of Psychology, University of Iowa

thanujeni pathman

Postpartum Depression

Department of Psychology, Emory University

william p. o’hare

Memory

KIDS COUNT Project, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Demography of Childhood: United States; Demography of Childhood: International Perspectives david orentlicher Center for Law and Health, Indiana University School of Law–Indianapolis, and Indiana University School of Medicine

charlot te j. pat terson Department of Psychology, University of Virginia

Gay and Lesbian Parents howard a. pearson Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine

Blood Disorders; Blood Types anne-marie peatrik Centre National de la Recherche Scientiﬁque

Intellectual Disability, Education of Children with

Human Immunodeficiency Viral Syndrome: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

barbara f. nordhaus

maryam oskoui

Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine

Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University

MassGeneral Hospital for Children and Harvard University

Solnit, Albert J(ay)

Neuromuscular Disorders

Marks Make the Man in Kenya james m. perrin

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

c o n t r ib u t o r s

jean koh peters

kelly kristin powell

len roberson

School of Law, Yale University

Legal Representation of Children

Department of Psychology, American University

james g. pfaus

Ethnic Identity

Department of Exceptional Student and Deaf Education, University of North Florida

lorelei a. prevost

Deafness

Department of Psychology, Concordia University

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University

daniel n. robinson

Intelligence Testing; Testing and Evaluation, Educational

Aristotle; James, William

Department of Communication Disorders and Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology, Indiana State University

sarah h. ramsey

Emory University School of Law

College of Law, Syracuse University

Guardianship

Education, Discrimination in: Overview

jane l. rankin

barbara s. rocah

Literacy

School of Communication, Northwestern University

Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis

Sexual Development: Physiological Development chavez phelps

randall a. phelps Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health and Science University

Advice Literature, Popular

Disabilities, Care of Children with: Medical Perspectives

Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Kennedy Krieger Institute

roderick phillips

Fears, Phobias, and Anxiety Disorders; Mental Illness

Department of History, Carleton University

patricia a. rao

leonard a. rappaport

Marital and Nonmarital Unions: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Separation and Divorce: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Developmental Medicine Center, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

ashley m. pinkham Department of Psychology, University of Virginia

Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford University

kimberly jenkins robinson

Freud, Sigmund kathleen boyce rodgers Department of Human Development, Washington State University

Remarriage and the Blended Family l. todd rose Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, and Laboratory for Visual Learning, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Bedwetting; Toilet Training

Development, Theories of: Dynamic Systems Theories

daniel a. rauch

sara rosenbaum

Pediatric Hospitalist Program, New York University School of Medicine

School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University

Embryology and Fetal Development

Concepts, Children’s: Concepts of the Psychological World

erica reischer

Health Care Systems for Children: United States

independent scholar

irene merker rosenberg

mary pipan

Body Image and Modification

University of Houston Law Center

jennifer f. reynolds

Drug Testing

Division of Child Development and Rehabilitation, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina

laura ann rosenbury

Latin American Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in

Gender: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

robert w. rieber

catherine j. ross

Abortion: Psychological Perspectives

Fordham University and City University of New York

School of Law, George Washington University

kelvin m. pollard

Wundt, Wilhelm

Population Reference Bureau

amy r. ritualo

Demography of Childhood: United States

Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor

Foster and Kinship Care: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives; Parens Patriae

Developmental Delays chelsea b. polis Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University

School of Law, Washington University

norbert o. ross

College of Education, Temple University

Demography of Childhood: International Perspectives

Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University

Ogbu, John U(zo)

frederick p. rivara

Animism

laura porterfield

Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, and Seattle Children’s Hospital

kate rousmaniere

Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Attention

Accidents and Injuries

Teachers

michael i. posner

• xxi

Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University

x x ii •

con trib utors

david l. rowland

karen j. saywitz

ira m. schwartz

Department of Psychology and Ofﬁce of Graduate Studies, Valparaiso University

David Geffen School of Medicine and Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, University of California, Los Angeles

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia

Mental Health Care: Legal and PublicPolicy Perspectives

Punishment, Legal

Sexual Development: Physiological Development paul rozin Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania

Food Aversions and Preferences; Learning to Like Chili Peppers

larry a. scanlan Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Juvenile Justice System robert g. schwartz Juvenile Law Center

helen b. schwartzman Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University

Athletic Development

Play: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

julie hanlon rubio

tara k. scanlan

deborah schwengel

Department of Theological Studies, St. Louis University

Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University

Athletic Development

Medicines and Children: Anesthesia and Analgesia

Catholicism karen d. rudolph Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Suicide john l. rury School of Education, University of Kansas

Education: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives; Schooling, Inequalities in; Schools stacy r. ryan Department of Psychology, Emory University

Tobacco elizabeth m. saewyc School of Nursing, University of British Columbia

judith schachter Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University

Adoption: Historical and Cultural Perspectives alice schlegel Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona

Rites of Passage: Secular Rites of Passage Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University

Juvenile Court dean schofield Curry School of Education, University of Virginia

philip l. safford

Itard, Jean-Marc-Gaspard

Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University

alison schonwald

Gangs

Adolescent Decision Making, Legal Perspectives on nancy l. segal Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton

Multiple Births: Developmental Perspectives The Montessori Foundation

Montessori, Maria madeline u. shalowitz Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

Stress rajni shankar-brown

Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard University

Department of Elementary, Middle Level, and Literacy Education, University of North Carolina–Wilmington

Bedwetting; Toilet Training

Homelessness

martín sánchez-jankowski Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

School of Law, Columbia University

timothy seldin steven schlossman

Sexual Abuse: Medical and Psychological Perspectives

Special Education: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives

elizabeth s. scot t

jean reith schroedel School of Politics and Economics, Claremont Graduate University

gail g. shapiro Northwest Asthma and Allergy Center

Allergic Diseases

Fetus, Legal Status of the

jessica sharac

School of Law, Columbia University

megan nordquest schwallie

Center for the Economics of Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

Emancipation

School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago

carol sanger

geoffrey b. saxe Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley

Counting on the Body: Arithmetic Learning in Oksapmin Culture; The Mathematical Life of Brazilian Street Children

Death, Children’s Experience of; Psychiatric Illness, Parental barry schwartz Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College

Skinner, B(urrhus) F(rederic)

Health Care Systems for Children: United States; Health Care Systems for Children: International Perspectives cynthia m. sharpe Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego

Neurological and Brain Development; Neurological Disorders

c o n t r ib u t o r s

• x xiii

susan m. shaw

diana t. slaughter-defoe

srinivas k. sridhara

Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo

Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University

Leisure Time, Family

Race and Children’s Development

Abortion: Psychological Perspectives

avinash k. shet t y

daniel scot t smith

peter n. stearns

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Department of History, University of Illinois at Chicago

Department of History and Art History, George Mason University

Naming Patterns

Father-Child Relationship: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Human Immunodeficiency Viral Syndrome: U.S. Medical Perspectives michael shevell Departments of Neurology/Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, McGill University

Neuromuscular Disorders aya shigeto Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Temperament

janna malamud smith Department of Psychology, Harvard Medical School

Personal Boundaries

r. grant steen School of Medicine, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

Cancer; Genetics: Overview

david m. smolin Cumberland Law School, Samford University

Baby and Child Selling

howard f. stein Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

kathy g. short

david t. sobel

Oedipus Confl ict

College of Education, University of Arizona

Department of Education, Antioch University New England

martin t. stein

Literature: Children’s Engagement with Literature

Universe of the Child nadia sorkhabi

susan e. short Department of Sociology, Brown University

Department of Child and Adolescent Development, San Jose State University

Fertility

Authority and Obedience

barbara jean shwalb

margaret beale spencer

Department of Psychology, Southeastern Louisiana University

Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago

Asian Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in

Race and Children’s Development; Status

david william shwalb

melanie sperling

Department of Psychology, Southeastern Louisiana University

Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside

Asian Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in

Writing moshe halevi spero

eric kline silverman Departments of American Studies and Human Development, Wheelock College, and Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University

School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University

Spirituality

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, and Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego

Headaches; Health Screening; Health Supervision; Physical Growth and Development; Spock, Benjamin (McLane) nan d. stein Center for Research on Women, Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College

Crime Victims, Children as laurence steinberg Department of Psychology, Temple University

Adolescent Decision Making, Legal Perspectives on; Research on Child Development: The Practice of Child Development Research mark j. stern

douglas e. sperry

School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Poverty, Children in: Historical and Cultural Perspectives robert j. sternberg

Department of Law, Goethe University

Learning to Fictionalize in the Black Belt of Alabama

Goldstein, Joseph

linda l. sperry

dorothy g. singer

Department of Communication Disorders and Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology, Indiana State University

Binet, Alfred; Intelligence

Literacy; Learning to Fictionalize in the Black Belt of Alabama

Home Schooling

jane m. spinak School of Law, Columbia University

Department of Writing Arts, Rowan University

Family Court

Magazines

Circumcision, Male spiros simitis

Department of Psychology, Yale University

Play Therapy jenny l. singleton Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Growing Up Hearing in a Deaf Family

Dean’s Ofﬁce, School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University

mitchell l. stevens New York University

donald r. stoll

x x iv •

con tribut ors

nomi m. stolzenberg

lisa a. suzuki

stuart w. teplin

Gould School of Law, University of Southern California

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University

Paternity and Maternity richard f. storrow

Intelligence Testing; Testing and Evaluation, Educational

School of Law, City University of New York

laura a. szalacha

Procreate, Right to

College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago

Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics of the Carolinas, CMC-Northeast Medical Center, Concord, NC

murray a. straus

Corporal Punishment

Homosexuality and Bisexuality: Physiological and Psychological Perspectives

victor streib

sherylle j. tan

Elon University and Ohio Northern University

Death Penalty, Children and the

Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children, Claremont McKenna College

ann p. streissguth

Critical Thinking

Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine

david s. tanenhaus

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Department of History and William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada–Las Vegas

dennis m. st yne

Juvenile Court

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Davis

daniel tanner

Obesity and Dieting

Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

carola suárez-orozco

Textbooks

Department of Applied Psychology, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University

robert r. tanz Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, and Children’s Memorial Hospital (Chicago)

Blindness; Vision: Development of Vision göran therborn University of Cambridge

Family: Historical and Cultural Perspectives jeannie banks thomas Department of English, Utah State University

Ghosts prakash k. thomas Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine

Development, Theories of: Psychoanalytic Theories ross a. thompson Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis

Emotional Development christopher a. thurber

Morbidity

Counseling and Psychological Services, Philips Exeter Academy

marcelo m. suárez-orozco

howard taras

Camps, Summer

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego

manasi tirodkar

Immigration, Children and: Effects on the Child

Health and Sex Education

Tourette Syndrome in Indian Ayurvedic Medical Practice

rena f. subotnik

Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and of Folklore and Mythology, Harvard University

joseph tobin

Center for Gifted Education Policy, American Psychological Association

Giftedness

The Luminous Books of Childhood

kaveri subrahmanyam

kenneth s. taylor

Early Childhood Education in Japan

Department of Psychology, California State University, Los Angeles

Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Immigration, Children and: Effects on the Child

maria tatar

National Center for Quality Assurance

Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, Arizona State University

paul l. tractenberg Rutgers School of Law–Newark

Sports Injuries

Education: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

christopher m. sullivan

lori taylor

doris a. trauner

Departments of Surgery and Pediatrics, University of Chicago

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego

Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego

Orthopedic Disorders

Physical Growth and Development

stephen j. suomi

marjorie taylor

Neurological and Brain Development; Neurological Disorders

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Computers: Computers as Learning Tools; Computers: Computer Games

Harlow, Harry F(rederick)

Play, Pretend; Some Prodigious Pretenders

george c. tremblay Department of Clinical Psychology, Antioch University New England

Watson, John B(roadus)

c o n t r ib u t o r s

• xxv

nancy m. trinh

john vickrey van cleve

scot t waller

Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Department of History, Gallaudet University

School of Politics and Economics, Claremont Graduate University

Identity

Clerc, (Louis) Laurent (Marie); Gallaudet, Edward Miner

Fetus, Legal Status of the

heather k. j. van der lely

Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska– Lincoln

stewart g. trost Departments of Nutrition and Exercise Science, Oregon State University

cixin wang

elise trumbull

Centre for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London

California State University, Northridge

Language Disorders and Delay

Gender: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Grades and Grading

jennifer van reet

paul p. wang

susan tsai

Department of Psychology, Providence College

Pﬁzer Global Research and Development

Exercise and Physical Activity

Concepts, Children’s: Concepts of the Psychological World

Medicines and Children: Overview; Medicines and Children: Antibiotics; Salk, Jonas (Edward)

Pregnancy

ross e. vanderwert

william l. wansart

jonathan tudge

Department of Human Development, University of Maryland at College Park

Department of Education, University of New Hampshire

Orphanages

Learning Disabilities; Learning Disabilities, Education of Children with

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina–Greensboro

yvonne e. vaucher

Development, Theories of: Social Contextual Theories

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego

amber n. t yler

Prematurity

Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina–Greensboro

jennifer rabke verani

Critical Periods

Division of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

peter r. uhlenberg

Parasitic Infections

Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

lynne vernon-feagans

Grandparents

School of Education, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

naveen k. uli

School Readiness

maika watanabe Department of Secondary Education, San Francisco State University

Ability Grouping mark c. weber College of Law, DePaul University

Special Education: Legal and PublicPolicy Perspectives amram weiner independent scholar

pallavi visvanathan

Memories of Childhood on an Israeli Kibbutz

Endocrine Disorders

Department of Psychology, University of Denver

carol weisbrod

marion k. underwood

Romantic and Sexual Relationships

Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas

School of Law, University of Connecticut

Religious Rights, Children’s

jacques vonèche glenn weisfeld

Aggression

Department of Psychology, University of Geneva

sarah e. vaala

Piaget, Jean

Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

gary i. wadler

Television

Performance-Enhancing Drugs

jaan valsiner

michael s. wald

Department of Psychology, Clark University

School of Law, Stanford University

School of Medicine, New York University

Department of Psychology, Wayne State University

Darwin, Charles (Robert) thomas s. weisner Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Werner, Heinz

Abuse and Neglect: Legal and PublicPolicy Perspectives

African Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in; Parenthood

geraldine van bueren

john wall

lois a. weithorn

School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, and Kellogg College, Oxford University

Department of Philosophy and Religion, Rutgers University–Camden

Hastings College of the Law, University of California

Child: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives; Locke, John

Medical Care and Procedures, Consent to

Slavery, Child

xxvi •

con tribut ors

emmy e. werner

lindia willies-jacobo

elisabeth young-bruehl

Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego

Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, Columbia University

Childhood Resilience

Headaches

Freud, Anna

lynne a. werner

m. michelle winscot t

james youniss

Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington

Sports Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Department of Psychology, Catholic University of America

Hearing: Development of Hearing

Sports Injuries

john scot t werry

arthur p. wolf

Political Activism, Children and; Sullivan, Harry Stack

Department of Psychiatry, University of Auckland

Department of Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University

Medicines and Children: Psychotropic Medicines

Incest

james v. wertsch

Department of History, University of Massachusetts Boston

Department of Anthropology, Washington University

roberta wollons

Abandonment and Infanticide

charles h. zeanah Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University

Attachment Disturbances and Disorders lonnie k. zeltzer David Geffen School of Medicine, Pediatric Pain Program, and Mattel Children’s Hospital, University of California, Los Angeles

Vygotsky, L(ev) S(emenovich)

barbara bennet t woodhouse

michael wessells

Emory University School of Law

Program on Forced Migration and Health, Columbia University

Rights, Children’s

Pain

stephani etheridge woodson

ana celia zentella

peter weston

School of Theatre and Film, Arizona State University

Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego

Froebel College, Roehampton University

Theater and Acting

Bilingualism

Froebel, Friedrich (Wilhelm August)

alan d. woolf

edward f. zigler Department of Psychology, Yale University

Religion in Public Schools

Division of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

richard white

Poisoning

Faculty of Education, Monash University

carol m. worthman

School of Psychology, Grifﬁth University– Gold Coast

Science

Department of Anthropology, Emory University

Work, Children’s Gainful: Effects on the Child

Combat, Youth in

jay d. wexler School of Law, Boston University

friedrich wilkening Psychologisches Institut, University of Zurich

Concepts, Children’s: Concepts of the Physical World meredith willa Department of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

Launching a Reproductive Career in Kenya robert h. wozniak Department of Psychology, Bryn Mawr College

Baldwin, James Mark

Head Start melanie j. zimmer-gembeck

franklin e. zimring School of Law, University of California, Berkeley

Crime, Juvenile samuel h. zinner

Welfare: Effects on the Child

gretchen miller wrobel

Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington

joan c. williams

Department of Psychology, Bethel University

Tics and Tourette Syndrome

Adoption: Effects on the Child

michael zuckerman

brian r. wyant

Department of History, University of Pennsylvania

Center for WorkLife Law, Hastings College of the Law, University of California

Work and Home Life, Confl ict between: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University

Juvenile Delinquency

patricia zukow-goldring

rebecca a. williamson

maria yon

Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington

College of Education, University of North Carolina–Charlotte

Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles

Imitation

Homelessness

Ariès, Philippe

Children as Family Caregivers in Mexico

Introduction an invitation to the many worlds of childhood On behalf of my fellow editors and the reference publishing staff of the University of Chicago Press, I am delighted to welcome you as a reader of The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion. The Companion is a single-volume authoritative reference work on children’s development and the many worlds of childhood from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and on a global scale. It has been designed (here borrowing a phrase from the English poet Matthew Arnold, who was also a very learned inspector of children’s schools) “to make the best that has been thought and known” about children and childhood readily available to a broad spectrum of inquisitive adults, nonspecialists and specialists alike. We have kept in mind the interests of parents as well as educators, health care providers, social workers, teachers, and lawyers; public health workers as well as research scholars. Although it is doubtful that genuine erudition on any topic can be achieved simply by reading an article in a reference work, the Companion seeks to inform, broaden, and enrich our adult conversations about children, with special reference to basic questions about their mental, social, biological, and spiritual development; their health; and their hoped-for well-being. In keeping with these goals, we have sought to be at once compact in our treatment and expansive in our understanding of children and of childhood, which we have taken to begin with the time a child spends in her or his mother’s womb and to end in the late teenage years. We adopted this relatively broad understanding of childhood for the sake of consistency in guiding the contents of the Companion, fully recognizing that any particular definition of the beginning and end of childhood is somewhat arbitrary and that is it impossible to specify the boundaries of life stages from all possible cultural and historical perspectives at once. To address the many dimensions of life encompassed by this understanding of childhood, we have engaged a wide range of expert contributors representing the perspectives of many disciplines: medicine, biology, law, education, psychology, literature, religion, anthropology, history, sociology, linguistics, communication studies, folklore, and cultural studies. The Companion is also a book created in the pluralistic spirit of curiosity about different childhoods across the human family. Although many of the articles in the volume rely on evidence accumulated in North America and Europe (where there are established, active, and relatively well-funded research traditions in pediatric medicine, developmental psychology, education, and law), our coverage extends to other societies and historical epochs. Wherever possible, we have sought to increase the comparative

x x v iii •

in trod uction

scope of the volume, benefiting from work by anthropologists and historians, by social theorists and humanists in the interdisciplinary field of “childhood studies,” and by researchers in other parts of the globe. A major aim of the volume is to broaden our understanding and to take account of variations in childhood experiences, contexts, and ideals for maturity across diverse dimensions of potential difference: ethnicity, gender, culture, and social class. Publications about children are ubiquitous, and they come in many forms. In academic circles there are several outstanding journals specializing in research on children, such as Child Development, Childhood, Developmental Psychology, Pediatrics, and Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The admirable multivolume Handbook of Child Psychology supplies graduate students and research scholars in the academy with massive review chapters of the recent scientific literature in specialized areas of child psychology. Parents and others who work with children outside the academy often turn to books, popular magazines, and online sources offering advice on child rearing. In respectful contrast to these types of publications, the Companion is designed as an encyclopedia consisting of 529 alphabetically arranged and readable summaries of fundamental knowledge on specific child-related topics along with 41 sidebar essays. These sidebars, collectively titled “Imagining Each Other” essays, are designed to bring the Companion’s theme of human diversity into special focus by allowing readers to enter imaginatively and through vivid prose into the lives of children and adolescents from specific cultures and subcultures around the world. The combination of comparative scope and interdisciplinary reach is a distinctive feature of the Companion, making it perhaps unique among books of its type: a reader-friendly encyclopedia about children for adults living in a globalizing yet multicultural world. Ch ildhood : Really Real an d Fabulously Fabr icat ed Viewed from a comparative perspective, childhood is really real, in the sense that every human society recognizes one or more phases of life prior to adulthood. But it is also fabulously fabricated (some would say “invented” or “constructed”), in the sense that the ideas, ideals, and practices associated with positive child development are not the same wherever you go around the world, or even within any single society. It takes imagination (and some degree of moral courage and openness to the experience of astonishment) to engage and understand those really real worlds of childhood that are substantially different from one’s own: for example, childhood as organized and arranged in contemporary Asian, African, or Native American societies or in the ancient Mediterranean world or in earlier periods of American history; childhood as envisioned by a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church or by a devout Hindu or a pious Muslim; childhood as experienced by a child growing up in a commune or a refugee camp; childhood as understood by a child who grows up hearing in a deaf family or by a child who is schooled at home. The reality of childhood thus goes far beyond the universal recognition of phases of life prior to adulthood. Every human society fosters institutions and practices—

in t r o d u c t io n

familial, legal, educational, religious, and medical—dedicated in part to defining, regulating, and promoting the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual development of the young. Within every human society there are specific goals, values, and pictures of a “normal” childhood that are taken for granted, passionately promoted, or actively contested by adult members of that society. The entries in the Companion aim to provide up-to-date summaries of those childhood realities while recognizing that goals for, and pictures of, positive child development are plural and diverse, not singular or unitary, both across and within human societies. The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion takes up the challenge of giving an authoritative and accurate account of childhood and child development as both invented and real. The six editors of the volume come from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, developmental psychology, education, history, law, and pediatrics (see pp. vii–viii). A 35-member interdisciplinary, international, and multicultural Board of Advisors consisting of some of the most distinguished and well-known child development researchers in the world (see p. ii) contributed expertise on cultural variability both within the United States and across major regions of the world. These experts reviewed early plans and made suggestions for the contents of the Companion as a whole. Each of the articles in the volume was written by one or more authorities on the topic, and every contributor was provided with an explicit scope description suggesting the ideal coverage for his or her particular topic. In the light of our premise that the really real worlds of childhood are not necessarily the same across historical time and cultural space, or even within the same society, nearly every scope description concluded with a charge to “make comparisons to other societies, cultural traditions, and historical periods” besides the contemporary United States and to “consider gender, racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and environmental variation related to this topic, as well as the shortand long-term consequences for children of such variation.” The editors of the Companion fully recognize the enormity of the challenge of portraying the diverse, group-specific aspects of childhood experience in an accurate, sympathetic (although not necessarily uncritical) way and of transcending provincial research traditions while also learning from them. We accept the inevitability of the judgment that our success in accomplishing this ambition has been limited. Not all of our contributors found it feasible or appropriate to explore issues of diversity, given the boundaries of their discipline, the limits of their expertise, the lack of relevant primary research, or the nature of their topic. At the moment, medical epidemiologists, anthropologists, and historians are perhaps most at ease incorporating a comparative perspective into their research. Even as we invite the reader to the many worlds of childhood and publish the fruits of our intellectual labor, we look forward to the further growth of an interdisciplinary comparative research perspective on children across the disciplines of law, developmental psychology, literature, sociology, and education. In a globalizing world in which not only goods and financial resources but also peoples migrate across national borders, it is both good and practical for child development researchers, children’s rights activists, and the educated public in general to learn as much as possible about childhood outside one’s own geographic and social location.

• x x ix

xxx •

in troduction

Childhood assumes different forms here and there, now and then; and from a comparative perspective, one more properly speaks of childhoods, in the plural, than of childhood, in the singular. As such, the Companion is really as much about children in the plural—living in different societies, different times, and different social locations— as it is about the child in general or in the abstract. But the volume also provides much general knowledge about children, particularly in the many entries concerned with biological development and physical and mental health: regarding the thumb-sucking behavior of the fetus in the womb, for example, or the visual capacity of infants at birth (their vision is 20/200, which is worse than legally blind), the development of a sense of musical rhythm at 7 months of age, or the emergence of a social preference for members of the same sex at age 3. It is a formidable challenge to accurately and objectively represent the real diversity in children’s worlds without allowing our own parochialism to bias these representations. Nevertheless, we have sought to honor in this volume—and particularly in the Imagining Each Other essays—the pluralistic aspiration expressed by the cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz, who wrote so eloquently of the “differenced world.” In portraying lives in different cultural worlds and in different social locations within a society, he said, it should be possible to recognize “the force and durability of ties of religion, language, custom, locality, race, and descent in human affairs” without regarding the entrance of such considerations in social life as “pathological—primitive, backward, regressive and irrational.” Many of the things we take for granted as natural or divinely given or logically necessary or practically indispensable for life in an orderly, safe, and decent society are neither natural nor divinely given nor logically necessary nor practically indispensable for life in an orderly, safe, and decent society—including our conceptions of a normal childhood. Curren ts in Cont empor ary Research on Children Grand theories about child development have taken their hits in recent decades, and much has changed in the world of research and scholarship concerning children. A comprehensive reference work on children published in the 1950s or 1960s might well have been unified around the work of a figure such as Sigmund Freud or Jean Piaget, but this is no longer the case. We live in a post–grand universal theory age, and there are many stories to tell about childhood and the successful mental, social, spiritual, and even biological development of children. Many of those stories are told in The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion. Over the past century, the social and behavioral sciences have witnessed the naturenurture pendulum swing: from nature in the first decades of the 20th century to nurture in the 1930s through the 1960s. Nature returned to the academic scene once again (and reentered popular culture) beginning in the 1970s and on into the first decade of the 21st century. While very few contemporary child development researchers would argue a strong form of the provocative thesis that “biology is destiny” or that the experiences of childhood have no influence on adult functioning, there has been a major

in t r o d u c t io n

return of interest in innate ideas, neonatal temperament, twin studies, behavioral and evolutionary biology, genetic variation, hormonal regulation, and brain science; and new debates have arisen about how best to think about the very distinction between nature and nurture and the interaction of mind and body. In the Companion, these debates are treated in entries on such topics as the biological evolution of childhood, genetics, multiple births, neurological and brain development, sexual development, and temperament. Even as nature was returning to the academic and intellectual scene, however, those who study “nurture” in the broadest sense became more and more sophisticated in describing and characterizing the relevant environments or contexts of childhood experience. New fields of interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences emerged with names such as childhood studies, cultural psychology, medical sociology, psychological anthropology, language socialization, and history of childhood. These fields have taken a comparative and/or historical perspective on children’s lives and have broadened their research agenda on nurturing to include the influence on the child of family, religion, language and literature, law, education, social status, and social class, and they have documented (and critiqued) the causes and consequences of differences in childhood experiences and outcomes across human populations. Produced during the first decade of the 21st century, the Companion is meant to be a conduit for the flow of state-of-the-art information about all these currents, on both sides of any nature/nurture divide, with special attention given to variations in the institutional contexts of childhood experience and pathways of development. As a reference book, the Companion gives broad voice to the social and cultural contexts of nurturing in Geertz’s “differenced world,” which, in a sense, is its distinguishing characteristic. The contemporary burgeoning of interest in the many worlds of childhood experience has coincided with—and perhaps hastened—the waning influence of the grand stage structure theories of psychosexual and emotional development proposed by Freud and other psychoanalysts and those of cognitive or intellectual development proposed by Piaget. Both schools of theory have been widely critiqued from a number of perspectives over the past few decades. Some researchers argue that Piaget underestimated the intellectual sophistication and operational capacity of young children and that infants are “hardwired” with innate ideas; others argue that he overemphasized the stagelike directional character of intellectual growth or that he misjudged the role and importance of local cultural knowledge in reasoning, judgment, and memory. Freud has come in for criticism as well for, among other things, his views of female psychology, his claims about cross-generational sexual desire within the family and the origin of the incest taboo, and his (oral, anal, and genital) psychosexual stage theory about the development of libido. The theories of both Freud and Piaget appear in multiple contexts within the Companion, as do the critiques of their work, placing them within the range of ways to view the childhood experience, but not outside or above it. Not surprisingly, interest in the many worlds of childhood has also flowered at a time in North America and Europe when the reality and challenge of “difference” or

• xxxi

x x x ii •

in trod uct ion

“multiculturalism” (both global and domestic varieties) have become major public policy issues. Multiculturalism is a provocative concept, embraced in some nations, such as the United States (where the celebration of diversity is sometimes viewed as a virtue), while being scorned in other nations, such as France (where parochial group identities other than the identity of citizen of the state may be viewed with suspicion). Truth be told, it is also a concept with multiple—and even incompatible—meanings. There are multiculturalists who are concerned with the liberty of peoples and who highly value group differences and want to preserve them; and other multiculturalists who are concerned with social justice and who think group differences are the products of vicious discrimination and that within any truly just and egalitarian society group differences should be made to go away. There are multiculturalists who believe that the term means being a “hybrid” and actively promoting the erosion of borders or boundaries between groups and the mixing up, melting down, homogenizing, or integrating of things (in marriages, neighborhoods, and schools); and other multiculturalists who think multiculturalism implies autonomy, in-group solidarity, the power to remain separate or pure, and the capacity to maintain boundaries or restore a distinctive way of life (by means of marriage, neighborhoods, and schools). There are multiculturalists who use the word in an almost ironic sense to commend and promote the mainstreaming, assimilation, or inclusion of people of different colors or ancestries into the society and shared subculture of the North American or Western European elite; and other multiculturalists who use the term to call on the mainstream elite of particular countries to accommodate themselves to minority group differences in customs, values, and beliefs, and to tolerate or even celebrate genuine cultural diversity. And there are multiculturalists who are distressed by, and deeply suspicious of, the idea that members of different groups might differ from one another in typifying ways and who disparage all claims about group differences as stereotyping; and other multiculturalists for whom the very concept of multiculturalism would have no point at all if it were not for the reality of real differences between individuals that arise by virtue of their membership in different and particular groups. In identifying the Companion as a “multicultural” reference work, we recognize the many meanings of this term within the broad research community committed to the study of childhood and child development and within the even broader community of our readership. The 627 contributors who accepted our invitation to write for this volume were challenged to present their topics dispassionately, with a view to all sides of any debate, though their work was inevitably shaped by their own sense of how (and whether) to represent diversity in these debates. Just as the Companion encompasses many worlds of childhood, it reflects many approaches to writing about these worlds. Organiz at ion an d T y pes of En t r ies As it meets the eye of the reader, the Companion is an encyclopedia in which topics are listed alphabetically to facilitate access, starting with the entry “Abandonment and Infanticide” and ending with “Youth Movements.” In some instances, where the opera-

in t r o d u c t io n

tive term under which readers are likely to look up a subject is not the first word in the entry title, we have inverted the title: For example, the entry on children’s rights appears among the Rs as “Rights, Children’s,” while that on the development of communication appears among the Cs as “Communication, Development of.” Although we do not expect most readers to proceed through the volume in strict alphabetical order, we hope that the juxtapositions created by this standard referencestyle organization prove to be thought provoking in their own way. A reader who goes looking for one topic of interest may, through the accident of proximity, stumble upon another that she had not previously considered and perhaps make some new connections among the many aspects of research on child development encompassed by the Companion. Consider, for example, the following alphabetical yet strikingly diverse and interdisciplinary sequence of entries: Folklore, Children’s Food Aversions and Preferences Foreign Language Education Foster and Kinship Care Freedom of Speech Freire, Paolo (Reglus Neves) On occasion, the alphabetical organization may even appear whimsical, as where the entry on “Masturbation” is immediately followed by that on “Mathematics.” Hidden behind the ultimate organization of the entries is a set of 15 conceptual categories that we used as a basis for planning the contents of the volume. Given the aim to create an authoritative reference work on all aspects of children’s development and the many worlds of childhood from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and on a global scale, the planning stage was both critical and extensive. We sought to ensure coverage with minimal gaps and overlaps and to distribute the valuable space in the volume in appropriate proportions among the 529 topical articles, which range in length from 500 to 4,500 words. The majority of entries consist of a single article on a topic from one of the subject areas encompassed by the volume: medicine, biology, law, education, psychology, literature, religion, anthropology, history, linguistics, and cultural studies. Some of these entries are straightforward and self-explanatory as titled: for example, “Class Size,” “Custody,” “Ear Infections,” “Naming Patterns,” “Protestantism,” and “Social Development.” Others embody broader or more diffuse concepts that are not as readily captured by encyclopedia-style titles, such as “Adolescent Decision Making, Legal Perspectives on,” “Health, Disparities in,” “Sacramental Family Life,” and “Universe of the Child.” In certain subject areas, particularly medicine and the social sciences, we chose to combine what might have been several smaller but closely related topics into a single, higher-level entry. Thus we have an entry entitled “Respiratory Diseases” rather than separate entries on the common cold, sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, and so forth; we have “Asian Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in”

• x x xiii

x x x iv •

in trod uct ion

in lieu of individual entries on childhood in China, Japan, India, and neighboring lands. For some complex topics, however, we have created composite entries, consisting of two or more articles representing the perspectives of different disciplines or research traditions on distinct aspects of the subject. Under the entry title “Adoption,” for instance, we have three subsidiary articles written by separate contributors: “Historical and Cultural Perspectives,” by a historian; “Effects on the Child,” by a developmental psychologist; and “Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives,” by a legal scholar. The entry “Development, Theories of ” consists of no fewer than six articles, the first offering an overview of such theories and the remaining five focusing, respectively, on behavioral, cognitive, dynamic systems, psychoanalytic, and social contextual theories. Yet another division of content occurs in the composite entry “Vision,” which includes one article on the normal development of vision and another on vision abnormalities, each written by a different medical specialist. A final category of entries consists of brief biographies for 62 figures who we believe have made iconic contributions to the study of the many worlds of childhood. Some of these individuals will be readily recognizable to most readers of this volume (Sigmund Freud, Maria Montessori, Benjamin Spock); others may be hazily familiar (Ruth Benedict, John Dewey, Lawrence Kohlberg) or largely unknown ( Joseph Goldstein, Anne Carroll Moore, John U. Ogbu) to nonspecialists or professionals outside specific disciplines. Our judgments of iconic stature are inevitably swayed by our placement within the intellectual traditions of Europe and North America, though many of the figures we have included were precursors to the multicultural spirit of the volume. We did choose to exclude any figures alive at the time we drew up the list of entries in the spring of 2005; for example, Urie Bronfenbrenner, who died in September of that year, does not have a biographical entry, although his work is covered in relevant topical entries. The biographical entries are alphabetized under the subject’s last name, and any parts of the name generally omitted in professional contexts are given in parentheses; for example, the entry for the psychologist generally known as B. F. Skinner appears under “Skinner, B(urrhus) F(rederic).” The one group of articles that falls outside the alphabetical ordering system is the array of Imagining Each Other essays, a unique feature to a reference book such as this one. Unlike the topical and biographical articles, which aim to synthesize and summarize, these essays stop and dwell on a particular dimension of childhood in specific place and time. In most cases, they reflect a direct research encounter or other personal experience of the contributor, but they take many forms. In “Learning to Weave in a Maya Community,” for example, Patricia Marks Greenfield writes in the third person about child apprenticeship practices she observed in Mexico; in “Trial by Fire: Emotional Socialization among Canadian Inuit,” Jean L. Briggs writes in the first person about encounters she witnessed between Inuit children and their elders. James J. McKenna takes an even more personal approach in “On Infants Sleeping Alone,” his account of discovering through his own experiences as a parent why the practice of letting babies cry themselves to sleep, though common in many North American and European cir-

in t r o d u c t io n

cles, is considered exotic and even barbaric in much of the rest of the world. By placing each of these essays as a sidebar to a related topical article—“Apprenticeship,” “Emotional Development,” and “Sleep: Sleeping Arrangements,” respectively—we hope to illuminate how broader issues are embodied in one of the many worlds of childhood. A complete table of contents for the Imagining Each Other essays, which are scattered throughout the book, appears on p. vi. Most of the topical articles—and many of the Imagining Each Other essays— conclude with a list of suggestions for further reading. In general, this list is intended to direct nonspecialist readers whose interest has been piqued by an entry to books, articles, and other outside resources that cover the subject in greater depth. Ideally, the items listed under this heading will be accessible to nonspecialists in terms of both level of content and general availability, but some topics lend themselves to such treatments more readily than others. In the interest of brevity, the citations contain just enough information for readers to locate the sources through search engines or other bibliographic means, and works discussed and briefly cited within the text of an article are generally not repeated in the Further Reading list. Readers interested in locating the full text of legal cases, statutes, and related documents discussed within the articles will find full citations for them in the appendix. Next to the Further Reading list in nearly every topical and biographical entry is a string of cross-references to other entries in the volume closely related to the subject at hand. Given the many and complex relationships between the entries, the See also list represents just a starting point for readers interested in exploring these links. We gently suggest that the best way to appreciate the full contents of the Companion is to meander. For those seeking specific content and unable to find it within the structure of the volume as detailed here, we have provided two additional navigational devices. First, intermingled with the alphabetized entries, there are approximately 200 blind entries, which anticipate alternate terms under which readers might expect to find a topic and redirect them to the term under which we have in fact listed it. For example, blind entries redirect readers from “Stepparents” to “Remarriage and the Blended Family,” from “Nutrition” to “Eating and Nutrition,” and from “AIDS” to “Human Immunodeficiency Viral Syndrome.” Once again, though, the blind entries represent a subjective set of guesses within a wide range of possible searches. In certain areas—particularly for medical entries such as “Respiratory Diseases,” which, as noted previously, encompasses a large collection of conditions—we have necessarily avoided blind entries except in rare cases to conserve space. The ultimate resource for readers seeking specific content is the extensive index, which includes entries ranging from the detailed (specific medical conditions, legal cases, and individuals) to the broadly thematic (race and ethnicity)—all arranged, of course, alphabetically. A Few Wo r ds o n T er m inology In keeping with the broader aims of the Companion, we have tried our best to avoid invidious comparisons, bias in word choice, and judgmental rhetorical forms throughout

• xxxv

xxxvi •

in trod uct ion

the volume. This is always a challenge for any writer, and all the more so in a reference work that consists of hundreds of articles by contributors from a dozen or so disciplines and that strives to be balanced and objective in addressing questions of diversity across groups, cultures, and social status. Some of our goals have been easier than others to identify and meet. We have sought, for example, to use gender-neutral language, while allowing a range of solutions to the problem of gender-specific pronouns. When discussing children with special needs, we have sought to use language that emphasizes the person before the need—that is, children with disabilities instead of disabled children, or children with asthma instead of asthmatics. We have also honored the evolving terminology in this area, changing all references to the condition previously known as mental retardation to intellectual disability, with occasional notes in the text to alert readers unfamiliar with this relatively new term to its meaning. One goal that proved much more elusive concerned collective references to large portions of the world or related cultural traditions. Despite our initial intention to avoid such overgeneralized terms as first world/third world and Western societies, we soon realized that contributors from various disciplinary traditions—for example, medical epidemiology and cultural anthropology—brought unavoidably different standard vocabularies to their writing about the cultures of the world. Ultimately, we have not enforced a uniform code of terminology in this realm but rather have permitted contributors to follow the common usage in their disciplines, including the dichotomies developed world/developing world and industrialized world/nonindustrialized world. A similar issue arose in reference to certain population groups within the United States. Although we chose to use the terms African American, Latino, and Native American in entry titles and preferred these terms throughout the volume, some contributors have used black, Hispanic, or Indian for context-specific reasons in their writing. The terms white, European American, and non-Hispanic Caucasian likewise all appear in reference to a similar if not precisely identical population group. In the end, the multicultural spirit of the Companion shaped the volume down to the level of terminology. A Not e of Appreci at ion As editor in chief of The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion, I have been privileged to collaborate for a number of years with five brilliant and conscientious section editors (Tom Bidell, Anne Dailey, Suzanne Dixon, Peggy Miller, and John Modell), the reference publishing staff of the University of Chicago Press, and several freelance editors. I wish to express my profound sense of thanks to everyone who made the Companion both really real and fabulously fabricated. The very idea of an authoritative interdisciplinary reference work focused on the diverse worlds of childhood first sprung in nascent form from the brow of Linda J. Halvorson, former editorial director of reference books at the University of Chicago Press; her brainchild was initially developed by the eminent cultural anthropologist and expert on culture and child development Robert A. LeVine. By the time Linda

in t r o d u c t io n

invited me to lead the project, its broad outlines were clearly discernable. I was honored to be asked to become editor in chief and challenged by the exciting conception of the volume. My editorial work on the project began while I was a Carnegie Scholar of the Carnegie Foundation of New York and was finished while I was a Rosanna and Charles Jaffin Founders Circle Member of the School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey. Many thanks to the Foundation, the Institute, and the Jaffins for their support of my work. Without doubt, however, the sustaining force and intellectual, organizational, and motivational hub of the project for most of its life has been Mary E. Laur, senior project editor for reference books at the Press. Mary was “mission control” through all the stages of project evolution. She not only prepared both the Contributors’ Guide and the index but also left her brilliant mark on the project, both literally and figuratively, by collaborating with all the section editors in the evaluation and editing of every entry and by communicating with all 627 contributors from initial invitation through final approval. She has been assisted in key aspects of this process by Christopher L. Rhodes and Kira Bennett. Jim Miller, a freelance editor, also played a major role in the development of scope descriptions for all entries. Paul Schellinger, the current editorial director of reference books at the Press, not only embraced the project but also offered wise advice about the ultimate shape of the publication. In the final stages of the project, Carol J. Burwash copyedited the complete manuscript, Matt Avery designed the text and the jacket, and David O’Connor oversaw the manufacturing of the volume. Ellen Gibson and Laura Andersen guided it into the hands of inquisitive adults, nonspecialists and specialists alike. Finally, I wish to dedicate the Companion to my teachers Beatrice Blyth Whiting and John Wesley Mayhew Whiting, who were among the most significant genitors of the comparative interdisciplinary study of childhood, and to my children Jeremy, Sylvia, Lauren, and Matthew, who continue to develop, long past childhood. Richard A. Shweder William Claude Reavis Distinguished Service Professor Department of Comparative Human Development University of Chicago September 2008

• x x x v ii

a abandonment and infanticide. Throughout history, parents have been known to abandon their children, whether by means of infanticide (deliberately causing the death of an infant child), exposure (leaving a child where she may or may not be found by others), or donation to apprenticeship or to convents and monasteries. Both Western and non-Western societies have accepted such practices as solutions to poverty, illegitimacy, or family crises. Contemporary historians and social scientists studying abandonment include in their definitions not only children who are parentless but also those who are homeless and stateless. The image of the abandoned or orphaned child powerfully influences public sentiment, public policy debates, and the work of charities. Rarely, however, does public discourse about abandonment engage in comparative or contextualized analyses, differentiate cultural meanings, or document the lives of the children themselves. Philippe Ariès’s groundbreaking treatment of childhood as “socially constructed” in his 1962 book Centuries of Childhood as well as subsequent historical studies of many nonWestern societies have persuaded contemporary social scientists and many policy makers that ideas about childhood have no universal definition. Ariès suggested that there are many historically and culturally specific childhoods. For example, in some places and times, a child of ten is expected to begin an apprenticeship and to work outside the home, whereas other cultures presume a child of that age should be in school. It follows, then, that the idea of child abandonment should be understood in context and over time. How societies assess the obligations of parenthood and the needs of the child determines the relationship of the child to the state and public policies toward both children and their parents. Ear ly Wester n Pr actic es In ancient Greece and Rome, and later in medieval Western Europe, abandonment was a method commonly used by families with too many children to transfer those children to others who needed them, whether as family members or as slaves. This “redistribution of resources” thesis has been criticized by scholars who envisioned less than wholesome outcomes for abandoned children. Instead, despite statistics showing that 20% to 40% of all urban children in ancient Rome were abandoned (usually sold or left exposed to

the elements), most of those children appear to have been taken in and nurtured, resulting in a low mortality rate. In Greek antiquity, some have suggested that the burden of a dowry might have led parents to infanticide of female children. But while historians have documented a high infant mortality rate in this society, there is little evidence of abandonment or infanticide based on gender; reasons, rather, more often revolved around illegitimacy, deformity, and poverty. Studies of Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the 19th century reveal a substantial history of infanticide and of abandonment to foundling homes, charitable institutions that arose to take in these children. Infanticide, infant abandonment, and exposure also occurred in colonial America. English Poor Laws, transported to the American colonies, made local parishes responsible for the care of abandoned children within their precincts, thereby burdening the entire community. Those supporting the creation of foundling homes on both sides of the Atlantic argued that they would be a relatively inexpensive option and would reduce the need for infanticide. Those opposing them believed that their existence would encourage sexual license and illegitimacy. All agreed (erroneously) that the only person who would kill or abandon a child was an unwed woman hiding her shame. Recent studies show that poverty played an equally compelling part in abandonment and that, for example, 20% to 30% of abandoned children in 18th-century Paris were legitimate. Similarly, in early 19th-century America, reports of abandonment increased in periods of economic depression. For most of the 19th century, a Western, middle-class, domestic view of childhood was widely articulated in the United States and throughout Europe, as children were drawn out of work, off the streets, and into school. This public-policy shift marked a change in attitude toward the “best interests of the child,” subsequently expanding the responsibilities of parents to nurture not only the physical but also the psychological needs of the child. Abandonmen t i n Some H istor ical S o c i eti es One society in which child abandonment has been carefully examined is 19th-century France. In her book Abandoned Children (1983), historian Rachel Fuchs found that thou-

2 •

ab an donmen t an d i n fan ti ci de

sands of infants were abandoned every year; in 1833, for example, 4,803 children in Paris and 164,319 nationally. The process of abandonment was simple: A mother could take her child to the foundling home, open a door in the wall outside, deposit the baby in a “turning cradle,” and ring a bell, all unseen. Similarly designed throughout Europe, the cradle allowed an infant to be placed from the outside wall, then swiveled inside. The mortality rate for babies left in these homes was a staggering 65% until the 1870s, when a more protective attitude about the needs and the value of the child resulted in improved policies regarding the care of abandoned children. In France, most women who abandoned their babies were single, and boys and girls were abandoned in roughly equal numbers. In Fuchs’s assessment, the act of abandonment was one not of indifference or shame, but rather a survival strategy—for the mother and her child—during an economic or personal crisis. Around 1830, abandonment peaked at about 5% of all births in France. During the 1850s, turning cradles were removed to discourage abandonment, and fostering increased. After 1871, the government encouraged mothers, wed and unwed, to keep their babies. As the image of the mother softened from sinner to victim, the state began to offer more maternal aid. At the same time, definitions of child abuse expanded, and by 1889 the state began to take over the care of children judged to be “morally” abandoned. In mid-19th-century Italy, meanwhile, most children left in the revolving doors of foundling homes were legitimate, had been baptized, and had some identification provided by their parents. According to historical anthropologist David Kertzer in his book Sacrificed for Honor (1993), these characteristics signaled that abandoning children was not a sign of indifference but (as with the French single mothers) similarly a survival strategy during economic stress or personal crisis. But unlike the French mothers, who tended to give up their children forever, the Milanese parents typically reclaimed their children within a few years. Foundling homes had emerged in Italy in the 13th century and lasted until the 1860s. The institution spread to the rest of Catholic Europe after the Reformation. By the first half of the 19th century, there were 1,200 foundling homes in Italy, and as many as 40% of newborns were consigned to turning cradles. Of these, about two-thirds perished of disease and malnutrition. The Catholic Church’s ban on sexual relations outside of marriage forced mothers to abandon or sacrifice those children in the name of personal and family honor, a factor that Kertzer considers more central to child abandonment than economic necessity, demographics (marital status, age, and location), or maternal sentiment (whether mothers were seeking permanent protection for their children or would come to claim them later). Protestants, he believes, did not take up the practice because of their commitment to individual responsibility and its consequences.

During the second half of the 19th century, the foundling home in Moscow (opened in 1764) was receiving 17,000 children a year and managing the fostering of 40,000 children in the countryside around the city. At St. Petersburg, the figures were 9,000 and 30,000, respectively. The size of the operation, according to historian David Ransel, was astounding. A policy of open admissions protected the identity of mothers who abandoned their babies. While many were fostered to families in the countryside, records from the 1840s and 1850s show that the overwhelming majority died in infancy while still in the foundling home. Like Kertzer, Ransel claims in his book Mothers of Misery (1988) that the European Protestant model enforced a bond between mother and child under the supervision of the state, limiting foundling homes in favor of individual responsibility, whereas the Catholic system favored the anonymity of the turning cradles, which averted scandal and preserved the family. Nevertheless, the practice of fostering abandoned infants to the Russian countryside led to inadequate care, leaving the level of infant mortality uniquely higher than in the rest of Europe. By the 1890s, with abortion and contraception more commonly practiced, illegitimacy and abandonment fell. Moreover, after the Bolshevik revolution, no child was considered illegitimate, but rather all children were legitimate and entitled to equal treatment. From the Renaissance to the mid-19th century, then, abandonment increased and gradually replaced infanticide as the fate of unwanted children in Europe. This period also marked a rise in the abandonment of legitimate children, a rise in foundling homes, and a high mortality rate for foundlings. Meanwhile, in Asian countries with strong Confucian traditions—where boys are often more valued than girls in family systems that are patrilineal, and sons inherit the family name, wealth, and ancestral responsibilities—preference for a male child has prevailed over time and has affected patterns of child abandonment. In China, abandonment may not have been historically more widespread than elsewhere, but all evidence indicates that infanticide and abandonment disproportionately affected females. Son preference has been noted from the early Qing dynasty (1640–1911). In the province of Hunan, for example, foundling homes are known to have appeared in the early 17th century, and they spread to a network of more than 60 by the 19th century. China’s increased enforcement of the one-boy or two-child policy in the 1980s gave rise to more orphanages receiving more female infants in the 1980s and 1990s. In Japan, throughout the Edo period (1603–1867), infanticide, abortion, and child abandonment were opposed by the government but were widely tolerated and did not arouse sustained comment by religious institutions. Meijiera laws (1868–1912) opposed abortion and infanticide and attempted to control such practices through the regula-

a b a n d o n m e n t a n d in f a n t ic id e

tion of midwives. In Japan, however, girls could inherit the household, removing some of the motivations for female abandonment or infanticide that exist in China. Here economic pressure led to abandonment more frequently than gender preference. Th e Amer ican Case Many thousands of children were brought to the American colonies as indentured servants, and the death rate in the Chesapeake Bay area was high for children as well as adults. Consequently, the indenture system tried to maintain household governance and the family system by placing dependent children in homes, while training them for future employment. The status of the solo child was virtually identical, whether the child was poor, abandoned, illegitimate, or orphaned, and, regardless of cause, children alone were regularly indentured or apprenticed. Indenture afforded a reasonable solution while reducing public responsibility for colonial dependents, whether orphaned or abandoned. As already noted, ideas regarding children were inherited from the English Poor Laws under the principle of parens patriae, whereby the state is the ultimate parent of all children. In the colonial era, this resulted in two forms of living situations for dependent children: indoor relief (serving as assistants to parents in the home) and outdoor relief (living in alternate homes, such as orphanages and poor houses). The first private orphan asylum in North America opened in 1738 in Georgia, and the first public orphanage did not open until a half century later (1790) in South Carolina, with 115 orphans. Others followed in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Moreover, the practices of abandonment and infanticide changed after the American Revolution. As women were increasingly seen as the nurturers and primary educators of a new democratized citizenry, women’s political significance rose, and the ideal for American womanhood came to include education and patriotism. Simultaneously, a complexity of changes in the practices of religion, law, and punishment softened the consequences to mothers whose infants were born out of wedlock. As women were less compelled to hide such pregnancies, the result was a reduction in infanticide and an increase in the number of children left to foundling homes. By the end of the Civil War in 1865, the deaths of more than 600,000 men had increased the number of dependent children, tripling in New York City alone the number of children in almshouses and asylums. The New England Home for Little Wanderers, established in 1865 for children of Civil War veterans, began a trend of sending such children westward for the purposes of adoption. By the end of the 1800s, as the number of deserted babies became a monumental and growing problem, both general hospitals and the Foundling Hospital in New York were under such strain that they sent trainloads of children to families in the West. But the realities of this practice—sending agents

• 3

who bungled the adoptions and lost contact with the children, unfortunate experiences with families in the West who were receiving the children—fueled a growing resistance to the “orphan trains” by parents and children’s aid workers in the East. As opposition mounted, poor parents did not want their abandoned children so far away; some tried to reclaim them. Communities and families in western states complained of being a dumping ground for the little criminals in their midst. Despite the criticisms, New York Children’s Aid Society and other agencies continued sending children west until the 1930s. The era’s notorious “baby farms,” ostensibly places that boarded infants for the state or for individual parents for profit alone, developed a reputation among Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children reformers as slaughterhouses for abandoned babies. There was nothing new, certainly, about infanticide, directly or indirectly accomplished, as a method for getting rid of unwanted babies. Abortion was expensive in the late 1800s and increasingly illegal. For individuals with illegitimate babies, or for whom additional children presented crushing economic liabilities, the choices were typically stark and agonizing. Without insurance or relief programs, a number of parents chose to abandon their infants. Each year in large cities, authorities found hundreds of tiny bodies in culverts, cesspools, trash bins, and rivers. In some instances, mothers left babies in public places so people could find them. Foundling asylums tried to save deserted infants, but typically the mortality rates were frightening, sometimes ranging more than 90%. Baby farmers claimed to do better, but some of them simply killed and disposed of unwanted babies, either because customers did not pay the boarding fees or as a preferred business practice. By the late 1800s, sensational accounts about infanticide for profit and underground traffic in children and child abuse attracted widespread attention. While baby farms were both an out and a job for poor or working-class women, they were an affront to middle-class sentimentalized images of motherhood. C o nc lu s io n In the early 21st century, concerns over child abandonment include the urban homeless and children made stateless by war and other political dislocations. They may be the children of long-term exiles, the displaced, and refugees. At the same time, more attention is being paid to the appropriateness of assuming the Western model of the nuclear family to be normative. Globally, normative childhoods vary along lines of class, caste, location, and tradition. In many countries, for example, responsibility for the upbringing of the child resides as much with extended family or unrelated adults as with the biological parents. In some developing nations, fostering out children may have the intention of apprenticeship rather than abandonment. Over the past century in the West, ideas about children

4 •

ab an donmen t an d i n fan ti ci de

as objects of welfare evolved into a conceptualization of children as the subjects of human rights, culminating in 1989 with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which made humanitarian concerns for the child a matter of international responsibility. UNICEF estimated in 2003 that 6 million children were homeless as a consequence of war, with millions more orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. Where abandonment and infanticide were historically defined as consequences of parental distress and individual actions, today the causes are equally global, political, and epidemic. Roberta Wollons see also: Abuse and Neglect; Baby and Child Selling; Child: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Foster and Kinship Care; Orphanages further reading: Nancy Schrom Dye and Daniel B. Smith, “Mother Love and Infant Death, 1750–1920,” Journal of American History 73, no. 2 (September 1986), pp. 329–53. • John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance, 1988. • Viviana Zelizer, Pricing the Priceless Child: The Changing Social Value of Children, 1994. • Colin Heywood, A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times, 2002. • Stephen O’Connor, Orphan Trains: The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed, 2004.

ability grouping. Tracking, or the sorting of students by perceived ability, is a widespread practice in American schools. Tracking has changed from the early 20th century, when students were sorted into overarching sets of classes that were all college-preparatory or all vocational. Contemporary tracking takes the form of different levels of classes by subject area. While tracking is intended to allow for the tailoring of instruction to particular ability levels, it is not without serious concerns. Research consistently demonstrates that tracking offers inadequate instructional opportunities to students in the lower tracks, thereby hurting their academic attainment. Students in lower-tracked classes have less experienced teachers, encounter lower expectations, and do not engage with curricula emphasizing critical thinking skills. Researchers also argue that tracking plays a central role in perpetuating race- and class-based inequality in American society, as students of color from low socioeconomic backgrounds are disproportionately assigned to the lower academic tracks, irrespective of academic achievement. They have documented ways in which privileged parents use their power to place their children in higher tracks even when they did not qualify, undermining the pedagogical rationale of tracking. Moreover, critics of tracking question traditional notions of ability and intelligence that underlie tracking assignments. Some have raised questions about how educators can assign students to tracks when ability is not fixed

or easily assessed. When should the assignment practice start, and should “late bloomers” be relegated to inadequate educational opportunities in the low track? In addition, research indicates that it is extremely rare for students to move up in tracks once they are assigned to the lower tracks. These and other concerns led many politicians and state education agencies to publicly condemn tracking in the late 1980s and 1990s. Advocates of mixed-ability grouping (sometimes called “detracking”) attempt to address the problems associated with tracking. Proponents of mixed-ability classrooms and schools advocate grouping students heterogeneously so that all students have access to a high-level, college-bound curriculum with more equitable resources. Detracking has met with strong resistance, often from concerned parents of students who were previously in the higher tracks, who fear that mixed-ability groups will hurt their child’s education. At the heart of the skepticism are the following questions: What is the effect of mixed grouping on student achievement? Are either low- or high-achieving students hurt when they learn in mixed settings? A considerable body of research addresses these questions. Research consistently demonstrates that low- and middleachieving students gain more in mixed-ability environments than in homogeneous, tracked classrooms. For example, Maureen T. Hallinan and Warren N. Kubitschek found that students who were assigned to higher ability groups gained more on standardized tests, on average, in comparison to students of comparable ability assigned to lower-ability groups. Researchers explain such results as effects of more enriching classroom environments, higher expectations, more resources, and more challenging curricula. What about high-achieving students? The research results here are less conclusive. Some researchers, such as Robert Slavin, report no significant difference in achievement between high achievers learning in homogeneous or heterogeneous classes. Slavin bases his conclusion on a meta-analysis (a statistical analysis of statistical effects found in other studies) that compared the achievement gains made by students in each ability group (low, average, and high) in both ability-grouped and mixed-ability settings. On the other hand, some researchers, such as James A. Kulik, report that the highest-achieving students enrolled in accelerated programs with a great deal of curricular enrichment lose out when they learn in mixed-ability settings. Kulik concluded that these students outperformed students of similar age and IQ enrolled in nonaccelerated programs by four to five months on a grade-equivalent scale of a standardized achievement test. However, in the most widely cited book on tracking, Keeping Track (2005), Jeannie Oakes has argued that such effects are due to challenging curriculum, not the homogeneous makeup of classes. She asserts that students assigned to the low track would similarly benefit from enriched classes.

a b o r t io n

Other research suggests that high-achieving students do not lose out, and in fact also gain, from learning in a heterogeneous classroom. In one six-year longitudinal study of students in the Rockville Centre School District in New York (2006), Carol Burris, Jay Heubert, and Henry Levin compared the math achievement of three sixth-grade cohorts who learned math in a tracked setting with three sixth-grade cohorts who learned in a mixed-ability setting. Students who learned math in mixed-ability settings enrolled in math courses beyond Algebra 2 in high school at higher percentages compared to students who learned math in tracked classes. This result was statistically significant for every subgroup: students from low socioeconomic backgrounds (67% vs. 32%), black and Latino students (67% vs. 46%), initial low achievers (53% vs. 38%), average achievers (91% vs. 81%), and high achievers (99% vs. 89%). The mean standardized test scores of high-achieving students who learned in the mixed-ability setting were statistically indistinguishable from comparable students learning in the tracked environment. In addition, more high-achieving students who learned in the mixed-ability environment took the AP calculus exam and scored higher than their counterparts in the tracked environment. These results led the researchers to conclude not only that high-achieving students are performing better in mathematics in mixedability classrooms, but that more students also have become high achievers in heterogeneous settings. In addition, other researchers reported that previously high-tracked students described the benefit of learning with peers who were demographically different from themselves in the mixed-ability setting. The opportunities to debate different perspectives had been much more limited in their tracked and segregated classes. While the weight of the research literature, considered as a whole, suggests that detracking does not hurt the academic achievement of high-achieving students, several factors contribute to the divergent empirical findings on the effect of heterogeneous grouping on academic achievement. Schools practice detracking differently, making it difficult to assess the effects on student achievement across schools without specific attention to how detracking is defined across contexts. Some schools mix abilities only in certain subject areas or grade levels. Some allow students to choose the levels they want to take, some move low-achieving students with potential into higher-ability tracks with support classes, and other schools eliminate different levels entirely. Meta-analyses can fail to uncover the actual classroom practices that lead to success or failure, while case studies of individual schools are not generalizable to other settings by themselves. However, all researchers well versed in the tracking literature would acknowledge that there are serious problems with the current practice of tracking. While skeptics of tracking insist that educators need to implement fair

• 5

placement practices and improve the quality of instruction across tracks, efforts to improve academics within tracked programs typically fail. A review of research by Jay Heubert and Robert Hauser reported no examples of typical public schools where students received high-quality curriculum and instruction in lower-tracked classes. Detracking, however, does not automatically disrupt institutional patterns of inequality, and successful detracking requires much more than just reducing ability grouping. It involves a belief that all students can learn, the provision of multiple entry points to college-bound curricula, teaching to the full spectrum of students in a class, as well as districtand school-level supports such as backup classes and classsize reduction. Despite its challenges, mixed-ability grouping, when practiced well in a supportive context, appears a worthy reform to strive toward, holding the most promise to help all students, including formerly high-tracked students, achieve. Maika Watanabe see also: Class Size; Giftedness; Grades and Grading; Intelligence Testing; Special Education; Testing and Evaluation, Educational further reading: Anne Wheelock, Crossing the Tracks, 1992. • Amy Stuart Wells and Irene Serna, “The Politics of Culture,” Harvard Educational Review 66 (Spring 1996), pp. 93–118. • Jeannie Oakes, Amy Stuart Wells, Makeba Jones, and Amanda Datnow, “Detracking: The Social Construction of Ability, Cultural Politics, and Resistance to Reform,” Teachers College Record 98, no. 3 (Spring 1997), pp. 482–510. • Beth C. Rubin, ed., “Tracking and Detracking: Debates, Evidence, and Best Practices for a Heterogeneous World,” Theory into Practice 45, no. 1 (February 2006), pp. 4–14. • Jo Boaler and Megan Staples, “Creating Mathematical Futures through an Equitable Teaching Approach: The Case of Railside School,” Teachers College Record 110, no. 3 (March 2008), pp. 8–9.

abortion Psychological Perspectives Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

psychological perspectives. Adolescent abortions

constitute 19% of the abortions in the United States every year. Abortion rates among U.S. teenagers declined from 24 to 15 abortions per 1,000 women between 1994 and 2000—a decline of 39%. Nevertheless, abortion is the most common surgical procedure performed in the United States today and one of the most controversial and contentious. Policy and programmatic decisions are influenced by abortion research, yet even where abortion is legal, research has been limited and often influenced by social, political, and religious opinions. In reference to adolescents, abortion is even more controversial. A common assumption that influences policies is that younger age impedes postabortion psychological adjustment. The most common restriction to abortion access is the requirement in some states for parental involvement or consent for adolescents seeking abortion. The question of whether minors are at increased

6 •

ab ortion

risk for negative psychological outcomes related to abortion thus has legislative implications and implications for whether minors have a greater need for pre- and postabortion supportive services than older women. Although the limited research evidence on the question is complex and mixed, strong claims about psychological harm cannot be sustained. Indeed, when performed by trained clinicians under sterile conditions, abortion carries fewer medical risks than childbirth. Although controversy exists about the role of confounding variables (i.e., nutrition, social support), it appears that pregnancy poses greater medical risks for adolescents younger than 15 years of age than for women who are 18 years or older. Younger age, however, does not increase the medical risks of abortion, except in that minors are more likely to delay abortion, thereby subjecting themselves to risks associated with abortion at later gestational age. Furthermore, claims of increased risks of breast cancer or infertility due to abortion have not been proved. In addition, research on adolescents’ psychological responses to abortion does not suggest increased risk of maladjustment to induced abortion. H istory and Con trov er si es Research on the psychological impact of induced abortion is wrought with methodological problems, including failure to account for preexisting mental health conditions associated with both unintended pregnancy and subsequent negative outcomes; poorly defined measures of mental health; atheoretical research; small sample sizes; limited follow-up periods (as short as a few hours); information bias related to underreporting of abortion; selection bias related to, among other factors, differential access to abortion within and between countries; the choice of inappropriate comparison groups to address the research question; and failure to control for confounding factors. Some of these factors may be particularly relevant among adolescents. For example, with regard to preexisting mental health conditions, rates of major depression among women are highest for those between the ages of 15 and 19, and adolescents use avoidant coping strategies to a greater degree than do young adults and have a lower sense of self-efficacy to resolve stressful situations. In addition, minors experience greater personal confl ict when it comes to abortion than adult women. This parental and/or partner confl ict as it relates to abortion decision making can influence psychological adjustment to the procedure. Stat e o f t h e Ev i d enc e Previous systematic critiques of the evidence on postabortion mental health have suggested that the evidence is confusing and inconclusive and that long-term negative sequelae from abortions are rare. The body of peer-reviewed literature on psychological outcomes related to abortion

is small, and even fewer studies address the relationship between age and psychological responses to abortion. Available studies on adolescent psychological response to abortion show heterogeneous findings. The more rigorous studies that address many of these limitations mentioned found little indication of long-term negative impact following abortion, and some studies suggested that some adolescents may have benefited from the termination. Other evidence suggests that adolescents may have negative reactions to abortion. For example, in comparisons of responses of adult and adolescent women to abortion, adolescents reported greater psychological distress following abortion as compared with the adults. Adolescents reported they felt uninformed and pressured to have an abortion. These findings should be assessed with the knowledge that the study groups for the studies were both drawn from support groups for women experiencing negative reaction to abortion. Thus, women in this group were already experiencing poor postabortion adjustment, making it difficult to generalize to the entire population of adolescents undergoing abortion. Legal restrictions on abortion do not affect its incidence; however, legal restrictions often most impact those least able to consent or advocate on behalf of their own health, including adolescents. Studies outside of the United States on abortion and adolescents have found that even in contexts where abortion is legally restricted, abortion may have both positive and negative impact on outcomes for younger women. One study in Brazil (where abortion is highly legally restricted, yet the abortion rate is nearly twice that of the United States) found that adolescents who aborted had greater increases in self-esteem and educational outcomes than adolescents who carried a pregnancy to term. Another set of studies from New Zealand (where abortion is legal, but restricted) found that compared with young women who did not seek an abortion, young women who terminated had significantly better education outcomes but higher rates of psychological problems. Results from some studies reveal that postabortion adjustment may vary by race. Evidence suggests that there is an independent role of culture in decision making around unintended pregnancy. However, how that manifests itself may differ by race. In a study of 360 urban African American girls, the subsample who terminated a pregnancy were no more likely to experience stress, anxiety, or psychological problems than their counterparts who delivered. In a study of 56 Latino (Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Central and South American) adolescents, those who terminated had lower self-esteem than those who delivered. These findings indicate that universal statements about adolescent psychological adjustment to abortion may mask important racial differences. There is some evidence to suggest that an assessment of partner support, parental confl ict, coping strategies, and a

a b o r t io n

self-efficacy appraisal for coping with abortion may play an important predictive role in postabortion adjustment in minors. In spite of the heterogeneity in study quality and findings, there is little evidence to support that adolescents are at a significantly increased risk of postabortion psychological maladjustment, such as depression or anxiety, as compared with older women. Vignetta E. Charles, Chelsea B. Polis, Srinivas K. Sridhara, and Robert Wm. Blum see also: Childbearing, Adolescent; Contraception further reading: N. E. Adler, H. P. David, B. N. Major, S. H. Roth, N. F. Russo, and G. E. Wyatt, “Psychological Responses after Abortion,” Science 248 (1990), pp. 41–44 • L. M. Pope, N. E. Adler, and J. M. Tschann, “Postabortion Psychological Adjustment: Are Minors at Increased Risk?” Journal of Adolescent Health 29 (2001), pp. 2–11. • W. Quinton, B. Major, and C. Richards, “Adolescents and Adjustment to Abortion: Are Minors at Greater Risk?” Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 7 (2001), pp. 491–514. • Alan Guttmacher Institute, “U.S. Abortion Rate Continues to Decline, Especially among Teens,” 2002. • D. M. Fergusson, J. M. Boden, and J. L. Horwood, “Abortion among Young Women and Subsequent Life Outcomes,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 39, no. 1 (2007), pp. 6–12.

legal and public-policy perspectives. In the 1973 landmark case of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court held that decisional authority over the outcome of a pregnancy resides with the pregnant woman. Relying on a line of cases recognizing a fundamental right of privacy under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court characterized the decision to terminate a pregnancy as one that is of fundamental importance to women and therefore protected by the Constitution. The Court, however, also made clear that the abortion right is not absolute because states have an interest in protecting the health of the pregnant woman and the potentiality of life. Seeking to balance a woman’s right of choice with these interests, the Court developed its now famous trimester formula. As set out by the Court, during the first trimester neither state interest is considered of sufficient weight to justify limitations on a woman’s right of choice; during the second trimester, the state’s interest in the woman’s health becomes compelling and justifies bona fide health-related regulations; and at the third trimester—the point of fetal viability—the state’s interest in the potentiality of life becomes compelling and justifies prohibiting abortion, unless necessary to save the life or health of the pregnant woman. In securing the right of choice, the Roe Court spoke in terms of all women; it did not draw distinctions based on age or capacity. However, shortly after the decision, a number of states sought to limit the rights of women younger than the age of 18 by enacting laws requiring them to either obtain the consent of or give notice to their parents before

• 7

having an abortion. The Court was soon faced with challenges to these laws, which raised the question of whether teens were included within Roe’s promise of reproductive decisional autonomy. In addressing this issue, the Court sought to reconcile a traditional understanding of minors as dependent persons in need of protection with a more contemporary understanding of them as autonomous individuals with adultlike claims to constitutional recognition. Building upon these twin themes of dependence and autonomy, the Court opted for a compromise position that both recognizes and limits the reproductive rights of young women. In the 1976 case of Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, the Court struck down Missouri’s parental-consent law on the ground that minors, like adult women, have a constitutionally protected right of choice. In the Court’s view, Missouri’s parental-consent requirement was an impermissible intrusion into a minor’s right of privacy because it provided parents with an absolute and potentially arbitrary veto power over their daughter’s decision. The Court emphasized that empowering parents to overrule their daughter’s decision would not improve the quality of their relationship or the functioning of the family unit. Although it invalidated Missouri’s parental-consent requirement, the Court made clear it was not suggesting that all minors can give effective consent to an abortion, thus signaling that it might accept a less-intrusive law that did not vest ultimate decisional authority in parents. Three years later, in the landmark case of Bellotti v. Baird, involving a challenge to the Massachusetts parental-consent law, the Court confirmed that this was the case. Like the invalidated Missouri law, the Massachusetts law required young women to seek parental consent before having an abortion; however, if a minor’s parents refused to authorize the abortion, she could then seek judicial authorization for the procedure. Thus, at first glance, this law appears to have avoided the constitutionally fatal parental veto. In evaluating the constitutionality of the Massachusetts law, the Court began from a rights perspective, reiterating that minority status does not place a young woman outside the reach of the Constitution. The Court recognized that the abortion decision is different from other decisions a young woman might be called upon to make during her teen years due to the combined weight of its fleeting and life-altering nature. Contrasting it to marriage, the Court emphasized that the abortion decision cannot wait until a young woman reaches her 18th birthday. However, the justices also expressed concern that a young woman might not be capable of making the abortion decision on her own and might fail to appreciate that an abortion was not necessarily the “best choice” for her. The Court accordingly concluded that because of the “peculiar vulnerability of children; their inability to make critical decisions in an informed, mature manner; and the importance of the parental role in child-

8 •

ab ortion

rearing,” the abortion rights of a minor cannot be equated with those of an adult woman. Seeking to balance the countervailing pulls toward autonomy and dependence, the Court constructed the “judicial bypass” compromise. Recognizing the “guiding role” of parents and their “claim to authority” over their children, the Court held that states may enact parental involvement; however, acknowledging that many parents are opposed to abortion and, if consulted, might prevent their daughter from going to court or having an abortion, the Court held that any such law must contain an alternative consent procedure, such as a court hearing, that allows a young woman to seek authorization for an abortion without parental knowledge or involvement. When measured against this standard, the Court easily concluded that by requiring a young woman to seek parental consent before having the right to go to court, the Massachusetts consent law impermissibly vested parents with indirect veto power over the abortion decision. At first glance, the bypass compromise appears to strike a balanced compromise between the reproductive rights of teens and the states’ interest in protecting a historically vulnerable population. Reflecting the transitional nature of the teenage years, young women are regarded both as autonomous, rights-bearing individuals with unmediated claims to legal self-hood and as dependent members of a parent-centered family unit. However, critics have argued that the Court’s view of female adolescence ignores a body of social science literature on the decision-making capacity of teens. These critics note that the Bellotti Court presumed incapacity without considering any of the research that indicates that by around age 14, most teens have the cognitive capacity to reason about abortion in a complex and mature manner. Critics further note that the Court has not wavered from its fixed and narrow view of adolescent decisional capacity in subsequent cases involving challenges to parental-involvement laws despite the growing body of research on their decision-making abilities. Additionally, the Court has been criticized for failing to take into account the fact that minors possess significant medical self-consent rights, particularly when it comes to pregnancy and other sensitive medical decisions. In Danforth and Bellotti, for example, the Court overlooked the fact that in Missouri and Massachusetts, respectively, young women who chose to carry to term, rather than abort, were vested with full decisional capacity. Advocates of minors’ rights criticize the Court for failing to consider how it was that a state could entrust a young woman to make the decision to become a mother while denying her the right to make an autonomous choice to avoid maternity. The Court’s selective construction of adolescent reality suggests an underlying ambivalence about abortion. In fact, the Court gives expression to this ambivalence when, in discussing the desirability of parental consultation, it

explains that a state may reasonably determine that “as a general proposition, . . . such consultation is particularly desirable with respect to the abortion decision—one that for some people raises profound moral and religious concerns” (p. 640, emphasis added). The Court’s observation here suggests that abortion has acquired a deep symbolic meaning; in the final analysis, this weighted symbolism may, in the Court’s view, be what justifies treating the abortion decision differently from the decision to carry to term. J. Shoshanna Ehrlich see also: Adolescent Decision Making, Legal Perspectives on; Conduct, Legal Regulation of Children’s; Medical Care and Procedures, Consent to; Procreate, Right to; Rights, Children’s further reading: Donald N. Bersoff and David J. Glass, “The Not-So Weisman: The Supreme Court’s Continuing Misuse of Social Science Research,” University of Chicago Law School Roundtable 2, no. 1 (1995), pp. 279–302. • J. Shoshanna Ehrlich, “Grounded in the Reality of Their Lives: Listening to Teens Who Made the Abortion Decision without Parental Involvement,” Berkeley Women’s Law Journal 18 (2003), p. 61.

abuse and neglect Historical and Cultural Perspectives Effects on the Child Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

historical and cultural perspectives. The concept of child abuse and neglect and the public response to it reflect historical and cultural influences. In the United States, the definition has evolved to provide a justification for local authorities to intervene into families to protect children. While the federal government sets mandatory requirements that each state establish a system to protect children from abuse and neglect, the definition of abuse and neglect is left to the states and over time has expanded to include emotional abuse, medical neglect, educational neglect, and sexual abuse as states have recognized these harms. Internationally, the United Nations (UN) has sought to set minimum guidelines through the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its reporting requirements that attempt to balance both the privacy of the family and cultural diversity with the health and safety of children. The prevalence of historic or current abuse and neglect is hard to measure. A generation ago, the U.S. Congress had no accurate estimate of the numbers but worried about “thousands of children” being abused. Since a comprehensive reporting system was mandated in all states, approximately 3 million reports of abuse and neglect have been received annually. No similar comprehensive identification or reporting system exists on the international level.

C o lo n i al A m er ica There was no generally recognized definition of abuse and neglect in colonial America. Fathers were charged with the

a b u s e a n d n e gl e c t

proper upbringing of their children and were thus responsible for educating and training them to be productive citizens of the community. Corporal punishment was widely accepted and even expected; children could be considered “neglected” if they were not being raised as upstanding citizens. As early as the 1640s, colonial laws gave community members authority to supervise child rearing. In 1642, Massachusetts Bay enacted a law, to be enforced through the courts, that children could be removed from their parents’ home involuntarily, based upon the manner in which parents were raising them. This law did not distinguish biological children from apprentices, another category of dependent persons who lived under the rule of male household heads. Th e 1 9th C en tury In the middle of the 19th century, the first reported cases of criminal prosecutions against parents for beating their children changed the notion of child abuse and neglect from negligent upbringing to harm by parents. These prosecutions introduced an era when the legal system began to intervene into family life to protect children from physical assaults at the hands of their parents. The early cases that prosecuted parents for physical assaults illustrate the historical hesitancy of the court to infringe on parental authority on the basis of allegations of physical beatings by fathers. Courts debated whether it was the state of mind of the parent when perpetrating the beating, the instrument used in the beating, the excessiveness of the beating, or the injury caused by the beating that should constitute evidence of abuse sufficient to sustain a prosecution. In Johnson v. State, the court reasoned: “The right of parents to chastise their refractory and disobedient children, is so necessary to the government of families, to the good order of society, that no moralist or law-giver has ever thought of interfering with its existence. . . . But at the same time, . . . in chastising a child, the parent must be careful that he does not exceed the bounds of moderation, and infl ict cruel and merciless punishment.” Courts searched for objective measures of actionable abuse to avoid overintrusion into “family government.” One 1886 North Carolina case stated, “the test . . . of criminal responsibility is the infl iction of permanent injury by means of the administered punishment, or that it proceeded from malice, and was not in the exercise of a corrective authority” (emphasis added). These criminal prosecutions are contemporaneous with the 1874 case of “Mary Ellen.” The case was championed in the front pages of The New York Times. It was brought by leaders of the New York Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals, heralding an era of private philanthropic agencies acting on behalf of abused children. By 1880, 33 such societies existed in the United States, most of them in the business of rescuing both animals and children. No statewide definitions of abuse were enforced at this time in

• 9

history, but the understanding that children could be physically mistreated by their parents and that a legal response to such mistreatment was possible was emerging in criminal and civil law. Th e 2 0th C en tury A seminal event in the history of the definition of child abuse and neglect was the 1962 publication of an article titled “The Battered Child Syndrome” by Dr. C. Henry Kempe. With new knowledge about injuries that could be caused only by abusive behavior, states moved to codify their response. Between 1963 and 1967, every state passed a statute requiring some form of reporting of child abuse. Each state established its own definition of the term abuse or abuse and neglect to trigger the reporting system. State definitions varied in terms of the definition of abuse, neglect, perpetrator, and mandated reporter. The narrowest definition covered only serious physical abuse. More comprehensive state laws explicitly included various forms of sexual abuse and medical or educational neglect. Kempe played an integral role in the 1973 U.S. Senate hearings and in the design of the first federal legislation addressing child abuse and neglect, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). Under the tight stewardship of Senator (later Vice President) Walter Mondale, the hearings that preceded passage of this act were limited to examining child abuse as instances of deviant, severe physical abuse within families by parents. These could be contained and addressed with a limited governmental response, which was, in Mondale’s view, all that was politically feasible at the time. Despite the limits on the hearings, the definition of child abuse and neglect in CAPTA was “physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child under the age of 18 by a person who is responsible for the child’s welfare.” CAPTA initiated a federal response to child abuse. The key state response to child abuse became the mandatory reporting, investigating, and record-keeping system that is commonly known as the child protective services system. While all states had some form of reporting law in place before CAPTA, all had to be reexamined to comply with CAPTA mandates, including the broad definition of abuse and neglect in the federal statute in order to receive the federal funding available under the statute. Th e Cur r en t C h i ld Protection S ystem i n th e United States Since the 1960s, the child protective services system has been triggered by a report of abuse or neglect as defined in state law under the requirements of CAPTA. Increasingly, witnesses to domestic violence are the source of such reports, which are made to the hotlines that federal law requires every state to operate. If a reporter provides information to the hotline operator that meets the definition of

10 •

ab use and n egl ect

abuse or neglect, the report triggers investigation by the local child protection agency. Mandated reporting of abuse reflects the parens patriae power of the state. Reporters generally are persons who work in professions or roles that bring them into contact with children, but the definition of mandated reporters and the list of professions mandated to report varies from state to state. If these professionals or lay community members suspect or believe that children with whom they come into contact are suffering from abuse or neglect, confidentiality and privilege are forfeited and the professionals are mandated to report the abuse or neglect to the state-operated child protection system. Cur r en t Defi nitions i n I n ter nat ional L aw After a generation of mandatory reporting in the United States and compilation of comprehensive data on domestic abuse and neglect reporting, President George H. W. Bush and advocates from around the world called for focused meetings and sessions on children’s issues that ultimately led to the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Article 1 of this document defines child as “[e]very human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” Article 19 defines violence against children as “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse.” The Convention sets up a system of reporting from each signatory country. These reports have led to additional inquiries and specialized reports. The World Health Organization’s (2002) World Report on Violence and Health defines abuse as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a child, by an individual or group, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity.” More complete definitions of abuse are emerging in international documents, and these influence the scope of data collected and the range of practices that are criticized. According to the UN’s (2006) Report of the Independent Expert for the United Nations’ Study on Violence against Children, at least 106 countries do not prohibit the use of corporal punishment in schools, 147 countries do not prohibit it within alternative-care settings, and as yet only 16 countries have prohibited its use in the home. Discussions of corporal punishment within a larger discussion of violence against children illustrate how once-accepted cultural practices can be documented and called into question. Whether there will be the political will to limit the authority to use corporal punishment is still unclear. The UN report also cites studies on the causes and distribution of violence against children. Young children, these

studies find, face the greatest risk of physical (nonsexual) violence, while those who have reached puberty or adolescence are the primary victims of sexual violence. Boys are at greater risk of physical violence than girls, while girls face greater risk of sexual violence, neglect, and forced prostitution. Other vulnerable groups include children with disabilities, those from minorities and other marginalized groups, “street children” and those in confl ict with the law, and refugee and other displaced children. The report lists economic development, status, age, and gender among the many factors associated with the risk of violence. A final consideration is domestic violence against adults in the home. Citing risk rates equal to those in most U.S. estimates, a recent study in India found that domestic violence doubled the risk of child abuse. Susan Vivian Mangold see also: Corporal Punishment; Discipline and Punishment; Helfer, Ray(mond) E(ugene); Kempe, C(harles) Henry; Property, Children as; Sexual Abuse further reading: Susan Vivian Mangold, “Challenging the Parent-Child-State Triangle in Public Family Law: The Importance of Private Providers in the Dependency System,” Buffalo Law Review 47 (1999), pp. 1397–456.

effects on the child. Children who are abused or ne-

glected present a challenge to understanding the consequences of early adverse experiences. While all children who experience abuse and neglect are at risk for a range of adverse outcomes, research has found that not all exhibit negative consequences. This variability in outcome suggests that multiple levels of risk and protective factors must be considered in understanding the consequences of child maltreatment. Forty-five years of research examining the consequences of child abuse and neglect has made great strides in identifying biological, psychological, and social outcomes. Short-term consequences are those generally thought of as experienced either immediately or during childhood, while long-term outcomes are those that persist into adult years. This distinction reflects a concern with children’s current circumstances as an indicator of child “well-being,” versus indicators of what will impact their later development, or “well-becoming.” The complexity of child maltreatment, and its identification, limits understanding of its consequences. First, child maltreatment is thought to be underreported, meaning that research on outcomes relies on a biased population that is usually limited to those children who are reported to child protection agencies. Second, child protection agencies determine whether reported cases are valid, introducing further bias because standards are often inconsistent, both within and between agencies. Third, child maltreatment is heterogeneous, encompassing a range of experiences, from emotional deprivation to physical assault, and children usu-

a b u s e a n d n e gl e c t

ally experience multiple types of abuse, often over a period of time, so that the impact of any one form is difficult to disentangle. Fourth, most research on the impact of child maltreatment is retrospective rather than prospective, also biasing the results because memories of maltreatment may be inaccurate. Sho rt-T er m Ou tcom es The most obvious outcomes of child maltreatment are based in the immediacy of the experience of abuse and neglect. Children who are maltreated present with a range of injuries and consequences based on the kind of maltreatment reported: physical abuse and neglect, emotional abuse and neglect, medical neglect, educational neglect, and child sexual abuse. Beyond the immediacy of the injury or neglect, children who are maltreated display a range of biological, psychological, emotional, and social outcomes. Children who have been maltreated show alterations in brain development and neuroendocrine regulation, including decreased startle responses, abnormal patterns of cortisol regulation, and delayed or diminished growth of the corpus callosum. These findings are consistent with the broader body of research on neurobiological development, which increasingly has identified the physical and social environment of the child as affecting brain development. Children who experience maltreatment also may display a range of emotional and psychological difficulties. Compared with peers who have not experienced maltreatment, children who have been abused or neglected are more likely to have difficulty in social-information processing, in recognizing, expressing, and understanding emotions. Reflecting the different environments of neglect and abuse, children who have been neglected have more difficulty differentiating between basic emotional expressions. Children who have been physically abused are more sensitive to anger. Infants and very young children who have been maltreated are at risk for developing insecure attachments, a pattern that has been linked to depressive symptoms and relationship difficulties. The experience of physical abuse has been linked with a number of childhood psychopathologies, including depression, conduct disorder, ADHD, oppositional disorder, personality disorder, anxiety, somatization, and dissociation. These psychological difficulties play out in social problems that include delinquency, substance misuse, and suicide. In addition, children who have been maltreated are more likely than their nonmaltreated peers to develop a negative self-image and to respond to positive stimuli in a neutral or negative way. Children who have been maltreated also display behavioral and emotional characteristics that may compromise their interactions with others. They are less likely to exhibit empathy, are more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior, and are hypersensitive to hostile cues while

• 11

undersensitive to nonhostile cues. Not only are children who experience physical abuse more aggressive when provoked, but they are also more likely to see positive consequences for the aggressor in a hostile situation. Peer groups that include a child who has been abused are less positive and more confl ictual and demonstrate less sustained intimacy. Children who have been maltreated exhibit higher rates of problematic behaviors than their nonmaltreated peers, such as stealing, cheating, delinquency, disciplinary problems, and school suspensions. Their school performance is more likely to be marked by poor performance as indicated by lower standardized test scores and greater likelihood of repeating a grade level than their nonmaltreated peers, even when comparing children from comparable schools and socioeconomic backgrounds. Lo ng -T er m Ou tc om e s The many adverse short-term risks described thus far suggest a pessimistic view of the future for children who have been abused and neglected. This is borne out by research on the longer-term outcomes for children who have been maltreated as they move through the life course. Adults who were maltreated as children may display a range of adverse outcomes in the areas of physical and mental health, psychosocial functioning, and a propensity to maltreat their own children, often referred to as the cycle of violence. However, just as with short-term outcomes, while there is an elevated risk of adverse consequences, there is substantial variability in adult outcomes of childhood maltreatment. A dominant theme in the literature on the long-term consequences of child maltreatment is that children who have been abused and neglected will repeat a cycle of violence by maltreating their own children. This argument was posed at the beginning of work on child abuse and neglect, in part as a justification for why the problem had to be recognized and treated lest the pattern persist for generations. A study of high-risk infants found that 9 of the 10 infants who were abused in their first year of life had parents who had themselves been abused. However, an additional 40 nonabused infants had parents with similar histories of abuse. Research undertaken with increasing theoretical and methodological rigor has supported the link that children who have been maltreated have an increased risk of perpetrating violence themselves in a variety of forms, from delinquency to abusive parenting. However, the cycle of violence is not inevitable, and estimates are that approximately one-third of children who are maltreated repeat this pattern as parents. The wide-ranging consequences of maltreatment in childhood have been demonstrated in large-scale epidemiological research that has implicated childhood maltreatment in the etiology of a range of physical illnesses in adulthood; for example, ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic bron-

12 •

ab use and n egl ect

chitis, skeletal fractures, liver disease, functional disability, and poorer overall health status. The proposed pathway is that childhood maltreatment is associated with a range of household and family dysfunction that sets individuals on a lifetime path of high-risk behaviors that increase risk for adverse health outcomes. In a large HMO-based study, adults who had been maltreated as children had a 2- to 12fold increased risk of chronic physical health problems. These patterns are consistent with a broader literature on the health consequences of stressful environments and experiences. This study also identified significant associations between child maltreatment and household dysfunction and increased rates of alcoholism, driving while intoxicated, drug abuse, smoking, and high-risk sexual behavior, all of which may lead to adverse health consequences. Similar to the case of outcomes in childhood, a plethora of psychosocial outcomes in adulthood have been linked to childhood maltreatment. Findings have included greater symptoms and clinical diagnoses of depression, dysthymia, antisocial personality disorder, and substance abuse. Children who were abused also have an increased risk of delinquency, adult offending, and violence in adulthood. Var iabi lit y i n Ou tcom es Research examining the effects of child maltreatment at different stages of the developmental spectrum offers the possibility of tracing short-term and long-term effects of maltreatment, with the potential for identifying multiple pathways shaping consequences across the life span. The preponderance of research has been concerned with the negative outcomes of child maltreatment. This makes sense in light of clinical and ethical realities of providing intervention for these children and their families and for engaging in efforts to prevent the occurrence of child maltreatment. Nevertheless, while abused and neglected children are at increased risk for many adverse outcomes when compared to their nonabused and nonneglected peers, many children who were maltreated do not manifest these negative consequences. Children who were maltreated do not necessarily manifest psychological deficits, social or emotional problems, school failure, discipline problems, or arrests for delinquency, even though they are at risk for these outcomes. The cycle of violence is not inevitable, and while abusive parents are more likely to have been maltreated as children, the majority of children who experience maltreatment do not go on to repeat this pattern with their own offspring. There are several possible reasons for this documented variability in outcomes among children who have been maltreated. Some children may be “resilient,” as indicated by their abilities to weather early adverse experiences. Resilience is not yet fully understood, but is thought to be a combination of biological strengths coupled with protec-

tive factors in the child’s environment. Some children may have experienced protective factors, such as a significant “other” adult, that outweigh the risks associated with parental abuse and neglect. It is also possible that some children appear to have escaped unscathed simply because they do not display the outcome behaviors being studied but have other deficits outside the scope of the study. C o n t r i b u t i ng Fac to r s A number of individual and contextual factors have been shown to mediate the type and severity of outcomes associated with child abuse and neglect. Aspects of the maltreatment experience, including type (e.g., physical, sexual, emotional, neglect), duration, age of onset, relationship to perpetrator, and severity of abuse, have all been suggested as potential mediators of both short- and long-term outcomes of abuse. Aspects of the physical and social environment, including neighborhood factors and the presence or absence of other interested and engaged adults, have also been shown to intensify or mitigate certain negative outcomes of child maltreatment. Evidence also suggests that the number and severity of other lifetime stressors, such as poverty and unemployment, play an important role in mediating the occurrence and long-term effects of maltreatment, highlighting the importance of considering other contextual and experiential factors when examining the outcomes of abuse over the life course. Research on the outcomes of child maltreatment have utilized a range of samples, from clinical to community or population samples, and multiple designs, including comparisons of substantiated cases of maltreatment with samples of nonidentified individuals, prospective studies of children abused at one point in time, and retrospective comparisons of individuals who had experienced documented maltreatment in their childhoods. Research on child maltreatment poses a basic challenge to understanding the outcomes of early adverse experiences. This brief review has summarized the evidence that children who are abused and neglected are at increased risk for a range of adverse consequences during childhood and throughout the life course when compared with children who were not abused or neglected. Significantly, however, a substantial portion of children who were maltreated do not exhibit adverse outcomes. The challenge facing future research is to identify factors that modify or mitigate childhood experience of maltreatment. Jill E. Korbin and Meghan C. Halley see also: Childhood Resilience; Helfer, Ray(mond) E(ugene); Kempe, C(harles) Henry; Sexual Abuse; Shaken Baby Syndrome further reading: National Research Council, Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect, 1993. • Mary E. Helfer, Ruth S. Kempe, and

a b u s e a n d n e gl e c t Richard Krugman, eds., The Battered Child, 5th ed., 1997. • Howard Dubowitz, ed., Neglected Children: Research, Practice and Policy, 1999. • John E. B. Meyers, Lucy Berliner, John Briere, C. Terry Hendrix, Carole Jenny, and Theresa A. Reed, eds., The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment, 2nd ed., 2001.

legal and public-policy perspectives. In the United

States, parents have substantial autonomy in raising their children and the primary obligation for ensuring that their children’s basic needs for safety and care are met. Although the state provides parents and children with many services and supports on a voluntary basis, government agencies intervene on behalf of children against a parent’s will only when parental care falls below minimal standards. It is through child abuse and neglect laws that states establish the minimal level of care that each state determines parents must provide to their children. There is no single definition or concept of child abuse and neglect. At present, each state provides its own definitions of what constitutes an inadequate level of care justifying and requiring intervention by state child-protective agencies. Prior to the 1960s, the focus of these laws was primarily on protection from severe physical abuse and abandonment. In 1962, C. Henry Kempe and Frederic N. Silverman published an article identifying the “battered child syndrome,” which they defined as a situation where a parent repeatedly caused physical injuries to children. Prior to the publication of this article, most such injuries were attributed by physicians to accidents. In the next several years, all states passed laws requiring physicians to report suspected cases of physical abuse to child protection agencies. Following passage of these laws, reports of child abuse increased dramatically. In 1974, the U.S. Congress enacted the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). CAPTA requires that, if a state wants federal support for its childprotection system, the state must establish a system for investigating reports of serious harm to a child’s physical, emotional, or academic well-being caused by parents or primary caregivers, such as extended family members or babysitters. It also requires that state definitions of maltreatment include omissions as well as commissions; that is, the definition of maltreatment must include harm that a caregiver allows to happen or does not prevent from happening to a child, if the parent knew or should have known that the child was being harmed. All states have complied with these standards. Most states categorize maltreatment into four major types: physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. In fact, all of these are just different ways in which a parent may fail to meet a child’s needs for basic physical safety, emotional security, and intellectual development. However, few statutes clearly specify the level of care that falls below the line of acceptability. Under these statutes,

• 13

physical abuse generally requires intentional acts that cause physical injury, but the injuries can range from minor bruises to severe fractures or death. Neglect is generally defined as the failure to provide a child with necessary food, shelter, or medical care; the lack of appropriate supervision that threatens the child’s physical safety; and the failure to ensure that a child attends school. The terms necessary and appropriate are not further defined. Emotional abuse is a pattern of behavior that significantly impairs a child’s emotional development or sense of self-worth. Sexual abuse includes activities by a parent or caretaker that use children as a sexual object, such as fondling a child’s genitals, intercourse, inappropriate exposure, and exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials. In recent years, more states have begun to define maltreatment in terms of specific harms to the child (e.g., serious physical injury) rather than undefined parental behaviors (e.g., physical abuse). Still, the statutes are open to widely varying interpretations by those charged with enforcing them. In addition to deciding on a definition of child abuse and neglect, policy makers have to determine how suspected instances of maltreatment should be identified and what actions should be taken if it is determined that maltreatment has occurred. Every state has established a system, generally called the child protection system (CPS), to investigate allegations that a child is being maltreated and to pursue means of protecting the child if such allegations are established. In general, CPS agencies focus on children harmed by family members or other caretakers. They do not intervene in cases of harm to children caused by acquaintances or strangers. These cases are the responsibility of law enforcement. The CPS generally becomes involved with a family because the child has been reported to the agency by a member of the community. Every state has laws that mandate that certain professionals (doctors, social workers, mental health professionals, teachers, child care workers) report any child they suspect may be maltreated to the CPS and, in some situations, the police. In addition, any concerned person may report suspicions of child abuse or neglect. After the passage of these laws in the 1960s, the number of reports increased dramatically. In 2004, CPS agencies throughout the United States responded to an estimated 2 million referrals concerning more than 3 million children in cases that involved allegations of abuse or neglect; at least 10% of these children were reported more than once. While reporting laws initially were a response to concern over battered children, most reports now are for neglect, not physical abuse. Somewhat more than half of all reports generally come from mandated reporters; the remainder come from friends, neighbors, relatives, and other nonprofessionals. The total number of children reported constitutes about 4% to 5% of all children in the United States, a percentage that has remained basically stable for more than 30 years. Although there is no precise data, it appears that as many

14 •

ab use and n egl ect

as 15% of all children are reported to the CPS at some point before they reach 18 years of age. In 2004, an estimated 1,490 children died due to abuse or neglect; that number has not changed much over the years. Young children are most at risk; more than 80% of fatalities involve children younger than 4 years old. More than one-third of child fatalities were attributed to neglect. Once a report is received by the CPS, a major winnowing process begins. An investigation is undertaken to determine if abuse or neglect has occurred and if there is a risk of it occurring again. Children who are believed to be in immediate danger may be moved to a residential facility, foster home, or a relative’s home during the investigation and while court proceedings are pending. Some jurisdictions now employ an alternative response system in less serious situations. In these jurisdictions, when the risk to the children involved is considered to be low, the CPS caseworker may focus on assessing family difficulties and offering needed services, rather than trying to document whether the child was abused or neglected. At the end of an investigation, CPS workers typically make one of two findings: unsubstantiated or substantiated. While these terms vary from state to state, a finding of unsubstantiated generally means there is insufficient evidence for the worker to conclude that a child was abused or neglected. A finding of substantiated typically means an incident of child abuse or neglect, as defined by state law, is believed to have occurred. Again, CPS workers have substantial discretion in making this determination given the generality of the laws. In 2004, CPS agencies concluded that approximately 872,000 children were likely to have been maltreated. Only about 30% of the reports that were investigated resulted in a finding that at least one child came within the child abuse and neglect statute. The low level of substantiation raises questions about the effectiveness and desirability of reporting laws. Investigations are costly in worker time and the stress on the family and children. While any system should result in some cases not substantiated, the high level of nonsubstantiation indicates either that reporting laws are not providing clear direction as to the types of situations the law considers to constitute maltreatment or that CPS workers are screening out children who need protection. Research indicates that both these explanations are true. Most cases involve neglect, not physical abuse, although the forms of neglect can be very harmful to the child. Among substantiated cases, more than 60% involve neglect; about 20% physical abuse, mostly involving injuries that did not require medical care; 10% sexual abuse, mostly by friends or neighbors; and 7% emotional maltreatment. Approximately 80% of perpetrators were parents, with relatives and unmarried partners accounting for another 10%. The most prevalent aspect of these homes was the degree of

disorganization; the large majority of cases involve parents with drug or alcohol problems who provide very poor care to their children. Substantiation rates vary by children’s age, race, and family income. Children ages birth to 3 years are most likely to be found to be abused or neglected. African American, Pacific Islander, and Native American or Alaska Native children had the highest rates of substantiations when compared to the national population, with 2004 rates of 19.9, 17.6, and 15.5 per 1,000 children, respectively. White children and Latino children had rates of approximately 10.7 and 10.4 per 1,000 children, respectively. Asian children had the lowest rate at 2.9 per 1,000 children. These racial and ethnic differences disappear, however, when family income is considered. Substantiated cases of child maltreatment overwhelmingly involve parents with low income. Once a CPS agency determines that a report is valid, it must decide what action to take. The key decision is whether to provide services to the family with the child remaining in the home or whether to request that the child be placed in foster or kinship care, which requires a court order or approval. Over the years, there has been substantial debate on whether public policy should favor family preservation or removal. The predominant view generally has favored trying to keep children with their parents, since removal may be traumatic for the child. However, many commentators believe that too much emphasis on family preservation leaves children at great risk—physically or developmentally— and that children often do better in foster placements, especially with relatives. In 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which requires states to focus on children’s safety as a first priority. The majority of substantiated cases receive services in their homes, without any court involvement. CPS agencies may provide services directly or contract and collaborate with private child welfare agencies and community-based organizations to provide services to families, such as mental health care, substance abuse treatment, parenting skills classes, employment assistance, and financial or housing assistance. In more serious situations, generally when the CPS agency is considering placing the child in foster care, it refers the family to a court that specializes in juvenile matters. If the parents deny maltreating the child, there will be a trial. The most serious situations, generally involving significant physical abuse or sexual abuse, may also be referred for criminal prosecution. Such prosecutions remain relatively rare, in part because these cases often are hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, given the young age of the victims. In juvenile court proceedings, if the parents admit to the maltreatment or are found to have maltreated the child by the judge, the court must decide what actions are necessary to protect the child from further abuse or neglect. The court

a c c id e n t s a n d in j u r ie s

could order that the child be left with or returned to the parents, with appropriate services, or that the child be placed out of home. The later is the most common disposition. Approximately 20% of substantiated cases ultimately result in foster care placement. African American children have been placed in care at a higher rate than children of other ethnic backgrounds. Despite increased research focused on this disproportional rate, there is no clear explanation. Despite nearly 40 years of legislative and judicial efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect, there is a general consensus in the United States that the child protection system is not doing a good job of prevention or of promoting the safety and sound development of children who have been identified as abused or neglected. Child maltreatment is heavily associated with poverty. While it is difficult to find reliable statistics comparing countries, it appears that rates are lower in most other industrialized countries. Many observers believe that is attributable to the availability of universal health care, the widespread use of home health visitors for all families following the birth of a child, the more extensive economic benefits available to low-income families, and the greater access to community services found in many European countries. When the child protection system is the main safety net for children, a large percentage of children go unprotected. Michael S. Wald see also: Dependency, Legal; Domestic Violence; Foster and Kinship Care; Parens Patriae; Rights, Termination of Parental; Sexual Abuse; Social Work further reading: National Research Council, Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect, 1993. • Duncan Lindsey, The Welfare of Children, 2nd ed., 2004.

accidents and injuries. Injuries are the leading cause of death and acquired disability for children and adolescents in the United States, accounting for more than 15,000 deaths, 250,000 hospitalizations, and 9 million emergency department visits each year. While injuries are also the most common cause of death in all developed nations, the rate of fatal injury varies widely. The Scandinavian countries have for many years had the lowest rates of injuries in the world, not because of better medical care but because of a systematic, long-term approach to injury prevention throughout their societies. Such an approach has only recently begun to take hold in the United States. In the United States, the number of deaths from injuries has declined, although much slower than have deaths due to infectious causes. During the 20th century, deaths to children 1–19 years of age from infectious disease declined by 99.7%, while deaths from injuries decreased by two-thirds. As a result, the proportion of deaths among children and adolescents due to injuries has climbed from 6.3% in 1900 to 44% in 2000. An important point, often overlooked, is that more than

• 15

95% of the deaths from injuries to children and adolescents around the world occur in developing countries. Injuries globally account for an estimated 875,000 deaths each year to those younger than 18 years of age. In developing countries, injuries account for 40% of all child deaths beyond the first year of life. This problem is expected to become even larger as low- and middle-income countries industrialize and urbanize. There are an estimated 1 billion people who do not currently have access to roads; as their access to roads and the availability of motor vehicles increase, the number of deaths from traffic will skyrocket. Injury rates vary by gender, age, and race. Males have approximately twice the rate of injuries as females throughout childhood and adolescence, once they reach about age 2. These differences in injury rates are not due to any inherent physical differences, per se, but to more risk-taking behavior in males than in females, starting at very early ages. Injury rates are highest during adolescence, again for much the same reason that males have higher rates than females. Adolescents have more exposure to activities that carry risk (such as driving motor vehicles) and approach these activities in an often risky fashion. Racial differences in injury rates have been consistently found, with Asian children having the lowest rates and African American and Native American children having the highest rates. Rates for white children and for nonblack Hispanic children lie between these two extremes. Most, if not all, of this variation in injury rates is due to socioeconomic differences. Poor children tend to live in areas that are exposed to more hazards, such as traffic and poor-quality housing. They have fewer opportunities for safe play. In addition, poor families are less likely to use injury-prevention devices, partly out of cost but also out of lack of awareness. The concept of injury control, which has developed rapidly over the decades since the National Academy of Science published the seminal report Injury in America (1985), encompasses much more than just the prevention of injuries. It includes the acute care of the injured child as well as rehabilitation to ensure the child fully returns to baseline functioning. Regulation of products, the environment, and individual behavior also come into play. Each of these phases of injury control is necessary in order to decrease morbidity and mortality due to injuries. Pr e v en tio n The most successful approaches to prevention are those that are focused on a specific problem, rather than the oftheard general advice “Always watch your child” or “Childproof your home.” The specific problems that should be addressed are those that are developmentally relevant for the child at each age. For the young infant, the highest risk is falls from beds, tables, and couches. For the toddler, injuries are commonly due to falls down stairs or out of windows, scald burns, and drowning in bathtubs or pools. The

16 •

acciden ts an d i n juri es

preschool child also faces risks of falls from playground equipment and other devices that increase the danger of falling from a height. School-age children are at high risk of pedestrian and bicycle injuries, falls, and drowning. Adolescents are at risk for drowning, poisoning, burns from fire play, and firearm injuries. For all ages, from birth through adolescence, the leading cause of serious and fatal injuries is motor vehicle crashes. Prevention is most successful when it incorporates passive strategies that protect without requiring repeated actions on the part of the individual. These include the prevention of poisonings by using child-resistant caps, the prevention of tap-water scald burns by having water heaters preset at safe temperatures, and the prevention of pool drowning by use of four-sided fencing. The single most effective way to protect a child traveling in a car is through appropriate use of restraints. Infants under 20 pounds require a rear-facing car seat, while toddlers 20–40 pounds should be restrained in a forward-facing car seat. Children who reach 40 pounds should be placed in a booster seat, which will allow the vehicle’s lap-shoulder belt to be properly used. Children should not be taken out of booster seats until they reach 80 pounds. All children younger than age 13 should ride in the rear seat and not be placed in a seat equipped with an airbag. More than three-fourths of fatal burns/fire injuries occur in house fires and are usually due to smoke inhalation. The most effective preventive measure is use of a smoke alarm. In contrast, the most common cause of admission to the hospital with a burn is scalding, usually due to hot water, coffee, tea, or food. Firework injuries are a common occurrence each year and can be disabling, with loss of vision or fingers. They are best prevented by not buying or using fireworks. Drowning is a unique injury. It has the highest casefatality rate (as much as 50%), and most children either do very well and recover fully or they die. Few children experience outcomes between these extremes. As already noted, pool drowning can be prevented by four-sided pool fencing, which is now required in many communities. Children near natural bodies of water should always be supervised and should wear personal flotation devices (life jackets). Diving injuries are a subset of drowning and usually occur to adolescents, often with devastating consequences. Prevention entails not using alcohol around water and not diving into any body of water without first knowing its depth. Nearly half of households in the United States and 30% of those with children in the home have guns. Unintentional firearm injuries occur in school-age boys, usually due to gunplay with a parent’s gun. In contrast, gun injuries among adolescents take the form of attempted or completed suicide or homicide. It is important to remember that adolescent suicide and homicide are most commonly completed with guns, often guns in the home. Locking up guns and us-

ing gun safes and trigger locks have been shown to decrease the risk of such violent deaths in the home. Ac u t e Car e The seriously injured child or adolescent is most likely to have the optimal outcome if treated in a trauma center that is certified as having pediatric trauma expertise. Much of modern care of the injured patient is nonoperative and requires collaborative care between surgeons, pediatricians, and intensivists. Of children admitted to the hospital with injury, fewer than 2% die. However, many seriously injured children will have significant aftereffects. These are most commonly found after traumatic brain injury, in which many children with moderate and all children with severe brain injury will sustain some level of impairment, including memory, cognition, behavior, motor functioning, and information processing losses. Recent data indicates that as many as 20% of children and adolescents will have posttraumatic stress disorder after injury. The likelihood of this increases with the severity of the injury and the presence of preinjury psychological problems in the child or family. R ehabi litat io n Rehabilitation is the process of assisting the child and family to achieve their fullest potential after injury. It is the third critical component of injury control, but one that is often overlooked. Rehabilitation involves a multidisciplinary team of physiatrists; nurses; occupational, physical, and speech therapists; psychologists; nutritionists; and social workers working together to assess the needs of the patient and intervening to improve outcome. Pediatric rehabilitation programs pay special attention to the academic needs of children and adolescents and serve as a bridge to enable the child to return to school. R egul atio n Many of the advances that have helped reduce the occurrence and severity of childhood injuries are the result of product regulation and liability litigation. The mandated introduction of child-resistant caps on medications and some household poisons has nearly eliminated deaths from ingestions among children younger than age 5. The Flammable Fabrics Act of 1966, which required children’s sleepwear to be flame-retardant, successfully lowered the incidence of devastating clothing burns in young children. A combination of state regulations and voluntary industry standards has resulted in all new water heaters in the United States being factory-preset at lower, safe temperatures, a change that has nearly eliminated the problem of tap-water scalds in young children. Product regulation has been carried out to great effect in the design and manufacture of motor vehicles since the 1965 publication of Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed. Eu-

addams, jane

ropean manufacturers such as Volvo, Saab, BMW, and Mercedes led the way in improving the protection to occupants of all ages, including children, involved in a crash. These changes were made voluntarily at the instigation of these manufacturers. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued regulations on various aspects of car design to make cars safer, including efforts to protect the integrity of a passenger compartment in a crash, antilock brakes, and rollover protection. Nearly all of these changes have benefited children. The one exception is the requirement for airbags in the front seat, designed to protect adult front-seat occupants. Unfortunately, many studies have shown that for children younger than age 13, airbags can be fatal. Some recalls of unsafe motor vehicles have been initiated because of product liability suits. The motor vehicle industry is faced with a constant stream of lawsuits against its products. While there rarely is an admission of liability on the part of the manufacturers, the fact that the auto industry produces much safer vehicles at the beginning of the 21st century than it did 40 years ago is probably due in part to product liability actions. These include the exploding gas tanks on the Ford Pinto and the “sidesaddle” gas tanks on GM trucks. Regulation can also take the form of changes to children’s environments that reduce risk of injury. Efforts in Scandinavia and the Netherlands to slow down traffic (traffic calming) and make towns more pedestrian-friendly have proved more successful in reducing death and serious head injuries among school-age children than comparable efforts to teach children to cross streets safely. This approach holds promise for other types of injury problems. Smoke detectors are inexpensive and very effective in preventing deaths from house fires. Many jurisdictions require them to be in all rental homes, new homes, and, in some places, existing homes. Similarly, building codes have been important in improving safety for children, through such measures as specifying the distance between the spindles on railings and requiring doors to basement stairs. Educational programs designed to change unsafe behavior are most effective when accompanied by the force of law. There are numerous examples that have benefited children. The use of child car seats—first introduced by a Tennessee law in 1978 and now mandated in all 50 states—is perhaps the best known. The use of bicycle helmets, which can decrease the risk of brain injury in bicycle crashes by as much as 88%, is another, although educational efforts have been generally successful on this issue. Efforts have also been made in many states to decrease deaths among young teenage drivers through graduated driver-licensing legislation. These laws place restrictions on times of day that new drivers can be on the road and restrict in many cases the types and number of passengers in the vehicle. The laws have made substantial changes in crash

• 17

rates among 16- and 17-year-old drivers. Similarly, raising the legal age to purchase alcohol to age 21 has decreased the number of alcohol-related crashes and deaths in teens by 20% in males and even more among females. C o nc lu s io n Injuries are the most serious public health problem for children and adolescents in the United States. Solution of the problem requires changing social norms away from the fatalistic notion that “accidents happen” to the concept that injuries are relatively predictable and preventable. This requires changes in the way communities are built, motor vehicles designed, and products manufactured and marketed. It requires a regionalized approach to trauma care and rehabilitation in order that the seriously injured child achieve the optimal outcome. Frederick P. Rivara see also: Abuse and Neglect; Firearms; Morbidity; Mortality; Poisoning; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Sports Injuries; Substance Abuse further reading: B. D. Johnston and F. P. Rivara, “Injury Control: New Challenges,” Pediatrics in Review 24, no. 4 (April 2003), pp. 111–18. • A. Spinks, C. Turner, R. McClure, and J. Nixon, “Community Based Prevention Programs Targeting All Injuries for Children,” Injury Prevention 10, no. 3 (June 2004), pp. 180–85. • Jon S. Vernick, Jason W. Sapsin, Stephen P. Teret, and Julia S. Mair, “How Litigation Can Promote Product Safety,” The Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics 32, no. 4 (Winter 2004), pp. 551–56. • Lisa Hartling, Natasha Wiebe, Kelly Russell, J. Petruk, C. Spinola, and Terry P. Klassen, “Graduated Driver Licensing for Reducing Motor Vehicle Crashes among Young Drivers,” The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 2, 2004. • F. P. Rivara and D. C. Grossman, “Injury Control,” in R. E. Behrman, R. M. Kleigman, H. B. Jenson, and B. F. Stanton, eds., Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 18th ed., 2007, pp. 256–62.

achievement, school. see School Achievement acting. see Theater and Acting addams, jane (b. September 6, 1860; d. May 21, 1935), founder of Hull House and leading social reformer. Jane Addams was born and raised in Cedarville, Illinois. After graduating from Rockford Female Seminary, attending one year of medical school, and making two trips to Europe, she moved to Chicago in 1889 to cofound, with her friend Ellen Gates Starr, the nation’s first settlement house, Hull House, on the industrial west side of the city. Children were the settlement’s first guests. Addams, who never married, had no children of her own but raised the younger two of her sister Mary’s children upon that sister’s death in 1894. At the same time, she became increasingly interested in the lives of working-class children. Once at Hull House, she quickly organized activities for children—a kindergarten, clubs, a playground, a gymnasium, sports teams, music, dancing and drama

18 •

addams, j an e

classes—but she did not undertake her first reform effort until 1893, when she campaigned for state legislation that banned sweatshops from employing children younger than 14. She worked on the issue of child labor for the rest of her life. In 1904, she was a founding member of the National Child Labor Committee. She was also an advocate for and supporter of the Children’s Bureau. Living in the garbage-strewn 19th Ward taught Addams the serious threat that unregulated industrial urban life posed to the health of children. In 1895, after her adopted nephew had come to live with her, her concern about the spread of contagious disease compelled her to join a citywide campaign to reform the city’s garbage services. She was hired by a reform mayor to be the ward’s garbage inspector. In 1899, she founded the settlement’s Labor Museum, through which she hoped to teach immigrant children about their immigrant parents’ skills in Old World labor methods, like spinning, weaving, carving, and metalworking, and thus rebuild a bridge of respect between the generations. The same year, she worked alongside other women reformers to create the nation’s first juvenile court, in Cook County in 1899, and, later, to found the Juvenile Protection Association of Chicago. Long concerned about issues involving public education, Addams was appointed by the mayor in 1905 to serve on the Chicago Board of Education for a four-year term. Her realization that workingclass girls were being forced into prostitution by the scheming methods of the “white slave” trade led her to write A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil (1912) to educate middle-class readers about the problem and solutions. Informing all of her work on behalf of children was her philosophy of childhood, the roots of which lay in her memories of her own childhood love of adventure, her own insatiable curiosity, and her joy in the pleasures of the imagination. She believed that the child’s natural instinct for play, if not restricted by adults, would nurture his or her full development as an individual by encouraging originality and self-direction. More broadly, she believed that social relations and pleasure—the gifts of play—were the foundations of human culture, and she saw childhood as a source of society’s cultural vitality. Louise W. Knight see also: Immigration, Children and: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Juvenile Court; Lathrop, Julia Clifford; Welfare: U.S. Historical Perspectives; Work, Children’s Gainful further reading: Jane Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House, [1910] 2007. • Louise W. Knight, Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy, 2005.

addiction. see Substance Abuse adhd. see Attention Deﬁcit Hyperactivity Disorder

adolescence. Adolescence is the physiological time between onset of the hormonal cascade initiating puberty and the end of physical growth. A functional definition in Westernized countries, however, includes the developmental tasks of separation from family, grounding self-esteem in individual achievement, establishing a moral compass, and being comfortable with an adult body image. Although the specific processes of adolescence vary across cultures, this article provides a broad overview of the issues for a Western society in the 21st century. Other articles in this volume address the cultural and historical differences in this stage of development. Goals of Adolesc enc e : A Wester n Per s pec ti v e The goal of adolescence is to emerge into adulthood with a confident sense of place among peers and optimism about belonging to a community. The most important thread that connects “successful” teenagers is a positive sense of selfesteem. Self-esteem originates from belonging, acceptance, and achievement in the family, school, and community. Teenagers who feel alienated, marginalized, victimized, or abused are less likely than peers to feel optimistic about the future, to perform well in school, and to have healthy interpersonal relationships. Those who feel different because of physical disability, mental health problems, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, or country of origin or have a history of victimization are also significantly more likely than their peers to participate in health-compromising behaviors, such as substance use, unprotected sexual behavior, and interpersonal violence. Communities and schools that teach and embrace diversity are ones where it is less likely that teenagers who feel disenfranchised will seek alternative and potentially self-destructive routes to enhance self-esteem. D e v elo pm en ta l S tage s Adolescence is commonly divided into early, middle, and late stages. Each has distinctive physical, cognitive, and social/behavioral attributes. Tight categorization, however, can be risky because passage from one stage to the next can be variable. In addition, the timing between stages may not be simultaneous. For instance, it is common for a teenage girl to be physically mature by the end of early adolescence, but that does not mean that she will be prepared to make mature parenting decisions if she becomes pregnant. Early Adolescence (11–14). This is a period of rapid physical growth, with females ahead of males. In the 20th century, likely linked to improved nutrition, the worldwide average age of menarche progressively dropped from middle to early adolescence. However, there are some regions of the world, such as New Guinea, where the average age is still middle adolescence. In the United States, the average age of

adolescence

menarche and self-reported sexual debut for non-Hispanic black girls is significantly earlier than non-Hispanic white and Mexican American teenagers. Adolescents in this stage of development are preoccupied with body image, especially in relationship to peers. These changes may become linked with self-esteem. Boys who develop earlier often benefit from improved self-esteem because of enhanced sports performance. Studies show that girls who mature earlier may be more prone to develop eating disorders and initiate sex at an earlier age. Teenagers who are relatively late developers physically may develop self-esteem problems but generally do not suffer significant long-term problems. Undernutrition and poor nutrition are still major problems in many parts of the world and may lead to delayed puberty and stunted growth, both of which can often be reversible with improved diet. At the same time, adolescent obesity is a growing problem throughout the world. This is a time of increased same-gender peer-group involvement and decreased family involvement. If dating occurs, it is often in groups. It is a time of intense bodily interest, so some same-sex experimentation may occur. The transition from concrete to abstract reasoning begins. The interplay between self-discovery, peer influence, and lack of experience lead some to start testing limits and taking physical risks. It is also the time that some cultures have rites of passage or initiation that, depending on circumstance, may result in greater family responsibility, helping with household expenses, a change in roles and status, or association with same-age peers. Middle Adolescence (15–17). Most physical changes have already occurred and physical growth usually has stopped by the end of this period. This is generally the most intense time of separation struggles between teens and parents. There is increasing time with peer group and strong association with peer cultural and social norms such as music, entertainment, apparel, and appearance. There are intense struggles for peer acceptance, and this may lead to increased risk taking, impulsive behavior, and substance and sexual experimentation. As abstract reasoning develops, there is an increased ability to express empathy and have closer interpersonal relationships. Depression and suicide become a heightened concern for adolescents who feel different, are perceived as different, or are bullied. It is a time that alcohol or drug use may escalate and gang involvement may intensify. The search for acceptance among peers and a need to feel community connection may be a cause of gang participation by some teenagers. This is particularly an issue for teenagers who are members of ethnic groups who feel general community disenfranchisement. The same root causes relate to why some teenagers and college students are drawn to fraternities and sororities. Gangs, fraternities, and sororities allow acceptance into a “fam-

• 19

ily” of similar background and permit some teenagers to have a sense of empowerment and self-worth in the midst of a community to which they feel alienated or otherwise insignificant. Late Adolescence (18–24). Growth and physical change have ended, although some slow growth in height and muscle mass may occur into the 20s. Comfort and acceptance of physical appearance, however, become a lifelong process. If there is a positive connection to school, family, and community, accompanied by a healthy sense of self-esteem during early and middle adolescence, then the stage is set for successful independent identity and separation from parents. Maturity brings the ability to balance individual values with those of peers. Monogamous interpersonal relationships replace peer-group-dominated relationships, and there should be clarity about sexual identity. Ph ysical H e alth and Medical Serv ic es Adolescence is generally a time of good health. Mortality rates are low, with most problems linked to behavior rather than to acute or chronic illness. In 1992, the American Medical Association published, and other major health care organizations endorsed, the Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services, which outline a comprehensive set of health recommendations for adolescents. Adherence to these guidelines by health professionals is variable. For an age group that would greatly benefit from health promotion, providing health education in the medical setting is often hampered in the United States and elsewhere. Health issues that frequently affect teenagers, such as sexual health and interpersonal violence, are often embedded in political controversy. For instance, in some localities school-based health clinics provide comprehensive medical services, whereas in others, school-based clinics must depend upon teenagers themselves to arrange for family planning, pregnancy, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases at outside organizations, where they are less likely to follow up and there are more barriers to access. Accidents are the leading cause of mortality for teenagers in the United States, with many related to the concurrent use of alcohol or other drugs. For teenagers living in low socioeconomic and high population-density areas, interpersonal violence, much of which is handgun related, is the leading cause of death. When controlled for socioeconomic status and population density, ethnicity and race have little influence on interpersonal violence. As is the case with accidents, many perpetrators of interpersonal violence are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Other behaviorrelated morbidity commonly affecting teenagers are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV; unwanted pregnancy; obesity; eating disorders; and substance abuse use, including alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, anabolic ste-

20 •

adolesc en ce

roids, methamphetamine, cocaine, hallucinogens, and misuse of prescription medications. In spite of mandated HIV and sex education in schools in the United States, an increased use of condoms and a decrease in pregnancy and STDs, teenagers and young adults are the population most likely to become infected with STDs and have unplanned pregnancies. In addition, many adults with HIV trace infection to behavior initiated in adolescence. Among ethnic groups, African Americans have the earliest age of sexual debut and among the highest rates of unwanted pregnancy and STDs. This disparity is related to a number of factors, including poor access to health care, greater disenfranchisement, and less future orientation. Men tal H e alth and Sub s tanc e Abuse Adolescence is often the time that significant psychiatric problems such as depression, bipolar illness, and schizophrenia emerge. Early recognition is often a challenge because psychological turmoil is the norm during adolescence. Emotional confl icts that arise can often be accompanied by significant mood swings and defiant behavior. Aside from major psychiatric illness, disorders of significance particularly during adolescence are substance abuse and eating disorders. Both of these behaviors are common and have ranges of seriousness. For instance, according to a 2003 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, a significant proportion of high school seniors report a lifetime history of alcohol and marijuana use. Only a small fraction, however, will ever develop other substance use, dependence, or have serious health consequences related to use. The selection of substances by teenagers, more than for older populations, is sensitive to economic forces such as availability and price. Price and availability will determine adolescents’ use of tobacco, methamphetamine, and alcohol. Factors that can predict harmful adolescent substance abuse include family history, mental illness, poor self-esteem, and poor school performance. Eating disorders, more common in females, like substance use, vary in level of severity. As an example, a large proportion of college females report having induced vomiting or severely limited caloric intake at some point in their lifetime. Only a small proportion of teenagers with such behavior, however, come to medical attention, and most unhealthy eating behavior is self-limited. Those who do require hospitalization for stabilization of medical complications do have a significant lifetime risk of eating disorder– related mortality. Traditionally, eating disorders have been characterized as disorders of the middle and upper-middle class. In recent years, body dissatisfaction and related eating disorders have been increasing among all American females regardless of socioeconomic status or ethnicity. New immigrant populations may have additional confl icts arising from parents grounded in the culture of their

place of origin and teenagers who more rapidly adapt to the new language and culture. The influx of immigrants from regions devastated by war, famine, terrorism, genocide, and AIDS adds to the complexity. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 117 million and 138 million teenagers are vulnerable to the effects of armed confl icts as soldiers, civilians, and refugees. It is estimated that about 300,000 adolescent males are currently in coerced military service worldwide. How and whether these teenagers and their families successfully accommodate to the myriad difficulties they encounter, as have other generations of immigrants before them, is yet to be well studied. These refugees are especially at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal ideation. Surveys of recent immigrant teenagers in the United States have revealed PTSD symptoms in up to one-third and clinical depression in more than 10%. Most adolescents, however, are remarkably resilient, and it is reasonable to expect the same from recent immigrants. C h ro n ic I l l n e s s There are about 2 million U.S. teenagers with chronic illness. These teens require a support system at home and at school that promotes self-acceptance and enhances self-esteem. Without such support, this population is at risk for isolation and depression. Since limit testing and self-discovery are a normal part of adolescence, teenagers with chronic illness may sometimes be labeled as noncompliant with medical advice and medication adherence. These issues are often about control and independence. Adherence is best achieved when the patient is allowed to participate in decision making, when there is a developmentally appropriate discussion about compliance, and when consequences are put in positive terms. Studies demonstrate that teenagers who have the best long-term outcomes have healthy as well as chronically ill peers, have been given reasonable household responsibilities, have parents who are not overly protective, and have been fully integrated into family activities. Participation in peer support groups is also helpful. The Internet has made the community of teenagers with chronic illness more easily accessible, so there are few limitations to finding peer-group support. Transition into the adult health care system is another critical issue that may be problematic because of funding and because the support system often present in a pediatric-oriented health care environment does not exist in most adult health care settings. Lawrence S. Friedman see also: Adolescent Decision Making, Legal Perspectives on; Romantic and Sexual Relationships; Sexual Development further reading: R. I. Lopez, The Teen Health Book: A Parent’s Guide to Adolescent Health and Well Being, 2003. • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 2005,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 55, no. SS-5 (2006),

a d o l e s c e n t d e c is io n m a k in g, l e ga l p e r s p e c t iv e s o n pp. 1–109. • National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth • World Health Organization, Statistics on Adolescent Health, http://www.who.int/topics/adolescent .health/en/

adolescent decision making, legal perspectives on. According to conventional wisdom, the common-law age of legal adulthood was set at 21 years in the Middle Ages because it was judged to be the age at which a young man was capable of carrying a full suit of armor. Currently, the age of majority in the United States is age 18, a boundary that was established by the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. This milestone signals the end of parents’ legal authority and responsibility (including their financial-support obligation) as well as the withdrawal of the state from its protective role. On reaching the age of majority, individuals acquire most legal capacities to function as citizens and adult members of society. These include the capacity to purchase real estate, lease an apartment, execute a binding contract, make a will, consent to medical treatment, the duty to register for the draft , the right to serve on a jury, and, most important perhaps, to vote in state and federal elections. The designation of a categorical legal age of majority reflects a crude judgment about maturity and competence. Individuals at the specified age are assumed to be mature enough to function in society as adults, to care for themselves, and to make self-interested decisions. The contemporary legal regulation of adolescents is based on three basic assumptions. First, minors are assumed to be dependent on others for basic survival in the early years of childhood and, as they get older, for the care and resources that will enable them to mature into productive adulthood. This dependency means that others must provide for children’s basic needs, such as food, shelter, and health care, and invest in their human capital through socialization and education. It also means that minors must behave in ways that permit others to invest in them, by attending school, for example. Society has a strong interest in ensuring that the next generation is sufficiently prepared to take on the roles of adulthood and regulates the behavior of minors as well as the adults responsible for their care in order to achieve this goal. Second, minors are assumed to be unable to make sound decisions, due to their immature cognitive and emotional development. Children, it is assumed, cannot reason or process information sufficiently to make thoughtful, rational choices. Moreover, their immaturity of judgment, as a result of impulsivity, problems in self-regulation, and shortsightedness, may lead them to make choices that are harmful to their interests or those of others. Much legal regulation of minors is in the service of protecting them from their own immaturity. Finally, minors are assumed to be more vulnerable to

• 21

harm from others, for two related reasons. First, children and adolescents are more susceptible to the influence of others, as evidenced by their greater susceptibility to peer pressure and heightened sensitivity to the opinions of the people around them. Second, in addition to their greater susceptibility to social influence, children and adolescents are also viewed as more malleable, or more potentially and permanently affected by those around them. This trait (together with dependency) justifies special state protection of children from others who might hurt them. Assumptions about children’s incompetence, dependence, and vulnerability are expressed in several ways in legal regulation. First, minors’ legal rights and privileges are far more restricted than those of adults. Because they are assumed to lack the capacities for reasoning, understanding, and mature judgment (as well as the life experience that presumably would contribute to mature decision making), minors are not permitted to vote, make most medical decisions, enlist for military service, drink alcohol, or (in some localities) stay out on the street late at night. Restrictions of minors’ rights are sometimes justified on social-welfare grounds as, for example, the idea that society is better off if individuals who lack mature reasoning abilities cannot vote. But the legal rights of minors are also limited to protect their welfare. Thus, juvenile curfew laws may protect children from getting in trouble through the exercise of immature judgment and from the harmful influence of others who roam the streets at night. Second, minors are not held to adult legal standards of accountability for their choices and behavior, both because of their cognitive and psychosocial immaturity and their vulnerability to undue influence. For example, minors are not bound by most contracts. Most of the cases in which this doctrine is invoked involve youths who contract with adults to buy used cars or expensive stereo equipment, purchases that children might be tempted to make without considering the obligation that they are undertaking. In the same category is the traditional legal response to criminal conduct by juveniles. In the United States, the founders of the juvenile court in the late 19th century advocated against assigning criminal responsibility to children for their offenses because they were presumed to lack the capacities for reasoning, judgment, and moral understanding on which attributions of blameworthiness must rest. The third category of legal policies directed at children consists of protections and entitlements that respond to children’s dependency and invest in their development into healthy productive adulthood. The law requires parents and the government to provide children with care, financial support, and education—services needed for survival and healthy development, which children are unable to provide for themselves. In all states, children are entitled to a public school education, so that they may develop the capacities needed for productive adulthood, and compulsory

22 •

adolesc en t dec i s i o n ma k i n g , l eg al p e rs pe c t iv e s o n

schooling laws require that they attend school. Moreover, because children are vulnerable and unable to assert their own interests, the state enforces parents’ duty to provide care through elaborate civil and criminal child-abuse regulation. This system monitors parental care and offers foster care as a substitute when parents fail egregiously to fulfill their responsibilities. Taken together, this complex regulatory scheme suggests that lawmakers view children and adolescents as a very special class of citizens, a group whose unique traits and circumstances warrant different legal rules and policies from those that apply to adults. In general, these policies of restricted rights and privileges, limited responsibilities, and special protections are grounded in a consistent account of what it means to be a child. Embedded in legal regulation is an overriding commitment to promote children’s welfare and their development into healthy productive adulthood, coupled with the assumption that this goal also promotes society’s interest. Where does adolescence fit in this policy picture? With rare exceptions, adolescence as a stage of development is invisible under the law. Although developmental psychologists see adolescence as distinct from childhood and adulthood, for the most part this distinction does not exist under the law. For most purposes—voting, enlistment in the military, contracting, signing a lease, executing a will, and entitlement to parental support—adolescents are legal children until they reach they reach their 18th birthday and attain adult status. Sometimes lawmakers confer adult status on young people before or after the legal age of majority. The most familiar examples of legal policies shifting the threshold of adulthood are those regulating driving privileges (which shift the boundary downward, usually to 16 or 17) and restrictions on the right to purchase and drink alcohol (which shift the boundary upward, to 21)—policies that can be readily understood as promoting youth welfare and social welfare. The gap between the minimum legal ages for driving and drinking offers young persons independence and mobility, which they greatly value, while protecting them (and the rest of us) from harms that they might cause due to immature youthful judgment if they had ready access to alcohol. For the most part, these two departures (the lower legal age for driving and the higher legal age for purchasing alcohol) from the presumptive legal boundary of childhood are not controversial. Laws governing minors’ consent to medical treatment, which also shift the legal boundary between childhood and adulthood, have been the focus of considerable debate, however. In general, parents must consent to the medical treatment of their children until they are 18, because medical treatment requires informed consent, which minors categorically are presumed incompetent to provide. In most instances of medical decision making, parents’ and children’s interests are not in confl ict. But in some cir-

cumstances, the adolescent may seek a medical treatment against his or her parents’ wishes or the adolescent simply may not want his or her parents to know that the treatment is being sought. To accommodate these situations, legislatures in many states have enacted statutes under which minors are deemed adults for the purpose of consenting to particular kinds of treatment—typically, treatment for birth control, sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, mental health problems, and pregnancy. The targeted treatments all involve situations in which the traditional assumption that parents can be counted on to respond to their child’s medical needs with the child’s interest at heart simply might not hold. For example, some parents may become outraged upon learning of their child’s sexual activity or drug use and respond in a way that does not serve their child’s interest. Moreover, even if many parents would act in their child’s health interest, adolescents may be deterred from seeking treatment because they fear their parents’ reaction or because they do not want to disclose private information. Removing this obstacle encourages teens to seek treatment that may be critically important to their health. Minors’ consent statutes represent a legislative judgment that adolescents should be deemed legal adults for a specific case in which harm may result from the standard classification of adolescents as children. The argument favoring this exception is not that teenagers are especially mature in making these particular treatment decisions, but that their welfare will be more clearly promoted by obtaining these treatments than by involving their parents in the decision. In addition, society also has a public-health interest in promoting treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and mental illness and in reducing the incidence of teenage pregnancy. Children and adolescents are subject to an array of legal policies that restrict their freedom, protect them from harm, and invest in their human capital—policies aimed at promoting their welfare and enhancing their prospects for productive, successful lives. The bright-line age of majority marks the transition from legal childhood to adulthood efficiently for most purposes, even though at best it is a crude approximation of developmental maturity. When that line is shifted through legal regulation that lowers or raises the threshold of legal adulthood, some important policy objective is being served, usually a mix of paternalistic goals and public welfare. It is true that the use of a crude, bright-line rule to set the legal boundary between childhood and adulthood ignores individual variation in maturity among teens as well as what may be varying maturity demands across the range of adult rights and responsibility that are conferred on the 18th birthday. In this respect, the legal regulation of adolescents admittedly is not very much grounded in what is known about the development of decision-making capa-

a d o p t io n

bilities over the course of adolescence. Research shows that such capabilities mature gradually from childhood through adulthood and vary in their timing among and within individuals, rather than maturing abruptly at the age of 18 for all individuals and simultaneously across all domains of decision making. However, a bright-line age of majority is a clear signal of adult status to others; everyone who knows a person’s age can quickly discern whether he or she has legal capacity. The upshot is that a categorical approach that treats individuals below a designated age as legal minors works well, as long as that age corresponds roughly to some threshold of developmental readiness to assume the privileges and obligations of adulthood. Although research on the development of decision making indicates that it is difficult, if not impossible, to point to any specific chronological age as the obvious point at which individuals become psychological adults, studies of cognitive and emotional development taken as a whole indicate that the use of 18 as the presumptive age of majority is a perfectly reasonable choice. A more tailored approach under which adult status was determined individually or according to task could generate confusion and error and would certainly be more costly to administer. On the whole, legal policy facilitates the transition to adulthood by calibrated steps that reflect society’s concern for the individual well-being of its most vulnerable citizens as well as its collective interest in their healthy development into productive adults. Laurence Steinberg and Elizabeth S. Scott see also: Abortion; Conduct, Legal Regulation of Children’s; Contraception; Custody; Dependency, Legal; Emancipation; Medical Care and Procedures, Consent to; Rights, Children’s; Rights, Parental; Rights, Termination of Parental further reading: Franklin E. Zimring, The Changing Legal World of Adolescence, 1982. • Laurence Steinberg and Elizabeth Cauffman, “Maturity of Judgment in Adolescence: Psychosocial Factors in Adolescent Decision Making,” Law and Human Behavior 20 (1996), pp. 249–72. • Elizabeth S. Scott and Jennifer Woolard, “The Legal Regulation of Adolescence,” in Richard M. Lerner and Laurence Steinberg, eds., Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, 2004, pp. 523– 50. • Elizabeth Cauffman and Jennifer Woolard, “Crime, Competence, and Culpability: Adolescent Judgment in the Justice System,” in Janis E. Jacobs and Paul A. Klaczynski, eds., The Development of Judgment and Decision Making in Children and Adolescents, 2005, pp. 279–301. • Elizabeth S. Scott and Laurence Steinberg, Rethinking Juvenile Justice, 2008.

adoption Historical and Cultural Perspectives Effects on the Child Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

historical and cultural perspectives. A focus on the

child in adoption, rather than on the family, is compara-

• 23

tively rare and historically recent. That the principle of the “best interests of the child” should guide the transfer is, in fact, a peculiarity of Western culture and only came to prominence in the mid-20th century. Over time and across cultures, adoption has served primarily the best interests of the adults and secondarily the interests of the child. In serving the interests of adults, adoption also maintains social institutions and cultural values differently in diverse settings. Transfers of children have gone on in myriad ways, for many reasons, for centuries, accomplishing functions and perpetuating ideologies that support the survival of a social group. The word adoption itself is culturally particular. On the one hand, the term refers to a specific mode of transferring a child; on the other, broadly applied, adoption underlines the significance of designating children’s parents in all human societies, a practice reminding us that birth does not alone make parenthood. Strictly defined, the word refers to the legal transaction of a child, in which the rights of the biological parent are severed completely and permanently. Wherever and however it occurs, adoption reiterates, reinforces, and sometimes revolutionizes concepts of kinship, family, childhood, and personhood. Even when the transaction is confidential, as it has been in the United States since the early 20th century, adoption exposes fundamental ideas about identity, the normative organization of lives, and adulthood. All practices that fall under the rubric of adoption have in common the transfer of a child from the parent who gave birth, the genetrix, to a social parent, who, in different societies, may be kin or stranger, family or individual, female or male, prince or pauper. The intention of the transfer may be the creation of bonds between adults, the provision of resources to birth parent or to child, the consolidation of property holdings, or a solution to infertility, infirmity, and indigence. Adoption is always public in that the transfer is acknowledged, but it may be hidden by efforts to replicate the “natural” family. Who makes the decisions in a transaction in parenthood varies as thoroughly as does the outcome for the child. Historically and comparatively, there are few common threads in conceptions of the adopted child or in the accepted definition of a social parent. Norms, sanctions, contract, and law may regulate the transaction, with different degrees of choice accorded the parties. In the United States, no law regulated adoption until the 1850s, when, in response to legislative petitions to adopt and to a perceived “multitude” of neglected children, a Massachusetts law delineated the rights of adoptive parents. These rights included sole, exclusive, and permanent claim to the child. Benefits to the child accrued from the permanency of parenthood. Other states followed the Massachusetts model, deeming uncontested parental prerogative a source of a child’s welfare. In enshrining exclusivity and permanency, American laws of adoption created the

24 •

adop tion

adoptive family in the image of the consanguineous family: The child was as if begotten to her social parents. The future was to show persistent cultural equivalence of blood with real kinship. H istor ical Pr ec eden ts The term adoption comes from the Latin and is rooted in choice. Roman customs, the foundation of Western adoption, granted the choice of parenthood to an adult who thereby preserved name, property, and status as a citizen. A Roman adult might adopt a child or another adult; the transaction contributed to social standing and did not refer to a concept of childhood or the needs of a child. The practice was common among the propertied and elite, and the adoptee had a place as the heir to family property and ancestral name. With the rise of Christianity, and its emphasis on the consanguineous nuclear family, the custom of adoption fell to the sidelines of religious and civil society. Yet transfers of children from biological to social parents continued; an aristocrat might adopt a child he fathered out of wedlock or an indigent mother place her child permanently in the care of another. In the majority of cases, the child acquired kinship status, without fuss or publicity. Barring a confl ict over property or name, the transactions were “silent,” the business of those directly involved. Customs in the American colonies stretched the boundaries of child exchange, expanding the means and the ends of transactions in parenthood. In the 17th and 18th centuries, children moved from household to household with increasing frequency. Dependent on the whims or needs of adults, these transfers upheld moral doctrine and served material interests. The recalcitrant child found herself in another household, and the hearty boy found himself placed in an apprenticeship. Inscribed neither in theology nor in law, child exchange followed the route of an adult’s choice, legitimated by community norms or existing personal ties. These movements of a child from biological to social parent maintained the order of a growing civil society and sowed the seeds of culturally distinct ideologies of family and kinship. When American states finally passed laws of adoption, these transferred adoption from the legislature to the courts, simplifying the process and allowing its increasing formalization. Adoption laws also established the exclusive and permanent rights of the social parent, banishing the biological parent from the kinship network. Laws, however, do not readily erase cultural interpretations of kinship, and the question of inheritance within an adoptive family exposed the symbolic significance of blood. When adoptive parents left no will, 19th-century courts ruled that the claim of natural issue superseded the claim of adopted children. The Progressive Era of the early 20th century changed the face of adoption in the United States. Social workers,

psychologists, and jurists placed the child at the center of the transaction. Under the principle of “the best interests of the child,” experts questioned even conventional family arrangements for ensuring the well-being of a child. Yet the principle did not provide clear indicators of the interests of a child; instead, experts developed measures for the parental fitness of adults. The child as person vanished from the calculation. The Progressive Era emphasis on the well-being of the child did not eliminate adult interests from the heart of American adoption. The emphasis resulted in the greater role of experts in the movement of a child from biological to social parent and the consequent loss of control over the transaction by the parties directly involved. Standards of fitness, measurements of good parenthood, and determination of the conditions under which a child would thrive frame the story of adoption for most of the 20th century in the United States. The location of child exchange in agencies, courts, and clinics distinguishes American, and to a large extent European, adoption practices from those prevalent in the rest of the world. The panoply of expertise brought to bear on adoption also reveals a continuing distrust of the benefits to a child of being raised by other than a biological parent. C ro ss- Cult ur al Compar isons In most societies, a transaction in parenthood reinforces the interests of property, privilege, and power. The child as person is rarely at the center of the transaction, and the impact on a child’s identity and kinship status varies with the goals of the adults. The modern Western definition of adoption, contracted and permanent parenthood, excludes the numerous instances in which a child is exchanged in order to ensure the transmission of resources, authority, and rank. Whether an heir is acquired, a bride promised, or a worker provided, the transaction focuses on the interests of giver and recipient. While not an object in these exchanges, the child serves the function of maintaining social, political, and economic relationships between adults. As a subject, the child acquires a place in a kinship network; concern with her or his welfare as an individual rather than as a member of the corporate group is a modern and a Western development. Across the Pacific, considerably more than 50% of all children were (and still are) brought up by other than a biological parent. This is a startlingly high rate when compared with the number of households in the United States that have an adopted child: between 2% and 4% of all households. (There are approximately 120,000 adoptions per year in the United States.) Given by a birth parent to another adult, the child solidified bonds and reiterated the trust between persons who already had a relationship with one another. In Polynesian societies, kings, queens, and chiefs valued the child who was given, while common-

a d o p t io n

ers passed children to respected kin. A gift, the child was valued, pampered, and spoiled. The entailments of the custom were clear: The child acquired a new kinship status and a new identity. With the entry of Westerners in the early 19th century, custom came under question, not in terms of the welfare of the child but in terms of the threat to property and to the nuclear family such transactions appeared to pose. In the eyes of Westerners, the frequent and casual movement of children disrupted patterns of land transmission and the sanctity of marriage. Colonial laws regulated forms of inheritance and of sexual relationships so that the “casual” transfer of children was rendered illegitimate and marginal. Legal decisions interpret the meaning and the consequence of child exchange. Imposing categorical distinctions between contracted and customary exchange, Western law gives special emphasis to biology by equating contract, and contract only, with the endurance of a natural relationship. Contract turns the adoptive affiliation into an asif-begotten relationship, as close to nature as possible. Birth represents the genuine or “real” parent-child relationship, and adoption is fictive, sealed by contract and not by nature. Where blood is the symbolic core of kinship, birth accords both primary rights and essential aspects of identity—an ideology distinct to Euro-American culture. This point of view contrasts sharply with cultures in which incorporation into a group grants full kinship status and provides the elements of identity. Belonging is the standard for a solid and enduring parent-child tie. The decision to “take in” a child is a decision based on love, generosity, and the nurture etymologically linked to fostering. Th e Futur e of Adoption The last decades of the 20th century saw a burgeoning adoption-reform movement in the United States. With its bid to end the confidentiality of American adoption, the movement reiterated the importance of biology in constructions of the person. Premised on the conviction that an individual who lacks knowledge of her biological background lacks not just information about genetic predispositions but also the key elements of an integrated identity, the movement argues for contact between adoptive and biological parents. Reversing colonial history, advocates of change in Western adoption find models in societies in which child exchange forms a bond between adults. From the reform point of view, the end of anonymity seeks to establish the trust and solidarity between exchangers of a child that is characteristic of indigenous societies. Coupled with psychological theories of the conditions under which a child will thrive, contact with “all” parents is regarded as serving the child’s best interests. But the insistence on contact vies with an equally strong premise of American adoption, the as-if-begotten premise that creates the adoptive family in the image of the consanguineous

• 25

nuclear family. The image prescribes only one set of parents for a child. Biology returns to American adoption in another form: mapping the genetic heritage of the child. With technological advances, the child may soon know her biological background without meeting her birth parents. Furthermore, mapping genetic heritage reiterates another aspect of American adoption policy: the matching of adopted child to adoptive parents. A long-standing practice, matching cements the as-if-begotten principle, creating a family that looks as if birth connected parent and child. The adoption-reform movement in the United States coincides with the globalization of adoption practices and policies. Children circulate widely, from developing to industrialized nations, and ideologies of constructed and “real” kinship follow in their wake. Parents and children do not look alike, and the mode of forming a family is marked by visibility, not secrecy. Many who adopt children whose appearance, or nationality, is different from their own promote the distinct cultural features of their child’s identity. Without the anchor of matching and as-if-begotten, adoption faces new hurdles in ensuring the best interests of the child. Discarding the birth model and the nuclear-family standard demands fresh prescriptions for the well-being of a child. A version of the nature/nurture debate, preoccupation with inherited and learned traits emerges again in the context of adoptions across racial, ethnic, cultural, and national borders. Does circulation of children intensify inequalities between nations? What are the rights of children in an international legal arena? Child exchange has been culturally specific for centuries, serving the needs of particular societies at particular times, under the aegis of prevailing interpretations of kinship and identity. In an era of globalization, the interests of adults who migrate, accumulate resources, and create kinship may transform the best interests of the child. Judith Schachter see also: Abandonment and Infanticide; Brace, Charles Loring; Foster and Kinship Care; Gay and Lesbian Parents; Orphanages; Parenthood; Remarriage and the Blended Family; Single Parents further reading: Barbara Melosh, Strangers and Kin: The American Way of Adoption, 2002. • Judith Modell [Schachter], A Sealed and Secret Kinship: The Culture of Policies and Practices in American Adoption, 2002. • Fiona Bowie, ed., Cross-Cultural Approaches to Adoption, 2004. • Toby Alice Volkman, Cultures of Transnational Adoption, 2005.

effects on the child. Adoption, in its many forms, is a fundamental way families are established. Most people can think of a friend, an acquaintance, or a family member who is adopted or has adopted a child. Couples, relatives, single, gay, and lesbian persons adopt older children, infants, children of a differing race, and children from abroad. Though there is no one agency that collects comprehensive data on

26 •

adop tion

the number and types of adoptions in the United States, the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates between 118,000 and 127,000 children, including those adopted by relatives, are adopted annually. Adoptive families, which also can include connections to birth families, are one version of the many forms of complex families found in current society. The diversity of adoptive experience requires that outcomes for adopted children be considered within particular contexts. T y pes of Adoption Adoption is traditionally thought of as the process by which an infant is placed with nonrelated adopted parents of the same race. Domestic infant adoption, once the norm for nonrelative adoptive placements, is no longer the dominant form of adoption in the United States. Kinship adoption (adoption by a nonparent relative or stepparent) is common. For countries with extensive foster care systems (e.g., the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada), the emphasis on finding permanent homes for children for whom reunification with a biological relative is not possible has increased the numbers of children adopted from the child welfare system. Children adopted from foster care have a greater proportion of physical, behavioral, and emotional disabilities that require adoptive parents to bring flexibility and sensitivity to their children’s unique needs. This can include, when appropriate, ways to maintain contact with birth families adopted children remember. Postadoption support from communities, extended families, and service organizations is essential for helping adoptive parents deal with challenging behaviors children with difficult backgrounds can exhibit. Financial subsidies are also available to provide medical, maintenance, and special services to their children. Adoptions from the child welfare system can be successful, bringing great satisfaction, when adoptive parents are given good support and are provided with a family history and information about their child’s needs, disabilities, and limitations so that reasonable expectations about their child’s adjustment can be made. International adoption, placement of a child with an adoptive family across national lines, has increased in prevalence since the 1980s. In that decade, South Korea and Latin America accounted for the majority of children placed internationally. Since the 1990s, China and Russia have been the main sending countries. Age at adoption and experience of early deprivation or abuse are key factors in predicting developmental outcomes of internationally adopted children. Institutional care can have a negative impact on physical growth, cognitive development, and attachment security. For those children adopted at an early age who have not experienced severe deprivation, research evidence suggests there is a catch-up effect influenced by the protective factors of the adoptive family. As a group, children adopted internationally at an early age show the

same range of normative adjustment in the areas of secure attachment, IQ, school achievement, and self-esteem as their nonadopted peers. Physical growth lags behind, and parental report of behavioral problems tends to be greater than rates reported for nonadopted peers. In general, children adopted at older ages and those who have experienced severe deprivation are at greater risk for attachment difficulties and behavior problems. These children do not catch up completely with regard to physical growth and demonstrate less optimal school achievement than their nonadopted peers. Yet it is important to note that in all these areas, children adopted at older ages experience better adjustment than children raised in institutional care. International adoptions are often transracial and account for the vast majority of transracial placements. Parents of transracially adopted children, both domestically and internationally, must address issues of discrimination and the complexities of racial and ethnic identity. Children who are raised in families that acknowledge and support cultural differences show better adjustment than those raised in families where racial differences are ignored or overemphasis is placed on assimilating the child into mainstream culture. Dev elopmen tal Issues The development of a secure attachment to adoptive parents and a positive adoptive identity are two issues central to understanding adopted children. Attachment theory asserts that early attachments are important influences on later development. For adopted children, early attachments may have been developed without a full sense of security or not developed at all due to neglect. This leads to the assumption that attachments in adoptive families are less secure. The research evidence for this is equivocal. Early attachments are important, but they are not the sole determiners of future adjustment. Attachment should be considered a dynamic process that is not tied to one developmental period. Children, even those with difficult attachment histories, form many attachments throughout childhood and can do so within the stable and loving environment of their adoptive family. When realistic expectations are held about the effort and time it takes for relationships to develop within families, there is room for secure attachments to form. Adoptive parents bring many strengths and resources to parenting that help facilitate the development of secure attachments; they are often older, more financially secure, and have been married longer than first-time parents whose children are born to them. When behavioral difficulties do arise, caution should be used not to overemphasize attachment problems as the reason. All children as they approach adolescence are faced with the core task of identity development. Adopted adolescents face unique challenges as they make meaning of their beginnings and entry into the adoptive family. As questions about adoption are explored, an adoptive identity is de-

a d o p t io n

veloped. Harold Grotevant conceptualized adoptive identity as being composed of three aspects: an intrapsychic component, a component involving family relationships, and a component of social worlds beyond the family. The intrapsychic component focuses on the affective and cognitive process of adoptive identity formation. This includes thinking about and exploring what it means to have both a birth and an adoptive family. Talking with family members and other adopted persons or independently learning more about adoption are activities that contribute to the intrapsychic aspect of adoptive identity exploration. Communication about adoption in the family sets the relational context within which adoptive identity exploration takes place. As adolescents desire more independence and become more interested in exploring their adoptive identity, adoptive parents still control access to adoption and birthfamily information. Decisions about what known information to share and if and when obtaining more information is attempted are made by adoptive parents. Adopted adolescent exploration is supported by parents who make decisions about information sharing in a context of empathy and understanding of their children’s desire to know more about their background. The social worlds of the adolescent that include peers, school, and community also influence adoptive identity development. Messages received about adoption from these spheres are compared and contrasted to the adolescent’s own thinking and family ideas and values. For those adolescents who are adopted transracially, this includes integrating messages not only about adoption but about race and culture as well. Negative understandings of adoption, including experiences of social stigma, can lead to feelings of being different or not belonging, while positive messages about adoption can enhance self-esteem and promote a secure adoptive identity. Adolescents take their own path as to the timing and intensity of adoptive identity exploration. It is important that the significant adults in the adopted adolescent’s life be good observers, receptive listeners, and providers of information so that adopted adolescents can set their own pace for integrating their adoption experiences as they develop an adoptive identity. O p enne ss i n Ad op t ion Openness or contact in adoption consists of variations in ways birth and adoptive families communicate with one another. Openness can be placed on a continuum with confidential adoption, characterized by an absence of communication, at one end, to fully disclosed adoption, characterized by a direct exchange of information between birth and adoptive families, at the other. In the middle of the continuum is mediated adoption in which nonidentifying information is exchanged through an intermediary, often the adoption agency. Most adoption agencies include openness in their practice in response to birth mothers’ desire for continued contact, adopted persons’ need to understand

• 27

their past, and the increased numbers of older children being placed for adoption who know and remember their birth families. It is now the norm for domestic adoption to include some form of openness. Openness often changes over time. Contact in adoption is a dynamic process influenced by the desires of the members of the adoption kinship network (adoptive parents, birth parents, and the adopted persons). Members of the adoption kinship network will develop a sense of interdependence over time as they work to find a balance of contact that is comfortable for all. Research findings from the Minnesota-Texas Adoption Research Project indicate that most adolescents and adoptive parents are satisfied with the amount of contact they experience; dissatisfaction with contact is most often associated with a desire for more. Openness in adoption can result in better emotional adjustment for the adopted child, especially when collaboration around decision making between birth and adoptive parents is based on the well-being of the adopted child rather than meeting the needs of the adults. Not all adopted persons have contact with their birth families, and curiosity may lead some to search for more information. Traditionally, searching is thought to involve adults in confidential adoptions, finding, and meeting their birth parents. However, thinking about information gathering and searching begins in adolescence. Often this process results in a decision to move forward, but in other cases a decision is made that known information is adequate and further information gathering or meeting birth-family members is not necessary. Both decisions are represented in normative development. Recent research has indicated that the desire on the part of adolescents to gather more information is not the result of problematic relationships in the adoptive family or adolescent maladjustment. M en tal H e alth The impact on mental health of being adopted has been the focus of considerable research. While it has been widely acknowledged that adopted persons, as a group, demonstrate higher rates of behavioral difficulties than their nonadopted peers, recent research has described the complex relationships between different risk and protective factors that contribute to this perception. Adopted children’s experiences vary in relation to their prenatal histories (e.g., quality of prenatal care, exposure to drugs and alcohol), their preplacement histories (e.g., orphanage care, foster care, variation in length and quality of preplacement care), and their adoption experience (e.g., age at placement, international adoption, transracial adoption, quality of care). Developmental level also appears to influence the emergence of mental health or behavioral concerns. While few differences appear between adopted and nonadopted peers during infancy and the preschool years, by middle childhood and adolescence increased rates of behavioral problems are seen for adopted persons. Characteristics beyond the ad-

28 •

adop tion

opted child can also contribute to the perceived higher rates of mental health and behavioral concerns. Adoptive parents may be more likely to refer their children to mental health professionals for care at earlier stages of concern. Comfort with social-service providers or understanding that adopted children may be a higher risk for behavioral difficulties leading to a desire to intervene early can contribute to the larger percentages of children referred to mental health clinics. Predicting and understanding the mental health concerns of adopted persons requires a sound understanding of the risk and protective factors they experience, rather than a focus on adoptive status alone. Adoption status itself is not sufficient to predict behavioral difficulties or mental health concerns. In conclusion, adoption is a positive influence on the development of children, but the multifaceted nature of adoption brings a complexity that requires adopted children be understood within the unique context of their own adoption experience. Gretchen Miller Wrobel see also: Attachment, Infant; Foster and Kinship Care; Gay and Lesbian Parents; Identity; Kinship and Child Rearing; Single Parents further reading: H. D. Grotevant and R. G. McRoy, Openness in Adoption: Exploring Family Connections, 1998. • D. M. Brodzinsky and J. Palacios, Psychological Issues in Adoption: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2005. • G. M. Wrobel, Z. Hendrickson, and H. D. Grotevant, “Adoption,” in G. G. Bear and K. M. Minke, eds., Children’s Needs III: Development, Prevention, and Intervention, 2006, pp. 675–88.

legal and public-policy perspectives. Adoptive fami-

lies are the product of law, not blood. A status recognized in the United States since the mid-19th century by state statutes and courts, adoption is now increasingly affected by myriad federal child welfare, civil rights, health insurance, labor, tax, and immigration laws as well as constitutional doctrines and intercountry adoption treaties. Only state courts, and in some instances Indian tribal courts, are authorized to issue an adoption decree upon finding that the necessary legal prerequisites are satisfied and that the proposed adoption is in the best interests of the particular child. The decree confers the legal status of parent and child on individuals who are not each other’s biogenetic parent or child. Except for stepparent and other adoptions where a child continues to be raised by a birth parent and a previously unrelated second parent, an adoption decree severs the legal and economic relationship of the child to both biogenetic parents and provides that the child becomes “for all purposes” the child of the adoptive parents. The adoptive family replaces and becomes the permanent legal equivalent of the child’s birth family, subject to the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as other legally recognized families. Adoption entails psychosocial as well as legal consequences. Often described as a “perfect solution” to an

unwanted pregnancy, adoption allegedly allows birth parents—especially unwed mothers eager to avoid the stigma of illegitimacy—to place their children in a new, stable family and get a fresh start on their own lives. Adoption also satisfies the desires of infertile adults to have children and perpetuate their own family heritage. Moreover, it relieves states of the fiscal and administrative burdens of caring for dependent children by shifting responsibility for their well-being to the private sector. Most important, adoption provides otherwise parentless children a secure and presumably loving permanent family. Nonetheless, by legitimizing a parent-child relationship between biogenetic strangers, adoption strikes some skeptics as an imperfect legal fiction that defies common understandings of family as defined by blood and genes. From this perspective, adoption is less a story of personal and societal gain than of loss: the “natural” parent’s loss of the opportunity to raise biological offspring, the adoptive parent’s loss of the opportunity to have “natural” children, the child’s loss of biogenetic kin, and the state’s loss of its ability to preserve “natural” families. In fact, a substantial body of research testifies to the successful outcomes for children raised by adoptive parents, especially for those placed as infants but also for older children and for those from the United States and other countries who are adopted into families with different racial, ethnic, or religious backgrounds. On a variety of outcome measures, adopted children do as well as children who live with their biogenetic parents and significantly better than children who live with parents who are indifferent or abusive or children who grow up in foster care, group homes, or other institutional settings. Love and nurture do indeed temper nature and mitigate the effects of any preadoptive history of maltreatment. Reflecting the broader demographic changes of the past half century, the faces within adoptive families have changed dramatically. By far the largest numbers of adoptions are by stepparents, grandparents, or other relatives, who are already caring informally for a child or are recruited by state child protection agencies to care for the child of a family member whose parental rights are being involuntarily terminated. Of nonrelative domestic adoptions, perhaps a third or fewer conform to the traditional model of a presumably healthy white infant placed voluntarily by an unwed mother directly or through a private agency or lawyer with an infertile married white couple. As reliable contraceptives and abortion have become more accessible and as the social stigma of out-of-wedlock birth has dissipated, only a tiny percentage of the skyrocketing number of unwed mothers now place their newborns for adoption. Many infertile women and couples resist the allure of assisted reproduction and, instead, seek to adopt; unlike their counterparts of a generation ago, however, fewer are determined to reinscribe the “natural” families they cannot

a d o p t io n

have by adopting an infant matching their own appearance. More and more infertile couples, along with adults who can or already have biological children, are adopting across racial, ethnic, and national boundaries; many are not averse to adopting older children or children with disabilities. In most states, lesbians and gays are able to adopt children from foster care; moreover, for the tens of thousands of lesbians and gays who become parents through assisted reproduction, it is becoming easier to use adoption to establish legal coparentage of their children with their same-sex partners. Most nonrelative domestic adoptions are not motivated by prospective parents’ desires to overcome infertility but by the efforts of state child protection agencies to secure permanent families for the hundreds of thousands of children in state custody whose birth parents’ rights are terminated because of neglect, abuse, or abandonment. On average, these children have been adrift in foster care for three to four years or more, and African American children, who are disproportionately represented in this system, wait far longer than others for a permanent placement. Largely because of recent federal legislation and funding initiatives, foster parents are now adopting nearly 50,000 of these children a year. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (1997) encourages state agencies to expedite adoptions for children who are unlikely to be reunified with their birth families. The Multiethnic Placement Act (1994–96) prohibits federally funded agencies from denying or delaying adoptive placements on the basis of race, color, or national origin but also mandates diligent recruitment of foster and adoptive parents who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the children in need of permanent placement. Other federal programs provide income tax credits and employment benefits for adoption-related expenses, subsidies and health care for adopted children with special needs, and postadoption support services. Intercountry adoptions are the most prominent example of families being formed across ethnic and racial lines. Adoptions of children from other countries by U.S. citizens have tripled since the 1980s. Now that the United States and more than 70 other countries are parties to the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, these adoptions may soon exceed 25,000 annually, even as concerns intensify about the adverse and possibly irreversible effects of the severe physical and emotional deprivations so many of these children experience in their countries of origin. A complex, confusing, and confl icting system of state, federal, and international laws and policies facilitates, but also significantly impedes, the formation of these different kinds of adoptive families. While the basic consequences of adoption have become fairly standardized—the child is treated in all legal and economic respects as the child of the adoptive parents—laws and policies on other aspects of adoption are anything but uniform. The necessary pre-

• 29

requisites for a valid adoption are generally understood to be parental consent or a constitutionally sound reason for dispensing with parental consent but requiring, instead, the acquiescence of the child’s public or private custodian; the consent of the child, if of sufficient age or maturity; a determination that the prospective parents are eligible and suitable to adopt; proof that any payments for adoptionrelated expenses were not intended to induce a birth parent’s consent or relinquishment; and a judicial finding that the adoption is in the child’s best interests. Because of the lack of consensus on the scope of public responsibility for children’s well-being, the criteria for satisfying these prerequisites differ substantially from one state to another. For example, parental consent, or proof that a parent has forfeited the right to block an adoption, has always been a necessary prerequisite to judicial consideration of an adoption petition. State common law and federal constitutional doctrines honoring family privacy and parental autonomy have incorporated cultural traditions and theories of natural law and delegated duties that endow biological parents with superior rights to the possession and control of their offspring. Central to these doctrines is the presumption that parents are fit to raise their children without interference by the state, which has no authority to separate children from their parents simply in order to seek a “better” placement. While all states provide that a birth mother’s consent or relinquishment cannot be final until after a child’s birth, procedures governing the timing, content, formality, and revocability of consents vary greatly. State laws that define “unfitness” as grounds for an involuntary termination of parental rights also vary, as do the laws that determine the rights of fathers, particularly unwed fathers. Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions recognize that the mere existence of a biogenetic link to a child is not by itself sufficient to merit constitutional protection. Only unwed fathers who promptly grasp the unique “opportunity interest” arising from this link and establish a genuine parental relationship are entitled to consent to or veto a proposed adoption. Yet states differ on whether to protect birth mothers more than fathers or to protect men who are actually caring for and supporting their child but not men whose efforts to assume a parental role have been unsuccessful because they were thwarted by others. By contrast to the protections accorded biogenetic parents, individuals who wish to parent through adoption find their personal values and most intimate behaviors subject to intense scrutiny and bureaucratic regulation. A powerful cast of social workers and counselors evaluate the suitability of prospective parents before they can legally adopt. Yet the lack of any reliable tests of parental suitability, along with uncertainty about the constitutionality of divergent, sometimes religiously motivated or blatantly discriminatory, “matching” policies, contributes to the resentment

30 •

adop tion

many adoptive parents feel about intrusive and costly home studies. Instead of having to prove their fitness to parent, they want more postadoption assistance to alleviate the unanticipated or insufficiently disclosed needs of the children they adopt. These concerns are especially acute in the international context where many thousands of prospective parents are being unjustifiably discouraged from pursuing adoption by the highly restrictive suitability criteria in the U.S. regulations implementing the Hague Convention as well as by other countries’ adherence to the subsidiarity principle that presumes children are always better off in their countries of origin. Even with regard to the generally standard consequences of adoption, variation and controversy abound. For much of the 20th century, the assertion that families formed through adoption are in all respects the equivalent of families formed through procreation was based on the expectation that, within the emerging legal framework of equivalence, the psychological and emotional qualities of “normal natural families” would be replicated in adoptive families. The goal was—and for many adoptive parents still is—to look and feel as close as possible to the biogenetically related children they cannot have. State laws that seal adoption records, substitute the names of adoptive parents for birth parents on birth certificates, and permit (even if they do not require) anonymity and strict separation between birth and adoptive families, all reflect the equivalence model. Since the 1970s, however, this model has been subject to mounting criticism for trivializing the psychosocial as well as biogenetic differences between birth and adoptive families. Claims of equivalence are further undermined by the burgeoning numbers of adopted children and adoptive parents who do not resemble one another. Although differences are no longer being denied, they are generally not being construed as evidence that adoptive families are not as well functioning or as worthy of protection as others. Openness and the acknowledgment and proud acceptance of difference have become the mantras of contemporary adoption practice. Adoptive families continue to seek legal equivalence but are more likely to seek social and cultural acceptance by proclaiming their distinctive characteristics, rather than by portraying themselves as mirror images of the biogenetic families they cannot be. A key element of the acknowledgment-of-difference mantra is the attack on secrecy in adoption that has spurred the increasingly successful efforts by adopted persons in many states to obtain their original birth certificates as well as information about their original families. There are also calls for more openness at all stages of an adoption. Whether limited to an exchange of information between birth and adoptive parents at the time of placement or broad enough to include ongoing visitation by birth and adoptive families, open adoptions are said to enable birth

mothers to diminish their sense of loss, adopted children to possess the piece of themselves missing from their otherwise secure adoptive ties, and adoptive parents to have access to information vital to their capacity to respond to their children’s developmental needs. The significance of the change from the equivalence model, with its attendant denials, to a difference model, with its embrace of openness, is complicated by a shift in power from adoptive to birth parents. As the competition among would-be adoptive parents has intensified in response to the decline since the 1970s in the number of adoptable infants, a more distinctive “seller’s market” has emerged in domestic private adoptions. Birth parents are not only choosing the individuals who will parent their children, but they also are often asking to remain a part of the new adoptive family’s life. Those who harbor doubts about meeting or maintaining contact with birth parents are less likely to be able to adopt; many private agencies fear going out of business unless they accede to birth parents’ requests for open placements. Not all prospective adoptive parents are willing to pay what they believe is too high a price to acquire a child. They want to be parents with the same constitutionally protected autonomy and privacy as other legal parents enjoy, not long-term caregivers of a child whose destiny is ultimately determined by the biogenetic family. Although most adoptive parents now prefer, and even demand, greater openness when it means access to the medical and psychosocial histories of the children they adopt, many are uneasy about continued contact with birth parents if it goes beyond annual exchanges of photographs or letters and encompasses visitation and other entanglements that raise the specter of shared parenting. The interest in adopting children from other countries may be partially attributable to a desire to avoid any direct contact with birth families. Yet as more countries encourage birth parents to provide medical and other information about themselves when they give up a child for adoption and as more adoptive parents come to understand that their children may eventually want to establish ties to their countries of origin, openness may become a prominent aspect of intercountry as well as domestic adoptions. If so, U.S. immigration laws that discourage and penalize contact between prospective adoptive parents and birth families in other countries will be even more anachronistic than they now are. As the legal edifice that once so completely separated birth and adoptive families crumbles and as the diverse faces within adoptive families belie the goals of the traditional equivalence model, reliable guideposts are needed to assist birth and adoptive parents who are uncertain whether anonymity or ongoing contact is preferable for them and their children. Despite the drawbacks of the equivalence model, the alternative embrace of difference and openness may also not be appropriate for every adoptive family. While private

a d u l t c r im in a l j u s t ic e s y s t e m , c h il d r e n in t h e

agreements for postadoption contact based on mutual trust between adoptive and birth parents should not be treated as inconsistent with the legal rule that adoptive families completely replace biogenetic families, statutes that allow courts to enforce these agreements even over the objection of adoptive parents may impose unwarranted governmental constraints on constitutionally protected parental autonomy. In lieu of the multilayered, highly articulated, and prescriptive system of laws and child welfare practices that now regulate the formation and subsequent lives of adoptive families, the well-being of adopted children might be better served by the development of a customary law of adoptions, to be crafted over time by adoptive and birth families, who may learn to rely more on one another and on their own negotiated arrangements than on the purported wisdom of that large cast of legal advisers and child welfare experts whose earlier dominion over the meaning of adoption is now being challenged. Joan Heifetz Hollinger see also: Baby and Child Selling; Best Interests of the Child; Custody; Foster and Kinship Care; Gay and Lesbian Parents; Parenthood; Reproductive Technologies; Rights, Parental; Rights, Termination of Parental; Single Parents further reading: Joan H. Hollinger, ed., Adoption Law and Practice, 3 vols., 1988. • David D. Meyer, “Family Ties: Solving the Constitutional Dilemma of the Faultless Father,” Arizona Law Review 41 (1999), p. 753. • Naomi R. Cahn and Joan Heifetz Hollinger, Families by Law: An Adoption Reader, 2004.

adult criminal justice system, children in the. The decision whether young offenders should be tried as juveniles or adults is more than a choice of punishment regimes. The philosophies and practices of the juvenile court differ sharply from those of the adult criminal court, and these differences reflect deeply held assumptions about the nature of teenage crime, how society should react to it, and adolescence itself. It also is a choice that has serious consequences both for teenagers and for public safety. Since the creation of the nation’s first juvenile court in 1899, judges have been able to transfer children to the adult criminal justice system. In the early years of the juvenile court, judges decided which youths were “amenable to treatment” and summoned the court’s powers to intervene in the lives of these children and their families. Judges could select the most serious juvenile offenders— adolescents whose histories or crimes suggested that they were beyond the capacity of the juvenile court’s ability to reform them—for transfer to the criminal (adult) court. The standards and procedures for transfer were formalized in Kent v. United States (1966), a case that established rules by which defendants could challenge a prosecutor’s motion to transfer a case to the criminal court. “Maturity” and “sophistication” were important parts of the Kent framework, and adolescents who were deemed “amenable to treatment” were retained in the juvenile court.

• 31

This traditional method of transfer, whereby judges decide which cases to transfer to the criminal court, is known as judicial transfer. The practice allows judges to retain the vast majority of cases in juvenile court but transfer the most severe ones to the criminal court. In the decades since Kent, states have passed an avalanche of laws that have steadily lowered the age of eligibility for transfer to the criminal court and punishment as an adult and removed the discretionary transfer decision from juvenile court judges. It is now common for prosecutors to decide whether to waive a case to the criminal court by filing charges directly in the criminal court. Known as direct file, this mechanism allows prosecutors to decide in which court— juvenile or criminal—a youth should be prosecuted. This decision occurs before a youth enters the court and, thus, prior to any hearing and without judicial oversight. Legislators also have made de facto waiver decisions by excluding certain categories of offenses and offenders from the juvenile court. Using this mechanism, known as legislative exclusion, state legislatures have established age and offense categories (e.g., anyone older than age 15 arrested for robbery) that are excluded from juvenile court. Still other statutes identify specific categories of offenses or offenders for transfer and allow criminal court judges to decide whether the case will remain in the criminal court or be returned to the juvenile court. Some states mandate that the fact-finding stage of a criminal case against an adolescent be completed in the criminal court but that the sentence be determined in the juvenile court. Under a sentencing provision known as “blended sentencing” or “extended juvenile jurisdiction,” some states allow juvenile court judges to sentence adolescents to a juvenile correctional placement and, upon evaluation at age 18, either be transferred to an adult correctional placement or be released to a community placement or supervision. Most states use a combination of these mechanisms to allow for transfer of a wide variety of cases. Each method of transfer has its opponents and defenders. Proponents of judicial transfer argue that judges are best trained to make decisions about which youth could benefit from treatment available in the juvenile court, while opponents contend that this method leads to underuse of transfer and to racial/ethnic disparities. Those in favor of direct file believe that this is an efficient method of selecting the most serious cases for transfer, though opponents claim that it denies youth judicial oversight of the transfer decision and leads to overuse. Proponents of legislative exclusion claim that it is the most objective, and thereby fair, method, while others claim that this method includes overly broad categories of offenders without the ability to weed out individual cases. Advocates for blended sentencing suggest that the threat of a lengthy placement in an adult correctional facility will motivate youths to take advantage of the rehabilitative services in the juvenile system, though

32 •

adult crimin al jus t i ce s ys tem, c hi l d re n in t h e

opponents criticize it for adding to the overall number of youth who are punished as adults. There is little systematic comparative information about the reach of these transfer mechanisms and their effects on case outcomes. However, studies of transfer rates in states using either direct file or legislative exclusion suggest that these methods lead to far greater use of transfer compared to transfer rates in comparable states where the traditional judicial transfer method prevails. Once in the adult criminal justice system, adolescents are exposed to more severe penalties and harsher correctional settings than similarly situated adolescents in the juvenile justice system. This is the promise of policy makers who sell transfer policies as “gettough” measures, and they seem to deliver on it. Though some earlier studies found that juveniles in criminal court may actually receive lenient sentences, more recent studies examining specific effects by type of crime consistently find that transferred youth are punished more harshly. Policy makers also promote transfer laws as a means to deter would-be juvenile offenders. Though there have been only a few attempts to study the deterrent effect of transferring children to the adult criminal justice system, these studies overwhelmingly suggest that transfer policies do not reduce crime. Neither of the two studies that ask whether transfer laws have a general deterrent effect for the eligible youth population at large finds that these laws prevent crime. Additionally, several studies have asked whether transfer has a specific deterrent effect on the future criminality of youths sentenced in the criminal court. Many showed no difference in rearrest rates between groups, while some concluded that transferred youth actually are more likely to commit future crimes. Perhaps most important, this counterdeterrent effect is largest for violent reoffending. These empirical trends suggest that if more lenient transfer laws have any effect on crime rates, they are putting the public at greater risk. These robust results, where the same outcomes are found across an array of research studies using different samples and methods, have led many experts to argue for a more limited use of transfer for juvenile offenders. The racial imbalance in juvenile and adult correctional populations raises a question regarding racial disparities in the use of transfer. The few research studies to address this question show that minority youth are more likely to be transferred to criminal court than white youth, regardless of the severity of the crime or the defendant’s prior offending history. Racial disparity is present in each of the three primary transfer mechanisms: legislative exclusion, direct file, or judicial waiver. Racial imbalances in transfer contradict proponents of direct file and legislative exclusion mechanisms, who claim that these methods are based on more objective criteria such as crime seriousness than the subjective criteria of “amenability to treatment” that animates judicial transfer. Of course, even these seemingly objective decisions regarding crime severity retain discretion-

ary elements that may explain the racial imbalances, such as prosecutorial decisions about what crime to charge the youthful offender with in the first instance. A rising rate of transfer means greater numbers of youth incarcerated in adult prisons than in juvenile correctional facilities. Though research on what happens to youth in adult prisons is sparse, it does appear that they are less likely to receive potentially helpful services such as education or counseling, they are less likely to develop positive interactions with correctional staff, and they are more likely to be physically and sexually victimized than adolescents in juvenile correctional facilities. Overall, it seems that punishing youth in the criminal justice system might have negative consequences for both the individual offender and, given the low likelihood of rehabilitation in adult prisons, for society at large. Finally, it is important to consider the symbolic importance of transferring youth to the criminal justice system. Transferring large numbers of children suggests a normative shift in popular views on adolescence. Instead of assuming that children are in need of help rather than punishment when they commit crimes, the public now wants to see children who commit “adult crimes” do “adult time.” The increasing use of transfer seems to rely on the assumptions that youthful offenders are sufficiently mature to be held culpable for their crimes, that their immaturity is offset by the harm they have done, and that they deserve harsh punishments that match the severity of their crimes. The broad use of transfer assumes that adolescents are not sufficiently different from adults in the capacities that comprise maturity and, hence, culpability. This jurisprudential and policy shift also assumes that adolescents have the same competencies as adults to understand and meaningfully participate in criminal proceedings. Ironically, this comes at a time when new research shows important physiological disparities between the brains of adolescents and adults, demonstrating that adolescents do indeed think differently than adults. The transfer of large numbers of youth to the criminal justice system departs from the long-standing jurisprudential view of diminished responsibility for youth while augmenting the racial/ethnic disparities found in the juvenile justice system and potentially exposing the public to increased risk of victimization. Thus, law and science are moving in opposite directions on juvenile justice policies, raising public policy concerns for the next generation of law reform. Aaron Kupchik and Jeffrey Fagan see also: Crime, Juvenile; Criminal Procedure, Children and; Death Penalty, Children and the; Juvenile Justice System; Punishment, Legal further reading: Simon I. Singer, Recriminalizing Delinquency: Violent Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice Reform, 1996. • Barry Feld, Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court, 1999. • Jeffrey Fagan and Franklin E. Zimring, eds., The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice, 2000. • Donna Bishop, “Juvenile Offend-

a d v a n c e d p l a c e m e n t p r o gr a m ers in the Adult Criminal System,” in Michael Tonry, ed., Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 27, 2001, pp. 81–167.

advanced placement program. In 1954, a group of educators concerned that a program that provided scholarships to high school sophomores to attend prestigious colleges was taking the most promising students away from their secondary schools contracted with the Educational Testing Service to develop individual courses for high school students with corresponding assessments that would allow for motivated students to take freshman courses in their senior year in their home schools. From that time, there has been a steady growth in the number of courses offered, exams taken, and colleges and universities granting credit for successful performance on the exams administered by the College Board, a not-for-profit organization best known for the development and administration of the PSAT and SAT exams and creation of syllabi for Advanced Placement courses and the construction and scoring of examinations for assessing achievement in those courses. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are now routinely offered to students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, and students as young as 5th grade have enrolled in the courses and earned college credit. AP courses and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program are the most prevalent offerings to academically gifted students in U.S. high schools. The International Baccalaureate Program is distinguished from the Advanced Placement courses in that AP courses are offered as independent entities, while the IB Program includes specific course requirements in languages, the humanities, mathematics, the sciences, and the arts (one-year and multiyear classes) and specific products including independent study projects, a community service project, and comprehensive essays leading to a diploma. Both programs support external examinations graded by independent examiners. Further, enrollment in AP courses or the IB Program is now regarded as necessary for admission to the most elite colleges and universities, and in the popular media schools are rated on the basis of AP or IB offerings. As a consequence of these factors and others, including federal support for AP offerings, the period since the mid-1990s has seen tremendous growth in course offerings and enrollment both for identified gifted students and for other students. In 2004, more than 1 million students from 14,144 schools (82% of U.S. high schools) took nearly 2 million exams. They participated in 34 AP courses across the domains of mathematics, science, English, the social sciences, foreign languages, computer science, art, and music. The courses and the exams used to assess student success are developed by the College Board in consultation with college faculty and experienced AP high school teachers. The curriculum for AP courses is defined in course syllabi that include topical outlines and recommended texts and

• 33

readings, specifications of the emphases on particular topics on examinations, recommended laboratory time and exercises, and sample exam questions. The College Board provides workshops for teachers on curriculum content and appropriate instructional strategies as well as advice on aligning middle school and high school curricula to prepare students for AP courses. Examinations are independently scored by trained raters on a 1 to 5 scale. The College Board defines a 3 as equivalent to a C in a beginning-level college course in the area assessed. However, individual colleges and universities determine the score that must be attained in order to earn college credit for a course and/or receive permission to enroll in more advanced classes. Criticisms of the courses and exams in mathematics and science by the National Research Council and of other courses by college faculty, in conjunction with questions about the preparation of high school teachers in the disciplines in which they teach AP courses, have resulted in some universities raising the requisite score in some disciplines and in the abandonment of the awarding of credit in others. Surveys of students and teachers document a higher level of challenge and teacher enthusiasm in AP courses than in traditional high school courses. Other research documents that students who enroll in advanced college courses based upon AP exam performance earn grades at least equivalent to other students in the class. However, this conclusion is based on a very small number of studies, and criticisms of the methodology of the studies has led experts to question how often and under what circumstances AP students are at an advantage for having taken those courses. Results of recent research by the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) indicate that while highly motivated, very well-prepared students are satisfied with AP courses and deem them challenging, students who learn differently, do not have mastery of requisite skills, or who question the content goals of the courses often drop out. Continuing concerns about underrepresentation and relatively lower scores of African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans persist despite efforts on the part of the College Board to increase participation by minority and low-income students (e.g., reduced charges for testing for low-income students) and funding from states and federal governments for teacher training, curricular resources, and reduced test fees. Success with these students is associated with peer-group support, cohesive faculties, high expectations for achievement, supportive adults, and counseling in tacit school strategies such as learning to ask for help. Even though 30% more females than males take AP exams and the numbers of females in mathematics and science courses have increased, inequities persist in the enrollment and achievement of females in advanced calculus, all physics areas, chemistry, and computer science. Carolyn M. Callahan

34 •

advan ce d pl acemen t pro g ram

see also: Curriculum; Gifted and Talented, Education of Children Identiﬁed as; International Baccalaureate Program further reading: Jerry P. Gollub, Meryl W. Bertenthal, Jay B. Labov, and Philip C. Curtis, eds., Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools, 2002. • Carolyn M. Callahan, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs for Talented Students in American High Schools: A Focus on Science and Mathematics, 2003.

advertising. Marketers reach children and adolescents through multiple forms of media but primarily with television. Because the majority of research on this topic has been conducted in the United States, the statistics reported in this article are based on U.S. figures unless otherwise noted. Children typically begin watching TV by age 2 and watch an average of four hours a day. Twenty percent of 2to 7-year-olds, 46% of 8- to 12-year-olds, and 56% of 13- to 17-year-olds have televisions in their bedrooms. About 80% of children’s TV ads advertise products in four categories: toys, cereal, candy and snacks, and fast-food restaurants. Toy ads are highly seasonal, appearing abundantly in November and December. Almost half of the food ads are for breakfast cereals, with 20% for fast-food restaurants. In the United Kingdom, two-thirds of advertisements are for food, toys, or entertainment, with the majority of food ads for sweets and fast food. Children’s ads are full of high-quality visual and sound effects, color, movement, animation, alliteration, and wordplay, all emphasizing how much fun the products are. Appeals based on flavor, product performance, price, quality, nutrition, or safety are less common. Children’s ads contain less hard information than do adult ads, mostly presenting a global association of the product with fun times. Media psychologist Patty Valkenburg notes that advertisers worldwide target three different markets in children. First is the primary market, where children younger than 12 spend $30 billion and adolescents spend $40 billion per year in the United States and children living in the main cities of China (i.e., one-fourth of all Chinese children) spend $6 billion a year of their own money. Children make their first independent purchase around age 5, obtaining disposable income from gifts, allowances, and part-time jobs. They spend the majority of their money on entertainment (e.g., music and video games), food (e.g., candy and fast food), cosmetics, and clothes. Second is the influence market, whereby children influence their family in $250 billion of family purchases per year. Such influence has increased substantially as family income has risen and family size has declined. Sometimes this influence is direct, such as throwing a tantrum in the supermarket, and sometimes more indirect, as in communicating brand preferences to parents at home. Third is the future market, whereby children develop brand loyalties that persist into lifetime buying patterns.

Television advertising aimed specifically at children, such as commercials on Saturday cartoons, after-school shows, and child-oriented cable channels like Nickelodeon and Disney in the United States (and similar shows in other countries), represents only a minority of all the television children view. Although this discussion examines ads targeted to children on specifically children’s programming, a large majority of what children watch, including the ads, is general TV (75% for 6-year-olds, 95% for 11-year-olds). Besides television, children and adolescents are also exposed to marketing at school. Often schools receive incentives to advertise and sell products like soft drinks, and products are used as incentives to encourage children to earn good grades or read books (e.g., Pizza Hut BookIt). Programs such as Channel One bring advertisements to children during news shows watched at school. Cover Concepts donates school supplies and prizes (e.g., folders, locker posters) to cash-strapped school districts. The supplies or prizes are typically covered in advertisements or are sample products inviting children to test and provide feedback to the sponsor companies. Marketers also reach children through placing products in grocery stores on strategically low shelves, at ends of aisles, and by checkout counters. Products are also placed in movies to establish a connection between products and movie characters that children and adolescents enjoy. Mass marketing is achieved through giveaway programs (e.g., promotional products given to children with kid’s meals) and children’s memberships in kids’ clubs where they play games, enter contests, and receive coupons and free gifts. Advertising has increased on children’s Web sites, and many food companies have their own Web sites containing games, music, and online stores to further sell products to children. Children and teen magazines and radio programs also contain ads, although preadolescent children are not exposed to magazine and radio advertisements as often as they are to ads on television and at school. In adolescence, however, this changes with the huge increase in listening to radio and girls’ avid consumption of fashion magazines like Glamour and Teen Vogue. As children and adolescents are exposed to a vast array of sales pitches, these ads are subject to some regulation. In the United States, the watchdog agency overseeing advertising is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Its sister organization, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), oversees radio and television, assigning frequencies and channels and ensuring fair practices. Stricter regulations and laws govern advertising to children than ads aimed at adults. For example, drug advertising aimed at children has usually been prohibited in the United States, while some countries prohibit (e.g., Sweden and Norway) or restrict (e.g., Australia, Belgium, and Greece) TV ads aimed at children younger than a certain age or during certain hours of the day. In the 1970s, the FTC was the most aggressively

a d v e r t is in g

proconsumerist, although this abruptly changed with deregulation in the 1980s. In 1983, the FCC abolished children’s TV guidelines and in 1984 lifted limits on allowed commercial time per hour. In the 1990s, the pendulum started to swing the other way, with the Children’s Television Act of 1990 requiring broadcasters to air some educational programming ratings for television shows. C h i ldr en ’s Under s tandi ng of Adv ertisemen ts There are four stages of children’s understanding of advertising. During the first two years, children primarily notice bright and colorful television images (of which many are commercials) and start requesting advertised products by 18 months to 2 years of age. In the preschool years (ages 2–5), children understand TV literally and are very vulnerable to its appeals. By the third stage (ages 5–8), they begin to develop strategies for negotiating with parents over purchases. In the last stage (ages 9–12), the child makes the transition to more adult styles of consuming. Within this sequence of development, there are several particular issues of concern. Very young children do not discriminate between commercials and programs and do not understand the persuasive intent of ads. When children identify commercials at an early age, it is based on superficial audio and video aspects rather than an understanding of the difference between programs and commercials. Preschool children have little understanding that commercials are meant to sell products. Elementary school children show an intermediate level of understanding of the purpose of ads; however, video or audio separators between program and commercial do not necessarily make this discrimination easier. Distinguishing ads and programs is especially difficult if a primary character in the show is also the spokesperson in the ad (host selling). Children show increasing understanding of the selling purpose of ads as they grow older. About a third of 5- to 7-year-olds understand this, but almost all do by age 11. Explanations of middle elementary children center around the truth (or lack thereof ) of the content; only in late elementary school is the distrust based on perceived intent and an understanding of the advertiser’s motivation to sell the product. Among demographic groups, lower-socioeconomicclass children are the most trusting and least critical of ads. Another issue of concern in children’s advertising is the heavy use of disclaimers like “batteries not included,” “action figures sold separately,” or “part of a nutritious breakfast.” More than half of the commercials on children’s shows contain disclaimers, most often as adult voice-overs or small print at the bottom of the screen at the end of the ad. These are hardly ever a major focus of the commercial and often occur in vocabulary far beyond the child’s understanding, sometimes only in writing superimposed on a

• 35

poorly contrasting background at the bottom of the screen. Such disclaimers are completely lost on prereading children and often on older children as well, because the colorful activity of the ad is more enticing and interesting. T y pes of Adv ertisemen ts Food. Food companies are the largest advertisers to children in many countries, including the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Children watch an average of 30 hours of food ads per year in early childhood, 51 hours in late childhood, and 40 hours in adolescence. U.S. food marketers spent more than $11 billion in 2004 to establish brand preference and brand loyalty as early as the toddler years because the first purchase request, most often in the supermarket for a cereal or snack, occurs around the age of 2. One hundred million dollars was spent in the United Kingdom in 1996 and roughly $32 million was spent in India in 2002 on advertisements for chocolate and candy alone. Unfortunately, the amount of money spent on marketing healthy products like lean meat, fruits, and vegetables is far lower than the money spent marketing foods high in sugar and fat. Only 3% of ads in the United States and the United Kingdom sell healthy foods. Exposure to food advertisements increases children’s preferences and the number of requests for advertised foods. Considering children are most frequently exposed to advertisements of foods high in sugar and fat, it is no surprise that youth prefer unhealthy foods. Toys. A common marketing pattern links children’s TV shows to toys (e.g., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, The Care Bear Family). One of the most successful was the Pokémon craze of the late 1990s. Beginning as 150 cartoon characters in a Japanese Nintendo game, Pokémon subsequently became a TV show, collector card series, toy merchandise, full-length movie, Burger King kids’ meal toys, and children’s clothes. This raises the question of whether children’s programming is more driven by the marketability of the toys than by the quality of the shows, effectively turning the shows into program-length commercials for the toys. Unlike food ads, which portray boys and girls together, toy ads are highly gender segmented, selling action figures, toy weapons, or video games to boys (often displaying violence) and Barbie dolls, cuddly toys (e.g., Rainbow Bright), or beauty products to girls (often displaying softness). Also, the interaction of children in the ad is different; ads with girls primarily depict cooperation, while ads with boys show competition. Tobacco. A final area of concern for children and teens is tobacco advertising, especially advertising apparently aimed at nonsmoking youth. Most smokers start as teens and almost never begin after age 20. Magazines are the major

36 •

advertisin g

outlet for tobacco advertising; publications that accept it have less coverage of health-related issues than magazines not accepting such ads. Indirect tobacco advertising also occurs through sponsorship of sporting events, point-ofpurchase advertising, shopping basket logos, and branded designer clothing. Tobacco advertising increases cigarette consumption, producing huge profits from the sale of tobacco to minors who become addicted. The infamous animated Joe Camel character of the 1980s was recognized at its peak by 98% of adolescents, though by only 72% of adults. At the same time, sales of Camel cigarettes to minors skyrocketed from less than 0.5% to a third of the youth market. Children who believe that smoking enhances their popularity or attractiveness are five times more likely to smoke than children who do not believe that. In spite of a huge drop in smoking among U.S. adults between 1960 and 1990 (down to about 25%) and the almost total absence of smoking on TV shows, tobacco use appeared in 85%–90% of the most popular movies in the 1990s, cutting across all film genres. Many of them were product placements, which the tobacco industry claims to have discontinued; for example, Philip Morris reportedly paid more than $350,000 to have Lark cigarettes smoked in the James Bond movie Licensed to Kill. Only in 2007 did the MPAA film ratings begin to take smoking into account in their ratings. Smoking by characters in movies, especially by admired characters and actors, does lead youth to start smoking. Teens perceive smoking in films as common and an accurate reflection of reality, seeing it as a model for dealing with stress, developing one’s self-image, and as a marker of passage into adulthood. As long as the hot stars smoke onscreen, this behavior is likely to be modeled by their adoring fans. C o nc lu sion Worldwide, children are exposed to a barrage of advertising, the majority on television but also on the Internet, in classrooms and stores, in movies, and, as teens, in magazines and radio. Marketers know that today’s youth are powerful consumers, and they will spend billions of dollars to ensure that the youth see their products. Children and most adolescents do not think critically about the appeals and reality of advertisements. Giving them the skills to critically analyze and evaluate these messages is a significant responsibility adults should not neglect. With proper critical thinking skills, today’s youth will not only be powerful but also smart consumers. Richard Jackson Harris and Natalie D. Brown see also: Consumers, Children as; Magazines; Media, Children and the; Television further reading: Edward L. Palmer and Brian M. Young, eds., The Faces of Televisual Media, 2nd ed., 2003. • Barrie Gunter, Caro-

line Oates, and Mark Blades, Advertising to Children on TV: Content, Impact, and Regulation, 2005. • Nancy A. Jennings and Ellen A. Wartella, “Advertising and Consumer Development,” in Norma Pecora, John P. Murray, and Ellen Ann Wartella, eds., Children and Television: Fifty Years of Research, 2007.

advice literature, popular. Increased family mobility, the entry of most childbearing women into the paid workforce, and growing reliance on self-help books have each contributed to a burgeoning market for sources of information and advice about family life. In a nationally representative U.S. survey of parents of children age 0–3, more than 70% of parents reported that they used books, magazines, television shows, or videos to get information about how to raise their children. Parenting advice in public media is immediate, accessible, and obtainable at minimal social cost; no one need know that you are having problems with your children. Those who search the popular advice literature on family topics are overwhelmingly likely to be women. Recent years have seen exponential growth in newspaper articles, magazines, books, and electronic media on parenting and child development. Dear Abby–type advice columns in newspapers provide public forums for parents’ frustrations, concerns, gaffes, and doubts. Parenting magazines have enjoyed increases in ad revenues even in years when overall magazine ad revenue has declined. The number of advice books on raising children has soared as coverage has fragmented: The best-selling comprehensive parenting manuals written by Benjamin Spock, T. Berry Brazelton, Penelope Leach, and William and Martha Sears have been augmented by hundreds of titles specific to age periods and topics (e.g., 2-year-olds, shyness, sibling rivalry). Radio and TV shows offer parenting and family advice by well-known experts, and reality TV shows provide televised “case histories” with upbeat, common-sense parenting interventions. The rise of Web-based resources offers parents the advantage of virtually instantaneous accessibility to information just when it is needed. Typing in “toilet training” on Google yields millions of results in less than a second. The rise of parenting blogs provides a virtual “back fence” across which parents can trade tips and strategies on dealing with their children’s problems. The plethora of information leads to much sifting and sorting. Parents select Web sources that seem authoritative, look for consensus across different sites, and report moving quickly past babyproduct sites with commercial content. Not surprisingly, they describe sites that agree with their own perspective to be most credible. But how good is advice that parents get in popular literature and media? Most writers of parenting advice in U.S. public media correctly reject permissive and overly harsh parenting and share a commitment to respectful, socially competent children. Selfishness, social and physical aggres-

a d v ic e l it e r a t u r e , p o p u l a r

sion, and age-inappropriate behavior are rejected, but beyond that there is little consensus. There are several fundamental issues central to assessment of the popular advice literature. Because human development depends not only on parenting practices but also on the interaction of genetic, cultural, and social factors, the effect of any advice that parents implement is necessarily indeterminate. Some current estimates attribute only 20% to 40% of the variability in children’s outcomes to parenting practices. In addition, because of social and cultural diversity, it is problematic to dispense one-size-fits-all advice when advising parents from disparate social classes and ethnic groups. For example, parenting that places high value on obedience and parental control has been associated with poorer-than-group-average outcomes among European American children, but better-than-group-average outcomes among Chinese American children. Finally, because most popular advice articles, books, and media are not reviewed in the way that professional publications are, there are no assurances of accuracy. For instance, advice in parenting books shows little consensus on some common medical questions (e.g., whether to give soft drinks when a child has diarrhea), and there is even greater variation on questions of discipline and other important topics. Some advice clearly is not consistent with what has been demonstrated in research and clinical practice to lead to good outcomes for children. There are three basic sources for the advice that appears in the popular literature: First, behavioral research and clinical practice provide aggregate data across thousands of families. Although highly reliable, questions inevitably remain about how far the data can be stretched to apply to individual circumstances beyond those studied by the researchers or clinicians. Second, other, more idiosyncratic sources consist of intuitions and practices from the advice giver’s own upbringing and parenting history. This advice draws on familiar experiences and often appeals to common sense, but it is anecdotal and may not generalize. Finally, sociocultural or religious understandings are traditional sources of guidance; for example, invoking scriptural sources to justify the use of physical punishment. Much of the advice in popular literature can be recognized as falling along a liberal-to-conservative political spectrum. Adopting advice appeals to parents when it reinforces their system of belief, but it may not necessarily lead to best outcomes for children in an objective sense. There also is reason to question whether parents actually practice what is preached. Some advice clearly is not applied effectively. For instance, there is a substantial gap between the low level of media use that most advice givers and professionals recommend and American children’s high use of media. But some public and professional advice campaigns do offer evidence of effectiveness. Following the back-to-sleep campaign mounted in 1992 by profession-

• 37

als and popular advice writers, which recommended that infants be placed on their backs to sleep, the frequency of babies sleeping on their stomachs decreased from more than 70% to less than 20%, a change associated with a more than 40% decrease in deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This change undoubtedly was easier to bring about because it did not involve overcoming the appeal that popular entertainment programming has for children. In short, the effectiveness of advice clearly varies depending on topic and context. Historians have pointed out that advice on parenting reflects the political, religious, and scientific conceptions of specific historic periods. In the early 20th century, U.S. “progressive” parenting advice focused on the risks of spoiling children and recommended care regimes that would be rejected today as overly harsh—for example, rigid four-hour feeding schedules for infants. By contrast, the contemporary advice literature typically endorses parental affection or warmth in preventing misbehavior and enhancing compliance. One of the hallmarks of cultural differences is that wide variations in parenting seem equally natural and commonsensical. For instance, advice in many cultures recommends indulgence for young children (to age 7) and then more restrictive, obedience-oriented parenting, creating “two halves of childhood.” This is in contrast to contemporary U.S. practice of early socialization followed by fewer maturity demands for older children. The day-to-day influence of popular advice literature is inevitably greater among populations with easy access to print and online sources, but even in nonliterate societies, generations-old child-rearing practices are changing at an accelerated rate. Greater access to media and public health campaigns recommending specific feeding, sleeping, and cultural practices to reduce deaths from SIDS, diarrhea, and malaria create tensions with traditional cultural practices. Advice givers in the United States have been predominately white and middle class, but new ethnic Web sites and a wave of parenting advice books by African American and Latino professionals now offer additional resources. There now also are resources for gay and lesbian parents, “blended families,” and many other specific needs. There is no universal formula for successful parenting. Thus, it is good that there are many sources of parenting advice. The advice varies widely, however, and there is need for wider distribution of advice based on “best practices” established through research and clinical practice. Most important, parents, educators, and family professionals need to assess, discuss, and have an ongoing conversation about the popular advice literature and about parenting itself. Jane L. Rankin see also: Books on Child Development, Landmark; Spock, Benjamin (McLane)

38 •

advice l iterature, po pul a r

further reading: Julia Grant, Raising Baby by the Book, 1998. • Judy DeLoache and Alma Gottlieb, eds., A World of Babies: Imagined Childcare Guides for Seven Societies, 2000. • Neal Halfon, Kathryn Taaffe McLearn, and Mark A. Schuster, eds., Child Rearing in America, 2002. • Ann Hulbert, Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice about Children, 2003. • Jane Rankin, Parenting Experts: Their Advice, the Research, and Getting It Right, 2005.

affirmative action, children and. Debates over affirmative action are almost always framed in the language of adulthood. Advocates emphasize the need to overcome bias so that applicants compete on a level playing field for jobs, government contracts, and seats at selective colleges and universities. Critics decry preferences based on race and gender as nothing more than reverse discrimination, which wrongly penalizes individuals for characteristics that they cannot change. Although questions of individual fairness dominate these debates, some concerns also relate to distributive justice, that is, how society’s resources should be allocated among different groups. Whether the focus is on individual or group-based equity, rarely is affirmative action addressed from the perspective of the child. On occasion, questions of reverse discrimination and distributive justice arise when adolescents compete for admission to selective public high schools. In general, though, affirmative action’s implications for children, particularly the effects on intergenerational mobility, are almost entirely ignored. Scholars agree that intergenerational mobility depends in part on the investment that families make in their children’s human capital; that is, the skills that youth develop at home and in school and later bring to the marketplace. Affirmative action can influence family investment in a child’s development in several ways. First, programs can improve access to fiscal capital by expanding opportunities for higher education and employment. Parents who obtain jobs with improved wages and benefits in turn are able to devote more resources to their children. Second, affirmative action can enrich parents’ cultural capital by exposing them to different ways of life in integrated colleges, universities, and workplaces. Parents can then share this newfound understanding with sons and daughters. Finally, affirmative action can amplify parents’ access to social capital by enabling them to build a network of influential friends and colleagues. Children then benefit from the opportunities that become available because of these family connections. Fiscal Capital Racial differences in income and wealth both reflect and perpetuate disadvantage. For instance, economist William Darity Jr. observes that “the denial of access to schooling during slavery had to be the major factor contributing to very low literacy levels circa 1880. It is noteworthy that, between 1880 and 1910, black Americans’ incidence of literacy doubled, rising from close to 30 percent to above

60 percent.” However, the remarkable gains in black literacy did not lead to enhanced job opportunities, presumably due to discrimination in the labor market. According to Darity, “Black men at the turn of the century suffered both from a skills deficit and severe discrimination in employment. Both those effects significantly weigh down the occupational status of their descendants 100 years later.” Affirmative action offers one way to equalize access to fiscal capital and thus improve intergenerational mobility. In fact, there is evidence that affirmative action has helped to close the wage gap between blacks and whites. In 1972, black median household income was 57% of that for non-Hispanic white households; by 2004, it was 64%. The black-white wealth gap has been harder to close than the income gap. In 1993, non-Hispanic white households had 10.35 times the wealth of black households. In 2004, the gap had widened slightly so that white households had 10.58 times more median wealth than black households. The picture for Latinos has been complicated by immigration. In 1972, Latino median household income was 74% of that for non-Hispanic whites; in 2004, that figure had dropped to 70%. During the period from 1967 to 1997, Latino households suffered a decline in median income of 4%, while white households gained 18% and black households gained 31%. In addition, income inequality among Latino households grew more rapidly than among black or white households, perhaps due to an influx of unskilled and lowskilled workers from Latin America. At the same time, the gap in median household net worth between Latinos and whites narrowed. In 1993, non-Hispanic white households had 9.8 times the median wealth of Latino households; in 2004, that figure had dropped to 8.14. Moreover, some research suggests that, compared to blacks and whites, Latinos are experiencing greater intergenerational mobility. This advantage appears to be a product of the extremely depressed levels of education and income among immigrant parents, levels unparalleled among blacks or whites. Despite some gains for nonwhites, significant differences persist. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2004 the median income of white households was $48,977, while black households had a median income of $30,134 and Latino households had a median income of $34,241. American Indian and Alaska Native households reported income on a par with that of Latinos. The wealth gap is even wider than these income disparities. The Census Bureau reports that in 2000 the median net worth (including home equity) of a non-Hispanic white household was $79,400, while that for a black household was $7,500 and that for a Latino household was $9,750. These disparities mean that even with affirmative action, black and Latino parents still have fewer resources than white parents to invest in their children’s development and buffer them against economic insecurity. Not all nonwhite groups fared badly, however. Asian

a f f ir m a t iv e a c t io n , c h il d r e n a n d

households reported the highest median income at $57,518, while Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander households had income comparable to that of non-Hispanic whites. Moreover, the median household income gap between whites and Asians widened slightly. In 1988, Asian median household income was 109% of that for nonHispanic whites; by 2004, it had risen to 124%. Here, immigration may have bolstered rather than harmed Asians’ financial status as wealthy entrepreneurs and skilled professionals migrated to the United States. As with Latinos, immigration among Asians probably was at least as significant as affirmative action in determining families’ access to fiscal capital. With respect to gender, affirmative action’s impact on fiscal capital depends on a family’s socioeconomic status. Since the 1970s, the gap between rich and poor in the United States has steadily widened. The most affluent families enjoyed substantial gains in income and wealth. As a result, a parent (typically the mother) could leave the workforce to care for children without jeopardizing the family’s economic position. In less affluent families, a woman’s income has regularly served to preserve a family’s financial status, particularly during the economic restructuring that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, men with less than a college degree reported a drop in earnings when compared to their fathers. Meanwhile, in comparison to their mothers, daughters had incomes that continued to grow at all educational levels. Despite steady gains for women, their wages still lagged behind those of men. Between 1969 and 1996, the proportion of women working full time in married-couple households with children rose from 17% to 39%, and the proportion of these women with college degrees increased from 8% to 26%. Without the earnings of wives, median income in these households would have grown only 2% in a 27-year period. With the women’s earnings, median income grew 25%. Among the poorest families, employment opportunities for women were especially important for single-parent households in which the mother was typically the sole breadwinner. Among female single parents, median household income grew 20% between 1969 and 1996, while a male single parent’s median income dropped by 8%. Indeed, there is some evidence that the backlash against affirmative action has already harmed the earning power of single black mothers, in turn diminishing their children’s ability to escape from poverty. Cultur al Capital Affirmative action can enhance the cultural capital that families have to support intergenerational mobility. Regardless of race or ethnicity, working parents are role models who demonstrate “soft” skills, a set of habits and attitudes associated with success in the labor market. These include traits like punctuality, civility, and collegiality, which are

• 39

seldom part of a formal curriculum but can be vital to full participation in the workforce. In addition, for immigrant and nonwhite families, affirmative action can reinforce an achievement ethic by highlighting how hard work and high academic performance will be rewarded with access to selective institutions and prestigious jobs. In some families, older siblings who attend college provide their younger brothers and sisters with information about higher education and confidence that the doors to opportunity will be open. The impact of affirmative action on cultural capital for low-income black families may be limited by ongoing segregation. Sociologist William Julius Wilson argues that for the truly disadvantaged, combined racial and economic isolation means that families know little of the world beyond their depressed neighborhoods. With few working adults to serve as role models, children lack important skills for entering the job market. Affirmative action may do little to remedy these problems because programs rely primarily on individual advancement rather than community renewal. Middle-class blacks who benefit from affirmative action thus may have little, if any, contact with the truly disadvantaged. For Latinos and Asians, immigration complicates the impact of affirmative action. Newcomers to the United States often reside in ethnic enclaves that are sites of significant entrepreneurial activity. In contrast to the ghettos that Wilson describes, ethnic economies can generate opportunities for parents to gain employment and become positive role models for their children, even as families remain identifiable by national origin, language, and culture. Although immigrant parents often will rely on ethnic enterprises for employment, their children can still benefit from affirmative action if programs enhance access to higher education and professional jobs. Where gender is concerned, children often express respect for mothers who work outside the home. At the same time, in dual-earner and single-parent families, long hours and shifting job schedules can provoke a “crisis of care.” The limited time that working parents have for their children interferes with sharing cultural capital learned on the job. Care arrangements, in turn, are influenced by race, ethnicity, and class. In contrast to affluent, white parents who turn to formal day care, immigrant and nonwhite parents often rely on informal networks of relatives, friends, and neighbors. As a result, children may find that the cultural capital at home is not very different from that which their own parents had, even if mothers and fathers are gaining new skills and knowledge at the workplace. Soc ial Capital Because segregation remains a persistent feature of the American landscape, people of different races and ethnicities frequently do not share the same social networks. If

40 •

aff irmat iv e act i o n , c hi l d ren an d

whites have disproportionate access to positions of power and influence, segregated patterns of family ties, friendships, and neighborhood associations will impede full participation by nonwhites. As economist Glenn C. Loury explains: “It is a great impediment for a talented youngster to be embedded in a social network of peers whose values do not affirm the activities the youngster must undertake to develop his talent. Children do not freely choose their peers. To a significant degree they inherit these associations as a consequence of where they live, what their parents believe, what social group they belong to, and so on.” To some degree, affirmative action can counteract the effects of segregated social networks. Today, integrated workplaces and institutions of higher education are among the few places where people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds share ideas and pursue common goals. The friendships that result in turn can benefit children, whose parents now have well-connected contacts in positions of influence. Just as racial segregation can impede the development of inclusive social networks, so too can occupational segregation by gender. Although the literature is limited, the entry of women into the workplace arguably should enrich their children’s access to social networks. For affluent, white families, the effects may be minimal, given that fathers already have substantial connections. For the less affluent and for single parents, however, there may be important benefits in widening contacts at work. The gains are apt to be incomplete, however, if women hit a glass ceiling that limits entry into the highest echelons of business and professional life. Low-income, single mothers who are nonwhite may find it particularly hard to extend their social networks. Parenting obligations can make it difficult to leave impoverished, segregated neighborhoods to pursue education and employment. As a result, single mothers may opt for low-wage work in local communities and turn to informal, low-cost child care arrangements provided by neighbors, friends, and relatives. These choices will reinforce the bonds of proximity and family, bonds that entrench patterns of economic and racial isolation. I n t er nat io nal C om pa r i s o n s So far, this discussion has focused on the U.S. experience with affirmative action. Governments around the world have scrutinized America’s policy, but the lessons should not be overgeneralized. Nations vary widely in their economic conditions, demographics, economic conditions, ideologies of race and gender, philosophies and structures of government, family traditions, and patterns of intergenerational mobility. Developed nations built explicitly through immigration, like Canada and the United States, often have been at the forefront in implementing affirmative action and related policies to integrate diverse populations. Some developing countries have adapted this approach to meet their unique needs. After the demise of apartheid, South

Africa instituted a vigorous program of affirmative action to benefit the majority black population. In doing so, the government clearly recognized that this effort would not succeed without intensive education and training, particularly for blacks in rural townships. Race and gender ideologies sometimes have impeded recognition of deep-seated inequalities. In Brazil, for example, many people believe that the prevalence of race mixing has eliminated harsh racial distinctions. As a result, the government only recently adopted affirmative action programs to combat the entrenched inequality of blacks. Gender ideologies also vary. In Europe, feminists in Sweden were reluctant to join the European Union for fear that protections for women would be watered down to match those in member countries with more traditional images of gender and family. In some countries, the government has emphasized class, not race distinctions. Sweden has relied on a generous welfare state to minimize the impact of disadvantage. As a result, officials paid little attention to affirmative action so long as the population was relatively homogeneous with respect to race and ethnicity. In marked contrast, India has used affirmative action programs to combat a rigid caste system that ascribes a child’s status at birth. Affirmative action programs have been adopted in various forms around the world, but the impact on intergenerational mobility depends on the particular conditions facing each nation. C o nc lu s io n Debates over affirmative action have almost entirely ignored its effect on intergenerational mobility. For children, this is a potentially tragic omission. Without some forms of government intervention, poverty and lack of education can become a family legacy, one that perpetuates injustice. In the absence of a careful assessment of how affirmative action affects a family’s ability to invest in a child’s development, discussions of affirmative action will remain seriously incomplete. More research is needed to determine precisely how programs can influence children’s access to fiscal, cultural, and social capital. Of course, affirmative action standing alone is unlikely to achieve intergenerational justice, but it is important to recognize that these efforts may at least temper the reproduction of inequality. Rachel F. Moran see also: African American Children; Asian American Children; Education, Discrimination in; Latino Children in the United States; Race and Children’s Development; Schooling, Inequalities in further reading: William Julius Wilson, The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy, 1987. • Simon Duncan, “Obstacles to a Successful Equal Opportunities Policy in the European Union,” The European Journal of Women’s Studies 3 (1996), pp. 399–422. • Hermann Kurthen, “The Canadian Experience with Multiculturalism and Employment Equity: Lessons for Europe,” New Community 23, no. 2 (1997), pp. 249–70. • Alejandro Portes, “Social Capital: Its Origins and Applications in Modern Sociology,”

a f r ic a n a m e r ic a n c h il d r e n Annual Review of Sociology 24 (1998), pp. 1–24. • William Darity Jr., “History, Discrimination and Racial Inequality,” in William Spriggs, ed., The State of Black America 1999, 1999, pp. 153–66. • Christopher Guillebeau, “Afﬁrmative Action in a Global Perspective: The Cases of South Africa and Brazil,” Sociological Spectrum 19 (1999), pp. 443–65. • Glenn C. Loury, “Racial Inequality and Developmental Afﬁrmative Action,” Western Journal of Black Studies 27, no. 1 (2003), pp. 15–19.

african american children. Enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas from the 16th through the 19th century. During the time of slavery in the United States, enslaved Africans were stripped of their culture and any identity that was linked to their tribal or national traditions. Following the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved Africans in 1863, the Reconstruction period fostered Jim Crow laws that further subjugated African Americans. These laws instituted “separate but equal” practices under which African Americans had to use separate public facilities from white Americans. Segregation often resulted in inferior treatment and accommodations in economic, educational, and social arenas, resulting in further oppression of and consequent disadvantage among African Americans. After the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 and the civil rights movement of the 1960s, African Americans lived in a legally integrated American society that gave them more economic, educational, and social access and opportunity. Even so, African Americans’ history of enslavement and Jim Crow has remained an important factor in their unique and differential experiences in American society. One particular issue that has remained salient throughout the history of African American children is that of formal education and how schools have served African Americans. During slavery, it was against the law in most slave states for both enslaved and free African Americans to receive an education, formal or informal. Nonetheless, there are numerous documented cases of enslaved African Americans learning how to read and write. After the Emancipation Proclamation, religious organizations and wealthy philanthropists created schools in former slave states to educate the freed African American population. Many of these efforts were inspired by the teachings of notable African American leaders like Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. These efforts also led to the importance of education in the African American community, an emphasis that began during the Jim Crow era and continued after the Brown v. Board of Education decision ended the legal segregation of American public schools, opening more opportunities for African American children to receive a formal education in the same institutions and with largely the same facilities as majority children. Although the Brown v. Board of Education decision called for the integration of American schools, many African

• 41

American children continued to face challenges to their educational pursuits, primarily because, even as an integrated society, the United States remained a racialized society. The school achievement gap that has existed between African American students and students of many other racial and ethnic groups since the mid- to late 1970s is to some substantial extent evidence of the differential experiences African American children have in school. An example of such experiences is evident in teachers’ expectations of African American students. Research has demonstrated that their expectations tend to be lower for African American students than for students of European American and many other ethnic descents. Given the positive relationship between teachers’ expectations and student performance, lower expectations for African American students tend to correlate with poorer academic performance by these students. Another phenomenon that has been researched to understand the differential school experiences and academic outcomes of African American children is cultural bias in standardized tests. On various standardized achievement and intelligence tests, African American children tend to score lower than both white and Asian American children and in some cases Latino American children. This achievement gap might appear distinctive to African American children—as opposed to other ethnic minority children—because of the content of the tests, which, some have argued, exhibit cultural bias. However, the cultural bias argument must be understood from a socioeconomic disadvantage perspective as well. Research clearly shows that U.S.-born African American families have resided in impoverished households longer than any other group in the United States, and the intergenerational effects of poverty have their roots in the distinctive history of African Americans. Proponents of the cultural bias argument have demonstrated empirically that a significant amount of the content of standardized tests reflects European American middle-class experiences, experiences that many African American children may never have had. Thus, performance on the tests does not perfectly reflect achievement or intelligence so much as it reflects a child’s experiences, or lack thereof, with mainstream American culture. Socioeconomic context, as experienced and understood by young people and their parents, can have profound effects on children’s developmental outcomes, including educational achievement. Given the long history of poverty among African Americans, behavioral scientists have been challenged over the past few decades to distinguish the conditions associated with chronic poverty from those associated with racial or ethnic background as factors in understanding the gap between African Americans’ school achievement and that of other groups. This analytic difficulty is not solved simply by including middle-income African American families in the sample, important as this step is.

42 •

african america n c hi l d ren

African American parents who teach their children about their racial, cultural, and ethnic background can counter many of the educational challenges these children face. Such teachings are commonly referred to as racial or ethnic socialization. Just as most parents socialize their children about manners and appropriate behaviors for different settings, African American parents also need to socialize their children about the realities of life in a racialized U.S. society. While many scholars use the terms racial socialization and ethnic socialization interchangeably, these parenting behaviors are quite different. For example, parents racially socialize children based on phenotypic characteristics, such as the color of the child’s skin. Ethnic socialization is more associated with cultural beliefs inherited from one’s racial or ethnic group. The latter also includes ethnic traditions and family rituals. Racial and ethnic socialization can occur as early as infancy and may continue until adulthood. However, the specific parenting behaviors or messages change with age and with parents’ personal and social experiences. As children make the transition into adolescence, other identity issues associated with gender, race, and ethnicity become more salient. Like all children, African American youth organize their respective worldviews by gender. The additional layer of racial and ethnic identity begins to have more specific meaning during adolescence, and these issues are also associated with peer groups. As do majority children in the United States, African American adolescent boys and girls tend to have different types of peer social networks. Girls tend to have a smaller number of close friendships, whereas boys tend to have larger numbers of people they classify as close friends. The quality of these friendships also differs: Female friendships are more intimate and feature more rapport talk, while male friendships are larger and organized around activities, not conversations. The challenges associated with antisocial behaviors also differ: Girls tend to engage in more relational aggression, while boys tend to engage in more physical aggression. Research shows that African American parents tend to monitor the behaviors of girls more than those of boys. The effectiveness of such gender-specific parenting strategies, as measured by successful and challenging psychological and behavioral outcomes, is less clear. However, one common theme in most research associated with parenting and African American youth is a need to include an analysis of the communities in which African American families reside. Most of the available research on African American adolescents includes samples from urban communities, and it suggests that the youth in these communities do develop gender-specific coping responses. For example, many African American males develop bravado attitudes as a way of coping with challenges faced in urban communities. In turn, many African American parents are aware of gender biases toward their children. A common quote in many Af-

rican American communities is, “Parents raise their daughters and love their sons.” Thus, the parental monitoring activities are often gender specific and are in response to the community in which families reside. The biggest challenge to understanding the successes achieved and challenges faced by African American children is the lack of empirical research studies that attempt to understand the lives of African American children from a strengths and assets perspective, not simply presuming the differences between them and the lives of majority children are thereby deficiencies. For example, when researchers and practitioners use a developmental lens to examine African American children’s school experiences, a more holistic perspective is gained. To illustrate, the extant literature is very clear that most African American children begin school with school-related skills substantially similar to those of children of any other racial or ethnic background. The differences in achievement that begin to emerge are associated with students’ preschool experiences, which in turn are associated both with family socioeconomic situation and with the ability of many public schools to meet the challenges of educating all children equally. African American children are eager to learn and excel in early school years. However, something happens between the elementary years and the high school years for African American students, so that overall rates of noncompletion of high school are higher—very much higher in some areas—than for majority Americans. A careful analysis of the school experiences of African American children reveals several things. Parents are associated with success patterns of African American preschool children. In particular, preschool children who have a father in the home tend to excel more often than children who do not. Teachers matter, too, especially as African American children, like others, come to rely more upon their teachers’ evaluations and less upon their parents’ evaluations as they grow older. Having teachers who set high academic expectations for African American children is, then, very important. As children make the transition into adolescence, complex identity issues interact with the normative school transitions, making adolescence a special juncture within their life course. Unlike children, adolescents can use advanced cognitive skills to make meaning of their environment and the people in it. While parental involvement tends to decrease for all adolescents during high school, the extant research supports the notion that African American parents tend to place more value on the education experience than most other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. In doing so, African American parents often view education as a vehicle to upward economic mobility. But many African American students live in poor areas and attend substandard schools. Even within high-achieving school environments, African American students must negotiate identity

a fri c a n s o c ie t ie s a n d c u l t u r e s , c h il d h o o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

issues of being a scholar, which some—sometimes most—of their peers do not associate with being African American. Thus, a need to support a strong racial and ethnic identity theme arises again. This personal identity serves as a buffer as African American adolescents face challenges or life decisions associated with being an adolescent and an African American. While there is no shortage of research that characterizes some versions of African American culture as currently standing in opposition to academic achievement, the few empirical studies that have measured racial identity in African American adolescents or used a historical analysis to examine African American achievement patterns have noted that students who have a positive racial or ethnic identity tend to do better than students who do not. Additionally, students who are cognizant of historical legacies associated with African American achievement tend to perform at higher levels academically than students who are oblivious to this history. In conclusion, understanding the lives of African American children has to be done within a perspective that includes an analysis of their overall development, an examination of their socioeconomic conditions, and an understanding of how these two factors interact within a larger sociocultural context, seen historically. In some ways, African American children do not differ from other children of other racial or ethnic backgrounds. All children have developmental milestones that characterize their lives. However, these universal milestones are often not considered when policies and research agendas are set for African American children. Unique challenges associated with the historical legacies are often not considered simultaneously with understanding race-related interactions in the United States. This is not to say that federal policies such as affirmative action are outdated. In contrast, these policies might need to be updated to include the distinctive effects of persistent, diminished intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic improvement among some sections of the African American population. Researchers and practitioners must pay attention to historical research and include innovative new questions that simultaneously address the many facets associated with African American life. In doing so, a well-rounded picture can be drawn of the lives of African American children, their families, and the communities in which they reside. Michael Cunningham and Samantha Francois see also: Afﬁrmative Action, Children and; American History, Childhood and Adolescence in; Clark, Kenneth B(ancroft); Education, Discrimination in: Racial Discrimination; Ethnic Identity; Race and Children’s Development further reading: M. B. Spencer, “Personal and Group Identity of Black Children: An Alternative Synthesis,” Genetic Psychology Monographs 106 (1982), pp. 59–84. • V. S. Walker, Their Highest Potential: An African American School Community in the Rural South, 1996. • D. T. Slaughter-Defoe and H. H. Rubin, “A Longitudinal Case Study of Head Start Eligible Children: Implications for Urban

• 43

Education,” Educational Psychologist 36 (2001), pp. 31–44. • M. B. Spencer, W. E. Cross, V. Harpalani, and T. N. Goss, “Debunking the ‘Acting White’ Myth and Posing New Directions for Research,” in C. C. Yeakey and R. D. Henderson, eds., Surmounting All Odds: Education, Opportunity, and Society in the New Millennium, 2003, pp. 273–304. • D. P. Swanson, M. Cunningham, and M. B. Spencer, “Black Males’ Structural Conditions, Achievement Patterns, Normative Needs, and ‘Opportunities,’ ” Urban Education 38 (2003), pp. 605–33. • M. B. Spencer, “Phenomenology and Ecological Systems Theory: Development of Diverse Groups,” in W. Damon and R. Lerner, eds., Handbook of Child Psychology, 6th ed., vol. 1, 2006, pp. 829–93.

african societies and cultures, childhood and adolescence in. With 53 countries and more than 900 million people, more than half children and youth, the African continent is incredibly vast and diverse. This article will inevitably be both general and selective but hopefully will provide a sense of what broadly characterizes children’s lives in many places in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also important to remember that, although this account is of black African society, there are also European-, South and Southeast Asian–, and Arab-descended communities in sub-Saharan Africa who have lived in Africa for generations; they are also African. Children grow up in African households in local communities. Until the most recent generations, those communities consisted of kin who participated in subsistence tasks and struggled with economic survival. Such communities had a rich religious life and complex political relationships and systems, ranging from kingdoms in West and southern Africa, chiefdoms throughout Central and East Africa, and kin groups throughout the subcontinent. African children still participate extensively in horticultural and mixedfarming subsistence economies, and, in a few isolated areas, in foraging and hunting. They are engaged in cattle keeping, intermittent wage labor (with remittances to rural areas), trade, small-scale trading and commerce, as well as all manner of business, government, and educational or health care work. Children in the many densely packed, vast urban slums and periurban settlements struggle to survive in Africa today. But African childhoods still often begin in these local homesteads, where a cooking pot is shared, people sleep in the same compound or house, and parents and children depend on others for security and safety. This is where children learn who can be trusted and how to find their paths in life. Families and children in Africa have built rich and vibrant ways of life based in such village worlds. Of course, African childhoods are changing dramatically as cities grow, poverty persists, wars and confl icts ravage communities, and health is threatened. Africa has been described as the “except for” continent: Most of the world has been economically growing, except for Africa. Across

44 •

african societ ies a n d cul tures , c hi ld ho o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

the subcontinent, African parents and children face public health crises, food insecurity, low or negative economic growth, and the decline or loss of critical infrastructure. The African family has been affected. Multigenerational families are weakened, community moral standards have changed, fewer households are economically viable, and family members have dispersed to cities, to neighboring regions, and into a global diaspora. Local cultural and religious traditions are less often practiced. The language of hearth and home remains important, but African children grow up in a remarkably multilingual, language-fluent world—one particularly fostered in cities, schools, and the media—in which children routinely switch from a tribal language, to one or more lingua franca, to a Europeanorigin language. Before turning to some of those problems, however, it is important to think about African childhoods as they have been in recent decades and continue today as well. African children, parents, and families, of course, are deeply affected by these often disastrous regional, national, and global crises. Nonetheless, families still retain connections by blood, marriage, and adoption; they share cultural, economic, and psychosocial tools for adaptation. African childhoods are rich in socially distributed ways of raising children. A child is born to parents who care for and provide for the child, of course. Those parents are, in turn, linked to many other kin, and they and all their children are also possible caregivers for that child at various points in development. The widely used phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” originated from experiences in African communities. An important pattern in African communities involves kin care for children. Siblings, cousins, and adopted children often care for other children. Girls are more likely to do this, though boys take on the task, too. African children might be living with their parents along with kin from the father’s side, or with kin from the mother’s side, or they may be migrating back and forth. In West Africa and elsewhere, there are customs of child fosterage. Parents foster children to other kin who may be able to provide more opportunities for children to attend school, learn a craft, or assist in a business or learn a skill that can provide a better economic future than parents believe they can provide themselves. Sometimes, children are fostered simply to better ensure that the children will be safe or have a reliable food supply, though fosterage can lead to neglect or exploitation as well. Adoption and child lending are also widely practiced. Adoption serves often to benefit the adopters as well as the child and the natal family. Child lending, in which children spend some period living with a relative, often helping with child care and domestic tasks, is also valuable to adopters. The elderly now are being pressed into service to care for their grandchildren and others, because their own children have migrated, been forced out of their community, or died from AIDS or

other diseases. In the past, elders might have expected to rest and enjoy respect and recognition from their children and grandchildren. These patterns of parenting and childhood are grounded in a deep appreciation and affection for children that is so evident in Africa, as well as from the value of children as resources to help struggling households survive. African communities are gender-separated in many ways. Boys and girls well into middle childhood may live, play, and work together, and they usually attend the same schools (though they may sit in different sides of the classroom or in different rooms). Yet in many ways that affect children and parenting, boys and girls are separate. Women provide the mothering for infants and children through middle childhood in most of Africa, with assistance from their own and other children and female kin. Single mothers face these challenges without male partners. But more often, although men are providing financial support and help with child care when they are home, they are frequently away seeking work. A father’s own kin may be available to help with child care, even if fathers are not. Women remain responsible for maintaining their households and providing for the everyday needs of their children. Maternal workloads in much of Africa are heavy and unrelenting. These demands on women have become nearly impossible to meet in many places in Africa today. Whether surviving on horticulture, trading, teaching, and other wage work in the health, education, business, tourist, and manufacturing economy (which millions of mothers participate in), these are working mothers, just as African mothers always have been working. For most children, particularly for girls, their mothers and most female role models are very hard working, and most are to be found in the domestic, school, and trade or business worlds. Fertility and completed family size have been relatively high in most of sub-Saharan Africa for several generations. Six to eight surviving children per woman has been common in most African regions, and four to six is common today. Hence, there are still many children available to help manage and sustain the household, and children are important for family subsistence. Along with gender, age and status are still important in organizing a child’s life. Appropriate respect and deference to elders continue to be important values. In addition, African communities have historic distinctions based on clan or lineage rank, chiefdoms, and kingdoms, and service obligations are important for children’s social opportunities. Of course, the status that comes with income, political power, wealth, education, high religious standing or office, or military and police or other power increasingly overwhelms these older distinctions. The economic history of Africa has encouraged trade and migration between African tribes as well as with Europe and the Arab world. West African kingdoms flour-

a fri c a n s o c ie t ie s a n d c u l t u r e s , c h il d h o o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

ished during periods of trade with North Africa across the Sahara. The East African coast was connected with the Arab coastal states long before European contact with Portugal. Therefore, long before colonial Europe divided up African regions, and Christian missions and settlers established themselves, African families were familiar with internal wars and aggression, the taking of territory, trade and commerce, Islam and migration, and separations from kin. African children continue to make a significant contribution to domestic tasks and child care for family survival. Mate choice, marriage, and the having of children often occur for youth before they have formed a separate household. The new parents and their children find ways to form their own separate household subsequently but may well continue to live with kin. The U.S. model is far different. There, offspring are likely to leave home without much domestic and child care experience, then form their own households with peers, then find a mate and marry, and only then have children and start caring for them. How can one best characterize the goals and values, hopes and dreams that parents and children have in Africa? Surely, they include safety and security for their families, a stable economy of which they can be a part and in which they can live well enough, with food security and decent health care. An important goal for parents is to train their children to help with survival and to succeed in a very harsh and difficult material and social world. African emotional bonds are expressed more often nonverbally, with less verbal, public expression than U.S. children might experience. African mothers train children to attend respectfully and listen closely to adults’ words (social attention and comprehension), with somewhat less verbal production and public display than U.S. parents might encourage. Parents still value the social behaviors and moral standards for children that have long characterized African communities: obedience, respect for elders and kin, vigorous motor skill and physical activity, quiet and attentive public conduct, hospitality, generosity and a good-heartedness toward others in ones’ group, a deep social intelligence about kin and community, precocious interdependence, and early competence. Long-admired African traditions of storytelling, singing, drumming, and dancing remain vital for children. At the same time, parents now value behaviors that they think will help their children in schooling and in the new kinds of jobs and state economy around them: cleverness, quick and school-relevant cognitive skills, verbal and literacy-related talents, public displays of confidence, inquisitiveness, bravery, boldness, and action in the world. Of course, children in households surviving in bare subsistence circumstances without future security need all the skills that they can have. So parents, if ambivalent perhaps about public boldness and cleverness, also want and admire such cognitive, personality, and behavioral patterns in their children. Across all economic and community groups,

• 45

African children have been, on average, rated positively on such characteristics as respect for authority, independence, nurturance, maturity, affability, and interpersonal flexibility—all highly valued and specifically socialized in many African societies. A variety of ceremonies marking important maturational and developmental transitions have also characterized African childhoods. Ceremonies marking the transition from middle childhood and the juvenile period into adolescence are widespread across Africa. Boys and girls are taught special adult religious and tribal knowledge, including specialized secret songs, ceremonies, and lore exclusive to men or women. The group of children initiated together, and the uncles, aunts, parents, and others who arrange and participate in these ceremonies, create important lifelong relationships. Circumcision of boys can accompany initiation, though it is more infrequent today, and to a lesser extent it is a factor for girls. Boys are expected to show unfl inching bravery throughout the surgery and process of recovery as they become young adults who can marry and take on new responsibilities. Girls are expected to show similar stoicism and bravery if they have initiation ceremonies and circumcision. Female surgery varies widely in type and extent and the age when it occurs. Some African women and men believe their body is more beautiful after being modified, that sexual drives are better controlled and chastity, modesty, respect, and honor better protected as a result of the initiation. At the same time, infibulation and more severe, extensive forms of genital surgery can lead to medical complications, and surgery can be forced on girls. There is active debate, including political and legal confl icts, over whether female genital surgery should continue and, if so, in what forms among many groups around the world and within Africa. There are many circumstances that create and sustain these rich traditions. The marking of puberty, fertility, and marriageability are important in communities where historically child mortality was high and bride-price paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s, and where the new spouse’s labor may have helped a husband’s family, and surviving children sustained the lineage, clan, or broader kin group that was the basis of collective survival. These are all characteristics of African children’s social behavior, emotional expression, work and competence, and development that broadly characterize many African lives compared to other communities around the world. These are still present but dramatically changing with the crises that beset so many parts of Africa in the early 21st century. There are many problems of health, poverty, and hunger that face children and families in sub-Saharan Africa. The United Nations set a goal of reducing child mortality around the world by two-thirds by 2015; of the 62 countries that are making little or no progress toward that goal, 46 (75%) are in Africa. One in six children dies before age 5;

46 •

african societ ies a n d cul tures , c hi ld ho o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

49% of these deaths occur in Africa, despite the fact that only 22% of the world’s children are born there. Pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS are serious and endemic. Basic community health (water and sanitation, immunization, vitamin supplements, early and exclusive breastfeeding, mosquito netting to prevent malaria, and HIV prevention and treatment) remains poor. The focus on mortality of children younger than age 5 misses what in some ways is the even greater importance of improving the life pathways for older children, teens, and youth in Africa. Mental health concerns, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, unemployment, and the loss of possible pathways toward a life of well-being all face tens of millions of African children today. Well-being is the engaged participation of children in the activities their family and community deem desirable and that provide some meaning and hope to achieve their goals. In spite of local African values and hopes, children’s hopes for well-being are far too often thwarted. African families and children increasingly face complex, often catastrophic emergencies that then lead to longterm suffering: armed confl icts, population displacement, food insecurity, mortality, and malnutrition. Families and children are unprotected from such chronic violence and chaotic change. And then there is HIV/AIDS. Fifty-seven percent of the 23 million African adults with the disease are women; 2.3 million children are infected. The United Nations estimates that about 16 million children will be orphaned due to AIDS by 2010 in Africa. Socially distributed care cannot possibly support such numbers. No intervention or program, no matter how well intended and implemented, will have strong impacts if it cannot be sustained by the community and become part of the lives of the family. Programs that use local workers, such as mother-to-mother programs or community care groups (complementing national health care initiatives), have been shown to be effective in African communities for that reason. Local knowledge of family and child life will continue to be essential to supporting and improving the well-being and quality of life for African families and children in the coming decades. Thomas S. Weisner see also: Child: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Islamic Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in further reading: R. B. Edgerton, The Individual in Cultural Adaptation, 1971. • R. Serpell, The Signiﬁcance of Schooling: Life-Journeys in an African Society, 1993. • Robert A. LeVine, Sarah Levine, Suzanne Dixon, Amy Richman, P. Herbert Leiderman, and Constance Keefer, Child Care and Culture: Lessons from Africa, 1994. • M. Howard and A. V. Millard, Hunger and Shame: Child Malnutrition and Poverty on Mount Kilimanjaro, 1997. • T. S. Weisner, C. Bradley, and P. Kilbride, eds., African Families and the Crisis of Social Change, 1997. • P. Kilbride, Collette Suda, and Enos Njeru, Street Children in Kenya: Voices of Children in Search of a Childhood, 2001. • C. P. Edwards and B. B. Whiting, eds., Ngecha: A Kenyan Village in a Time

of Rapid Social Change, 2004. • A. Gottlieb, The Afterlife Is Where We Come From: The Culture of Infancy in West Africa, 2004. • H. Keller, Cultures of Infancy, 2007. • United Nations, The State of the World’s Children 2008: Child Survival, 2008.

aggression. When children are furious or wish to pursue their social goals, they hurt peers by harming them physically or by disrupting their social relationships. Aggression is defined as behavior that is intended to harm another and is perceived as harmful by the victim. Much research on children’s aggression has examined physical fighting, but recently other behaviors have been proposed as meeting criteria for aggression. Called indirect, relational, or social aggression, these behaviors harm others by disrupting friendships and social status. Ph ysical Aggr ession Physical aggression is evident in the second year of life. One longitudinal study of children in Canada found that according to mothers’ reports, 47% percent of boys and 37% of girls sometimes engage in hitting, kicking, or biting. For most children, levels of physical aggression decline steadily through the preschool and elementary school years, such that by age 10, only about 10% of girls and 15% of boys are described as sometimes hitting, biting, or kicking. However, some few children persist in engaging in physical aggression into adolescence, and by the age of 10, the propensity for physical aggression is a highly stable trait. Developmental trends in groups’ levels of physical aggression must be understood in light of individual differences in physical aggression, and vice versa. Why do some children persist in engaging in high levels of physical aggression toward peers? Research suggests that there may be a genetic component for physical aggression and that several temperamental characteristics may be related: negative emotionality, difficultness, flexibility in adapting to new situations, activity level, selfregulation, and reactivity. Parental socialization may also influence children’s physical aggressiveness. Coercive cycles occur when parents respond to children’s noncompliance by giving in, such that extreme noncompliance is reinforced. Parenting styles characterized by low levels of warmth and high levels of verbal hostility and punitiveness may be associated with physical aggression toward peers. Children who experience harsh parenting may be likely to develop negative biases in how they process social information that contribute further to aggressiveness. Aggressive children are prone to hostile attribution biases, interpreting ambiguous, personally relevant information as negative and threatening, which makes them hypersensitive to social slights and likely to lash out. Children who fight tend to get into problems with particular other peers; much childhood aggression takes place within dyads. The social consequences of aggression in childhood de-

a ggr e s s io n

pend on the context and on other attributes of aggressive children. Children’s aggression is moderately related to peer rejection. However, in classrooms or summer camp groups in which the overall level of aggression is high, fighting may actually be positively related to being liked by peers. Research suggests that there may be subgroups of aggressive boys, those who fight but also have positive traits and are admired, and those who fight but have mostly negative characteristics and are disliked. Physical aggression has serious negative developmental consequences in childhood and beyond. Children who fight often struggle academically and many face social rejection, and they are at risk for adolescent delinquency, substance abuse, and dropping out of school. The few girls who fight physically are at risk for all of the same negative outcomes as boys are and are also at risk for becoming adolescent mothers, engaging in violence toward romantic partners, and having children with health and behavioral problems. Several successful intervention programs have been developed to reduce children’s aggression. Parent-training approaches teach parents to reward children’s positive behaviors and enact consequences for negative behaviors so that noncompliance decreases, allowing children to develop better relationships with adults and peers. School-based intervention programs teach children skills in regulating emotions and building positive relationships. Programs combining parent management training and schoolbased intervention have shown great success in reducing children’s aggression and helping them avoid the negative sequelae of childhood aggression (such as the Fast Track Program developed by the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group). Soc ial Aggr ession Social aggression is harming others by disrupting their friendships or social status and involves malicious gossip, friendship manipulation, and verbal and nonverbal social exclusion. Social aggression is similar to indirect and relational aggression, but it acknowledges that social harm takes direct and indirect forms and that social exclusion may be nonverbal. Although developmental differences in social aggression remain unclear, it is apparent that these behaviors take different forms at different stages. According to studies of middle-class, North American children, social aggression begins in the preschool years and takes fairly overt forms, such as children holding their hands over their ears to give peers the “silent treatment” or announcing that particular peers are not invited to a birthday party. Social aggression continues during middle childhood and becomes more elaborate, such as forming exclusive clubs and spreading gossip via the Internet. Social aggression during adolescence may expand to involve disrupting emerging romantic relationships. Gender stereotypes suggest that girls may be more so-

• 47

cially aggressive than boys, but research results for gender differences are confl icting. Although girls certainly engage in social aggression more than they do physical aggression, it is not clear that girls are more socially aggressive than are boys. However, it may well be that although both boys and girls engage in social aggression, these behaviors may unfold differently and have different meanings for each gender group. Research has only begun to examine the developmental origins of individual differences in social aggression. One hypothesis is that children learn social aggression via modeling; for example, by watching parents refrain from resolving confl icts directly but instead maligning partners to others or by watching siblings or peers engage in social aggression. Children’s social aggression may also be related to negative parenting styles, such as authoritarian or permissive parenting or psychological control. Engaging in or being victimized by social aggression at high levels is associated with psychological maladjustment for children. Chronic victims of social aggression report high levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety, and for girls, poor self-concept across domains. Frequent perpetrators of social aggression may be disliked by peers and report loneliness, depression, and anxiety. In college-age women, engaging in social aggression has been associated with features of borderline personality disorder and with symptoms of bulimia. Perhaps perpetuating social or relational aggression increases girls’ and women’s risks for mental health problems to which these groups are more vulnerable, such as depression, eating disorders, and borderline personality disorder. Developing intervention strategies for reducing levels of social aggression among youth could be important for promoting optimal development for girls and boys. R e m ai n i ng Que s tio n s In future research, it will be important to continue to examine cultural and gender differences in the social processes by which physical and social aggression unfold. Because cultures differ in the norms for regulating aggression, it is likely that these trajectories will differ from those summarized here. For example, in traditional Inuit communities in northern Canada, where anger and aggression are strictly proscribed, parents use socializing strategies that are quite different from those used by European Americans. In studying different cultural groups, it will continue to be important to examine how physical and social aggression may be related to each other both in real and developmental time. Another important question will be how and why aggressive behavior is sometimes related to high peer regard; imagine the power of high-status peers who are physically or socially aggressive to influence the peer culture and shape other children’s behaviors. It will be vitally necessary to continue to explore the effects of media exposure on children’s aggression, both social and physical. Finally,

48 •

aggression

investigators should explore clever strategies for harnessing children’s relationship strengths to help them intervene with one another to reduce physical and social aggression. Marion K. Underwood see also: Authority and Obedience; Bullying; Lorenz, Konrad (Zacharias); Media, Children and the; Slang and Offensive Language; Temperament further reading: John D. Coie and Kenneth A. Dodge, “Aggression and Antisocial Behavior,” in Nancy Eisenberg, ed., Handbook of Child Psychology, 1998. • Marion K. Underwood, Social Aggression among Girls, 2003. • Martha Putallaz and Karen L. Bierman, eds., Aggression, Antisocial Behavior, and Violence among Girls, 2004. • Richard E. Tremblay, Willard W. Hartup, and John Archer, eds., Developmental Origins of Aggression, 2005.

aids. see Human Immunodeﬁciency Viral Syndrome ainsworth, mary d(insmore) salter (b. December 1, 1913; d. March 21, 1999), psychologist and pioneer of research on infant attachment. Mary Ainsworth was born in Ohio but grew up in Toronto, Canada. As an undergraduate, she became particularly interested in William Blatz’s “security theory.” Blatz later became her doctoral mentor. Her dissertation (1939), presaging later work, suggests that the family is the secure base from which a developing individual can move out to develop new skills and interests. She was an instructor at the University of Toronto from 1939 until 1942, when she signed up for the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC). In the CWAC she gained diagnostic and clinical skills that influenced her subsequent teaching and research. Her marriage, in 1950, to psychology graduate student Leonard Ainsworth and move to London for his sake serendipitously led to her collaboration with John Bowlby at the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations. In Bowlby’s research lab, Ainsworth learned methods of naturalistic observations of mother-child separation from her colleague James Robertson. She was also exposed to Bowlby’s emerging ideas about the evolutionary foundation of infant-mother attachment. When Leonard Ainsworth accepted a position at the East African Institute for Social Research in Uganda in 1953, Mary Ainsworth used this interruption in her own career to conduct a short-term longitudinal study of 26 Ganda village families with young infants. During her observations, she began to see the virtue of Bowlby’s notions about attachment. Hers is thus the first attachment study, concluded before Bowlby formally presented his theory in 1958. From then on, Ainsworth and Bowlby collaborated. Ainsworth’s book about her study, Infancy in Uganda, was not published until 1967. After the Ainsworths moved to Baltimore in 1954, Mary held part-time clinical and lecturing positions until 1958, when the Johns Hopkins University psychology depart-

ment offered her a tenured professorship in developmental psychology. Shortly thereafter, she and Leonard divorced. In 1963, Mary Ainsworth launched the groundbreaking Baltimore Project, modeled on her work in Uganda. Monthly home visits began shortly after the child’s birth. Detailed narratives of mother-infant interaction quality in 26 families captured individual differences in feeding, contact, play, and distress episodes. For the last observation, at 12 months, Ainsworth created the laboratory mother-infant separation-reunion procedure now known as the “Strange Situation.” Patterns of infant behavior during this procedure, particularly during reunions with the mother, were predictable from mother-infant interaction qualities at home. Several influential journal articles and a book, Patterns of Attachment (1978), based on the findings were published and inspired longitudinal studies in the United States, Germany, and Israel that extended the original findings. At the Johns Hopkins University and, from 1974, the University of Virginia, Ainsworth attracted many graduate students who became active contributors to attachment theory and research. Even after her mandatory retirement in 1984, she actively supported Mary Main’s initial work with the Adult Attachment Interview and wrote two theoretically important articles. In 1998, Ainsworth received the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology from the American Psychological Association. Her conceptual contributions (secure base, maternal sensitivity to infant signals, attachment-exploration balance) and empirical findings revolutionized how developmental and social psychologists think about infant-caregiver attachment and, by extension, about close human relationships at all ages. Inge Bretherton see also: Attachment, Infant; Bowlby, John; Development, Theories of: Psychoanalytic Theories further reading: Inge Bretherton, “Mary Ainsworth: Insightful Observer and Courageous Theoretician,” in G. A. Kimble and M. Wertheimer, eds., Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology, vol. 5, 2003.

alcohol. see Substance Abuse allergic diseases. Allergic diseases are common in childhood and take a variety of forms. There is a common “allergic march” of disorders in children with an allergic disposition. During infancy, such children may develop an itchy, scaly rash known as atopic dermatitis or eczema. This rash may be transient or persistent for years. It may be directly triggered by certain foods or environmental contactants, or it may not be linked to any specific agents. Food allergy is a common occurrence in infancy and may result in a range of problems from eczema with discomfort and irritability, to gastrointestinal symptoms, to life-threatening reactions.

Randy’s severe asthma was just one of his family’s worries: Like much of the American working poor in the 1990s, the Sikes family lacked medical insurance. Mr. Sikes had no gainful employment. And economically inconvenient though it may have been, Randy’s asthma repeatedly went out of control, possibly triggered by his father’s smoking or perhaps as an allergic response to the family dog. Mrs. Sikes acquired a small room-size portable air cleaner in a vain attempt to shield Randy and gave away the family cat as a precaution. Still, Randy’s frightening bouts of asthma went unabated. In search of employment and an affordable cost of living, the Sikes family moved, which meant that Randy, who needed a plug-in nebulizer machine to treat his asthma, now lived far away from his maternal grandmother with asthma, who owned the nebulizer that Randy had previously borrowed. Randy, age 5, was a veteran of asthmatic struggles; asthma had been diagnosed in his ﬁrst year of life and had been an uneasy companion over his brief years. All the same, Randy’s resilience was undeniable in the way he coped: using his imagination. Even as his asthma seemed to go from bad to worse, Randy found the drive to manage, in the form of a talisman, a toy car, Randy’s main vehicle of coping. The car was a kind of transitional object (like a blanket or a teddy bear) that had unquestioned trust and playful malleability to Randy. Home-based interviews with Randy and photos he took depicting his everyday life with asthma revealed that his automotive play was both salient and central to his healing experience. Randy practiced imaginal coping, self-initiated, ritual-like play therapy that addressed his affective challenges. Randy told me about one of the toy cars he used; later I learned that several of his other toy cars served as talismans equally well. randy: I’ll show you my [car] that I like to play with. interviewer: Oh, you love that. Now do you play with that when you’re sick, that car? randy: [Nodding] Mm hm. [Zooming car around] Vroom! Vroom! interviewer: Let’s say you’re sick and you’re pretending with that. What would you pretend with that big race car? randy: The ride in it! A ﬂeet of toy cars, each used in fantasy as a way for Randy to mentally transport himself to elsewhere, became ways for Randy to modify his felt experience and to introduce beneﬁcial meanings of mobility, control, and agency. Randy, in interviews, made it clear that he felt that his cars were very special, even magical, in their ability to “work wonders.” Medical treatment could be tolerated if a car was at hand: He claimed not to feel or sense the hurt of injections or the distaste of foul medication when holding his car. In an asthmatic crisis, when Randy was allowed to keep his car in the emergency room, this calmed him. Randy’s mother, who kept a journal about Randy and his asthma for research purposes, recorded how imaginal coping

took place during a bout of asthmatic illness: “It is very cold and damp, and Randy’s breathing is not good. He was very restless and breathing hard when he was sleeping. He is still very pale and not looking himself. . . . When his breathing problems come and he is having an asthma attack he sometimes looks up to me with his big blue eyes with the dark rings around them, and asks me for his green race car. And I get it for him. He hugs it closely and falls asleep.” Mrs. Sikes also had come to rely on Randy’s toy cars. She habitually kept a race car on hand, sent one to school in Randy’s backpack, and kept one at the ready in her own actual car. She would not be surprised, she said, if Randy continued to keep a toy car stored, standing by, in the closet during adulthood. Imaginal coping was widespread among other chronically ill children interviewed in my study of 5- to 8-year-olds. One kindergartner with asthma felt safe because his bedsheets pictured the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, superheroic media ﬁgures who he envisioned would save his life, if needed, by fetching the physician in time. Another boy imagined that he was an airplane pilot, picturing that the mask of his nebulizer (used for treatment) became a pilot’s mask. Girls, away from home at asthma camp, played with a toy animal that the director said needed their care for asthma, a kind of role reversal of caretaker and would-be sufferer, roles that were commonly inverted in children’s own medical play in which the child became the more powerful, would-be doctor. In its many creative variations, imaginal coping provided a sort of self-therapeutic jujitsu, by which the child reframed his or her situation as more empowered, as more safe, as having greater control. While Randy’s use of imaginal coping was highly salient to him and to his mother, imaginal coping did not seem to be recognized by all biomedical personnel. An X-ray technician would not allow anyone or anything, including a plastic car, to accompany Randy during an X-ray; in another situation, a nurse dismissed the plastic car as a strange sort of toy for a child in the hospital. Physicians treating other children sometimes ordered the separation of a child from a stuffed toy or blanket, declaring such trusted possessions to be harmful allergens. Imaginal coping holds a greater degree of disregard or indifference among adult professionals, it seems, than among children themselves. Yet, imaginal coping merits a close look by those who deal with children suffering from a difﬁcult illness. When a child like Randy pretends to take the driver’s seat, and from this vantage point plays out a preferred interpretation of experience, the act entails a shift of gears toward serenity and buoyancy. It is hard to imagine a more valuable vehicle of meaning-making for a child coping with asthma’s breathlessness. Cindy Dell Clark further reading: Cindy Dell Clark, In Sickness and in Play: Children Coping with Chronic Illness, 2003.

imagining each other

imagining each other

How a Green Race Car Helped Randy Cope with Asthma

50 •

allergic diseases

Respiratory difficulties may follow food and rash difficulties. Allergic nasal congestion may be seen in the first years of life and may be due to environmental factors such as dust mites or pets. This allergic rhinitis is not only a drain on quality of life but may predispose children to ear and sinus infections. It is common to see wheezing with upper respiratory infections as a first manifestation of asthma. These wheezing episodes may repeat with each viral infection, causing mild distress or severe respiratory compromise that requires hospitalization. While a large portion of young children wheeze with infections, those who have a family history of asthma or who show or have shown allergic signs such as eczema, food allergy, or nasal symptoms are more likely to have persistent asthma through childhood. As children reach school age, those with asthma are likely to have specific allergic triggers in addition to viral ones. Perhaps one-half of those with persistent asthma during childhood will outgrow this problem in adulthood. Some people have a period of remission in their late teens and young-adult years and then have recurrence of asthma in midadulthood. Those with persistent disease tend to have had early onset in childhood, greater severity, and more allergy overall. An inordinate increase in asthma prevalence was noticed in developed countries at the end of the 20th century. In the United States, 25 million people have asthma, including 5 million children. Along with increasing numbers, there has come increasing severity as measured by emergency department visits and hospitalizations. This trend is particularly evident in preschool children. Explanations are varied and include frequent, rapid spread of asthmagenic viral respiratory infections in child-care settings, along with hesitancy in making a diagnosis of asthma and instituting an asthma treatment plan in infants until they have experienced several episodes of wheezing requiring urgent care. The “hygiene hypothesis” (discussed below) may also play a part. Besides this skewing of morbidity toward young children, there is a disproportionate burden of asthma in innercity populations compared to suburban or rural groups. It appears that socioeconomic factors that influence access to care may be involved in this. Cultural mores regarding medical care may also be contributors. Particularly in the inner city, it is common to see emergency department visits for acute asthma episodes in children with mild, intermittent asthma in preference to scheduled visits with primary health care providers. Regular, consistent, proactive care reduces disease severity and excessive health expenditures. Optimal use of medications allows for prevention of attacks, not just acute treatments. Genetics plays a definite role in asthma. One can see the role of inheritance in causation in the example of asthma incidence in different Latino populations. While the incidence among people of Puerto Rican ancestry is relatively high,

among those of Mexican origin it is relatively low, in spite of similarities in sociocultural and environmental factors. A fascinating area of investigation deals with prevention of allergic disease. Avoiding early sensitization to certain foods that are riskiest for causing food allergy in infancy, such as cow’s milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, and fish, may prevent or delay the “allergic march” from eczema to asthma, although the data are controversial and far from conclusive. A number of prevention trials agree on the value of breastfeeding for 4 to 12 months. Avoidance of the aforementioned foods for one to three years may be helpful, though not well studied. While these measures may be worthwhile for high-risk families, the benefits for most families must be weighed against results from other studies that show little sustainability of benefit into middle childhood. Food allergy is receiving great attention as the incidence is growing rapidly. The incidence of peanut allergy, for example, has doubled recently. Allergic reactions to foods may be life-threatening. People who suffer from these problems must pay scrupulous attention to what they are eating in order to avoid emergency situations. When children are affected, their families carry an enormous burden to ensure safety. Families must carry emergency medications such as injectable epinephrine. They must scrutinize child care, preschool, the homes of friends and relatives, and restaurants to be certain that their child will not have an accidental exposure. While the likelihood of outgrowing food allergy is high for certain foods like milk and eggs, it is quite small for peanuts, nuts, fish, and shellfish. Vigorous research efforts are now going into vaccines and medications to halt food allergy. Urticaria and angioedema (hives and swelling) are common in childhood and are due to release of mediators like histamine from either allergic or nonallergic causes. Acute urticaria and angioedema may represent an allergic reaction to a food, drug, or stinging insect. These skin manifestations may be quickly followed by full-blown anaphylaxis, which is a reaction that can progress from skin involvement to respiratory or cardiac arrest. People at risk of these reactions should receive a prescription for injectable epinephrine to be carried at all times in case of an emergency. Both skin and blood testing can be used to discover the cause(s) of many allergic reactions generally, including hives when it is not obvious. Often, however, hives are due to viral infections or unidentifiable causes. The inability to ascribe causation can be extremely frustrating in these cases. There is a growing interest in the “hygiene hypothesis” of allergic disease. Proponents explain that as societies becomes more urbanized and affluent, children miss exposure to environmental challenges like farm animal excrement, dirt, and germs, which seem to shift the immune system away from allergy and asthma. This has been supported by several observations. Rural children in some countries have a decreased incidence of allergic disease as opposed

a m e r ic a n h is t o r y , c h il d h o o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

to urban children who have similar genetic and cultural backgrounds. Children with pets introduced early in life may also have a decreased allergic propensity. The mechanism for the increase in allergic disorders has been suggested to be as follows: The immune system is no longer stimulated in these clean and animal-free environments to fight these environmental exposures. This causes a shift in immune function away from pathways for surviving these insults. Instead, pathways that stimulate allergic response are activated as a sort of disuse default. This may account for the rising incidence of asthma and food allergy in the United States, a phenomenon that one does not see in less affluent and rural countries. Measures to increase exposure to germs, like early exposure to child care and multiple pets in the home, which seemed undesirable in the past, are now gaining favor as means of rebalancing the immune system and down-regulating allergic pathways as a means of prevention of allergic diseases. Once an environmental factor is known to be an established allergic trigger, there is no longer an opportunity for prevention, and efforts should be made to eliminate that from a child’s life. If cat exposure causes wheezing, cats must be removed from the environments. If visiting a farm with horses and cows causes an asthma attack, one must refrain from visiting such places. Often there is a balance between environmental modification and pharmacological intervention that will provide an optimal home and school experience. Stinging-insect allergy often requires years of desensitization injections for optimal protection, since it is difficult to avoid stinging insects without curtailing a normal lifestyle. Since both severity and manifestations of allergic disease in children change over time, continuity of care provides the best help for children and their families. Gail G. Shapiro see also: Respiratory Diseases; Skin Disorders and Diseases further reading: F. D. Martinez, A. L. Wright, L. M. Taussig, C. J. Holberg, M. Halonen, and W. J. Morgan, “Asthma and Wheezing in the First Six Years of Life,” New England Journal of Medicine 332, no. 3 (1995), pp.133–38.

american history, childhood and adolescence in. Human society has always included children as well as adults, but where the line is to be drawn between the two categories and what subcategories of childhood (infancy and adolescence, for instance) are thought to be natural vary historically. Similarly, the continent of North America has long existed, but the concept of America has been socially constructed, usually by persons of European origin. Consequently, the narrative of American childhood and adolescence commonly begins with the European arrival in the 17th century, but it ought not be confined to an understanding of European American children since there were

• 51

two other cultures, native American Indian and African American, embraced by this traditional universe. What is known about the Native Americans derives largely from the reports of European explorers and missionaries, although some native artifacts do survive. The European observers expressed surprise at the regard held for pregnant native women, the stoicism of these women in childbirth, and the amount of time—three to four years of the nursing period—during which children remained always close to their mothers. Child mortality rates of up to 50% are mentioned, as are birth intervals, frequently preserved by abortion, of about four years. At that age, children were set free (though no doubt closely watched by their parents and the rest of the community) to learn for themselves, rather than being forcibly taught or controlled. More than anything else, the Europeans were surprised by the absence of corporal punishment. Children were taught by example. When they reached puberty, girls crossed into womanhood with the onset of menstruation, while boys, who for years had been sharpening their skills as hunters, were brought into manhood through tribal rituals. Europeans were far less apt to record the daily lives of the Africans whom they forcibly brought into their midst as slaves. It appears that black mothers breastfed their young not for three years, as was the practice in West Africa from whence they came, but only one, carrying their infants into the fields with them or returning periodically to the slave quarters to suckle. Very young children came under the supervision of older ones, usually without adult supervision; this was probably the only task assigned to slave children until they were 7 or 8, when they took on light chores until the age of 12, at which time they underwent the brutalizing experience of field work. In other words, their experience at puberty was quite unlike that of the Native Americans. The third culture in early America with a distinctive childhood experience was European, primarily English, in origin. New England was distinguished by a patriarchal religion that was reflected in the home by the commanding presence of the father in a large, stable, nuclear family. In the Chesapeake Bay area, a high mortality rate led to constant reformation of a smaller household. In both regions, the neonate was swaddled for about three months, whereas breastfeeding continued through the first year; when it ceased, conception became easier and probably occurred within the next several months. Until the baby walked, it was carried in the arms of its parents, biological or step, as the vagaries of high mortality dictated. The emotional trauma of parental loss in the Chesapeake Bay area was paralleled in New England by the drama of breaking the child’s will, a systematic suppression of early attempts at self-assertion accomplished by mental manipulation of the youngster, sanctioned by religious ideology. Corporal punishment, an English inheritance, was pervasive in both regions, administered to boys and girls by

52 •

american histo ry, c hi l d ho o d an d a d o l e s c e n c e in

either parent. Clothing was a badge of age and sex. At 7 or 8, boys moved from skirts into breeches, marking their entrance into manhood as well as the workforce. Girls remained skirted. They were also initiated into chores, understood as domestic and appropriate to their gender. Church membership was customarily not granted until young adulthood, though the age was lowered as church elders became worried about the salvation of youth and the future of the church. Apprenticeship was directed at older male children, as was education. Masters, like fathers, were also required to feed and clothe their charges. Among the New England Puritans, reading was considered a necessary complement of childhood, since it provided access to the scriptures. Such issues as spirituality, leaving the home, and education, focused as they were on youth, helped create a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood that, by the late 17th century, might be called adolescence, though it was not so labeled at the time. The 18th century was characterized by the growth of population and wealth, the latter contributing significantly to the lengthening of childhood. Non-English immigrants— Dutch, German, and Scotch-Irish—flowed into the colonies, a change that added variety to American childhood. And population growth put pressure on the land, forcing younger sons in farm families to find employment in commercial ports or to migrate westward to fresh land; in either case, their leaving home undermined patriarchy and, therefore, the hierarchical structure of the household. Alterations were also promoted by ideology. Those colonists who remained deeply influenced by religion, most typically members of nuclear families living in isolated rural areas, have been labeled evangelicals; they persisted in believing that children were depraved and in attempting to break their wills. A new secularism, often associated with the Enlightenment as well as the emerging world of commerce, enabled other mothers and fathers, more moderate than the evangelicals and most often found in affluent farming villages and commercial towns, to deal in a gentler way with the young, expecting responsibility without demanding submission. Yet a third group of parents, genteel in their circumstances, whose prosperity was based on land and slaveholding, indulged their children not so much to nurture them as because they were indifferent to them. But all European American households shared the point of view that children must be controlled, even after the American Revolution both reflected and contributed to some loosening of household authority. By the early years of the 19th century—in the northeastern region of the nation and spreading therefrom—the initial phase of the Industrial Revolution began to alter domestic life in the United States. The movement from traditional agricultural communities into industrial towns and cities was character-

ized by the emergence of two distinctly different sorts of childhoods: middle-class and working-class. The urban middle-class household was characterized by the daily absence of the father, now at his office or factory, and the dominance of the mother. Her emphasis was less on corporal punishment than emotional control of her children, often through the employment of shame and guilt (whereas physical coercion and shame had been the instrument of social control in traditional rural society). Insular though this family was in the new mass society, upward social mobility for males was a goal to be accomplished through education outside the home. Schooling took on a new urgency, and the age-graded classrooms that emerged in the cities reflected and intensified division in all aspects of a society once organically unified. Within the home, middle-class children were idle and protected as the house became a haven from the hostile outside world. Attention was showered on the young as the family shrank in size: Their birthdays were now celebrated; Christmas became their holiday. With her mother nearby, a daughter’s gender identity came readily to her, while a son in his early years had trouble identifying with an absent father. But to banish dad was to invite feelings of guilt, since a son continued to love his father. Actually, guilt was functional in 19th-century mass society where young men sought their livings, since guilt—brought on by selfjudgment—worked despite anonymity. Shame depended on familiarity, and it continued to restrain females, confined as they were to middle-class households. Conditions were different for urban, working-class children. The factory was replacing the home as the scene of employment. Children had always toiled as part of the household. Now they became wage earners and supporters of hard-pressed families. The family economy was a cooperative venture in which all individuals worked and economized for the survival of the group. Although still dominated by their parents, working-class children were less susceptible than middle-class children to household control, especially in immigrant families where children gained a faster understanding than did their elders of American society. And although working-class parents were jealous of their children’s labor for the survival of the household, middle-class reformers interfered with this arrangement by championing the child through the establishment of orphan asylums and reformatories, aid societies and juvenile courts, Sunday schools, and public schools. While the Industrial Revolution created an urbanized America and divided its almost exclusively European American inhabitants into middle and working classes, traditional rural life remained the dominant existence. In the southeastern United States, a significant portion of the rural population was African American, which, even after the abolition of slavery, was tied to the cotton fields and poverty

a m e r ic a n h is t o r y , c h il d h o o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

and, now, highly discriminatory racial segregation, the new bondage. Although an attempt had been made by Northerners after the Civil War to improve the lot of ex-slaves largely through education, that effort had failed. The lives of African American children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries remained family-oriented but as grim as ever. Native American childhood, however, underwent significant change when the United States government herded many tribes onto reservations in the later 19th century. Children were now frequently placed in schools, often in boarding institutions at considerable distances from the reservations, which were run on European American principles by government officials. In these cases, the young were torn between their parents and alien cultures. Education, in fact, was the avenue by which the state began to exercise control over children of all social groups in the 19th century. Schools were unimportant in traditional agricultural society, though they certainly existed, usually one-room buildings in the villages of the Northeast, operating seasonally; that is, when children’s labor was not required on the farms. The schoolmasters were heavy-handed males, and the curriculum was simply the alphabet, writing, and numbers. With modernization came a systematic approach to education. The common school movement (1830–60) instituted by states in the Northeast emphasized order and discipline in student behavior, rote learning, morality, and patriotism in the curriculum. Women began taking over the classrooms (as they did in middle-class homes). School served as the introduction of children to society, a function previously assigned to the family, which in addition to providing education had been the primary economic institution; now the family was left with only its emotional function. The school provided academic knowledge to the middle class, especially the boys who as men would run society; discipline for the future workers; and Americanization for the immigrants. The urban school had sufficient numbers of students to be age-graded, a process that paved the way for recognition of a later, already lurking stage of childhood adolescence, a phase of life that was to develop a culture of its own. School was free, but attendance was not effectively compulsory, even when nominally called for. By the early 20th century, reformers were arguing that all children should be in the classroom, which is to say out of the factories, although working-class families still depended on the income from child labor. Middle-class reformers had already seen in other institutions, such as asylums, reformatories, and junior farms, situations by which to control working-class youth. In order to maintain middle-class adolescents’ moral footing in their new, tempting circumstances, the reformers, often called Progressives, created such organizations as the Boy Scouts, the YMCA, and the YWCA.

• 53

Within the family, the wealth created by industrialization meant more leisure time for parents, though at first only those of the middle class, to watch children, to feed them better, and to arrange for their contentment. Economic development was reinforcing demographic change; at the turn of the 20th century, there was a decline in infant mortality, and parents, less worried about the death of the young, continued in the pattern of having fewer children. The concurrent rise in life expectancy also allowed the greater number of surviving parents to pay more attention to these fewer children. The economic and demographic developments that contributed to greater family stability had, however, an unintended side effect: The longer parents lived together, the more prone they were to divorce, which began to accomplish in the 20th century what death had taken care of earlier. By the 1920s, prosperity had become a way of life for the upper and upper-middle classes, reflected in a youth culture of jazz and sex that ran contrary to the mores of adults. The latter were wed to a philosophy of child control, scientifically presented as behaviorism, which they were unable to enforce on their older progeny. Economic abundance was delivered a severe blow by the Great Depression of the 1930s and restrained by the war-rationing economy of the early 1940s, however, while, quite coincidentally, behavioral scientists began to argue a novel point of view: Children were inherently good and ought to be granted full expression. Then, suddenly it seemed, World War II ended, the baby boom began, and middle-class mothers were reading Dr. Benjamin Spock, who, though he never discarded parental discipline, counseled that elders should empathize with their young. And, indeed, the affluence of the postwar period allowed many Americans, including members of the working class, to adopt a middle-class lifestyle: car and home ownership, a college education for the kids, and less authoritarian attitudes in child rearing. Then there was the explosive arrival of television, initially promoted as a family activity. The baby boomers—socialized by a television agenda alien to the past—provided a surprise for the adult world as they arrived at adolescence in the politically turbulent 1960s. The response to errant youth behavior in the 1920s was an attempt on the part of adults to persuade, if not coerce, adolescents to act as their seniors did. That became an almost impossible assignment with the booming expansion of the youth population. Some youngsters, labeled hippies, rebelled against adults by adopting a hedonistic lifestyle featuring drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Others responded to the civil rights movement and the war in Vietnam through political activity way beyond most adults’ boundaries. One explanation of youthful misbehavior focused on the high school, which allegedly erred in bringing together different socioeconomic

54 •

american histo ry, c hi l d ho o d an d a d o l e s c e n c e in

classes. This point of view was substantiated in such popular movies as Rebel without a Cause but, in fact, contained little truth. Children of the inner city, not to mention the rural poor, lived not simply in a different economic group but in a different world from the more privileged urban and suburban young. Of course, their households had been battered by the Depression. But even after World War II, almost a quarter of the nation’s families lived below the poverty line set by the federal government. A third of them were rural tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and migrant farm workers. The remainder resided in the inner city, migrants from rural America as well as emigrants from Puerto Rico and Mexico. African American, American Indian, and female-headed households were conspicuously poor. The infant mortality rate for very poor children was roughly twice the national average. Poor children lagged considerably behind their more prosperous peers in basic measures of physical development, such as height and weight, and were more susceptible to disease. And, of course, medical care was more limited. Malnutrition was common, leading even to brain damage and death. Later in their young lives, they were more prone to accidents, homicide, and suicide, unsurprising in view of the fact that physical punishment of less-well-off children was more prevalent. Until 1954, the racial segregation of educational facilities was lawful; it was observed, however, that black children’s feelings of inferiority were a response not simply to school segregation but rather to their full experience in a society riddled with racial prejudice. By 1935, all states but two provided payments to needy mothers with dependent children; at that time, the federal government, through Title IV of the Social Security Act, provided Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), but even 30 years later the income provided was less than half the poverty level, even to children whose families had no other source of income. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a War on Poverty, with an agenda weighted in favor of helping children by way of such programs as Head Start (the idea was that education could provide an antidote to poverty) and the Job Corps (for high school dropouts). Additionally, there was Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, through which educationally deprived, low-income children could get help. Simultaneously, ADC was changed to Aid to Families with Dependent Children, greatly expanding the rolls and providing food stamps and medical care. The number of poor Americans dropped from 22% of the population in 1959 to 11% in 1973. Considered regionally, in the late 20th century, though the rural population was about one-quarter of the national total, it included 40% of the nation’s poor. It was less well served by the federal government as its neighborhoods and institutions disappeared with urbanization. And child labor on the farm was abundant. Ultimately, the War on Pov-

erty failed not only rural America but also the whole nation. If viewed as an effort to arrest the polarization of wealth in the United States, an effort that had begun in the mid1930s, it failed because it was superseded by the celebration of wealth, which crested in the 1980s, only to reach a higher wave in the early 21st century. Poor children were not invited to this party. Finally, all children, their economic circumstances notwithstanding, have been affected by changes in the family. There has been a decline in the number of siblings, in the percentage of two-parent households, and in the nearby availability of grandparents. Just as the 19th century was characterized by the absence of the father, now employed away from home, so, too, in the late 20th century the mother is often missing as well, also in the workforce. The typical American child has less time in familial contact than ever before. Joseph E. Illick see also: African American Children; Asian American Children; Latino Children in the United States; Native American Children further reading: Robert H. Bremner et al., eds., Childhood and Youth in America: A Documentary History, 3 vols., 1970–74. • Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner, eds., American Childhood: A Research Guide and Historical Handbook, 1985. • Karin Calvert, Children in the House: The Material Culture of Early Childhood, 1600– 1900, 1992. • Carl H. Nightingale, On the Edge: A History of Poor Black Children and Their American Dreams, 1993. • Joseph E. Illick, American Childhoods, 2002. • Steven Mintz, Huck’s Raft: A History of American Childhood, 2004.

americans with disabilities act. see Disabilities, Care of Children with; Special Education

amniocentesis. see Genetics: Genetic Testing ancient mediterranean world, childhood and adolescence in. The history of the ancient Mediterranean world covers the period from roughly 3,000 BC to AD 500 and includes a vast number of territories, such as the Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In demographic terms, this area was a high-pressure regime, which means that both fertility and mortality were consistently high. The best-known illustration is Cornelia, mother of the famous Gracchi brothers, who had 12 children, all of them born between 163 BC and the death of her husband Tiberius in 152 BC. All 12 children survived their father, but only 3 of them survived childhood. The underlying causes for the high level of mortality reside in the general conditions of life. Infectious diseases would have taken their toll indiscriminately, although undernourishment may have affected the poor more than the wealthy. Infant mortality in the Roman Empire has been estimated at 300 per 1,000 per year, and it must have been in the same order of magnitude for the other regions. The cultures of the ancient Mediterranean also used infanticide

an ci ent me d it e r r a n e a n w o r l d , c h il d h o o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

and infant or child exposure to keep their family size at an optimum level compared to social pressures and economic circumstances. Infanticide may have been practiced only in extreme cases, but infant or child exposure was frequent, although perhaps not so much in Jewish society. For the working classes, the decision to abandon a child was mainly influenced by adverse economic circumstances. Whenever the upper classes resorted to it, it was mainly done in order to leave more money behind for the surviving children. Additional female children were especially considered a liability because they required dowries and would be unable to continue the family name. When found, the infants were raised as slaves and commonly were later employed in the sex industry. Exposure was penalized only in AD 374, but even imperial legislation had no power to change adverse economic circumstances, and the practice continued unabated. It is difficult to establish the impact of these demographic trends and reproductive strategies on the love parents showed toward their children. Parents responded to the death of small children with less display of distress and grief than is customary today. Feelings of love and severe distress at the loss of a child are not absent from the sources, but they appear to be somewhat exceptional. The majority of cultures in the ancient Mediterranean encouraged parents to deal philosophically with the death of a young child, and grief was quickly considered to be excessive and out of place compared with appropriate reactions to the loss of a teenager or a young adult. It is possible that parents were emotionally detached from young children and had developed certain rituals to deal with the loss of a child. Exposure as such need not be taken as evidence that parents did not love their children, but it does suggest that, perhaps often, decisions were taken that any parent would have found difficult. The conceptualization of childhood in the ancient world was overwhelmingly negative. In Greece, it was quite common to see infants as being very close to the animal rather than the human world because of their lack of thought and speech. In Rome, the small child was characterized as “being unable to speak,” literally so, for this is what the term infans, from which the word infant is derived, means. This phrase covers the ability to formulate coherent thoughts and to recognize the implications of what was being said. Plato classified children, together with women, slaves, and animals, as beings who lacked the power of reason. Aristotle took this classification one step further by grouping children together with the sick, the bad and the brutish, the drunk, and the lunatic. He further identified childhood as a stage of life to which no one in his right mind would want to return, a viewpoint shared much later by St. Augustine. According to Plato, what children lacked most of all was discipline; together with the lower classes, children were conspicuous by having the most desires, pleasures,

• 55

and pains. These negative views are prompted by the notion that the ideal representative of Greek civilization was the adult male, and they must therefore be assessed as constructs that, in part, served the rhetorical objectives of a particular philosophical argument. However, the views reproduced here correspond remarkably well with other social phenomena. For example, children would be mourned for the potential contribution they would have been able to make at a future stage of their development, but not for their qualities as children. The young person is in principle an adult, but one who has not yet reached the right age and is therefore neither an adult nor a child. Discrepancies in the experience of childhood and adolescence were caused by cultural and socioeconomic differences. The most glaring cultural differences are to be found between the Greco-Roman and the Jewish worlds. In Jewish society, the idea was prevalent that the child possessed an innate evil nature. The goal of Jewish education was to facilitate the child’s transition to compliance with the divinely sanctioned laws and order of society, and for this purpose the use of adequate corporal punishment was acceptable. In Greece and Rome, on the other hand, a clear distinction was made, at least on a theoretical level, between the use of verbal reprimanding, used for children, and the use of force, which was reserved for slaves. Another important difference is that Jewish society commanded that all born children be reared, a cultural peculiarity that attracted the attention of Aristotle and other Greco-Roman authors. In all three societies, however, there was a strong emphasis on the child’s duty to obey parents and to assist them in their old age. The cultural differences between Greece and Rome were always small, but from the 2nd century BC onward the two civilizations grew even closer. Rome’s military and political dominance ensured that Greek ideas and values became the most important cultural idiom in a broad stretch of Europe and the Near East. If there were significant differences in the experience of the stages of the life cycle, they must be sought in the social group to which one belonged and the area of residence, city or countryside. The majority of the children of lower-class and slave families had to start working from an early age, while children of privileged families attended school or, at a somewhat later age, the gymnasium for athletic exercises and lectures. Access to schooling was determined by location and by financial circumstances. Schools were not statesubsidized, and their establishment ultimately depended on the generosity of private benefactors. Since education had to be paid for, only the wealthy could afford to invest in several years of education for their children. There were clearly circumscribed ritual ceremonies that marked the end of childhood and the introduction into the world of adulthood. The age at which these rituals took place suggests that the individuals were teenagers, but the events celebrated the end of childhood rather than the end

56 •

an cien t mediterran ea n w o rl d, c hi l d ho o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

of adolescence. In Athens, the central event was that of the son’s registration into his father’s neighborhood, the deme, at the age of 18. For the wealthy, this was followed by membership in the ephebeia, a category of young men frequenting the gymnasium. In Rome, the decisive moment was the laying down of the children’s toga and the putting on of the toga of manhood. This could take place as early as 14 and as late as 19, although the latter was considered to be exceptional. Girls in their early teens dedicated their childhood toys at the shrine of a goddess, most usually that of Artemis/ Diana or Aphrodite/Venus. They were now considered ready for marriage. Even though admission to the adult world was marked by a public transition, it is by no means clear that it meant acceptance as a full adult. Participation in the adult world, most notably the world of work and the world of politics, could even take place before the rituals of adulthood, but the period of inferiority within the adult world would last for much longer than in the modern world. In the ancient world, adolescence was hardly ever singled out as period in which young men and women needed to experiment, rebel, or subvert before returning to a regular pattern of life. Instead, there was an extended period from the midteens to the mid-30s in which young adults participated in adult life but were regarded as possessing less authority than the generation preceding them. Marc Kleijwegt see also: Aristotle; European History, Childhood and Adolescence in; Plato further reading: Marc Kleijwegt, Ancient Youth: The Ambiguity of Youth and the Absence of Adolescence in Greco-Roman Society, 1991. • Beryl Rawson, Children and Childhood in Roman Italy, 2005. • Mark Golden, Children and Childhood in Classical Athens, 2006.

animism. It has long been noted that the idea of humans being the only “persons” or being the only intentional agents on the planet is not only not universal, but rather the exception, and one might add “luckily so.” First of all, no culture exists now or in the past that does not have some animistic beliefs. Where these beliefs come from, how they differ, and how cultural and life-stage differences in animistic concepts actually map onto behavioral differences are some of the important questions that need to be addressed in research on animism and child development. In its most general sense, the term animism (from the Latin anima, meaning “soul”) refers to the belief in the existence of a soul that animates all kinds of objects, governing to some extent their existence. The term was introduced to anthropology by the British anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor in his theory of religion (1871). He applied the term to a general belief in a “soul,” by which he meant some mystical, nonempirical life force that endowed all kinds of entities

with intentions. It is important to note that Tylor did not presuppose an exact nature of these souls and how they are related to the body. In fact, these questions were of little interest to him. In a sense, Tylor (and many that followed him) took animism as the “wrongful” attribution of souls to physical entities (stones, clouds, etc.), yet it is important to keep in mind that he did not suppose animism to be the idea that all physical entities have souls. Two things are worth mentioning in this approach. First, given this definition, it is clear that animism is not something only non-Europeans believe; it also forms part of Christian belief. This becomes even clearer if the term soul is replaced with the general idea of a life force. Second, Tylor’s theory builds on the attribution of souls to physical objects. For Tylor, “primitive man” explained dreams, visions, and so forth with the existence of a life force independent of the body, the first step in creating a human religion. The idea of the wrongful life attribution to inanimate things inspired early child developmental studies targeting the questions of what attributes children make at different ages and why they do so. In his seminal work, the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget intended to show that young children are animistic; that is, they inappropriately attribute properties of animate beings to inanimate objects. This finding has been questioned ever since and has often been attributed to the fact that the children were asked mainly about unfamiliar items (such as the wind or the moon). Still, the questions of whether, how, and why children make distinctions between animate and inanimate objects remain at the forefront of developmental research. In an effort to clarify the issue, cognitive developmental psychologists have provided a list of important differences between animate and inanimate objects, including “acting,” “reciprocating,” “perception,” “having a particular internal structure,” and so forth. To be sure, it is important to understand children’s concepts with respect to these questions, yet a “checklist” approach has some inherent problems. What does animistic actually mean? What are the criteria for animistic beliefs in children? Why should one assume that Western adult knowledge (often wrongfully identified as scientific knowledge) provides the measuring stick for the divide between the realms of the animate and inanimate? It is here that important synergies exist between anthropology and cognitive psychology. For example, in many cultures humans perceive natural kinds (like stones, water, clouds, and the sun) as alive. This is, for example, the case among the Tzotzil Maya of Chiapas, Mexico. Yet this is not based on a confusion of biological processes; Maya children and adults of course do not think that these entities reproduce, eat, grow, or die like animals or humans do. Instead, it seems that the respective notion of alive is much broader than what is proposed by Western science.

a p p r e n t ic e s h ip

Different concepts of alive might exist cross-culturally and developmentally. For example, one might argue that U.S. children have different concepts for alive for both animals and plants. Given these differences, it is not surprising that such concepts do not necessarily coincide with biological/ scientific concepts of life. In this scenario, death might not describe the opposite end of alive. Tzotzil Maya, for example, traditionally attribute life to certain caves, yet they do not think that caves can actually die. These are important points to bear in mind given that the different models create very different reference points for child development and the acquisition of knowledge. For one, it instills a certain amount of respect and a different attitude toward the nonhuman environment, which now consists of a large set of intentional agents. Among Tzotzil Maya, for example, discussions about certain caves being alive are fairly common and often deal with historical/mythical stories. Hence, they provide the framework for children’s understanding of important aspects of their culture while at the same time endowing them with respect toward the environment surrounding them. Statistically speaking, random independent inventions are just as unlikely to explain the universality of animistic beliefs as is the theory of the dissemination of such beliefs around the globe. This has led cognitive scientists to speculate that the animation of objects might be a cognitive universal. Developmental research indicates that children from an early age are primed toward watching out for intentional agents. Stewart Guthrie calls this cognitive priming the outcome of the “safe bet situation.” In the light of uncertainty (one hears the slamming of a door), the assumption of an intentional agent (potentially harmful) is the safe bet as it prepares a person for some danger. In this account, mechanisms to detect intentional agents, such as identifying teleological actions, and face recognition lead people to “see” intentional agents where there are none, and hence lead humans to develop ideas of gods and so forth. Still, while these processes are attributed to all humans regardless of time and space, there are marked differences in what kinds of elements are attributed with life. As a result, it is critical to keep in mind that across different cultures children are exposed to different truths along the developmental path. By the same token, it would be misleading to classify human groups by whether they “wrongfully” attribute intentional actions and life to other than animate objects. This is done in a more current version of the animism debate in anthropology. Within this current line of thought, the question is not one of rightful attribution of life or not but of how humans behave toward their environment based on the above-mentioned differences. Starting with a seminal paper by Irving Hallowell in 1960, the view of people holding animistic beliefs is not whether they wrongfully attribute life to nonliving objects. Instead, the focus is on how humans treat a wide range of persons, only some of

• 57

whom are human. While this opens the question of what it means to be a person, thinking about the treatment of dogs in the United States might illustrate the general argument. Compared to pigs, dogs are definitely regarded more like persons, and as a result they are treated differently. Among other things, very few people would eat their dog or make a grave for their pigs. Obviously then, treating an “object” as a person has clear consequences for how people think about and act toward an entity and what role they attribute to it within their cosmos. Within this perspective, it is easier to understand the traditional Native American view that everything in the world has a role to play. The world does not consist of objects surrounding humans; instead, many of the elements exist in their own right and independent of humans, requiring respectful treatment from humans. While it does mean that humans are only one among many “kinds of persons” with whom one has to interact and engage, it does not mean that humans cannot be special in such an account. However, being the only persons on the planet changes the rules of the game. Luckily, this view has probably been the exception rather than the rule for most of human history. Norbert O. Ross see also: Child: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives; Cognitive Development; Concepts, Children’s; Magical Thinking further reading: P. Descola, “Societies of Nature and the Nature of Societies,” in Adam Kuper, ed., Conceptualizing Society, 1992, pp. 107–26. • E. Viveiros de Castro, “Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4 (1998), pp. 469–88. • N. Bird-David, “Animism Revisited,” Current Anthropology 40 (1999), pp. 67–91.

anorexia nervosa. see Eating Disorders anxieties. see Fears, Phobias, and Anxiety Disorders apprenticeship. Apprenticeship is a major social institution for shaping the process of skill acquisition and the transition of adolescents into adulthood, considerably more prominent historically and presently in Europe than in North America. It is rooted in the guilds of medieval Europe that organized and controlled the recruitment and training of skilled craftsmen and artisans. Parents gave their sons into the care and control of a master craftsman, artisan, or shop owner who was responsible for the training (and moral education) of the young person and his advancement over a period of three to five years from a novice apprentice to a skilled worker or journeyman. Until the middle of the 19th century, apprenticeship was a personal relationship between master and learner that combined instruction in practical skills with internalization of good work habits according to the behavioral models of the master and experienced journeymen. In the countryside, many children experienced an informal learning process in their farming families, where they participated

58 •

ap p ren t iceship

imagining each other

Learning to Weave in a Maya Community Xunka’s mother grew up in the world of agriculture in the Maya region of highland Chiapas, Mexico, in a village that was part of the Maya community of Zinacantán; the time was 1970. No one ever bought clothes (except for men’s shirts); women wove and embroidered clothing for their families, and learning to weave meant learning ﬁve cotton and wool patterns that were used for all clothing and deﬁned you as a Zinacantec when you wore them. Xunka’s mother herded sheep and used the wool for weaving. Her body got used to the positions and movements she would need for weaving by practicing them over and over again in the course of daily life. Xunka’s mother started to weave when Xunka’s grandmother said, in the Maya language of Tzotzil, “Weave!” Xunka’s grandmother believed that her daughter would want to weave when her chulel, or “soul,” arrived. This happened when Xunka’s mother was 8 years old. She started to weave on the backstrap loom, a piece of technology that has been in use for 4,000 years in Mesoamerica. Xunka’s grandmother wound the warp for a very small piece, a tortilla bag, and set up her daughter’s loom. Because the weaver is part of the frame of the backstrap loom and must lean back to keep the warp threads taut, weaving takes a lot of physical strength and a piece cannot be much wider than the hips of the weaver. So a tortilla bag was something small enough for an 8-year-old girl to handle. And besides it would be useful for the family. When Xunka’s mother began to weave, Xunka’s grandmother was always there to help her daughter with the hard parts. Grandmother always seemed to know when her daughter needed help and took the initiative to help even before

in the daily work in the fields and the household. Before the rise of industrial society, young people could learn skills and good work habits in the context of their family and the neighborhood without becoming involved in formal training. Apprenticeship differs from child labor because it inculcates specific practical and social skills in a regulated training context that leads to the certified status of skilled worker. In North America, even before the end of the 19th century, European observers noted a characteristic absence of formal apprenticeship opportunities and a corresponding expansion of academic secondary education. These patterns were reinforced by an increasingly pronounced tendency for high school and, subsequently, college graduation to have far higher prestige than any form of specifically vocational training. American education and training policy is dominated by the belief that young people, through secondary school, should concentrate on academic subjects and not be subjected to vocational learning. Employers, however, see not only academic credentials but also work experience as important qualifications for hiring, rendering it difficult for high school graduates to find satisfactory em-

Xunka’s mother made an error. Xunka’s mother never even needed to ask for help. When there was a really hard part of the weaving, grandmother did it herself, while Xunka’s mother observed carefully, so that she could learn how to do it herself later on. By the time Xunka herself learned to weave in the early 1990s, the situation was very different. Her family had become very involved in commerce and had greatly diminished their involvement in farming. Now her grandfather and one uncle owned a Volkswagen van that they used to transport villagers back and forth to the neighboring city of San Cristobal de las Casas. Three other uncles owned a truck that they used to transport produce to market. Commerce had extended to weaving itself. Girls and women now wove and embroidered clothing on order for money. Sometimes those who placed the orders were young mothers who did not have time to weave and embroider themselves. Sometimes these were older women who had not learned how to do the fancy embroidery and brocade weaving that was now all the rage. The materials used for weaving had changed. With the rise of Mexico’s oil industry, petrochemicals were used to make acrylic thread in a rainbow of colors that members of the community could buy inexpensively. Some women were able to buy thread wholesale and opened up thread stores in the village. But now that materials to weave and embroider cost so little in both money and labor, Xunka could fool around and experiment with thread without worrying about wasting it. She

ployment. Since there are no institutional bridges for young persons en route from school to work, many U.S. and Canadian youngsters endure a floundering phase after graduation before they have a chance for a stable work situation. Teenage work during high school is sometimes regarded as an informal substitute for the social pathway of organized training, because it provides some work experience and orients young people toward adult roles but without a certification procedure. Aspects of apprenticeship have also been appropriated in a variety of employer-provided training programs, but these represent labor costs that American firms increasingly seek to avoid, because they worry about poaching of their skilled workers. North American arrangements can be contrasted most clearly with those in German-speaking societies, where formal apprenticeship has continued especially vigorously, although much challenged by the increase in labor-market flexibility in the wake of globalization. In Germany, apprenticeship is regulated by the government as a contractual relationship between trainees (Auszubildende) and a training firm in more than 300 white- and blue-collar occupations, with standardized tasks, duration, allowance, vaca-

a p p r e n t ic e s h ip

• 59

Learning to Weave in a Maya Community (continued)

tion, health insurance, and, most important, a certification schedule. Its crucial feature is the combination of training and education at two learning sites: the firm (private) and the vocational school (public). Therefore, it is called the “dual system” of Vocational Education and Training (VET). VET is the linkage between work and education and promotes the development of individual competences and social identity. The firm is in charge of on-the-job training and technical instruction, and the vocational school is attended by apprentices in a day-release arrangement. As the core institution of vocational socialization for youth who are not college bound, its aim is to transmit technical and social skills as well as value orientations that contribute to the shaping of one’s work life course. After graduating from apprenticeship, skilled workers are expected to show three aspects of mastery: know-how in technical and procedural matters, well-organized and sensible execution of job tasks, and social competence inside and outside of the occupation. Training and education in the dual system are closely linked with a concept of occupation that refers to the ideal of a personal identification with the contents, rules, and community of practice

ary 1993, things began to change even more rapidly. Xunka’s younger sister, Maruch, is not learning to weave at all. The family now has a sewing machine, and Maruch has learned through trial and error how to embroider woven shawls, ponchos, and skirts. Sometimes now the skirts and ponchos are not even woven; they are made from store-bought material. People in the village pay Maruch much more for her machine embroidery than they used to pay for hand embroidery or brocade weaving, even though it is much faster to produce. But embroidering on the machine is also much more like an industrial process; the machine sets your pace, and it is a very rapid one. Sitting at a sewing machine for hours on end is also very hard on your back and on your eyes, especially when there is very little light. Unlike weaving and embroidery, a sewing machine cannot be set up outdoors. Unique among all the generations of her family, Maruch plans to continue her formal education beyond elementary school. There is now a junior high school in the village, and Maruch plans a career in which she will utilize her reading and writing skills. Her grandmother could not have imagined such a life pathway. With losses as well as gains, life and learning have indeed changed. Patricia Marks Greenﬁeld

imagining each other

began to make play weavings on little toy looms. A toy loom was much easier to use than a real loom because Xunka could wind her warp threads directly onto the loom, instead of having to wind the warp onto a much more complex apparatus. While Xunka’s mother wove in the courtyard, making items that other women had ordered, Xunka started to weave on her own. Whereas her grandmother had decided when her mother should start to weave, Xunka made that decision herself and practiced quite independently, learning from her own errors. Sometimes she made so many mistakes that she would have to take the weaving out and start all over. When she needed help, she would often call out to her older sister. Unlike her mother, Xunka also went to school. And so she was able to learn new techniques of weaving and embroidery that her mother could not. For example, she was able to draw designs on paper and then transfer them to blouses, shawls, and servilletas, where she could ﬁll them in with embroidery. Whereas her mother had had to learn to weave only ﬁve traditional patterns, fancy new designs had become all the rage. The fancy new textiles also took a lot more time to weave and embroider, but it was worth it when, at ﬁesta time, your husband looked so handsome or, if you were a teenage girl, the boys all looked at you in your beautiful new shawl. Xunka was also proud of being able to sell her servilletas on the road (the Pan-American Highway that went by the edge of their village) and contribute to the family income. Her independence in learning to weave made her especially skillful at being able to understand new designs. After the North American Free Trade Agreement in Janu-

further reading: Patricia M. Greenﬁeld, Ashley E. Maynard, and Carla P. Childs, “Historical Change, Cultural Learning, and Cognitive Representation in Zinacantec Maya Children,” Cognitive Development 18, no. 4 (October 2003), pp. 455–87. • Patricia Marks Greenﬁeld, Weaving Generations Together: Evolving Creativity in the Maya of Chiapas, 2004.

that define skilled work in the various economic sectors of industrial society. Entering an apprenticeship means completing a process of vocational choice that begins in the last years of school and has long-term consequences for young persons, because it shapes their skill profiles and employment opportunities in occupation-centered labor markets. Social origin, gender, parents’ work experiences, level of schooling, peers, and vocational counseling are influencing vocational choice to a certain degree; however, the market for training places and the employers’ hiring criteria decide at the end. In 20th-century Germany, apprenticeship has served two functions: the qualification of the young labor force and the social and civic integration of the children of the working class. The founding father of the apprenticeship system, Georg Kerschensteiner (1854–1932), emphasized the need of socially including working-class children and youth into industrial society and developed a model for vocational education that was rooted in the traditional notion of occupation as a vocation for a certain kind of work. Influenced by the U.S. pragmatists, especially John Dewey and his ideas of reform pedagogy, Kerschensteiner regarded education for

60 •

ap p ren t iceship

work as a general vocational preparation of work habits like care, thoroughness, and circumspection and as a means for generating work motivation and civic responsibility. This idea of apprenticeship not only survived the National Socialist dictatorship but was revived after World War II in the period of economic recovery and institutionalized by federal VET legislation in 1969 in the context of welfare-state reforms. In Germany, in the past decades the school-to-work transition via an apprenticeship has become extended because of prolonged schooling and a declining supply of training places. The social composition of the apprentices also changed. Their average age has risen from 16 to 19 years, and the proportion of young women has increased from less than 40% to almost half; they are, however, facing a much smaller range of (mainly office and service) jobs than young men, and many are directed into school-based vocational education programs. As in other countries, migrant youths (especially those of Turkish origin) are underrepresented in Germany’s VET system, though their social and civic integration could be promoted by the chance to learn an occupation. Apprenticeship is concerned with providing skills, occupational values, and work habits as well as general education by connecting studying and working at two learning sites. The balance between general and occupation-specific education is determined by the qualification requirements of the firms. Apprentices recognize that their transition to work is driven by the employers and rate vocational school as less important than the training firm; their learning motivation and achievement goals are tied to the workplace. Thus, there is a latent confl ict of interest between the two learning sites; the design of the school curricula emphasizes general and civic education in the framework of occupational fields, while in-firm training has its focus on work skills and occupational flexibility. About 25% of the apprentices leave their training in the first year because they feel exploited as cheap laborers. Most of the dropouts, however, do not leave the system of VET; they are looking for a better training firm or even change their occupation. Today, there is doubt that the notion of a lifelong occupation that underlies apprenticeship will be adaptable to the highly flexible labor markets that characterize industrialized service societies in the era of globalization. To rely on on-the-job training, which is characteristic for the semiskilled workforce, does not make for a successful transition from school to work, because it does not provide enough technical, theoretical, and social competence for adapting to the new demands of work in the knowledge society. Due to technological and organizational changes and corporations’ cost-cutting response to global market competition, job start and advancement through career lines that used to be based on an apprenticeship have become destabilized.

The future of apprenticeship depends on the changing occupational structure, labor market conditions, and the balance between vocational and academic educational traditions. At present, there is an interaction between changing skill demands and the expansion of higher education, a process that in the long run will lead to an erosion of the continental model of VET. However, cultural beliefs and social institutions are still contributing to societies’ “pathdependent” responses to globalization. Employment structures, labor markets, and education systems vary between continental Europe and the Anglo-American societies. Thus, the notions of occupation and social pathways from school to work differ widely, and this makes it unlikely that apprenticeship as a transition institution will be transferred to market-centered societies that do not rely on institutionalized VET and skill-certification programs and trust that community colleges and university colleges are superior. Walter R. Heinz see also: Education, Informal; Vocational Schools and Training; Work, Children’s Gainful further reading: Stephen F. Hamilton, Apprenticeship for Adulthood, 1990. • Walter Müller and Yossi Shavit, eds., From School to Work: A Comparative Study of Educational Qualiﬁcations and Occupational Destinations, 1998. • Walter R. Heinz, ed., From Education to Work: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, 1999. • D. B. Bills, ed., The Sociology of Job-Training, 2003.

architecture, children and. see Built Environment, Children and the

ariès, philippe (b. July 22, 1914; d. February 8, 1984), French historian. There is not another field quite like the history of childhood in all of modern scholarship. Before 1962, it simply did not exist in any serious sense. Since then and to this day, it has been framed by a single book, Centuries of Childhood (henceforward Centuries), by Philippe Ariès. Ariès is arguably the most remarkable of all 20thcentury historians. He was, as much as any one person was, the founder of the new cultural history that centered on the study of mentalities. He also pioneered the historical study of death, of sexuality, and of private life. Until the last years of his life, when he was elected to the faculty of the prestigious École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, he was just a “Sunday historian.” His formal position was the directorship of the documentation center of an institute of tropical agriculture. Ariès’s most influential book was his first, the one that set the course of all subsequent historical study of the family and of youth. In it, he conjured a world in which, until the 16th century, children were “little adults”: They heard the same jokes, played the same games, wore the same clothes, and, so far as they were physically able, did the same work as their parents. Only later did the unprecedented idea

a r is t o t l e

of childish innocence and an unprecedented ideal of family child-centeredness begin to gain ground. Adherents of these new notions doted on their young as none had doted on them before and sheltered them from the corruptions of the wider society as none had sheltered them before. In doing so, over the next two centuries, they invented the nuclear family and the modern school. On Ariès’s account, moralists were avid to separate the child “from the varied world” by an unprecedented discipline. Pedagogues were preoccupied with the “dangers” presented by the “promiscuity” of that world. And reformers were fixated on “safeguarding” childish innocence “against pollution by life.” Ariès’s interpretation was always more suggestive than systematic, more poetic than precise. The structure of his accounts was vast, yet his arguments were often vague. When he wrote Centuries, Ariès was an unabashed reactionary who declared defiantly his quarrel with modernity. His work was a strident assault on the 20th-century family and the child-world it enshrined. It expressed Ariès’s scorn for middle-class parents’ efforts to insulate their young from the unruly life around them. It registered his disdain for the fond surveillance with which those parents policed the apartheid they created. Ariès did not trouble to hide his delight in exposing the recency of contemporary ideas of the family and in stripping away their pretensions to be traditional and natural. He did not disguise his contempt for the “tenderness, vigilance, and zeal” of 19th- and 20th-century parents for their offspring, which seemed to him a refusal of real life. In his account, modern families emerged when the people who would constitute the bourgeoisie “seceded.” Withdrawing “from the vast polymorphous society” to try to live “separately, in a homogeneous environment,” they displayed the “intolerance towards variety” and “insistence on uniformity” that would thereafter define the middle class. Hating these bourgeois virtues, he raged against the nurturant nuclear family, and the schools that were its extension, more than he ever lashed out at the putative economic or political roots of the class. It is ironic, then, that Ariès has had his most devoted following among the thinkers and practitioners most committed to the norms and values he so disliked. Even after five decades, Centuries remains groundwork and gospel among social workers, educators, psychologists, and all who accept the therapeutic ethic. Even after a wave of withering attacks by historians, it is still authoritative among journalists, lawyers, and jurists. Of all the works of history of the late 20th century, it has the widest influence outside the historical precinct. It is ironic, too, that Ariès has had his most furious foes among historians specializing in the very era that he idealized, who fixated on an “Arièsian myth” of little adults and unloving parents and rushed to refute it. Ariès met their denunciations with equanimity. He conceded that his radical discontinuity hypothesis overstated affairs but insisted on

• 61

the fact of major change. He was adamant that people were different at different times: The family had a history. The most urgent questions that confront family historians are the ones that preoccupied Ariès himself, half a century ago and to his dying day. Those questions were always, at bottom, ethical. How do people live, now, and where do they go from here? “Our society,” Ariès thundered, “has passed from a period which was ignorant of adolescence to a period in which adolescence is the favorite age. We now want to come to it early and linger in it as long as possible.” Michael Zuckerman see also: Child: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; European History, Childhood and Adolescence in further reading: Willem Koops and Michael Zuckerman, eds., Beyond the Century of the Child: Cultural History and Developmental Psychology, 2003. • Patrick Hutton, Philippe Ariès and the Politics of French Cultural History, 2004.

aristotle (b. 384 BC; d. 322 BC), ancient Greek philosopher. Aristotle was the son of Nicomachus, physician to Amyntas, the grandfather of Alexander the Great. Owing to his native curiosity and his father’s profession, Aristotle developed an interest in natural phenomena and would come to be one of the greatest pre-Darwinian naturalists of all time. For nearly 20 years, he studied in Plato’s famous Academy and, in that capacity, must have composed a number of now lost dialogues. After a period of time away from Athens, he returned to found his own school, the Lyceum, so called because the space was juxtaposed to the temple honoring Apollo Lyceus. Remarkable for his systems of classification and for his powers of integration, Aristotle developed a conception of human nature incorporating his own systematic studies in biology, anatomy, ethology, psychology, ethics, and political science. At the center of his ethical and psychological works is a theory of character and the conditions associated with its development. Thus, the manner in which childhood is shaped and guided determines not only the character of the citizen but the character of the polis (state) itself. The relationship is reciprocal. As the laws and the political life of the community function as teachers of the young, so, too, does the moral excellence of leading citizens become expressed in the rule of law and the political life over which they preside. Unlike the approach adopted in Plato’s Academy, where mathematics was taken to reflect the nature of truth and the goal toward which philosophical arguments should lead, Aristotle was more inclined toward a realistic and practical mode of inquiry, informed by the manner in which living things are fitted out to function in their natural environments. The various species of animals are of a defined and an essential nature such that, for a given type of creature,

62 •

aristotl e

there are conditions more or less able to provide nurturance; there are modes of behavior more or less adapted to the needs of the creature. So, too, with the human animal, which is distinctively a rational animal with a natural inclination toward social and political modes of life. Childhood, on Aristotle’s account, falls along a continuum of powers and inclinations that, at one end, are merely animalistic and, at the other, express the unique resources of a mature and healthy rational being. What the human child comes to possess, through native endowment and careful instruction, is the power of deliberated choice (prohairesis), unique to human beings. Whether the child will develop this in such a way as to put emotions and desires in the service of reason is determined by conditions both internal and external to the developing child. Character is, to an uncertain degree, self-forming. What is clear in Aristotle’s theory of human development, however, is that neither personal nor familial resources are sufficient for the attainment of that degree of moral excellence that grounds a truly flourishing life. The political and ethical dimensions of life are profoundly influential. Where these are defective, the child’s development is destined to be defective and incomplete. It is important to understand the teleological character of Aristotle’s conception of development. He takes for granted that there are “natural kinds” (e.g., apples, persons, cuttlefish) that have naturally established potentialities for growth and development. The robust and well-functioning instances of each set the standard for the entire species. There are inborn limitations suffered by some members of the species, but, applicable to all, there are general conditions that must be met if the potentialities are to be realized. For rational beings, these conditions include centrally the political and moral character of the nurturing environment. Daniel N. Robinson see also: Child: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives; Education: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives further reading: Daniel N. Robinson, Aristotle’s Psychology, 1989. • Roger Crisp and Michael Slote, eds., Virtue Ethics: Oxford Readings in Philosophy, 1997.

artistic development. Child art, as all art, is a symbolic activity that is unique to human beings. Nonhuman primates do not create the very simple representational forms that most 3-year-old children draw quite spontaneously (see figures 1 and 2). The study of children’s drawings dates from the latter part of the 19th century and coincides with the beginnings of a systematic psychological study of child development. A 3-year-old’s drawing of a figure composed of a large circle with facial features and legs is a recognizable representation of a human. However, its unusual appearance that deviates from photographic realism puzzled psychologists who studied children’s drawings and noted their peculiari-

ties. These include the omission of significant features and their frequent displacement, the lack of proportion and perspective, mixed views, the arbitrary use of colors, transparencies of features not visible to an observer, and many other faults. Concluding that the drawings of the young were indicative of a conceptually immature mind, they studied the changes in children’s drawings as an index of the growth of intelligence. With Florence Goodenough’s Draw-a-Man test (Measurement of Intelligence by Drawings, 1926), drawings of the human figure were scored according to the number of parts depicted, and this test became a widely used instrument. The beginning of the 20th century saw another movement with a contrasting attitude toward child art. Artists and art educators organized the first exhibitions of child art, and many modernist artists, among them Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Gabriele Münter, appreciated the spontaneity and aesthetics of children’s drawings and paintings. These contrasting approaches are reflected in the writings of Jean Piaget and Rudolf Arnheim, both of whom have had a significant impact on research in this field. Piaget, in his influential book coauthored with Bärbel Inhelder, The Child’s Conception of Space (1957), proposed to view drawing development in distinct stages that correspond to the stages of spatial-mathematical reasoning. Beginning with a phase of “synthetic incapacity,” in which the preschool child draws simple forms that are poorly organized, children develop the ability to draw a complete and detailed figure that reflects their knowledge of the object, a stage Piaget termed intellectual realism. This kind of “realism” (ages 5 to 7 years) signifies that the drawing child has a better conception of the object, although the resemblance to the model remains crude and the perspective of the observer is ignored. During the next stage (ages 7 to 11), visual realism becomes the dominant form of drawing. Children now consider their viewing point, and their intuitive understanding of Euclidean concepts of measurement and of projective geometry lead to a more realistic depiction of a scene. Piaget considers this progression toward optical realism a highly valued end point in drawing development. Rudolf Arnheim’s 1974 book Art and Visual Perception provided a radically different perspective on the psychology of art. He rejects the notion that realism is a natural end point of artistic development and points out that in its long history perspective was invented only once, by the artists of the Renaissance, and that before and since that time there have been multiple forms of artistic expression that do not rely on perspective in their art form. Arnheim contrasts the nature of representation with that of replication and claims that artists do not aim for one-to-one correspondence of elements in their work to the referent but create forms of “equivalence” between their work and what it represents. According to Arnheim, all artistic thinking

a r t is t ic d e v e l o p m e n t

1

2

3

4A

4B

• 63

4C

5

begins with highly abstract and simplified forms. For all beginners, regardless of age, simple generalized forms are the only options available to the inexperienced artist. Thus, inexperience, not childhood, is the true starting point for representational development in the arts, and experience with the two-dimensional medium, its possibilities and constraints, becomes a major force leading to the differentiation of forms and their composition. Arnheim rejects the notion of a single developmental trajectory and emphasizes that there are multiple solutions to representational problems. These contrasting approaches have inspired much research on children’s drawings revealing general developmental trends in the ability to use form, space, color, and composition. For m The true beginning of drawing as a representational activity can best be identified in the drawing of simple but recognizable forms that can “stand” for the object. When preschoolers begin to control their earlier scribble actions and recognizable shapes emerge, they tend to identify them as either humans or animals. The first forms are “globals,” consisting of a large circular or oblong shape that is endowed with facial features (see figure 1). Soon thereafter, the global figure becomes graphically more differentiated; it sprouts arms and legs and thus a universally seen early figure of a human or animal is created, often called the “tadpole figure” (see figure 2). As the global circle shrinks in size, the lines that stand for legs increase in length and yield a new figure, the “open-trunk figure,” with the trunk implied between the two verticals (see figure 3). Further graphic differentiation of the trunk section takes the form of a horizontal line

figure 1. Global humans. Girl, age 2 years, 10 months. figure 2. Tadpole ﬁgure. Girl, age 4 years, 4 months. figure 3. Open-trunk ﬁgure. Girl, age 6 years. figure 4. Strategies to differentiate the trunk. A. Horizontal line shows where the trunk ends. Boy, age 4 years, 6 months. B. Circleoblong drawn underneath the head. Girl, age 5 years, 2 months. C. Stick ﬁgure. Girl, age 4 years, 3 months. figure 5. (bottom row) Figures drawn with a continuous outline. Artists ages 6 years, 2 months, to 6 years, 9 months.

that connects the verticals: a “stick figure” in which a onedimensional vertical line connects head and limbs and a second circle drawn underneath the head (see figures 4A, 4B, and 4C). In the process of constructing their first representations, children are most concerned with creating a basic likeness to the human (or animal) figure, and relative size, proportion, orientation, and color are of minor concern. Once the basic forms and their organization have been mastered, some attention can be directed toward other variables. However, certain preferences are quite durable, and throughout the childhood years children prefer the frontal orientation of objects, often called the “canonical” view that provides the most salient information about the referent. Along with greater graphic differentiation of the parts of a figure, there are changes in the use of lines: from onedimensional lines for limbs to two-dimensional ones, from right-angular relations of the arms to the body to oblique ones useful for the depiction of action and interaction among the figures. By age 5 or 6, children also experiment with a single contour line that encompasses all the major parts of the figure in one comprehensive outline (see figure 5).

64 •

artistic dev el opmen t

Spac e Representing a three-dimensional object on a twodimensional surface presents a formidable challenge for all beginners, and the child’s earliest organization of pictorial space begins with a principle of “proximity,” placing items near each other, indicating that they belong together. Soon thereafter, a new directional rule yields side-by-side placements, mostly along the horizontal or vertical axis. The horizontal axis specifies left-right directions, while the vertical represents up-down and near-far dimensions. Only gradually do children differentiate between the different demands made upon the vertical axis and discover that diminishing the size of an item and partially occluding objects suggests distance, that color gradients can serve to unify the foreground, middle ground, and background of a scene, and that diagonals can be used to depict the sides of an object (see figures 6B and 7). In the case of highly motivated children, one notes experimentation with foreshortening (the proportionate contraction of some parts of a figure that suggest its depth and volume) and the converging lines of linear perspective. However, only a few children arrive at these technical skills on their own without explicit training or working from ready-made models. C o lo r The order in which representational skills evolve privileges form over color. Once the drawing of basic shapes has been accomplished, children use bold and contrasting colors for their sheer enjoyment, at first disregarding their realistic function. Thus, children begin with a subjectively determined choice of color, and gradually the drawer imposes some restrictions on the use of specific colors; for example, monochromatic outlines for humans and animals, red for strawberries, green for grapes, brown for tree trunks, the color yellow for the sun and the moon. By the middle childhood years, color is no longer subservient to form; it becomes a dominant factor in uniting the diverse elements in a drawing or painting. Thus, for example, a light coloring of the background can create the impression of the outdoors and provide some continuity between the different elements of a scene (see figure 7). Above all, color can become the carrier of mood and feelings and is a major factor in the aesthetics of child art and its ornamental tendencies.

Following a very short-lived phase of forms that appear to be distributed arbitrarily across the page, children begin to organize their figures along one or more horizontal axes. At first, these alignments are imprecise and give the impression of items floating in an unspecified space. Gradually, alignments tend to become more organized, with attention to the size of figures and the distance between them, followed by the introduction of a ground or baseline that anchors all elements firmly in the common plane. Depending on the theme, subgroupings appear that indicate that the actors have a special relationship or a common interest (see figures 6A and 6B). Such groupings are formed on the basis of similarity of size, color, form, or activity and are better able to convey their meaning. (See also figure 7.) The second compositional principle is the tendency to center figures on a page and the creation of symmetrical arrangements. Symmetry can be defined as the correspondence in size, shape, and relative position of items that are drawn on opposite sides of a dividing line or distributed around a center. Simple forms of centering and symmetry can already be seen in the earliest drawings of 3- and 4-year-olds, and with more experience the complexity of these arrangements increases. The more advanced symmetrical arrangements enrich the meaning of the work and its aesthetic appeal. Gi ftedness i n th e Arts Children who at an early age perform at the near-adult levels valued in their culture have generally been identified as “gifted.” In European and North American cultures, a child who at an early age masters three-dimensional techniques and represents objects in a naturalistic style is most commonly identified as gifted (see figure 8). Under the impact of modern art, this conception of giftedness has been broadened to include compositions of the child art style that are reminiscent of folk art, especially in their use of vibrant colors and ornamental qualities (see figure 9). In terms of their development, talented children do not skip stages but move much faster through them. Altogether, children who are highly talented in the arts pursue their own pathways whether they are colorists, expressionists, or realists. They appear to be driven, autonomous, determined to teach themselves what they need to know.

C om po s i t io n

Dr awi ng of C h i ldr en with I n tellectual Disabi lit y

Composition refers to an arrangement of all the elements that make up a work, to the use of line, form, space, and color that convey its meaning to the viewer. Two compositional principles underlie children’s drawings: a “gridlike alignment” of figures along the horizontal or vertical axis and “centering” strategies that organize items around a pictorial center.

The great majority of children with intellectual disability for whom no organic impairment has been established, and whose IQ scores range from 50 to 70, draw at the level of their mental age. This finding seems to be in line with the generally positive correlations established between the Goodenough Draw-a-Man test and IQ scores for ages 5 to 10 years. However, this linkage between drawing of the hu-

a r t is t ic d e v e l o p m e n t

6A

6B

7

8

• 65

figure 6. Alignment strategies and grouping of elements. A. Family: parents and children. B. Playground. Artist ages 11 years to 12 years. figure 7. Landscape with lake. A light coloring of the background creates an impression of being outdoors. Boy, age 12 years. figure 8. Truck. The quest for realism by a talented preschooler. Boy, age 3 years, 9 months. figure 9. Twins. Emphasis on color and ornamentation. Girl, age 5 years. 9

man figure and IQ scores has been seriously challenged in the drawings of a small group of children known as “savants,” intellectually disabled children with autism who show an unusual artistic ability. The results of studies conducted by Beate Hermelin and her colleagues and summarized in her 2001 book Bright Splinters of the Mind challenge a close relationship between drawing and IQ. A comparison of a group of savants with intellectual disability matched to a group of normally developing talented adolescents showed that in terms of graphic talent they were in distinguishable.

Summ ary There is general consensus regarding the developmental progression outlined so far that, however, does not extend to the interpretation of the findings. Piagetian and neoPiagetian researchers emphasize the cognitive limitations that underlie the typical childhood drawings, and investigators in the tradition of Arnheim highlight the problemsolving intelligence at work in a difficult medium. Underlying much of this disagreement is the question of the

66 •

artistic dev el opmen t

hypothesized end point of drawing development. Researchers in the Piagetian tradition emphasize that the end goal is some degree of optical realism and that the typical childhood drawings are immature and flawed productions due to conceptual deficiencies, production difficulties, or limitations on working memory, difficulties that ought to be overcome by the end of Piaget’s “concrete operational period” (ages 10 to 11). Researchers influenced by Arnheim’s concept of the “equivalence of forms” rather than “imitation” as the motivator for art making emphasize the discrepancy between what the child or the inexperienced adult knows and the specific skills necessary to represent it in drawing. They point to significant intra- and interindividual differences, depending on the nature of the task and the child’s motivation. They acknowledge that the ability to plan a drawing, to coordinate viewpoints, to monitor the action, and to revise it are cognitive skills that develop during the middle childhood years and facilitate the child’s analysis of the drawing task and its production. However, the hypothesis of a singular end point of optical realism in art has not been supported. Without training and the high motivation of children talented in the visual arts, there is no evidence of adolescents reaching such a state. All children, including the talented ones, are influenced by the material made available to them (paper, crayon, charcoal, paints, brushes, ink, etc.), by the images that surround them, by peers, teachers, magazines, and so forth. It is remarkable that despite those significant environmental influences, there is an astonishing similarity across time and space, especially in the early years. From the first publications in the 1880s until today, the structural similarity underlying children’s drawings from diverse cultures is quite remarkable. Underlying differences in style, detail, and use of the material, there are universals in the early stages of graphic development. Claire Golomb see also: Arts Education; Cognitive Development; Creativity; Giftedness; Musical Development; Piaget, Jean further reading: Rudolf Arnheim, Visual Thinking, 1969. • Ellen Winner, Gifted Children: Myths and Realities, 1996. • Claire Golomb, Child Art in Context. A Cultural and Comparative Perspective, 2002. • John Willats, Making Sense of Children’s Drawings, 2004.

arts education. Children learn about the arts in ways that partly depend upon their level of development and partly on the teaching and the resources made available to them. Arts education, however, ordinarily goes beyond “learning about,” since “learning about” presumes that art objects or the field of arts had some objective existence quite apart from the learner’s imaginative, cognitive, and perceptive life. Although most people reject approaches based on a simplistic subject-object separation, there are few present instances of programs geared to a transactional approach. Transactional approaches are grounded on the

idea that a work of art (created or perceived) emerges from an active involvement of an individual or individuals with paint, clay, stone, sound, the body in movement, or aspects of the human and physical environment as they impinge on consciousness. That involvement leads to a shaping, an ordering of particulars into new structures, new shapes, the kinds of transmutations that open fresh perspectives on the lived world. Fundamental to transactional approaches is a conception of an active learner striving to make sense of things through language or images or musical sounds. Fundamental as well is the presence of a teacher acting as coach or enabler trying to arouse authentic questions the responses to which might advance a learner’s quest. Teachers, in transactional approaches, are aware that the initiatives in learning must pass from the teacher to the learner, especially in art classes. But this is rarely evident in schools shadowed by demands for measurable achievement or for an emphasis on marketable skills. With the rare exception of schools that specialize in the performing arts, little attention is paid to the importance of such a changed philosophy of teaching in making art education more than a process of casual skill training or a poorly supported teaching of a craft. Indeed, for all the injections of funds from private foundations (e.g., Rockefeller, Annenberg, Getty, Gates), community organizations, and committed individuals, there has been a continuing neglect of art education in most school systems. One reason for this is the long preoccupation with the useful when it comes to public education. There were pianos in elementary classrooms and space for dancing by young children in the first quarter of the 1900s, but the advances of the “cult of efficiency” and the emphasis on basic skills and “life adjustment” made art education more and more of a stepchild in the schools. Granted, marching bands remained here and there, along with annual school plays and bake sales, but support for art education continued to dwindle, certainly through the days of emphasis on long lists of basic competencies and grim reminders of “what works.” Teachers entering the schools today often show the results of that long neglect of art education, of a marginalization that thrust it to the fringes of curricula and school itself. They are often unfamiliar with museums, theaters, and concert halls, especially if they have attended public schools throughout their lives. They tend to be ill equipped when it comes to arguing for justifying art education in the face of budget deficits or when choices have to be made between arts courses and concentration on the new technologies. There have been differences between trends in public school arts education and what has happened in private schools. Public schools have benefited from the research done on cognitive development in the arts, from reports on efforts to integrate art education with subject matter curricula to partnerships with art institutions and local or-

a s ia n a m e r ic a n c h il d r e n

ganizations. There has been a general agreement that too much emphasis has been placed on making and performing and too little on art appreciation or the cultural role of the arts. For all the efforts made and the choices required by financial pressures (between, say, the arts and technology), the arts have not been brought back from the fringes. Still, Harvard’s Project Zero and the University of Pittsburgh’s Arts Propel are reaching into public schools, and, on occasion, as in the case of the Heritage School, an arts-based public school sponsored by Teachers College, universities will collaborate in founding arts-based schools. The smallschools movement, as in the case of New York’s New Visions for Public Schools, has led to the establishment of theme schools, certain ones of which concentrate on the arts as they try to maintain a rigorous subject matter curriculum. Private schools have tended to benefit more directly from ongoing research. Young children have benefited from exposure to visual arts and a range of musical and dance performances; older children have benefited from the presence of artists in residence for longer periods of time than public school children. Although programs like Studio in a School that establish spaces for practicing artists and teaching artists within public schools have been devised for those schools, private schools have been able to afford such opportunities on their own. However, in many urban settings, the perception persists that working-class families’ priorities have to do with future employment for their children, and computers, along with newer technologies, offer greater hope than emphasis on the arts. Unfortunately, the rich and diverse cultural traditions, expressed perhaps most prominently in music, have made little impact on what is understood to be art education in public education. Community groups in cities as multicultural as New York and Los Angeles celebrate diverse traditions that affect arts curricula here and there, but they have not brought many art education programs back from the fringe. Such networks as those led by the Essential Schools movement have not focused on arts education, despite their emphasis on experiential methods and despite frequent discussions in conferences on the importance of restoring the arts to American classrooms. Dialogues about art education changed profoundly after the publication of A Nation at Risk by the National Commission on Excellence in Education in 1983; since then, curricula have been signally affected by the reviewing of art education as a cognitive affair rather than one emphasizing making or creativity or production. The report said almost nothing about the arts in its castigation of the schools for their “mediocrity” and their inability to promote the country’s economic dominance in the world. Art educators, however, found themselves bringing old arguments to the surface, especially those having to do with the tension between the affective and the cognitive in the teaching of the various arts. When the Getty Center for the Arts in Education

• 67

was founded, and the program entitled Discipline-Based Arts Education (DBAE) was widely distributed through the nation’s schools, it appeared to many that art education would at last be viewed as a cognitive study. Focused on visual arts education, however, it left unanswered questions about the other arts. It asked for the inclusion of art history, criticism, and aesthetics in art education, but little provision was made for the kind of teacher education required. Moreover, the new cognitive emphasis, by turning art into “subject matter,” brought art education under the rubric of “cultural literacy,” thus subordinating the significance of the several arts under “what every American should know.” Unlike the long humanist traditions kept alive in French lycées and German gymnasiums, cultural literacy seemed to include lists of discrete informational referents and basic skills. The high aspirations for a rebirth of arts education seemed to recede. Today, arts education in the public schools remains largely neglected in practice despite the growing appearance of partnerships between cultural institutions and public schools. A hopeful counterpoint to this trend may be found in the work of the Lincoln Center for the Arts in Education, which partners a number of public schools, sends teaching artists throughout the metropolitan area, establishes “focus schools,” but places its primary emphasis on aesthetic education, or art education through the reflective study of and engagement in a range of works of art. Meanwhile, the influence of Howard Gardner, David Perkins, and other investigators of the relation between cognition and significant engagements with the arts is felt in many public schools. Programs such as these must serve as models for changes in national policy and budgetary considerations if the promise with respect to arts education is ever to be fulfilled. Maxine Greene see also: Artistic Development; Creativity; Dance; Music; Musical Development; Theater and Acting further reading: John Dewey, Art as Experience, 1934. ard Gardner, The Arts and Human Development, 1973.

•

How-

asian american children. Asian Americans encompass a number of highly diverse groups, including Cambodian, Chinese, East Indian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, and Vietnamese heritages. More recently, the U.S. Bureau of the Census has also begun to include other, smaller Asian groups, including Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Bornean, Burmese, Malayan, Nepali, Singaporean, and Sri Lankan. Moreover, each has its own unique immigration history. The Chinese were the first group to come to the United States, around the mid-1800s, initially as contract laborers on Hawaiian sugar plantations and then between 1851 and 1860 as gold prospectors after gold was discovered in California in 1848. Beginning in the late 1800s, Chinese immigration was then followed

68 •

asian am erican chi l dren

by Japanese, Korean, and Filipino, who also served as contract laborers on Hawaiian sugar plantations. However, these groups were barred from further immigration into the United States through various exclusion acts (e.g., the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Japanese and Korean exclusion acts of 1924, and the Filipino exclusion act of 1934). East Indian immigration began in 1901 and hovered around 2,000 persons until the 1950s. With the Immigration Act of 1965, the numbers of many these immigrant groups increased dramatically and often constituted highly skilled and educated persons. The marked exception to this was the refugee immigration, beginning in 1975, from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, which constituted a large diversity in socioeconomic and educational levels. Currently, the majority of the growth in the Asian American population is due to immigration. Education of Asian Amer icans Much of the research on Asian American children and their development has focused on their educational achievements. Indeed, with the exception of the refugee immigration from Southeast Asia, the primary motivation for immigration from Asia since the 1980s has been for increased educational opportunities. This is particularly true for immigration involving families and their children. There has been considerable attention in the media to the “educational success” of Asian American youth, leading to the stereotyping of Asian Americans as the “model minority.” This stereotyping, however, belies the struggles that Asian Americans have endured for access and integration into public schools. The first legal challenge faced by Asian Americans seeking equal access to public schools for their children is documented in Tape v. Hurley (1885), which allowed Chinese Americans to be served by public schools, but under the doctrine of “separate but equal” schools (of which one was shortly established for Chinese pupils in San Francisco). This doctrine of “separate but equal,” broadly understood, continued to be challenged throughout the 20th century, culminating in 1974 with the landmark case of Lau v. Nichols, a decision recognizing the special needs and rights of limited-English-speaking students and the right to have bilingual-bicultural education. The stereotyping of Asian Americans as model minorities belies the political and legal struggles they have endured in the past century against racial exclusion. This stereotype is also perpetuated in the face of actual school performance data indicating that although many Asian American children achieve marked school success, others have difficulties that warrant further attention and educational support. The performance of Asian American students varies according to achievement indicator (i.e., grades, test scores, etc.) and domain of study (i.e., math, reading, etc.). Studies based on larger, more nationally representative samples suggest that Asian Americans tend to achieve similar or

higher grade point averages than whites in middle school and high school but not necessarily in college. Rates of college graduation, however, appear to be consistently very high for Asian Americans. With standardized test scores, Asian Americans achieve slightly higher scores on math but slightly lower scores on reading and writing than whites. The lower reading scores of Asian Americans are mostly due to the greater proportion of foreign-born or recent immigrants who have less English fluency. Generational comparisons with more nationally representative samples find that first-generation Asian immigrants have lower reading scores than second-generation (those born in the United States to foreign-born parents). Interestingly though, generational declines in math and science are found between third-generation youth (those born in the United States to U.S.-born parents) and more recent first- and second-generation immigrants. When looking by Asian subethnic groups, Filipinos and some Southeast Asian groups (e.g., Hmong and Cambodians) often score below whites in all subjects. Furthermore, there are dramatic differences between these Asian ethnic groups, with Chinese, Koreans, and East Indians having higher achievement than Filipinos, Japanese, and Southeast Asians. Different explanations have been provided for the school “success” of Asian American students. These explanations include structural (e.g., racism and discrimination, issues relating to ethnic minority and socioeconomic status), cultural (e.g., values and expectations for education, parenting emphasizing school effort and success), and immigration-related (e.g., educational motivation for immigrating) factors. Fa m i ly a n d Par en t i ng Much of the developmental focus on Asian Americans has dealt not only with school performance but also the family and particularly parenting (which is often credited for Asian American children’s school success). For many Asian groups, what it means to be an effective or “good” parent is evaluated primarily through how well their children perform in school. Their parenting practices thus emphasize and provide support for the child’s schooling and school success. This emphasis on schooling begins very early, even before children’s entry into school, and focuses on the fostering of children’s academic skills. Asian immigrant parents often begin teaching their children counting, writing, word recognition, and other prereading skills. By the time they enter kindergarten, their children already have familiarity with what they will be learning in the first two years of their schooling. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K) attests to the early academic skills of Asian American students, showing that Asian American children entered kindergarten

a s ia n a m e r ic a n c h il d r e n

with greater math and reading skills than did white, black, and Latino children. This emphasis by most Asian American parents on academic skills is reinforced throughout elementary school with parents also teaching their children study skills and the importance of perseverance, effort, and hard work. Most parents also provide their children extra materials such as workbooks, textbooks, computers, and educational software. Many enroll them in after-school academic or study programs, hire tutors, or insist on music or language lessons on weekends. By the time their children begin middle school, many Asian American students have a good sense of how to manage their time, apply themselves in school, and study hard. In high school, parents focus a great deal on their adolescents’ plans for the future, most important, which college they should attend, their potential major in college, and possible career paths. This emphasis on the child’s schooling fits neatly with another important socialization goal, that of emotional regulation: that children should learn and practice close control of their emotions. In a seminal article published in 1999, Heidi Fung has described the use of shaming by immigrant Chinese parents in the socialization of young children’s emotions. Children are taught to be aware of what others think of them. For Filipino immigrants, the notion of shame, or hiya, is also used to convey when one fails to meet expectations or act in ways that the family views as important. Children begin to learn from the time they are verbal that they are part of a family and that they must learn to temper their emotions and desires. Traditionally, in previous generations, young children were given a great deal of latitude and indulgence until they reached “the age of understanding,” which usually coincided with the transition to school. Many more parents today, however, have a changed understanding of the cognitive and emotional capacities of toddlers and preschoolers, and this has led to an even earlier exposure to the teaching and standards of the family. In previous generations, once children had reached the age of understanding, a “good child” was understood to be one who listened to his elders, was mild mannered, and showed humility to others. More recent generations of immigrants from Asia, however, have increasingly come to believe in the importance of teaching children to be self-reliant and stand on their own two feet, sometimes even in confl ict situations. This emotional control and temperance is also evident in the parent-child relationship. Cultural misunderstandings often arise between Asian immigrant parents and their more acculturated adolescents regarding their emotional expression with one another. Parents primarily express their love and concern for the child through their devotion, sacrifice, and anticipation of the child’s needs, but not necessarily through the emotional and physical demonstrativeness (praising, hugging, and kissing) common in American families of many other ethnicities. Due to greater exposure

• 69

to mainstream norms through schooling and the media, children, particularly adolescents, may interpret their parents’ lack of demonstrativeness as a lack of love. These more acculturated youth also often hold very idealized or stereotyped images of the “typical American family” through the media that may lead to viewing their own families as “abnormal” or “inadequate.” During adolescence, as youth explore how they fit into their society, they are particularly vulnerable to feeling these “inadequacies.” Asian immigrant parents are not particularly ambivalent about the use of parental control and discipline of their children. Although early studies emphasized the greater restrictiveness and authoritarian parenting style of many Asian immigrant parents, more recent studies have tended to describe this very control in less critical terms. Some researchers, for instance, have described Asian immigrant parents as more “authoritative” in their parenting, possessing a style that combines a “firm control” in setting and enforcing standards with a high level of support and recognition of the child’s perspective. Other researchers, however, believe that this characterization, however flattering, may obfuscate some of the most central and unique features of Asian parenting. Thus, more indigenous conceptualizations for the parenting of Asian immigrants have been introduced that have expanded the understanding of how parental standards and expectations are enforced to foster the development of youth. Ruth Chao, in this spirit, introduced in 1994 an indigenous conceptualization that includes the notion of guan, which is a Chinese character translated as “to govern” as well as “to love.” Parental control and discipline is in this notion equated with parental love and is regarded as an important responsibility of parenting. As children reach adolescence, their need for increased autonomy is then dependent on whether they can also act responsibly. Other examples of indigenous notions of the family include that of pakikisama, which for Filipino immigrants refers to getting along with others even if it may confl ict with one’s own desires. Also, among Filipino families, the concept of utang na loob, which translates literally as “internal debt,” conveys the sense of obligation that children feel for their families. As children can expect to receive support and assistance from other family members, they are also expected to fulfill responsibilities to the family. These notions of family interdependence not only have cultural roots but also reflect the realities of immigrant adaptation. Accult ur at ion and Adjustmen t Immigrant youth often provide necessary assistance to their families in their resettlement in the United States. This assistance may even take the form of providing language brokering or translating for their parents who often have less fluency in English than their children. This is particularly true for recent refugee immigration from Vietnam,

70 •

asian am erican chi l dren

Cambodia, and Laos that includes a greater proportion of less-skilled and educated persons. These refugees are at greater risk of poverty, and may experience posttraumatic stress disorder and depression due to the atrocities and consequences of three decades of war and turmoil in Indochina. These families are in greater need of assistance than the model minority stereotype implies. In addition, as a consequence of this stereotype, Asian Americans are often pitted against other ethnic minority groups such as African Americans and Latinos. Asian Americans students are often targets of bullying and racial violence on school campuses by ethnic minorities as well as whites, due to the racial tension and resentment that is fostered by this stereotyping. Ruth Chao see also: Afﬁrmative Action, Children and; American History, Childhood and Adolescence in; Ethnic Identity; Immigration, Children and further reading: Ruth K. Chao, “Beyond Parental Control and Authoritarian Parenting Style: Understanding Chinese Parenting through the Cultural Notion of Training,” Child Development 65 (1994), pp. 1111–19. • Eric Lai and Dennis Arguelles, The New Face of Asian Paciﬁc America: Numbers, Diversity, and Change in the 21st Century, 2003. • Vivian Tseng, Ruth K. Chao, and Inna Padmawidjaja, “Asian Americans’ Educational Experiences,” in Frederick T. L. Leong, Arpana G. Inman, Angela Ebreo, Lawrence H. Yang, Lisa Kinoshita, and Michi Fu, eds., Handbook of Asian American Psychology, 2nd ed., 2007, pp. 102–23.

asian societies and cultures, childhood and adolescence in. More than half of the world’s population lives in Asia, including more than a billion children and adolescents. This article describes the lives of children and adolescents in five Asian societies (India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam). India is the largest nation on the South Asian subcontinent, while China, Japan, and Korea are part of East Asia, and Vietnam blends an East and Southeast Asian heritage. Other major Asian cultures (Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) have predominantly Islamic populations. Of the five cultures discussed here, India and China have the most diverse populations. All five societies date back to antiquity, and it is impossible here to fully describe past (or present) conditions of childhood and adolescence for the five cultures, let alone for all of Asia.

General demographic statistics for these cultures, based on data from the United Nations Children’s Fund and Human Development Report, are indicated in table 1. India Indian civilization has evolved over a period of 5,000 years, and its diverse population uses more than 1,600 languages and dialects (18 of them official). Most Indians are Hindu (83%) or Muslim (11%). One core Hindu value is dharma, faithful adherence to a code of conduct. In pursuit of dharma, Hindus perform duties specified for different age and caste groups. The caste system dates back to ancient times and strongly affects the lives of Indian children, depending on membership in a particular kinship-based, guildlike community that has a hierarchical position in some local status hierarchy. Castes range from the Brahmans, atop the hierarchy, down to the “untouchables,” who are referred to in contemporary parlance as “scheduled castes” (scheduled for affirmative action by the government of India). Familism is stronger than individualism in the Indian value system. A patriarchic joint family system (parents plus son and his family) has been the ideal, and raising a family is typically one’s main purpose in life. Many Indian babies and young children have multiple caregivers, although mothers are usually the primary caregivers. By tradition, infants are seen as reincarnated souls, arriving in the family with accumulated sins or spiritual debts. At age 7 or 9, a second ritual birth takes place as conscience develops and the child becomes fully human. Birth order and gender have an important influence on Indian childhood. Given a kinship system in which parents ideally live their lives with their male offspring and female offspring move out of the household at the time of marriage, there has also been a traditional preference for male children, regardless of caste or class. First-born girls are most likely to help with child care, while first-born boys are most likely to contribute to a family’s income. The youngest child often experiences a longer period of dependency than older siblings. Despite many improvements in life since India gained independence from the British in 1947, demographic patterns are unfavorable for the lives of many Indian children.

table 1. Demographic Statistics for Five Asian Cultures, 2006

Population (millions) Population younger than age 18 (millions) Fertility rate (births per woman) Life expectancy (years) Infant mortality rate (deaths before age 1, per 1,000 births) Percentage enrolled in school (primary/secondary school)

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Vietnam

1,103 420 2.9 64 56 76/51

1,315 352 1.7 72 23 99/73

128 22 1.3 82 3 100/99

49 11 1.2 78 5 100/90

84 30 2.2 71 16 95/73

a s i an s o c ie t ie s a n d c u l t u r e s , c h il d h o o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

For example, India has the most children and adolescents not attending school of any country, with more than 10 million children ages 0 to 14 working instead of at school. Its fertility rate of about 3 has decreased from 6 in only two generations, but is still high within Asia. India also has high rates of infant mortality and under-5 mortality (74 per 1,000 births); more than 30% of Indian babies are born at low birth weight (a higher percentage than in Pakistan or Bangladesh). Literacy remains a problem for India at only 61% (significantly lower for females). Poor health care, lack of education, and illiteracy contribute to a cycle of poverty that dampens future expectations for many Indian children, despite the material advances and bright outlook for many other Indian children. C h i na China has more than 4,000 years of recorded history, and despite regional and ethnic differences, large physical and population size, and urban/rural economic disparities China maintained a united historical identity and Confucian heritage. Confucian education in imperial China instilled values that emphasized hierarchy, gender distinctions, and status. Gender and birth order were key aspects of knowing one’s proper place in the family. More information about pre-1900 Chinese children has been available about boys than girls and about upperthan lower-class life. Children throughout much of Chinese history have been oriented strongly to support their families and other social groups. A boy in the patrilineal family provided a link between his family’s past (ancestors) and future (descendants). But girls were often devalued because their future presumably was with another joint family after marriage. By tradition, there were three stages of childhood. First was the prenatal period, followed by a period to 6 or 7 years of age, after which children were trained to become adults. The Confucian principle of filial piety required children to respect their parents, especially the father, and it was the parents’ responsibility to train, teach, and discipline children. Maintaining harmonious relationships with one’s family, group, or community was the goal of traditional Chinese socialization. What is now called a traditional parenting style was based on respect for authority and the restraining of children’s individual desires. Various people besides fathers and mothers, especially grandmothers, have been involved in Chinese child rearing. Multiple caretakers, observable in multigenerational child rearing and especially in urban China in the use of caretakers and residential child-care facilities, have reduced children’s amount of contact with their parents. A milestone in the history of childhood in China was the 1979 introduction of a “One Child Policy.” This policy resulted in “4-2-1” families (four grandparents, two parents, one child), mainly in cities, and it is a concern that the only

• 71

child would be overindulged by adults. While the policy limited most urban families to one child, it has not been as strictly enforced in rural areas. Japan Chinese writings about children were exported to Japan more than 2,000 years ago, and Japanese children’s lives were influenced by Chinese traditions. For example, in China and then in Japan, the prenatal period constituted the first year of life, and on a child’s first birthday the child was considered 2 years old. The traditional saying, “until seven among the gods” indicated that Japanese children were considered pure, innocent, and even sacred, as mediators between mortals and the supernatural world. Children were also described as treasures, further suggesting a positive view of children in Japan. Children were thought to go through similar life stages in traditional Japan as in China. The first seven years constituted the first half of childhood, and after the latter half of childhood (around age 15) most youth transitioned to adult work. It is estimated that in the early 19th century about 40% of Japanese boys and 10% of girls received education. During the late 19th century, Japan intensively emulated the West, and public institutions increasingly promoted the importance of the mother-child relationship. Education was seen by the small middle class in the early 20th century as the route to social mobility and a better life for children, and almost all children attended school. From the late 1950s, children on a mass scale began to compete intensively in the educational system from very early in life. The overall Japanese population is decreasing and aging rapidly. Despite material advantages and good health, Japanese children now face some forms of social deprivation. For example, many children spend very little time with their fathers or neighborhood friends, instead being drawn into intense relationships with technologies such as television and computer games. The reduction in the birthrate reflects a growing number of women who do not marry and wives who have no children; with a growing emphasis on individual fulfillment, many mothers also spend less time with their children than in past generations. In addition to these trends, there has been continuity in the life patterns of Japanese children over several centuries, in cosleeping, indulgent child rearing characterized by mutual dependence, and a positive view of the nature of children. S ou t h Ko r e a Korea has undergone cycles of social upheaval from the time of the introduction of Confucianism in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, during the Japanese colonial period and Korean War, and up through the current era of economic development. As throughout East Asia, however, certain values have persisted because of Korea’s Confucian heri-

72 •

asian so cieties a n d cul tures , c hi l d ho o d a n d a d o l e s c e n c e in

tage. About 30% of Koreans are Christian, and Christianity along with globalization will change Korean values, yet Confucianism retains a pervasive influence on families and childhood as an ethical code. Korean children were traditionally bound to the father through filial piety and a sense of obligation. As throughout Asia, only a son could extend the family bloodline, and a preference for male children developed over Korean history. Even though the differential between number of births of boys and girls is decreasing (115:100 in 1995; 109:100 in 2005), it is still very high by international standards. The percentage of Korean families with a grandparentparent-child structure is now less than 20%. In this context, filial piety toward parents and grandparents has weakened. Nevertheless, there remains a deep-rooted Korean consciousness of parent and child as unified in “body and soul.” Children are taught to rely on their parents and to take care of their elderly parents later in life. Parental self-sacrifice and devotion are reciprocated by feelings of deep appreciation and respect from children. As in China and Japan, the slogan “strict father, kind mother” is well known in Korea. Mutual dependence between children and adults persists even though 82% of Korean families today are nuclear families. Yet children in these homes may be isolated and deprived of relationships with extended family and neighbors. Coincidentally, the incidence of child abuse cases in South Korea increased by 36% between 2001 and 2003 alone. Sibling relationships in early childhood traditionally had an important influence on Korean children. For contemporary Korean children, however, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for sibling relationships. This is because the Korean birthrate has reached a serious state as among the lowest in the world. In this regard, experiential and relational deprivation presents similar problems for Japanese and Korean children. V i et nam Vietnam’s history is sometimes dated back 2,200 years to its conquest by China, after which it became part of the Chinese empire and went through cycles of conquest by and resistance toward the Chinese at various points between approximately 200 BC and AD 938. During this period, the Vietnamese incorporated elements of Chinese culture, especially Confucianism. In traditional Vietnam, and to some extent in modern Vietnam, societal order is Confucian, with an emphasis on harmony and knowing one’s place in society and the family. Respect for authorities (father, husband, eldest son for a woman), teachers, parents, and older persons has also been stressed. Vietnam has a young population, with more than half younger than age 30 and born after the 1975 national unification. It has improved welfare and health services greatly since the 1980s, and the government allocates 4% of its budget to health. However, the poverty rate in rural Viet-

nam (45%) is more than twice that in urban areas (18%). In rural areas, child labor rates are more than 23% and the child marriage (prior to legal age, arranged by family) rate is 18%. Malnutrition is still a major problem for those Vietnamese children who are poor, rural, or belong to ethnic minorities, despite national economic growth and reforms. Traditionally, family relationships fostered dependency between parents and children who relied on one another for social security, as in the proverb “the young rely on their fathers, the old rely on their children.” Strict discipline methods, including physical punishment, were rather common in the past, and although beating and scolding are said to be less severe nowadays, some recent studies show that strict punishments of children in Vietnam are still widespread. Since the early 20th century, family patterns have changed from sacrifice of the individual for the family toward respect for the individuality of the child. Contrary to tradition, nuclear families are more common today in Vietnam than extended families. Despite these tendencies and the effects of modernization, Vietnam ranked highest among East Asian cultures with regard to children’s respect for parents, in the 1995–98 World Value Survey. Barbara Jean Shwalb and David William Shwalb see also: Islamic Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in further reading: Hiroko Hara and Mieko Minagawa, “From Productive Dependents to Precious Guests: Historical Changes in Japanese Children,” in David W. Shwalb and Barbara J. Shwalb, eds., Japanese Childrearing: Two Generations of Scholarship, 1996, pp. 9–30. • Harry W. Gardiner and Corinne Kosmitzki, Lives across Cultures: Cross-Cultural Human Development, 4th ed., 2007. • Xinyin Chen and Li Wang, “Youth in China,” in Marc H. Bornstein, ed., Handbook of Cross-Cultural Developmental Science, 2008. • T. S. Saraswathi and Ranjana Dutta, “Youth in India,” in Marc H. Bornstein, ed., Handbook of Cross-Cultural Developmental Science, 2008.

asthma. see Allergic Diseases athletic development. Athletics provides a major setting of achievement for more than 45 million American youth, with millions more competing throughout the world. These organized sport activities emphasize physical exertion, institutionalize competition among opponents, and provide powerful opportunities for performance appraisal information from other people through social evaluation. In fact, sport incorporates all known forms of social evaluation: direct ability comparison with peers, reflected appraisal, and consultation. Direct peer comparison results from testing one’s ability against teammates and opponents; reflected appraisal refers to information gleaned from the cheers, jeers, smiles, and grimaces of others; while consultation consists of direct performance feedback from important persons, such as a coach or team captain. In

a t t a c h m e n t , in f a n t

sum, the essence of sport is the public demonstration, testing, and appraisal of a highly prized attribute among many youngsters: athletic talent. The development of athletic talent in youth progresses through three motivational stages of achievement. The first, referred to as the autonomous motivation stage, begins around age 2 and continues to approximately age 5. During this time, children’s internal motive or desire to learn and master skills fuels their efforts to achieve. They learn, for example, how often and how far they can hit a baseball off a tee and recognize, with help from parental encouragement and feedback, that they hit it more often and farther today than yesterday. Involvement in competitive youth sports typically begins during the second or social evaluation stage, which begins around age 5 and continues through the elementary and middle school years. Previously dominant autonomous motives become secondary as the child tunes into the social world around her. In this motivational stage, the child gauges her personal progress and prowess by looking at how often and how far teammates and opponents hit the baseball and by hearing the evaluations of adults and peers. If the youth successfully completes the two prior stages, motives combine in the integrated motivation stage so that the athlete can profitably use both autonomous and social evaluation sources of ability information to improve performance. Research identifies enjoyment as a key motivator for the long-term development of athletic talent because it is fundamental to commitment. Sport enjoyment, the positive emotional response to the sport experience, reflects generalized feelings such as pleasure, liking, loving, and fun. Commitment, or motivation over time, is defined psychologically as the desire and determination to persist in an activity. Because enjoyment significantly contributes to commitment, it is crucial to understand what makes sport enjoyable. That is, the sources of enjoyment can be thought of as the “buttons that can be pushed” to create the enjoyment that leads to the commitment necessary to develop talent. Many diverse sources result in the positive emotional response of enjoyment. They can be categorized as intrapersonal, situational, and significant other person–derived and may be achievement or nonachievement related. Intrapersonal enjoyment sources come from within the athlete and represent personal achievement consistent with the notion of autonomous motivation described previously. Mastery activities such as learning new skills, exerting effort, and perfecting skills fall in this category, as do positive perceptions of one’s own athletic ability. Situational enjoyment sources are those that naturally occur, or can be induced, in the sport context. They are external to the athlete and often involve social evaluation. Sources in this category include competition outcome (winning and establishing superiority over an opponent) and recognition of success by oth-

• 73

ers (trophies, fame, and positive audience reactions such as applause and standing ovations). Significant other people also can make sport enjoyable. Parent and coach responses to the athlete’s achievements can be a source of enjoyment if the participant perceives them to be positive. A highly meaningful nonachievement source of enjoyment comes from positive social interactions with teammates. Activating the largest number of enjoyment sources over time nurtures commitment. The potency of any particular source of enjoyment will fluctuate over both the short and long term. Short-term changes might occur over the span of a practice, while long-term changes could reflect developmental differences. For example, during a given practice, feelings of mastery might be temporarily thwarted when learning a new skill, while positive interactions with teammates and coach continue to fuel commitment. Similarly, a long-term change might be the replacement of winning at one developmental stage by a combination of mastery and winning at a later developmental stage. Enjoyment and commitment studies to date have found negligible cultural or gender differences, but racial and socioeconomic influences have not yet been considered in research. However, success or failure in sport is clearly more important to many youngsters than performance in the classroom. One might surmise that sport may be seen as even more important to disadvantaged youth who perceive it as a vehicle to higher education or a professional athletic career or both. Should this prove to be true, the implications for both enjoyment and commitment would require attention. Tara K. Scanlan, Larry A. Scanlan, and Megan Babkes Stellino see also: Exercise and Physical Activity; Physical Education; Sports; Sports Injuries further reading: T. K. Scanlan, “Social Evaluation and the Competition Process: A Developmental Perspective,” in F. L. Smoll and R. E. Smith, eds., Children and Youth in Sport: A Biopsychosocial Perspective, 2002. • T. K. Scanlan, M. L. Babkes, and L. A. Scanlan, “Participation in Sport: A Developmental Glimpse at Emotion,” in J. L. Mahoney, R. Larson, and J. Eccles, eds., Organized Activities as Contexts of Development: Extracurricular Activities, After-School and Community Programs, 2005.

attachment, infant. Infants come into the world predisposed to engage in social interaction, and during the first year of life they form specific attachments—strong emotional bonds—to the people who care for them. O r igi n s o f Attac hm en t T h eo r y The roots of attachment theory can be traced to Sigmund Freud, who believed that the mother-infant relationship was unique and that it established the prototype for all later intimate relationships. Freud believed that infants were in the oral stage of development and thus became attached to

74 •

attach m en t, in fan t

their mothers because their mothers provided oral pleasure through feeding. Erik Erikson, another psychoanalytic theorist, revised these ideas in the 1950s, placing greater emphasis on basic trust than on feeding. That is, if a child is treated with love and sensitivity, she will develop a sense of trust in herself, her caregiver, and her family. In healthy relationships, the mother serves as a secure base from which the infant can explore the world and develop competence. During this same time period, learning theorists rejected psychoanalytic ideas, asserting that the infant’s first relationship is rooted in patterns of reinforcement. The mother attends to the infant’s needs—feeding when hungry, changing when wet—and, thus, the infant comes to associate the parent with relief from discomfort, particularly relief from hunger. However, a classic study by Harry Harlow demonstrated that the reinforcing aspects of feeding were less important than soft body contact in the formation of bonds to the mother. These predecessors set the stage for British psychoanalyst John Bowlby’s groundbreaking formulation of attachment theory. He first used the term attachment in the late 1950s, defining attachment as a strong, enduring, affectional tie that binds a person to his or her most intimate companions. He synthesized ideas from many fields into an eclectic theory, rethinking psychoanalytic concepts in an ethological—and evolutionary—context. In particular, Bowlby was influenced by Konrad Lorenz’s work on imprinting, in which he demonstrated that the young of many species follow the first large moving object they see after birth. Bowlby identified five behavioral response systems in human infants—following, clinging, crying, smiling, and sucking—that functioned to develop the attachment relationship. According to Bowlby, these behavioral systems are initially independent of each other and develop at different times and different rates based on environmental stimulation. Eventually, they become integrated and focused on the caregiver, forming the basis for the infant’s attachment. Bowlby proposed that infants go through a series of phases in the development of attachment. These phases were later refined by Mary Ainsworth, based on her longitudinal studies of infants in Uganda and the United States. In the first phase (birth to 8 to 12 weeks), babies are socially responsive and able to orient to people but unable to recognize their parents. They cry and vocalize, and as early as three weeks, social smiling emerges. In the second phase (until about 7 months), infants respond differently to one or a few familiar figures than to strangers. Babies are now able to discriminate their caregiver’s face from other faces and have become familiar with their parent’s caretaking and social behaviors. In phase three (until about 2 to 3 years), the infant learns to crawl and walk, which enables him to seek proximity and contact with the caregiver as well as

to explore the physical environment. The infant begins to use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the world, returning whenever a need for security is felt. The infant may greet the caregiver’s impending departure with protest, clinging, or expressions of alarm. Most attachment research has focused on this third phase. I n d i v i dual D i f f er enc e s i n Attac hm en t According to Bowlby, all infants become attached to their caregivers. However, the quality of the attachment relationship will vary, depending on the quality of caregiving. This idea has led to a great deal of research on individual differences in infant attachment, most of which has focused on middle-class American families. Although various techniques have been devised to measure individual differences, the most frequently used procedure with infants is the Strange Situation developed by Ainsworth in the 1970s and described by her and her colleagues in the 1978 book Patterns of Attachment: Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. The Strange Situation involves a series of brief separations and reunions from the mother and a stranger in a laboratory playroom. The sequence of episodes affords the opportunity to observe the infant under cumulative and increasing stress. The major interest is in the way the behavioral organization changes. Does the infant seek more contact when stress is increased? Is the contact effective in ameliorating the infant’s distress? Based on behavior in the Strange Situation, babies are classified into one of four categories. Infants classified as secure explore freely in the caregiver’s presence, are often visibly upset when separated from their caregiver, and greet her warmly at reunion. In middle-class European American samples, about 65% of infants fall into the secure category. Avoidant infants show little or no distress when separated from the caregiver, turn away from or avoid contact with the caregiver at reunion, and may show more positive interactions with a stranger than with the caregiver. Resistant infants are thoroughly distressed by separations, do not settle easily at reunions, and may mix proximity seeking with angry behavior. Infants classified as disorganized exhibit confused, contradictory behaviors, dazed facial expression, and frozen postures. In keeping with Bowlby’s theory, research has supported a link between individual differences in infant attachment and individual differences in quality of care among middle-class, European American mothers and infants. Specifically, babies whose caregivers showed sensitivity to their signals and respect for their autonomy during the first year were more likely to be securely attached at 12 months. However, more recent research has demonstrated that characteristics of the infant, not just quality of care, influence the attachment relationship. For example, compared with their placid counterparts, infants whose temperament predisposes them to be easily dis-

a t t a c h m e n t , in f a n t

tressed are at higher risk for insecure attachment in the face of insensitive caregiving. Of course, even infants who have easy temperaments may become insecurely attached if maltreated. Child abuse often leads to disorganized attachment; it is difficult for babies to form consistent, healthy attachments to a parent who is also a source of fear and/or trauma. Similarly, René Spitz’s early work with children who were institutionalized during their first year of life shows the negative effects of maternal deprivation on the attachment relationship. These children exhibited severe social and emotional deficits in part because they were unable to form coherent, affectional bonds to particular caregivers. C o n s equenc e s o f Attac h m en t S ec u r i t y An important hypothesis of Bowlby’s theory is that the affection, trust, and security provided by the attachment relationship lays the foundation for personality growth, the developing sense of self, and the way the individual deals with intimate relationships. Research suggests that attachment security has a short-term impact on the emotional development of preschoolers. For instance, children who are securely attached to their mothers show higher levels of enthusiasm, flexibility, persistence, compliance, cooperation, and empathy than their insecure counterparts. Attachment security has also been linked to more positive social interactions in early childhood, such that securely attached children are more socially competent, popular, and cooperative with peers. These effects persist through the school years and into pre- and early adolescence. In addition, there is some evidence that secure attachment is related to a more positive self-concept and to cognitive development, such as problem-solving ability in early childhood and academic performance during the school years. The true long-term consequences of attachment are difficult to disentangle from the continuity of caregiving beyond infancy. Some findings indicate that attachment patterns remain relatively stable over time. However, other studies fail to link attachment with long-term outcomes, suggesting that the continuing quality of parenting beyond infancy may be a more important predictor of subsequent psychological functioning. Significant breaks in caregiving, including separation, loss, and/or trauma, may disrupt children’s attachments. Nonetheless, the trust and independence that emerge via attachment relationships seem to generally persist throughout the life course. A related, more recent area of interest for attachment researchers has concerned the transmission of attachment patterns from one generation to the next. This research has drawn from Bowlby’s conceptualization of internal working models, which posits that one’s attachment relationship in infancy gets carried into adulthood in the form of a “state of mind” with respect to relationship functioning. The Adult Attachment Interview is widely used to capture adults’ state

• 75

of mind with respect to attachment. This interview focuses on adults’ recollections of their early relationships with their parents, with adults’ interpretations of these past experiences, rather than the experiences themselves, intended to reflect the working model. In parallel with research on infant attachment, this work has revealed individual differences in adults’ interpretations of their early relationships. For example, adults who discuss childhood experiences, whether good or bad, with objectivity and balance are classified as having autonomous working models. In addition, research indicates that parents’ working models are related in meaningful ways to their own infants’ security of attachment, as measured in the Strange Situation. These effects generally seem to hold for both fathers and mothers. In particular, parents who exhibit an autonomous working model of attachment are more likely to develop secure relationships with their infants. Thus, parents’ understanding and interpretation of their own attachment relationships seem to have an impact on the affective bond between them and their children. Attac hm en t i n Fam i l i a l , S o c io ec o nom ic , and Cultur al Con te xts Like every theorist, John Bowlby was a product of his time and place. He was criticized for privileging mother-infant relationships over father-infant relationships, nuclear families over extended families, and cultural universals over cultural differences. However, in his later works, Bowlby recognized that infants’ attachments do not develop in a vacuum, and subsequent work has sought a more nuanced understanding of the contexts that shape infants’ emerging relationships. Thus, familial, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts have become a focus of research. For example, some attachment researchers have been influenced by family systems theory, which holds that the mother-infant relationship affects and is affected by the other relationships in the family, including the marital relationship. Consistent with this theory, the infant’s primary attachment will be with whoever is most involved with her care, whether that be grandmother, older sibling, or mother. Also, infants can become attached to more than one person, with attachments usually organized into a small hierarchy. This perspective has also drawn attention to the importance of father-infant attachment. Research shows that infants develop attachments to fathers and use the father as a secure base. Although there is some similarity between children’s security of attachment to mother and to father, some studies suggest that these relationships develop independently. This may be because fathers and mothers play different roles within the family. Fathers in many cultures are more likely than mothers to spend their time with infants in play activities. For this reason, fathers are sometimes preferred as playmates, whereas mothers are preferred for comfort and security under times of distress.

76 •

attach m en t, in fan t

Much less is known about the antecedents and consequences of father-child attachment than mother-infant attachment. There appears to be an association between sensitivity and attachment security for fathers, although this effect is weaker than it is for mothers. Other research notes that marital quality may be a particularly important sociocontextual predictor of father-child attachment security. Secure attachment to both parents is thought to lead to the most positive outcomes. Most attachment research has traditionally focused on middle-class families, and low socioeconomic status has been considered a risk factor for attachment security and stability of parent-child attachment. A lack of economic resources is thought to affect the attachment relationship primarily through its influence on family stress. Lowsocioeconomic-status families must often deal with accompanying conditions of life stress (i.e., employment instability, absence of social support) that in turn are associated with a greater likelihood of attachment insecurity. In recent years, cross-cultural patterns of attachment have also been examined. Reviews of attachment across cultures have identified substantial differences between and within cultures in the distribution of Strange Situation classifications. For instance, attachment research with families in northern Germany has found a greater percentage of children in this region are classified as insecure-avoidant with their mothers. On the other hand, children in Japanese families are more likely to be classified as insecure-resistant when observed with their mothers in the Strange Situation procedure. This variation is thought to reflect cultural differences in child-rearing practices and beliefs. For example, in cultures where parents often leave babies alone or with strangers (emphasizing early independence), these children may show more avoidance in part because they are less distressed by the separation episodes of the Strange Situation. In cultures where children are rarely separated from their mothers, these children may demonstrate resistance because they are severely distressed by even brief separation episodes. These results have led some to argue that cultural conditions of infant care account for cross-cultural differences in the Strange Situation. Although many attachment researchers do still believe in the universality of the attachment system, they do acknowledge that attachment behavior—and the interpretation of this behavior—will vary in important ways as a function of cultural context. Sarah C. Mangelsdorf and Geoffrey L. Brown see also: Abuse and Neglect; Ainsworth, Mary D(insmore) Salter; Attachment Disturbances and Disorders; Bowlby, John; Emotional Development; Independence, Dependence, and Interdependence; Personality; Social Development; Temperament further reading: John Bowlby, Attachment and Loss, 3 vols., [1961] 1997–98. • Robert Karen, Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity to Love, 1994. • L. Alan Sroufe, Byron Egeland, Elizabeth Carlson, and W. Andrew Collins,

The Development of the Person: The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation from Birth to Adulthood, 2005.

attachment disturbances and disorders. The propensity for human infants to form attachments to their caregivers and for caregivers to be drawn to care for human infants is ubiquitous. Serious disturbances of attachment become evident when various factors within the parent, the child, or the larger caregiving contexts interfere with a species-typical tendency to form attachments. Interest in these issues became prominent in the mid20th century, when a British child psychiatrist, John Bowlby, was commissioned by the World Health Organization to write a monograph about the mental health needs of young children. Bowlby concluded that essential for a child’s mental health is a warm, continuous relationship with a mother figure in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment. This conclusion led Bowlby to develop and elaborate a theory of attachment that has proved to be enormously important in understanding the emotional development of young children. Attachment describes a tendency for human infants to seek comfort, support, nurturance, and protection from one or more discriminated caregivers. The tendency for selective seeking of comfort is not apparent at birth, however. Following a period of interaction and comfort with adult caregivers during the first six months, two new infant behaviors become obvious: stranger wariness and separation protest, both at about 7 to 9 months of age. Stranger wariness describes an apparent discomfort with unfamiliar adults and selectively turning to those the child knows and trusts. Separation protest refers to the infant’s tendency to protest separation from familiar caregivers. Although individual differences in the intensity and expression of these behaviors are clear, they may be considered universal. When these behaviors appear, the infant is said to be attached to one or more caregivers. Under species-typical rearing conditions, all infants become attached to caregivers. Research has demonstrated clearly that the quality of infants’ attachments to one or more caregivers is predictive of subsequent psychosocial adaptation. Security of attachment has been measured categorically and continuously and predicts subsequent adjustment, particularly in high-risk groups of children. A major advance was provided by the development of a laboratory paradigm designed to examine organization of a child’s attachment and exploratory behaviors with a given caregiver and with an unfamiliar adult. The Strange Situation procedure, developed by psychologist Mary Ainsworth, allows investigators to classify the child’s attachment to the caregiver as secure or insecure (avoidant, resistant, or disorganized). When young children are securely attached, they demonstrate selective preference for their caregiver, direct expression of emotion, and proximity to the caregiver when

a t t e n t io n

stressed or distressed. From this perspective, security or insecurity of attachment functions as a risk or protective factor for subsequent development. Securely attached children are more likely to demonstrate well-regulated emotions and socially competent behavior than insecurely attached children. In extreme rearing conditions, however, such as social neglect or institutional care, attachment may be seriously compromised or even absent. Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) describes a constellation of aberrant attachment behaviors and other behavioral anomalies that are believed to result from social neglect and deprivation. Rather than insecure attachments, young children with attachment disorders display absence or serious aberrations of attachment. Two clinical patterns have been described: an emotionally withdrawn/inhibited pattern and an indiscriminately social/disinhibited pattern. In the emotionally withdrawn/ inhibited pattern, the child exhibits limited or absent initiation or response to social interactions with caregivers and aberrant social behaviors, such as constricted, hypervigilant, or highly ambivalent reactions. In the indiscriminate pattern, the child exhibits lack of expected selectivity in seeking comfort, support, and nurturance, with lack of social reticence with unfamiliar adults and a willingness to “go off ” with strangers. Although systematic study of attachment disorders is quite recent, these disorders have been described in young deprived children for more than half a century. From recent studies, it seems clear that signs of attachment disorders are rare to nonexistent in low-risk samples, increased in higherrisk samples (e.g., impoverished young children or children of homeless parents), and readily identifiable in maltreated and institutionalized samples. Recent research has demonstrated that these disorders often but not always remit when caregiving conditions improve, though with variability for each type. The emotionally withdrawn/inhibited type of RAD is readily apparent in young children living in institutions and in young children when they are first placed in foster care following maltreatment, but it is rarely evident in samples of children adopted out of institutions. In a recent randomized controlled trial in which children in institutions were randomized to continued care in institutions or to foster placements, children in foster care demonstrated dramatic decreases in signs of emotionally withdrawn/inhibited RAD within months and became indistinguishable from levels in never-institutionalized children. This suggests that the emotionally withdrawn/inhibited type is quickly responsive to improvements in the caregiving environment. The indiscriminately social/disinhibited type of RAD is also discernable in maltreated and institutionalized children, but it remains evident in a substantial minority of adopted postinstitutionalized children. In fact, continued high levels of indiscriminate behavior is one of the most

• 77

frequent social abnormalities in children adopted out of institutions, continuing in some cases indefinitely following adoption. Furthermore, in the study of children placed into foster care following institutionalization, levels of indiscriminately social/disinhibited RAD diminished, but the levels did not reach those of never-institutionalized children, even two years later. Only the indiscriminate/disinhibited type of attachment disorder has been followed long term. Studies of children reared in early life in British residential nurseries suggest that younger children who exhibited high levels of indiscriminate behavior were at increased risk for peer relational problems in adolescence. Essentially, these children were more likely to have superficial and indiscriminate relationships with peers. Studies of intervention for serious disturbances of attachment are limited. From international adoption studies, it is clear that signs of attachment disorder diminish following adoption, and this was confirmed by the randomized controlled trial of foster care described previously. Nevertheless, children who exhibit attachment disorders in early childhood are at increased risk for atypical insecure patterns of attachment with their foster or adoptive parents. Additional studies are needed to clarify the essentials of caregiving that facilitate recovery from attachment disorders. Charles H. Zeanah and Jennifer Dunlap see also: Abuse and Neglect; Adoption; Attachment, Infant; Bowlby, John; Foster and Kinship Care; Mental Health Care; Mental Illness further reading: T. O’Connor and C. H. Zeanah, “Attachment Disorders: Assessment Strategies and Treatment Approaches,” Attachment and Human Development 5 (2003), pp. 223–44. • C. H. Zeanah, A. Keyes, and L. Settles, “Attachment Relationship Experiences and Child Psychopathology,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1008 (2003), pp. 1–9.

attention. Attention involves the central regulation of sensory stimulation and of information in other brain areas related to memory. Attention provides priority for the selection of sensory and stored information for consciousness and for its influence on behavior. Studies employing imaging to study adult brains when they attend have provided an important perspective on brain networks related to attention. These studies have examined the ability to maintain alertness, to orient to sensory stimulation, and to regulate emotions, thoughts, and behavior. Studies of attention in adults provide the background for the study of the development of attention in children. Atten t ion and Br ai n Net wor ks Imaging studies of adults have shown the network related to obtaining and maintaining the alert state involves a small clump of neurons in the brain stem that provides the cerebral cortex with norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter related

78 •

atten tio n

to alertness and readiness. Changes in activity over the course of the day underlie the cycle of low alertness in early morning and peak alertness later in the day. A warning signal also activates this network and leads to changes that prepare people for a rapid response to an external target event. A prominent aspect of infant development is their increased ability to be in an alert state while awake. Most studies of attention involve orienting to sensory (e.g., auditory or visual) information. Attention increases blood flow and boosts the amplitude of electrical signals recorded from targets that have the selected features, as in picking out a familiar face in a crowded scene. Orienting to the familiar face boosts electrical activity within the first few hundred milliseconds both in visual areas and within the brain area that is sensitive to face stimuli. The network of brain areas that produces the attentional influence is the same whether the stimulus is auditory or visual. The orienting network includes several parietal and frontal cortical areas as well as thalamic and brain stem areas. When attention is drawn automatically by an external event, the active parts of this network are somewhat different than when one voluntarily shifts attention to the target. Orienting skills are shared between humans and other animals and develop rapidly over the first year of life. Parents of infants of 3 to 6 months old often report that they use visual orienting to provide at least temporary soothing of their distressed infant. Infants as young as 3 to 4 months can learn to look in anticipation of regularly repeating targets, suggesting that they are capable of learning important places for attending as specified by their culture. In addition, parental reports suggest that parents in the United States and Europe use external stimuli as a source of distraction more frequently than do those in East Asia. These early experiences may underlie the finding that adults in East Asia are more likely to examine the contextual surround of a target event and less likely to look directly at a target event than are those with European backgrounds. Atten t ion and Self-R egul at io n Self-regulation has been a central concept in developmental psychology and in the study of psychopathologies. Selfregulation refers to the ability of a child to control emotions, maintain attention on selected information, and interpret mental states in others. Brain imaging studies of adults suggest a specific executive attention network involved in self-regulation. Support for the voluntary exercise of self-regulation comes from studies that examine either the instruction to control affect or the connections that are involved in the exercise of that control. For example, the instruction to ward off an emotional response to a positive or negative stimulus activates the anterior cingulate gyrus. If people are required to select a visual target, the cingulate shows functional connectivity to the visual system; if the target is auditory, the connectivity is to the auditory sys-

tem. Similarly when involved with emotional processing, the cingulate shows a functional connection to limbic areas that process emotions. These findings support the role of cingulate as an important brain area in the control of thought and feelings. D e v elo pm en t Tasks that involve confl ict between different aspects of a target and those that involve the detection or correction of error are often used to study executive attention. A major advantage of viewing attention as an anatomically based system is that executive attention tasks can be used to trace the developing ability of children to regulate their thoughts and feelings. Studies in infancy have involved the ability of the infant to detect errors. For example, in one study infants view a single puppet that is then hidden from view behind a screen as a hand reaches in and adds a second puppet. If, when the screen is removed, there is only one puppet (error trials), infants of about 7 months will look longer than if there are two puppets. The same frontal midline brain areas (anterior cingulate gyrus) involved in error detection in adults have shown to be active in these infants. In adult studies, areas of the frontal midline involved in error detection are also active in confl ict tasks in which one must avoid making a highly overlearned response (e.g., reading a word) and instead make a weaker association such as name the color of ink in which the word is written. Since young children do not read, this task is not appropriate, but other confl ict tasks use the same brain network in adults. For example, the flanker task uses stimuli around the target that either have the same response as the target or the opposite response. In one case, the flanker requires people to respond according to the direction in which a target arrow points. When surrounding arrows point in the opposite direction (incongruent trials) participants take longer to respond than when the arrows point in the same direction (congruent trials). The time to resolve the confl ict due to the flanker is a measure of the efficiency of executive attention. The ability to resolve confl ict can be measured at age 4 and improves steadily until about age 7, indicating a period of rapid development of the executive attention network. Parents can report on the ability of their children to regulate their emotions and behavior. Temperament scales have a higher-order factor called effortful control that appears to summarize the ability of children to regulate their emotions and behavior. At 4 years of age and older, the time it takes children to resolve confl ict as measured in the flanker task, is predictive of parents’ reports of effortful control. Children better in these skills are also better able to delay gratification, to understand the minds of others, and to resist the temptation to lie or cheat. During adolescence, low effortful control and low executive attention are both related to increased frequency of antisocial behavior.

a t t e n t io n d e f ic it h y p e r a c t iv it y d is o r d e r

Implicit training of attention is often an important part of school readiness. More recently, explicit exercises have been used to improve executive attention, and these have been shown to produce higher intelligence test scores and increased efficiency in the brain network related to executive attention. Since the executive network overlaps the one involved in general intelligence, this should not be surprising. It has also been shown that elements of executive attention such as the ability to shift attention or inhibit responses measured in Head Start preschool children are related to their later achievements in math and literacy in kindergarten. In older children, parental reports of effortful control and measures of the efficiency of executive attention correlate with school performance in a variety of subjects. These findings generally support the importance of attention for school achievement, but it has yet to be demonstrated that explicit efforts to improve attention in preschool will enhance school achievement in later years. Michael I. Posner see also: Attention Deﬁcit Hyperactivity Disorder; Cognitive Development; Intelligence; Learning; Learning Disabilities further reading: M. M. Botvinick, T. S. Braver, D. M. Barch, C. S. Carter, and J. D. Cohen, “Conﬂict Monitoring and Cognitive Control,” Psychological Review 108 (2001), pp. 624–52. • M. Corbetta and G. L. Shulman, “Control of Goal-Directed and Stimulus-Driven Attention in the Brain, Nature Neuroscience Reviews 3 (2002), pp. 201–15. • M. K. Rothbart and M. R. Rueda, “The Development of Effortful Control.” In U. Mayr, E. Awh, and S. W. Keele, eds., Developing Individuality in the Human Brain: A Tribute to Michael I. Posner, 2005, pp. 167–88. • C. Blair and R. P. Razza, “Relating Effortful Control, Executive Function, and False Belief Understanding to Emerging Math and Literacy Ability in Kindergarten,” Child Development 78 (2007), pp. 647–63. • M. I. Posner and M. K. Rothbart, Educating the Human Brain, 2007.

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurobehavioral disorder of school-age children and among the most common chronic health conditions of children. It is characterized by three sets of symptoms—hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention— although not all children exhibit symptoms in all three areas. These core symptoms in turn may affect several areas of child functioning, including peer relationships, school performance, safety, and home activities. The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (1994; DSM-IV) defines three subcategories of ADHD: primarily hyperactive/impulsive (about 5% of children with ADHD), primarily inattentive (10%–15%), and combined (about 80%). To meet the diagnosis of ADHD, a child must exhibit six or more specified symptoms in the inattentive or hyperactive/impulsive behavior groups (or both). Symptoms must have begun prior to age 7 years, must occur in more

• 79

than one setting (e.g., home and school), and must impair functioning. In other words, a child might have the right number of behavioral symptoms but function well with peers and in school, without evidence of impairment. That child would not meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. Of note, DSM-IV lists symptoms applicable mainly to school-age children. They work less well for younger children or for adolescents and adults. Typical childhood symptoms may evolve into other forms of behavioral difficulties at other ages. Hyperactive (fidgety) symptoms may evolve into acting-out behaviors, including fighting or risktaking actions. I nc i d enc e , Epi d e m io lo g y, a n d B io lo g y About 6% to 7% of school-age children meet criteria for the diagnosis of ADHD. Of interest, the change in diagnostic criteria in 1994 led to an increased number of children with the diagnosis. Boys outnumber girls about 3:1. Different countries report different rates of ADHD, generally somewhat lower than those found in the United States. On the other hand, cross-cultural research typically shows similar numbers of children exhibiting symptoms of ADHD. Recent studies suggest that 1% of British children have “severe” ADHD; 5% are diagnosed with ADHD of any severity—levels similar to those in the United States. Rates of diagnosis of ADHD are lower among African American and Latino U.S. populations, as are rates of pharmacological treatment for these populations once diagnosed. ADHD likely arises mainly from dysfunction in the brain’s neurotransmitter function, with most evidence associated with disorders of dopamine transport. Genetic studies indicate strong familial predisposition to ADHD, partly associated with heritable disorders of dopamine transport. As with most other chronic conditions with a genetic component, the manifestations of ADHD likely reflect an interaction of predisposition with a variety of environmental phenomena. Rates of ADHD appear to have risen from about 3% to 6% in the United States from the late 1970s to the mid1990s. Clearly, rates of diagnosis of ADHD have greatly increased, with dramatic increases in the use of stimulants and other medications for its treatment. This increase partly reflects more frequent diagnosis of ADHD among adolescents along with the recognition that ADHD persists in most cases as a child ages. Nonetheless, larger numbers of children diagnosed with ADHD account for most growth in medication use. Major changes in the genetic pool would not explain substantial increases in the prevalence of ADHD if accurate. Other explanations for growth in rates are speculative, but likely reflect the major changes in children’s social environments since the 1970s (including decreased physical activity, much greater television and media exposure, parental stress and less adult supervision of children, and diet). For example, some evidence indi-

80 •

atten tio n defici t hypera c t i v i t y d i s o rd e r

cates a dose-related effect of early television viewing on risk for ADHD. Asso c iat ed Con d i t ion s a n d Ou tcom e s Children with ADHD frequently have coexisting mental health conditions. Indeed, one of the challenges in diagnosis (and treatment) is the identification of these conditions that may mask ADHD, mimic ADHD, or affect the treatment and outcomes of ADHD. Most common coexisting conditions include oppositional defiant disorder (in about 35% of cases), conduct disorder (26%), anxiety (26%), and depressive disorder (18%). These rates come from the relatively few studies among unselected community samples; hospital or referral practices report substantially higher rates of these conditions. A debate relates to whether these conditions are truly coexisting or whether some represent the same condition further along a clinical spectrum. D iagno sis The diagnosis of ADHD requires a substantial amount of data gathering from several sources: parents, the child herself, and other settings, especially schools. Gathering this data requires time and typically more than one visit to a health care provider. Clinicians need to determine that specific symptoms occur with enough frequency and severity to meet the diagnosis of ADHD and that these symptoms impair the child’s functioning. Some checklists can help clinicians with gathering data efficiently. Symptom checklists include both ones focused on ADHD symptoms and ones that provide information across a wider range of mental health conditions. The focused ADHD checklists do correlate well with more extensive and in-depth diagnostic testing. The broader general mental health checklists, while helpful in evaluating associated conditions, are not specific enough to diagnose ADHD. Additional questions help clinicians determine the likelihood of key coexisting conditions, including anxiety, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, or conduct disorder. Other testing has little value in the diagnosis of ADHD, especially among school-age children. Although anemia and high lead levels are associated with higher rates of behavioral symptoms, including ADHD, anemia should have been identified and treated in preschool years, and children who have had high lead levels in the past will rarely have them at this age. Continuous performance tests (CPTs) typically assess a child’s ability to respond to visual stimuli appropriately (e.g., tapping a lever when a particular shape goes by) and note errors of both commission and omission. These tests, too, have insufficient sensitivity and specificity to allow recommending them routinely for the diagnosis of ADHD, although they may be used in specific circum-

stances. Various forms of neuroimaging (plain X-rays, functional MRI, etc.) or electroencephalography currently have no value in the clinical diagnosis of ADHD. T r e atm en t The treatment of ADHD requires first the recognition that ADHD is a chronic condition and requires putting into place a chronic-disease management strategy that involves teamwork among clinicians, parents, the child, and (usually) the school. It also includes educating the parents (and the child in developmentally appropriate ways) about the condition, helping parents connect with other parents raising children with ADHD, coordinating health and other services, and helping families set specific goals for their child. The primary goal of treatment is to improve the child’s functioning. Thus, the clinician and the family should work together to define the main ways in which the child’s ADHD impairs functioning (e.g., school performance, getting homework done, sibling relationships, communication, playground behavior, or disruptive behaviors) and then develop targets for improvement in these functional areas. Treating the core symptoms of ADHD (hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention) is also important but less so than improving the child’s functioning. The large majority of children with ADHD should receive combined medication and behavioral treatments. Both have been shown to be effective in treating core symptoms and associated functional impairments. Among medications, stimulant drugs are used most commonly to treat ADHD. Their mode of action is not fully clear, but they appear to block the reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain and increase the release of these neurotransmitters. The two main groups of stimulant medications are the amphetamines and methylphenidate. Both come in shortacting, sustained, and extended-release forms. Neither group of stimulants has any apparent pharmacological advantage over the other, and both have apparently the same rate of effects on the child’s ADHD symptoms. Eighty percent of children with ADHD will respond to stimulants, although in most cases they do not bring the child’s behavior to fully normal levels. Children failing one stimulant typically respond to another or even another form of the same medication. Thus, stimulants in their various forms represent both first- and second- (and at times third-) line drugs in the pharmacological treatment of ADHD. The initiation of stimulant medication usually begins with a low dose and then increases. Stimulant dosages are not weight dependent, and there is a marked individual variability in dose-response relationship. The first dose that a child’s symptoms responds to may not be the best dose to improve function, and children should continue to a higher dose to achieve better response. Important side ef-

a u t h o r it y a n d o b e d ie n c e

fects of stimulant medications include loss of appetite and weight loss. Appetite strategies include taking the first or daily dose after breakfast and titrating so that anorectic effects have worn off by the evening meal. Sleep disorders, especially delayed sleep onset, are also fairly common, and adjustment of the dose and timing of medications can often minimize these effects. Other less common side effects include stomachache, headache, jitteriness, or social withdrawal. Although concerns have been raised about whether stimulants cause or exacerbate tic disorders, no consistent reports of behavioral rebound, motor tics, or dose-related growth delays have been found in controlled studies. Other psychopharmacological agents used in the treatment of ADHD include tricyclic antidepressants (especially, imipramine and desipramine), bupropion (a dopaminergic antidepressant), antihypertensives (especially, clonidine), and atomoxitene (a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor). All of these nonstimulant medications demonstrate better results than placebos, but none appear to have better effects than the stimulants, and the relatively few head-to-head comparisons with the stimulants indicate that stimulants have better results. Behavior therapies consist of a broad set of specific interventions that have in common the goal of modifying the physical and social environment in order to alter or change behavior. Parent training aims to manage a child’s behavior and provide a more structured and less distracting environment for the child in carrying out key tasks such as homework. Parent behavior training programs typically provide 8 to 12 weeks of instruction and guidance in setting limits, responding appropriately to a child’s behaviors with rewards and punishments, and making the home and community environments work for the child. Child training has less value, although it may have benefit for some coexisting conditions such as anxiety. Teacher training may also help in providing appropriate classroom responses to the child’s behavior, increasing the structure of activities, and providing systematic rewards and consequences (e.g., with a point system or token economy). As with any other chronic condition, the management of ADHD in a child requires planned ongoing monitoring of how well the treatment is working along with assessment of side effects. The initial period for both medications and behavioral interventions usually requires frequent visits, but as the child achieves a stable level of medications and performance, visits may be much less frequent. Monitoring for other behavioral concerns, new circumstances, and evolving functional concerns requires close follow-up. Adolesc en ts and Adults Much evidence points to the persistence of ADHD into adolescence and adulthood, although often with different behavioral manifestations, with about two-thirds of

• 81

children with ADHD exhibiting signs of the condition as adolescents. Typically, hyperactivity decreases while school and conduct problems increase. Those with predominantly inattentive ADHD are at higher risk of anxiety or depression. ADHD is associated with increased motor vehicle accidents, decreased educational attainment, and increased crime and imprisonment, as well as other mental health disabilities (especially, anxiety and depression). High rates of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder among adolescents with ADHD complicate both diagnosis and treatment at this age. Adolescents with ADHD, especially with associated oppositional and conduct disorders, have high rates of substance abuse. Importantly, treatment with medications either before or during adolescence does not appear to increase the use of illicit substances and may actually decrease their use. James M. Perrin see also: Attention; Learning Disabilities; Learning Disabilities, Education of Children with; Medicines and Children: Psychotropic Medicines further reading: Committee on Quality Improvement, Subcommittee on Attention-Deﬁcit/Hyperactivity Disorder, “Clinical Practice Guideline: Diagnosis and Evaluation of the Child with Attention-Deﬁcit/Hyperactivity Disorder,” Pediatrics 105 (2000), pp. 1158–70. • Committee on Quality Improvement, Subcommittee on Attention-Deﬁcit/Hyperactivity Disorder, “Clinical Practice Guideline: Treatment of the School-Age Child with Attention-Deﬁcit/ Hyperactivity Disorder,” Pediatrics 108 (2001), pp. 1033–44. • M. D. Rappley, “Attention Deﬁcit-Hyperactivity Disorder,” New England Journal of Medicine 352 (2005), pp. 165–73. • M. L. Wolraich, C. J. Wibbelsman, T. E. Brown, S. W. Evans, E. M. Gotlieb, J. R. Knight, E. C. Ross, H. H. Shubiner, E. H. Wender, and T. Wilens, “Attention Deﬁcit/Hyperactivity Disorder among Adolescents: A Review of the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Clinical Implications,” Pediatrics 115 (2005), pp. 1734–46.

authority and obedience. All societies recognize that parents have a fundamental right and responsibility to exercise authority over children, and children have a reciprocal obligation to obey. The asymmetrical and hierarchical nature of parent-child relationships in early childhood evolves into a more symmetrical and equal distribution of responsibilities and privileges as the child becomes an adolescent and the adolescent becomes an adult. However, across and within cultures, there are notable agerelated variations in the nature and degree of authority and deference displayed in parent-child relationships and in the ways parents promote mature behavior in their children, make demands for obedience, and respond to children’s needs for care, protection, and freedom. These variations reflect fundamental differences in liberal and conservative worldviews and family values concerning issues of authority and obedience in the socialization process. Some of these variations in worldview and parenting practices can

82 •

auth ority an d o bed i en c e

imagining each other

Formality and Fun in Kinship Relations among the Gusii Among the Gusii of western Kenya, as among many peoples in sub-Saharan Africa, relations between kin are regulated by generation. Thus, members of adjacent generations (parents and children) are required to treat one another with respect and a distancing formality. They must avoid seeing one another naked or going to the bathroom, and all sexual talk and sexually suggestive behavior in one another’s presence is prohibited. Feelings of sexual shame (ensoni) are occasioned by violations of Gusii conceptions of morality and may require ritual absolution. By contrast, members of alternate generations (grandparents and grandchildren, between whom, given age differences, incest is much less likely to occur) treat one another with humorous familiarity. The inculcation of rules (chinsoni) by which shameful behavior is to be avoided begins in early childhood. It is expected that by the time children are ritually initiated and circumcised and become, at about age 8 for girls and about age 10 for boys, “big people with sense,” the rules (such as avoiding seeing members of the parental generation naked or being seen naked by them) and the euphemistic vocabulary (for anything related to sex and reproduction) that go with them have been embraced and internalized as part of one’s personal identity. Relief from formality is provided by siblings and classiﬁcatory siblings (cousins who are members of one’s own generation) living in nearby homesteads as well as by grandparents and grandchildren, who are expected to tease and swear at one another and indulge in sexually explicit language and suggestive behavior. In addition to natal kin who live in the same homestead, rules of avoidance and familiarity apply to classiﬁcatory

be understood by distinguishing between types of parentchild relationships. R e as oned Complianc e and Constructiv e D issen t Socialization is an adult-initiated process by which children and youth acquire the values, skills, knowledge, and habits necessary to function as successful adults in their society. Construed this way, socialization represents a stabilizing force in society. However, children and youth are not merely passive recipients of wisdom. The development of optimal competence in children requires the capacity for self-determination and constructive dissent as well as for cooperation and reasoned compliance. Consistent with this understanding, the anthropologist Margaret Mead identified the core task of socialization in all societies as sustaining the tension between two processes: one requiring children to adapt to parental and environmental demands (communion) and the second requiring parents to adapt their childrearing practices to accommodate their individual child’s developmental level, needs, and preferences, thus fostering the child’s sense of agency. Communion is manifested by

kin living elsewhere, to in-laws following marriage and, to a lesser degree, to all other Gusii. Thus, soon after meeting for the ﬁrst time, two strangers will elicit background information from each other in order to determine whether they belong to adjacent or alternate generations and whether they should treat each other with familiarity or respect. Rules of respect are most strongly invoked in the relationship between a parent and a circumcised child, especially between a father and his son or daughter. Nothing that has sexual connotations may be mentioned within earshot of the other. A mother should never mention her pregnancy or allude to a recent childbirth in front of her child or her own parent. A girl should never mention menstruation to her mother; a mother may not tell her daughter the facts of life. Violations of the code are as disturbing to a child as to a parent. Thus, when a girl of about 8 overheard her mother talking to a visitor about a neighbor’s adultery, she broke into howls of hysterical laughter and tears of embarrassment came rolling down her cheeks. Though small children commonly sleep in their mother’s house and witness parental intercourse, by the time they are initiated, if not, in the case of boys, much earlier, they are sent to sleep elsewhere. While a daughter will go to the house of her grandmother or her mother’s co-wife in this polygamous society, a son will usually sleep in the hut (esaiga) that has been built for him far enough away from his mother’s house so that, when he discusses sexual matters with visiting age mates, his parents will not overhear. Never again will he enter the interior of the house he grew up in, because it is there

social cooperation, friendliness with peers, self-discipline, and reasoned conformity with community norms; agency is manifested by prudence, self-efficacy, initiative, and constructive dissent when faced with unjust demands. These distinctions between the contrasting qualities of agency and communion proposed by psychologist David Bakan reflect the simultaneous necessity of balancing the interests of self and other and of transformation and conservation of cultural values. Each generation benefits from and is changed by conserving cultural wisdom, and each generation also transforms the culture it inhabits. That is why most parents recognize that obedience with adult authority is only one of many goals parents have as socializing agents. On a worldwide scale, the family values associated with socializing children have been categorized as either individualist or collectivist, and a parallel classification divides American family values into liberal versus conservative. A recent book by the linguist and culture theorist George Lakoff employs the metaphors Strict Father and Nurturant Parent to capture some fundamental differences in the worldviews of conservatives and liberals. The Strict Father enforces fixed rules in the hope that children will develop

a u t h o r it y a n d o b e d ie n c e

• 83

Formality and Fun in Kinship Relations among the Gusii (continued)

self-discipline, a work ethic, and respect for tradition, whereas the Nurturant Parent values love and supports children’s autonomy in the hope that the children will become fulfilled, happy, empathic, and self-determined. The contrast in worldviews can be seen in the advice given to parents by conservative and liberal commentators. Grounding their advice in scripture, conservative psychologists James Dobson and John Rosemund challenge parents to “dare to discipline” and “nip stiff-necked rebellion in the bud”; they aver that a “strong-willed” child may require strict but loving discipline such as a spanking. In sharp contrast, children’s rights liberals, A. S. Neill, Paul Goodman, and Alfie Kohn, advise parents to allow their child complete freedom in home and school settings and to abstain from all forms of punishment or remonstrations intended to change their child’s character. According to these liberal commentators, children need “unconditional love” so that they may freely decide for themselves how to think, feel, and act. Although few parents conform completely to the Strict Father or Nurturant Parent stereotypes or embrace fully the liberal or conservative set of family values, there are qualitative differences in parental conceptions of the ap-

during infancy), there may be great affection. The children of one woman form a unit in opposition to the children of their mother’s co-wife or wives; the children of one father form a larger unit in opposition to the children of their father’s brothers. Though full siblings treat one another with the greatest informality, relationships between half- and classiﬁcatory siblings are relaxed as well. In the evening, after school is out and domestic chores are ﬁnished, children get together in the meadows to play. Sex talk between them is open and shameless. “Come here! I want to hold your breast,” a boy yells at a neighborhood girl. “Up your mother’s vagina!” is the girl’s laughing reply. Though Christian churches, to which the large majority of Gusii belong, forbid sexual experimentation, it is generally considered inevitable and receives parental sanction provided it is done in secret. Classiﬁcatory and even half-siblings “play” at sex in the ﬁelds and boys’ huts if girls can be smuggled in undetected. When the waning of adolescent infertility increases the risk of pregnancy, however, a girl ceases all sexual contacts with classiﬁcatory siblings. Gusii people marry exogamously; that is, spouses must come from other clans. Sexual relations with someone belonging to one’s own clan, which in childhood and adolescence were normative, are viewed as incestuous and heinously sinful once young people reach marriageable age. Sarah E. LeVine

imagining each other

that his parents have sexual relations and his mother squats immodestly at her cooking ﬁre. For their part, his parents may never enter the hut where he entertains his friends and to which he will one day bring his wife. Members of adjacent generations must constantly monitor their speech and behavior within the homestead as well as outside. Thus, at feasts and beer parties, young people must be careful to avoid getting drunk and talking “without shame” in front of their classiﬁcatory parents (members of the parental generation with whom a kinship relationship, however remote, can be traced). In contrast with the respect and restraint that characterize parent-child relations, relationships with grandparents, siblings, and age mates (abakiare) who were circumcised at the same time are relaxed and egalitarian and provide companionship, entertainment, and fun. Euphemisms required when talking with parents are set aside in favor of sexual and scatological language. Children who are fearful and avoidant of their father are free to tease and play practical jokes on their grandfather, who reciprocates in kind. Grandsons laugh at ﬂatulent grandmothers and tell grandfathers’ young wives that they’re coming to sleep with them; grandmothers mock grandsons’ small penises and then invite them to have sex. Grandparents horseplay and trade insults with grandchildren but, whatever their misdemeanor, rarely punish them. Parents, not grandparents, should discipline children. Siblings develop ties of solidarity and interdependence, and, especially between an older sibling who has been the caretaker of a younger sibling (“carried him on her back”

further reading: Robert A. LeVine and Barbara B. Lloyd, Nyansongo: A Gusii Community in Kenya, 1977. • Sarah LeVine, Mothers and Wives: Gusii Women of East Africa, 1979.

propriate relation between freedom and control in the socialization process. Some parents see freedom and control as polar opposites. Authoritarian parents consistently view control as ideal and freedom as problematic, whereas permissive parents view freedom as ideal and control as problematic. When parents are unilaterally concerned with their own goals and disproportionately value either obedience or freedom, they deprive children of the experience needed to think about social reciprocity and to internalize the value of respect for self and other. A third approach, authoritative parenting, holds that both parental control and children’s freedom to think and act within developmentally appropriate limits are necessary. According to this approach, it is by balancing parental demands for conformity to social constraints with responsiveness to the child’s needs and preferences that parents provide the optimal conditions for children’s personal, social, and cognitive development that enable them to experience reciprocity in social relations. The experience of authoritative parenting supports the development of children’s ability to balance qualities of agency and communion. The ability to constructively dis-

84 •

auth ority an d o bed i en c e

sent enables individuals to resist and survive in circumstances where the dominant cultural rules and customs are aimed at undermining subordinate individuals or groups within a society; for example, through acts of resistance to slavery or racism or through protests against unequal access to education. Patter ns of Par en tal Au thor it y One of the most influential theories of parent-child relationships was developed by psychologist Diana Baumrind. In 1960, Baumrind initiated research to investigate how different parental child-rearing practices and patterns affect children’s psychological well-being and their development of communal and agentic attributes. She studied childrearing practices and their effects with a group of more than 100 parents and their children when the children were in preschool, middle school, and high school. She observed parent-child interactions in the natural setting of the home and children’s interactions with peers and adults in their schools and playgrounds. Baumrind identified different patterns of parenting that demonstrate qualitatively different approaches to balancing demandingness and responsiveness. Demandingness refers to the way parents require responsible behavior, apply control and prohibitions to modify their children’s behaviors in ways that are compatible with social standards for competence, and use power to monitor and supervise their children’s activities. Responsiveness refers to the way parents express warmth, allow their children freedom and autonomy, fulfill their children’s needs, and comply with their children’s preferences. Baumrind found that throughout their development, she could explain different levels of competence and psychological well-being in children and adolescents by how parents integrate responsiveness and demandingness to form four core parenting patterns, which she labeled authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and unengaged. Authoritarian parents are demanding but not responsive. They lack warmth and tenderness, are not concerned with their children’s legitimate perspective, and tend to focus on the child’s negative behaviors by being disapproving and critical without sufficient confirmation of the child’s constructive achievements, such as his or her timely completion of chores, helpfulness, and good grades. They micromanage the child’s activities throughout the day, impose unreasonable regulations based on parental whims, such as requiring the child to do too many chores based on parent’s needs and scheduling without considering confl icts with their child’s needs and schedule. They make maturity demands that are developmentally inappropriate, such as expecting cleanliness or quiet for long periods from a preschooler. Their way of asserting power is arbitrary in that they insist on conformity to parental wishes in rigid and inflexible ways as

opposed to being realistic, issue-oriented, and guided by the reality of the child’s interests, abilities, and needs. They are likely to use threats and negative incentives instead of positive incentives when they want compliance with their directives. They impose harsh consequences that are not logically related to the child’s behaviors or misbehaviors, such as not allowing the child to go on a planned field trip as punishment for eating in the living room, that render their efforts to achieve the socialization goals they value relatively ineffectual. Their use of power is experienced by the child as coercive; the parent is viewed as unapproachable. Children and adolescents of authoritarian parents are easy prey to deviant peer pressure, lack academic competence, and manifest problem behaviors such as anxiety and depression. Permissive parents are responsive to, but are not demanding of, mature and competent behavior congruent with their child’s ability and developmental level. They set few explicit and clear standards, limits, and prohibitions that require the child to meet social standards for adult competence or to behave responsibly and respect others’ needs and claims. Permissive parents inconsistently enforce basic rules for conduct, such as respect for others’ feelings, property, and needs, that provide structure and stability to children’s experience. In response to children’s and adolescents’ resistance and limit testing, permissive parents avoid confrontation and in effect abdicate their authority to regulate their child’s behaviors. The “responsiveness” of permissive parents can be impersonal and unrealistic. Just as the criticisms and rejection of authoritarian parents are indiscriminate, the praise, approval, and acceptance of permissive parents are indiscriminate and are not logically connected to the child’s behaviors and the consequences of behavior. The lack of a logical connection between parenting practices and children’s behavior manifests itself in the way permissive parents attempt to obtain compliance. Rather than assert their power to directly prohibit undesirable behavior, to demand mature behavior, and to obtain compliance, they rely on psychological manipulation, such as bribing, withdrawing love, and making the child feel guilty for hurting the parent. Children and adolescents raised permissively are not communally oriented, not achievement oriented, and lack social responsibility and self-regulation. During adolescence, they are more likely than children whose parents are demanding to use drugs heavily. Unengaged parents are neither demanding nor responsive, because they want to remain unencumbered by childrearing responsibilities. Some are actively rejecting, cold, and hostile, while others are detached and neglectful. Adolescents with unengaged parents suffered from anxiety and depression as well as problem behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use. They are antisocial, reject their parents as role

a u t h o r it y a n d o b e d ie n c e

models, and perform poorly on standardized achievement tests. Authoritative parents are able to integrate and balance high levels of responsiveness with high levels of demandingness in a way that is optimally beneficial to children’s development. Authoritative parents require mature behavior within the child’s range of ability; make reasonable demands and prohibitions based on their child’s specific attributes and developmental level; and insist on compliance with basic rules. They monitor their children’s and adolescents’ activities and know their whereabouts. They are able and willing to use reason and discussion to obtain compliance and to alter their directives based on children’s cogent arguments. Authoritative parents are highly responsive and warm and seek to understand their children’s perspectives. They praise worthy behaviors and achievements and criticize those that require alteration. For these parents, sanctions and praise connect logically to the results and consequences of their children’s actions. Children of authoritative parents are communal, prosocial, and cooperative with peers and adults. Compared to other groups, adolescents with authoritative parents use the least amount of drugs and alcohol and are autonomous and agentic but also self-regulated and achievement oriented. By responding eagerly to their child’s needs but also requiring their child to accommodate the needs of others when necessary by sharing, complying, and tending to chores, authoritative parents demonstrate the principle of reciprocity and its beneficial effects. By contrast, interactions with authoritarian parents are nonreciprocal in that the parent requires the child to accommodate others’ needs without sufficiently accommodating the child’s needs, and interactions with permissive parents are nonreciprocal in that the parent accommodates the child’s needs and preferences without sufficiently requiring the child to accommodate others’ needs and social standards. Youth whose authoritarian parents demand unquestioning obedience and disallow constructive dissent cannot voice reasoned dissent or present their own legitimate perspective because they fear punishment and disapproval. Such youth are unlikely to appreciate that in some situations noncompliance or active disagreement is necessary to prevent others from taking advantage of self and others. Youth whose permissive parents fail to demand considerate behavior that accommodates others’ needs are likely to view social rules that create order as an onerous imposition and to manifest disruptive, oppositional behaviors that are devoid of concern for others. Baumrind concluded that appropriate maturity demands and firm control are beneficial, not detrimental, to the development of autonomy, achievement orientation, and social initiative. What is detrimental to children’s development is the absence of realistic and rational use of

• 85

power that is manifested in different ways by authoritarian parents (who are coercive) and permissive parents (who use psychological manipulation and avoid direct confrontation and problem solving). However, some past and contemporary scholars have a different perspective concerning how parents’ assertion of power to manage their children’s behaviors affects their children’s development. In the mid-20th century, Alfred L. Baldwin and Wesley C. Becker asserted that intellectual and social development are most effectively fostered by parents who allow maximal levels of freedom and child participation with minimal levels of constraint and control on children’s freedom. More recently, Catherine Lewis and Grazyna Kochanska have implied that when parents are demanding and confrontational, they undermine children’s internal motivation, sense of autonomy, and ability to selfregulate, which in turn may impede children’s ability to accept parental prohibitions and to act in accord with parental and social standards. In contrast, Baumrind’s findings indicate that by making demands that are direct and reasonable and by being open to honest communication and receptive to children’s preference and needs, authoritative parents model social reciprocity, showing their children that their goals can be achieved by cooperation and mutual communication rather than by either coercive and arbitrary use of power or indirect psychological manipulation. The importance of social reciprocity is confirmed by researchers who distinguish values of autonomy held by individualist cultures such as the United States and values of obedience held by collectivist cultures such as Japan or India. Scholars such as Hazel Markus and Shinobu Kitayama have found that in collectivist cultures the desired socialization outcomes are for individuals to be obedient, to be concerned about group expectations, and to comply with others’ goals and to subordinate their own goals. However, collectivists do not comply with all demands that anyone may place on them. They evaluate others’ potential for reciprocity before complying with their demands and subordinating their own goals. Collectivists think about whether the individual they are helping will reciprocate help to them in the future. Potential for reciprocity is similarly evaluated by members of individualist cultures. Thus, it appears that in all cultures compliance is dependent upon consequences to both self and others. Within different types of cultures, parents aim not only to rear children who can distinguish between what is and is not allowed by their parents and society, but also to rear children who think about why prohibitions and rules for conduct exist before deciding whether to comply. Effects of Eth nic and Soc ial Con te xt Do ethnic or cultural identity and social context influence the effect that parenting patterns or practices have on

86 •

auth ority an d o bed i en c e

children’s development? Most studies find that authoritative (as opposed to authoritarian) parenting and responsive (as opposed to punitive) practices are beneficial for both African American and European American youth. Thus in a study with low-income families, Pedro Portes and colleagues found that children of both groups whose mothers were encouraged to use reason and praise more than physical discipline and arbitrary authority were observed to have higher standardized test scores. Authoritative parenting and its components of support, monitoring, and positive communication have been found to be associated with mental health and competence in African American youth. In some studies, however, the consequences of authoritarian parenting and of the parenting practice of physical punishment have been found to differ in important respects by ethnicity. Daughters of African American parents who discouraged immature behavior, noncompliance, and nonconformity and therefore were classified as “authoritarian” have been found to be significantly more independent than their European American counterparts. Another study concluded that authoritative parenting does not significantly benefit the school performance of Asian or African Americans, as it does European Americans. Earlier experiences of spanking have been found to be related to maladjustment for European Americans but to lower levels of behavior problems for African Americans and frequent use of physical punishment and spanking to predict more child aggression and antisocial behavior in European American than in African American children. Because of variations in parents’ socialization practices within—as well as between—cultures, however, it cannot be assumed that strict obedience enforced by harsh punishment in parentchild relations is a value held by all African Americans or that leniency is a value held by all European Americans. Some research also suggests that high levels of parental control contribute to problem behavior in low-risk environments but are beneficial to youth in high-risk environments, neutralizing the negative influences of peers on children’s achievement. And there may well be ethnic differences in the meaning to parents and children of authoritarian parenting and practices. If spanking is motivated by safety concerns in African American parents and interpreted as such by their children, it may not have detrimental effects, as in some other ethnic groups. There is no definitive answer to the question of whether the effects of specific parenting practices differ by ethnic group, partly because the meaning of objectively similar parenting practices often differs depending on social context and partly because data on parents’ practices and child outcomes may be collected differently in different studies. But while authoritative parenting and responsive parenting practices are beneficial to children in all contexts, the effects of authoritarian and permissive parenting and demanding

practices do appear to differ somewhat depending on social context. Nadia Sorkhabi and Diana Baumrind see also: Corporal Punishment; Discipline and Punishment; Parenthood; Punishment, Legal; Rights, Parental further reading: Pedro R. Portes, Richard M. Dunham, and Shavon Williams, “Assessing Child-Rearing Style in Ecological Settings: Its Relation to Culture, Social Class, Early Age Intervention, and Scholastic Achievement,” Adolescence 21, no. 83 (Fall 1986), pp. 723–35. • Vonnie C. McLoyd, “The Impact of Economic Hardship on Black Families and Children: Psychological Distress, Parenting, and Socioemotional Development,” Child Development 61 (1990), pp. 311–46. • Diana Baumrind, “The Discipline Controversy Revisited,” Family Relations 45, no. 4 (October 1996), pp. 405– 14. • Diana Baumrind and Ross Thompson, “The Ethics of Parenting,” in Marc Bornstein, ed., Handbook of Parenting, 2nd ed., vol. 5, 2002, pp. 3–34. • Wendy Grolnick, The Psychology of Parental Control: How Well-Meant Parenting Backﬁres, 2003. • Jane B. Brooks, The Process of Parenting, 6th ed., 2004.

autism spectrum disorders. Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are biologically based neurodevelopmental disorders that are behaviorally defined by impairments in social relatedness, communication, and overly restricted, stereotyped, and repetitive behaviors. Autism was first identified in 1943 by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner, who described 11 children who shared an inability to relate to others, failure to use language communicatively, and an obsessive desire for routine and sameness. All of these children came from well-educated, high-achieving families, with parents he noted to be detail oriented and obsessive, some with histories of early language delays and what we think of today as “autistic traits.” Although Kanner initially believed the condition to be congenital (biologically based), the prevailing psychoanalytic approach to mental disorders at the time soon asserted that autism was the result of emotionally detached parents, particularly ascribing etiology to “refrigerator mothers” (emotionally frigid mothers). It was not until the 1960s that evidence supporting a biological basis for autism was recognized. ASDs are now known to be one of the most heritable neurodevelopmental disorders, with the behavioral characteristics distributed on a continuum within the general population in all cultures, racial and ethnic groups, and across socioeconomic levels. Causal explanations have shifted from the debate between nature versus nurture to investigations based on an appreciation of the importance of both biological and environmental determinants in understanding the causes of these disorders. Multiple genes are believed to contribute to the manifestations of ASDs as well as some of the related disorders commonly associated with ASDs. Thus, current scientific investigations are largely directed at identifying these “susceptibility genes,” biological markers, and risk factors that are associated with specific developmental and behavioral characteristics of individuals with ASDs (as well as family

In much of the literature on autism, there is an implicit assumption that having a child with autism is a profound misfortune. I learned a different view from the South Asian Muslim immigrant families whom I studied in a midwestern city between 2002 and 2004. I write here about the Khan and Yoosof families who came to the United States from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their sons were diagnosed with autism at age 2 and 3, respectively. They were nonverbal and placed in a self-contained public preschool classroom for children with autism. Jalil received two months of speech therapy at age 4, and Raqib received sporadic speech therapy at age 5. These families regarded children with autism as gifts from Allah and felt blessed that God chose them to raise His child. They believed that Allah chose them because He knew they would be responsible, loving parents. Mr. Khan explained, “I think Allah found that we have the capability to handle it. We have the strength to deal with it. Not to be rude to him . . . not to blame the child. Allah knew all of us in the family will love His child very much. Jalil gets more attention, more love than anybody else in the family.” Their Muslim faith provided the primary framework within which these parents raised their children with autism. Their religious perspective stressed the child’s full inclusion in every aspect of life and called on Muslims to remove societal barriers that marginalized individuals with disabilities. As a result, these children were incorporated into the ordinary practices at home and in the community just as any child would be. Children with autism were not cocooned in a quiet, secluded, or simpliﬁed world. They inhabited highly stimulating and noisy households of extended families, multiple languages, television, and music.

In counterpoint to this dynamic complexity, prayer provided a powerful source of structure and predictability. Parents believed that every child should be taught to pray because God hears the prayers of children ﬁrst and because praying involves a one-on-one communication with Allah, in which the child can ask directly for blessings and forgiveness. Jalil and Raqib were brought into the practice of praying through participation in prayers and ceremonies at home and in the mosque. As in the opening vignette, fathers prayed with their sons, performing the entire prayer to completion. At home, such prayers might last 15 minutes, in the mosque 30 minutes. The children followed along and rarely, if ever, disrupted the prayer. Additionally, relatives and the wider community supported the children’s religious education. Children would be dressed in their native clothes with fuss and ceremony and taken to the mosque for their weekly prayer lessons. Mothers also played a critical role by overseeing the child’s informal instruction in prayer, ensuring that he acquired the minimal level of Qur’an recitation. They were assiduous in conducting behind-the-scenes rehearsals that prepared the child to pray with his father. Lessons were simple but lengthy, involving short, frequent repetitions. Mothers wove the teaching of prayers into their daily life, making time between chores and while transporting their son to school and therapy. In the following example, Raqib, 5 years old, clambered into a swing in his favorite park. Laila, his mother, began to push him from behind and Raqib giggled excitedly. Laila then walked to the front and stood still. “More!” Raqib shouted, “More please.” Laila looked at him, “Okay, how about we sing together. I push you, you say what mommy says, and you will go up and UP! Okay?” Raqib giggled. Laila grabbed the swing from behind, “READY Raqiby? Okay say, ‘Bismillah Al Rahman, Al Rahim’ [In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Kind] . . . come on, ‘Bismillah.’ ” Raqib shouted out in excitement, “Bismillah Al Rahman Al Rahim.” In this manner, Raqib rehearsed the entire prayer. His mother said to me, “The to and fro motion soothes and calms him. He loves it and learns the best here.” From age 3 onward, Jalil and Raqib experienced an enormous amount of this kind of rehearsal. They became accustomed to having their activities interrupted as their mothers initiated yet another lesson in prayer and to being distracted, coaxed, or bribed when their interest waned. But they also became accustomed to the importance of prayer and to its central place in everyday life. By the time Jalil and Raqib were 6 years old, they were able to recite lengthy prayers in Arabic, participate in formal prayer sessions in the mosque, and take part in Qur’an recitation competitions with their typically developing peers. They were also able to communicate in Bangla, Urdu, and English with family members. Brinda Jegatheesan further reading: Brinda Jegatheesan, Ways of Being at Home and Community: Language Socialization of Children with Autism in Multilingual South Asian Immigrant Families, PhD diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.

imagining each other

imagining each other

Muslim Children with Autism Learn to Pray Outside the kitchen of the Khan family home, a brilliant, saffron sun descended between green trees and lampposts, signaling the time for evening prayers. Inside, Mrs. Khan laid prayer mats in the direction of Ka’bah (the house of God in Mecca), while her husband performed his ablutions. “Jalil,” called out Mrs. Khan, “It’s Namaaz [prayer] time.” The child, in a squatting position, bumped himself down the staircase. He ﬂashed a smile at his mother and made a buzzing sound through slightly parted lips and clenched teeth. His new sound of the week! Arriving on the landing with a thud, 6-year-old Jalil handed his prayer cap to his mother, who ﬁrmly pushed it on his head, saying, “Get up! Go stand with abba [father] now. He is waiting for you.” Jalil skipped to his father, stood beside him, ﬁdgeted with his cap, and continued buzzing, making circular motions with his hands. His father gently held his hand for a split second. His touch meant “Shhhh, prayers are starting.” Jalil paused. He brieﬂy looked sideways at his father and quickly bent his body, imitating his father’s posture. His father took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began the call to prayer, “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the Greatest). Swaying his body in rhythm with his father’s recitation, Jalil glanced brieﬂy under his armpit at his gently twirling hand.

88 •

autism spectrum di s o rders

members). These may suggest biological pathways important for diagnosis, intervention, and, ultimately, prevention. Just as the behavioral manifestations of ASDs fall on a continuum and in different behavioral profiles, it is likely that there are multiple causes for this group of disorders. Neural structures that have been primarily investigated in ASDs include the amygdala, hippocampus, superior temporal sulcus, fusiform gyrus, and cerebellum, functioning in complex interconnected neural networks. The current diagnostic criteria for ASDs in the United States are defined in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistic Manual, fourth edition text revised (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Once considered a categorical diagnosis, it is now appreciated that individuals with ASDs represent a wide range in the severity of their behavioral deficits and developmental/cognitive abilities that can range from severely impaired to superlatively gifted. An alternative name for this group of disorders is pervasive developmental disorders. Autistic disorder is defined by impairments in reciprocal social interactions and verbal and nonverbal communication, as well as showing restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors. ASDs are defined by both positive and negative behaviors. Positive behaviors are those that are not typical for the person’s age and/or developmental level. Examples include excessive interest in spinning and spinning devices. Negative behaviors are those that are expected to be present but are absent or occur very infrequently, such as eye contact or complex imaginative play. Individuals with autistic disorder have a high rate of cognitive impairment in addition to the behavioral abnormalities. Estimates range from 30% to 75% of individuals with autistic disorder function in the intellectual disability (formerly called mental retardation) range on measures of cognition and daily living functioning. The overall ratio of males to females in most samples is 4:1, although the ratio is less biased toward males if one looks specifically at children with autistic disorder with intellectual disability. Asperger disorder is diagnosed in individuals who have deficits in social reciprocity, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors, but who have no evidence of early language delay and have normal cognitive ability. There is much discussion in the scientific and lay communities regarding the differences between Asperger disorder and highfunctioning autism (individuals with autistic disorder who have normal cognitive abilities). Motor abilities may be compromised, and there may be an unusual quality to one’s voice. Rett disorder and childhood disintegrative disorder are currently designated in this group of disorders, although they have distinct developmental trajectories that differ from the others. A genetic cause for Rett disorder has been identified. Rett disorder was initially thought to occur

only in females who have a period of normal development through 6 to 12 months but then begin to lose fine motor skills and develop unusual hand movements, often characterized as hand wringing, show decreased interest in social interactions, and often lose other developmental skills or fail to progress. A specific gene defect on the X chromosome, MECP2, has been identified in most cases of Rett disorder. Since the MECP2 gene has been identified, males with the defect have also been identified, although they do not generally demonstrate the same developmental and behavioral characteristics as females. Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD) is a rare disorder in which developmental regression occurs, with loss of skills in many areas. It is usually after a longer period of normal development (2 to 10 years) and involves regression in social, cognitive, motor, and self-care skills that is accompanied by a period of agitation. The etiology of CDD is unknown. Unlike children with other ASDs, children with Rett and CDD show little response to intervention and have persistent, severe developmental disabilities. Pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) is used to describe children who have deficits in at least two of the three domains of impairment characteristic of autism but who have six or fewer features of autism. Concerns have been raised about the increasing prevalence of ASDs, from 4 to 6 per 10,000 meeting criteria for autistic disorder in the 1960s to 20 per 10,000 with autistic disorder and 60 per 10,000 for ASDs currently. There is much debate, with strong feelings on both sides, about whether these increases represent a true increase in the incidence of ASDs and reflect increasing environmental factors that alter early brain development in genetically susceptible individuals or are primarily related to broader diagnostic definitions and greater awareness of the behavioral characteristics of ASDs by parents and professionals. Diagnostic shifting from intellectual disability to ASDs as the primary diagnosis may also contribute to this apparent increase. Another important area of investigation related to ASD diagnosis is how early the diagnosis can reliably be made and what are early markers. Concern has been raised in many parents that the increased prevalence of ASDs is related to increased exposure to environmental neurotoxins such as methyl and ethyl mercury (thimerosal) or to increasing numbers of vaccines that affect immune function and result in inflammatory reactions of the blood-brain barrier and brain or dysregulation of neurotransmitters and receptors in the brain. The recognition that some children lose previously acquired social and language skills, occurring in 20% to 50% of children with ASDs and generally occurring between 12 and 24 months, has added to these concerns. The scientific literature does not support an association between ASDs and

a u t is m s p e c t r u m d is o r d e r s

vaccines or thimerosal; multiple epidemiological studies done in several different countries and by different groups of scientists have not found any association. However, the concern about these potential environmental factors has engendered both an unprecedented amount of support for research into the causes of ASDs as well as a number of biomedical treatments, most of which have not been sufficiently well studied regarding their safety or efficacy. The number of families using alternative therapies, either in addition to or instead of evidence-based therapies, is estimated to be between 50% and 90%. Research into the effectiveness, risks, and safety of these therapies, as well as plausible mechanisms for their reported effects, is critical. Most parents of children with ASDs begin to have concerns between 12 and 24 months of age, although until recently few children were diagnosed before 4 years. The development of well-standardized diagnostic tools has allowed earlier, reliable diagnosis for children as early as 2 years of age. Several research groups tracking the development of infants and toddlers have found that by 12 months of age, many children who are later diagnosed with ASDs can be distinguished by atypical eye contact, decreased response to name, social disengagement, differences in responsiveness to people and objects, and delayed expressive and receptive language. Methods for early, reliable diagnosis are important since it is clear that the earlier intervention is begun, the better the prognosis. The association of medical conditions in children with ASDs varies across studies from 5% to 30%, with higher percentages found in samples that include a larger proportion of those with ASDs and intellectual disability. Some of these conditions may be causes for ASDs, while others may represent unrelated co-occurring conditions. Several genetic disorders highly associated with ASDs include fragile X syndrome resulting from full or partial expansions of a trinucleotide gene sequence on the X chromosome, deletions and duplications on chromosome 15, and tuberous sclerosis, which can result from gene mutations at either chromosome 9 or 16. Seizures and gastrointestinal symptoms have also been associated with ASDs. Many different treatment strategies have been developed to address the behavioral and learning deficits among children with autism. Educational approaches are currently the primary and only form of intervention documented to significantly improve outcomes. Research documenting the effectiveness of specific intervention strategies for children with autism in addressing deficits in language, nonverbal communication, social skills, and improving challenging behaviors that interfere with learning is available. The relationship between particular techniques and long-term outcomes is still not completely clear. Key characteristics of effective intervention programs include entry into educational services and provision of intensive instructional

• 89

programming that should include a minimum of 25 hours a week, 12 months a year, of systematically planned and developmentally appropriate educational activity toward identified objectives. These objectives should be observable, measurable behaviors and skills that affect a child’s participation in the educational setting, the community, and family life. Parents are now valued as essential partners in treatment and management. It is critical that families are active participants in the assessment and planning process, helping to identify goals and objectives as well as learning techniques used in the educational settings to teach their children new skills. Priorities of intervention should be on functional, spontaneous communication, social instruction, cognitive development, and play skills, delivered throughout the day in various settings. To the extent possible, children with autism should receive interventions in a setting with ongoing interactions with typically developing peers. Sensory processing difficulties may interfere with learning and inclusion with typical peers and should be specifically addressed as part of the intervention plan if present. Developing effective and readily available interventions for older adolescents and adults with ASDs is an area of increasing interest. A number of medications have been shown to be effective as adjunctive therapy in treating symptoms such as anxiety, hyperactivity, aggression, self-injury, and sleep disturbance frequently found in many individuals with ASDs. Research is increasing regarding the short-term benefit/ risk ratios of psychopharmacological treatment in children and adults with ASDs, yet the long-term effects are still largely unknown. The most frequently used medications include newer antidepressants, neuroleptics, antiseizure medications, psychostimulants, and some newer antipsychotics. Although individuals with ASDs gain skills and improve with age, significant deficits in social and adaptive skills usually remain. Most adults with ASDs require substantial support and generally have difficulty sustaining relationships, independent living situations, and jobs commensurate with their levels of education. IQ and verbal abilities are the best prognostic factors for long-term outcome, although the increased association of anxiety and mood disorders such as depression with ASDs can significantly affect adult function and independence. Robin L. Hansen see also: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Education of Children with; Language Disorders and Delay; Mental Illness further reading: Catherine Lord and James P. McGee, eds., Educating Children with Autism, 2001. • Sally Ozonoff, Sally J. Rogers, and Robert L. Hendren, eds., Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Research Review for Practitioners, 2001. • Stephen E. Brock, Shane R. Jimerson, and Robin L. Hansen, eds., Identifying, Assessing and Treating Autism at School, 2006. • Autism Society of America, http://www .autism-society.org • National Institute of Mental Health, Autism Spectrum Disorders, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm

90 •

autism spectrum di s o rders , educati o n o f c h il d r e n w it h

autism spectrum disorders, education of disorders and with typically developing students. However, children with. Autism spectrum disorders are a the education of students with autism spectrum disorders group of neurodevelopmental disorders involving problematic development in social, language, behavior, and cognitive domains. Autism and related disorders represent serious, chronic conditions with problematic social interaction and verbal and nonverbal communication with repetitive behaviors or interests. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may present differently in each child. Since about the year 2000, the prevalence of autism has increased, in part due to better identification and broader characterization. Autism spectrum disorders may affect 60 individuals per 10,000 children younger than age 8 worldwide. While the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, the U.S. federal law governing special education services) provides for an appropriate education for students with autism spectrum disorders, the provision and implementation of educational services is variable. School systems face a number of challenges in educating students with autism spectrum disorders, including funding, hiring of highly qualified personnel, and implementation of appropriate programming. The education and treatment of students with autism spectrum disorders often involve many disciplines and agencies, potentially confusing financial and treatment responsibilities. Communication between parents, agencies, and school systems is essential to effective and efficient educational and treatment planning. In terms of educational programming, a minimum of 25 hours per week of educational services are provided year round for students diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. In order to develop appropriate and meaningful educational opportunities for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, it is important to begin with a comprehensive assessment of the student’s individual strengths, needs, and deficits as these relate to the diverse characteristics of the disorders within the autism spectrum. Assessment should include a formal multidisciplinary evaluation of social behavior, verbal and nonverbal communication, adaptive behavior, motor skills, atypical behavior, and cognitive development. In particular, assessment must focus on the primary characteristics common to the diagnosis of any autism spectrum disorder: social deficits, communication deficits, and restricted and/or stereotypical patterns of behaviors, interests, or activities. Additional characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorders should also be assessed, including motor differences, sensory differences, cognitive patterns, emotional vulnerability, and behavioral issues. Assessment must address the severity of impairment and its impact on daily functioning. Finally, an essential part of the evaluation process involves gathering information from parents about the student’s developmental history as well as parental observations and concerns. Students with autism spectrum disorders may share some characteristics with children who have other developmental

offers many challenges because of the unique combination of characteristics central to the disorders. Successful education of students with autism spectrum disorders requires a practical approach to education, including clearly defined and sequenced goals and objectives in the areas of communication, social interaction, adaptive skills, and the amelioration of behavior problems. Instructional programs for students with autism spectrum disorders should include direct instruction in an organized, predictable environment as well as ongoing data collection to ensure consistent progress toward goals and objectives. Individualized education programs and individual family service plans should be vehicles for planning and implementation of educational objectives. These should target long- and short-term goals and the systematic acquisition of knowledge, skills, and behaviors to reach those goals, beginning with the student’s present level of performance and proceeding through repeated, planned, and systematic instruction, including sufficient amounts of adult attention to meet individualized goals. Inclusion of a family component is also recommended. While individualized instructional programs will vary with the strengths, needs, and deficits of the student, several components that target the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders are recommended: verbal and/or nonverbal communication, social interaction, instruction aimed at the development of cognitive skills, intervention strategies that address problem behaviors, and developmentally appropriate academic skills. Language functioning is the strongest predictor of student outcome for those diagnosed with autism. Specific instructional goals and objectives are dependent on the scope and severity of language impairment. Attention should be given to verbal, nonverbal, receptive, expressive, and pragmatic aspects of language. In general, social instruction should be delivered throughout the day in a variety of settings and should focus on the teaching of play skills (in younger children) and/or interaction with peers in a developmentally appropriate manner, based on individualized socialization goals. As all intervention plans target the increase of positive behaviors, the development of adaptive behaviors and the amelioration of problematic behaviors are necessary to appropriate educational planning. The use of applied behavioral analysis, functional behavior assessments, and/or positive behavioral intervention and support (the use of scientific principles that focus as much as possible on rewarding appropriate behavior rather than punishing inappropriate behavior) for development of student social, behavioral, and academic competence is recommended, as these serve the added function of informing staff behavior, planning, and decision making. Ongoing measurement of educational objectives must be

b a b y a n d c h il d s e l l in g

documented in order to determine whether a child is benefitting from a particular intervention. Regular, systematic assessments of progress should be conducted over short periods of time, monitored frequently, and objectives adjusted accordingly. Persistence of gained skills should be assessed periodically as should generalization across settings. While there is no cure for autism, appropriate educational programs that begin as early as possible can improve the prognosis for the student, leading to improved functioning later in life. Early intervention can also lead to decreased likelihood of restrictive educational placements. Short- and long-term outcomes depend on severity of the disorder and complexity of symptoms as well as quality and effectiveness of intervention. As with most developmental disabilities, the deficits associated with autism spectrum disorders have been found to persist over time, although there is evidence

• 91

that interventions lead to improvements. Available intervention research does not identify which intervention strategies work best with which children. Through assessment of student progress and outcomes, educators can provide extremely useful data on the effectiveness of interventions, thereby contributing to the research base on what works with which students. Deanna B. Cash and Daniel P. Hallahan see also: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Learning; Learning Disabilities, Education of Children with; Special Education further reading: B. Scheuermann and J. Webber, Autism: Teaching Does Make a Difference, 2002. • Stephen E. Brock, Shane R. Jimerson, and Robin L. Hansen, Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Autism at School, 2006. • Clarissa Willis, Teaching Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2006.

b baby and child selling. Baby and child selling includes typical forms of human trafficking and enslavement, such as the buying and enslavement of children for prostitution, pornography, and forced labor. Instead of living with their families and attending school, children are reduced to articles of commerce and subjected to forced prostitution and bonded labor. Despite the modern abolition of slavery, these kinds of human trafficking and enslavement exist throughout much of the contemporary world. Child trafficking is thus a part of the broader phenomenon of human trafficking, which subjects millions of people to various forms of sale, slavery, and slavery-like practices. Child trafficking (like human trafficking generally) takes different forms in the modern world, where it is generally illegal, than in earlier historical periods, when it was a legally sanctioned institution. Thus, child trafficking today is frequently associated with organized crime, including local, national, and international criminal networks. It is also connected to locally based criminal activity not involving broader criminal networks. Child trafficking often is facilitated through governmental corruption, including the bribing of police and governmental officials. There are instances in the contemporary world where customary practices in particular locales largely support particular forms of child trafficking, bonded labor, and slavery-like practices. In such instances, local governments and police may protect such practices as though they were

legitimate property, contractual, labor, or familial arrangements, despite the existence of laws in those nations making them illegal. These confl icts between local practices and national laws frequently exist in societies and locations where governmental enforcement is weak and the law and central government have little effective presence. Child trafficking, slavery, and slavery-like practices have been documented in relationship to the so-called sex industries (including prostitution and pornography), labor (including agricultural, domestic, and production work), and enforced enlistment and participation in military confl ict (particularly including civil wars and insurgencies). Given the illicit nature of most human trafficking, it is difficult to establish reliable measures of its incidence. It is reasonably clear, however, that there are millions of children worldwide subject to some form of trafficking, slavery, or slavery-like practice. Although these practices are particularly widespread in some developing countries, there are a significant number of persons subject to such practices even in wealthy countries, such as Western European nations and the United States, where many of these victims were trafficked from poorer countries. Generally, the victims of child trafficking, slavery, and slavery-like practices have some vulnerability that makes them, or their families, subject to exploitation by others. Thus, the victims are commonly the poor of developing or transitional (i.e., Eastern European) economies, whose

92 •

b ab y an d chil d s el l i n g

struggles with basic survival, debt, and lack of economic opportunity leave them vulnerable to recruiters, criminal networks, and even immediate or extended family members. Child trafficking, slavery, and slavery-like practices often involve situations where the basic survival and human rights of individuals, families, and communities are already under severe stress and deprivation. Unfortunately, amid these situations of vulnerability, some systematically exploit others, subjecting them to dehumanizing practices. Since governments for the most part prohibit trafficking and enslavement, the individuals and groups who traffic and enslave others generally are engaging in criminal activity for profit or other gain. Trafficking and enslavement are means to obtain cheap and compliant labor (including in the sex industries) or soldiers for a cause. Recruiters often employ a combination of deceit and financial inducement to obtain victims, promising jobs, training, or other opportunities and then delivering enslavement, forced prostitution, and forced labor. Babies and children are often “trafficked” or sold for purposes of intercountry adoption. The practice of inducing birth families to relinquish babies or children through provision of cash, food, or other valuables is generally considered an illicit form of baby selling. Intermediaries who pay the birth families, and in turn are paid a far larger sum for each child, are in effect themselves selling babies and children as well. Obtaining babies and children for adoption through deceit and kidnapping is also a serious problem, and children obtained through deceit and kidnapping are often sold by intermediaries to orphanages or adoption facilitators. Thus, trafficking for purposes of adoption follows in some respects the same patterns as trafficking for sex or labor. Desperately poor and vulnerable families and individuals in developing nations are exploited by profit-minded individuals who employ wealth, deceit, force, and governmental corruption to obtain children for profit. The sale or purchase of children for intercountry adoption is clearly illegal under both international and national law, but the laws governing this practice sometimes are considered distinct from those governing human trafficking, enslavement, or child labor. Trafficking prohibitions sometimes require some form of exploitation, typically involving sexual or labor exploitation; illicit child labor of course requires some form of work. Children who are adopted usually are not subject to sexual or labor exploitation, and the tendency unfortunately has been to consider that being purchased, kidnapped, or stolen for purposes of adoption is not a form of exploitation. Thus, some argue that children who have been sold for adoption may not be covered under many current prohibitions of child and human trafficking. However, the increasing awareness of the problem of baby and child buying within the intercountry adoption system is gradually producing a tendency to define such il-

licit practices, both legally and rhetorically, as within the broader wrongs of child (and human) trafficking. The international community has taken steps to try to alleviate the problem of baby and child buying in the intercountry adoption system. The practices of buying and selling children for adoption are clearly condemned in the broadly ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which the United States is almost alone in not ratifying. The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption goes beyond condemnation of such practices to the creation of specific procedures designed to combat them. The United States finally ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption on December 12, 2007 (entry into force April 1, 2008), creating a stronger federal regulatory role. The Optional Protocol to the CRC (Sale of Children), which has been ratified by the United States, requires nations to enforce criminal or penal statutes prohibiting improper inducement of consents; this language requires that buying babies or children from birth parents for purposes of adoption be prohibited by penal statutes. The United States interprets its international obligations under this treaty very narrowly. The incidence of baby and child buying within the contemporary intercountry adoption system has been controversial. It has been difficult to document trafficking within the intercountry adoption system, both because documenting illicit conduct is generally difficult and because it involves “child laundering,” by which babies and children are obtained illegally but then are processed through the adoption system as “orphans.” Babies and children laundered in this manner typically have falsified paperwork that makes it very difficult to trace the birth families, and most adoptions involve babies and toddlers unable to either verify or contest the accuracy of their paperwork. Under these circumstances, some adoption advocates claim that the incidence of baby and child selling in the intercountry adoption system is very low and the dangers of such exaggerated. However, there is sufficient evidence from which to infer that illicit means of obtaining babies and children for adoption, including financial inducements, deceit, and outright kidnapping, have been significant problems in Cambodia, India, Nepal, Vietnam, and Latin America. Indeed, concerns over trafficking, corruption, and profiteering in sending and receiving countries have caused shutdowns or moratoriums of intercountry adoption from Cambodia, portions of India, Nepal, and Vietnam. Some Latin American countries have responded to such concerns by introducing regulations of intercountry adoption that dramatically reduced the numbers of such adoptions, and some receiving countries have limited adoptions from Guatemala due to such concerns. The vulnerability of intercountry adoption to child trafficking arises primarily from the large fees and “donations” that have become customary. Many sending countries have

b a l d w in , j a m e s m a r k

a significant portion of their population living on less than $1 per day—the international poverty standard—as well as a significant portion who live on less than $2 per day. Even the “middle class” in such societies may generally earn U.S. $3,000 to $15,000 annually. Under these circumstances, the practice of spending $5,000 to $20,000 per adoption within the sending country creates the same kinds of profiteering motives that exist in labor or sex trafficking. Thus, purportedly “legitimate” adoption fees and donations become the motivations for criminal activity, with the funds used to purchase babies, pay child finders or other intermediaries, and bribe government officials, leaving ample funds to pay both the legitimate costs of intercountry adoption and provide profits for facilitators and orphanage directors. Some have trouble understanding why anyone would buy or steal children for adoption where there are so many children living in orphanages. There are several reasons for this paradoxical behavior. First, in many countries children in orphanages, like children in the United States foster care system, are overwhelmingly much older children, while families generally prefer to adopt infants or toddlers. Second, Americans adopting internationally generally prefer to adopt girls; while a predominance of girls is found in Chinese and Indian orphanages, such is not the case in some sending countries. Third, in many orphanages in developing and transition economies, most children are not legally free for adoption, as they still have family ties. For example, in some sending countries the poor use “orphanages” or “hostels” as a kind of boarding school or family resource, which can provide education, food, and housing beyond that which the family itself can provide. Based on these circumstances, children are systematically purchased and stolen for adoption in countries with significant numbers of children living in orphanages. Baby selling within the United States has sometimes taken the form of black-market transactions in which babies are explicitly sold for money. Many states enacted criminal prohibitions of baby selling during the 20th century, in a context where notorious and large-scale babyselling scandals were sometimes publicized. In recent years, it has been noted that the legal adoption system operates in significant ways like a market in babies, with adoption fees dependent on various characteristics of the babies, controversially including race. While states try to control the amount and categories of permissible adoption fees and assistance to birth mothers, some adoptions appear to operate in a “gray-market” zone testing those limits. Issues related to so-called surrogate mother contracts complicate the question further, making it harder and harder to discern which contractual and financial arrangements constitute illicit baby selling. Within this context, some critics have proposed that an explicit market in adoption be legalized. According to this proposal, birth parents would be selling

• 93

their parental rights, rather than the child, and hence the arrangement would not constitute illicit baby selling. This distinction between baby selling and the sale of parental rights has not been accepted as yet by either courts or legislatures. However, the domestic adoption system, particularly in relationship to privately arranged infant adoption, continues to set “prices” and fees according to principles of supply and demand, despite the clear prohibitions of baby selling. David M. Smolin see also: Adoption; Slavery, Child further reading: International Labour Organization, A Future without Child Labour, 2002. • David Smolin, “Child Laundering,” Wayne Law Review 52 (2006), p. 113. • U.S. Department of State, Trafﬁcking in Persons Report, June 2007.

baby talk. see Language: Language and Social Life baldwin, james mark (b. January 12, 1861; d. November 9, 1934), American psychologist, biologist, and genetic epistemologist. Although James Mark Baldwin is little known among many of those interested in child development, his ideas have had a significant impact on the field. This influence has been exerted through those like Jean Piaget, L. S. Vygotsky, George Herbert Mead, and Lawrence Kohlberg, who incorporated fundamental insights from Baldwin into their own respective theories. In a career that began in 1887, brought him to the University of Toronto, Princeton University, and the Johns Hopkins University, and led to numerous honors, including the University of Oxford’s first honorary doctorate of science, Baldwin became one of early scientific psychology’s most internationally renowned figures. In 1909, his career was cut short at its height by a scandal that drove him from the field and led to a long period during which his writings went into eclipse. Baldwin’s contributions to contemporary understanding of the child are numerous and important. In the early 1890s, he carried out psychology’s first, systematic, experimental studies of infant reaching and imitation. In Mental Development (1895), he articulated a biological theory of individual development in which the child is viewed as an active organism cognizing the environment through direct and immediate action on it. In modern developmental psychology, this has become known as the sensorimotor principle. Development, for Baldwin, occurs through a biologically given process (which he termed a circular reaction) by which an increasingly complex system of sensorimotor tendencies to action (a habit system) grows through incorporation of new action possibilities (accommodation). In Social and Ethical Interpretations (1897), Baldwin extended the principle of accommodation through circular reaction to social adaptation. In social adaptation, accommodation to the social environment occurs through imita-

94 •

b aldw in , j ames mark

tive and inventive social actions selected for incorporation into the child’s social repertoire on the basis of positive confirmation received from significant others in a broad sociocultural context. Baldwin called this context social heredity and described it as “the mass of organized tradition, custom, usage, social habit . . . already embodied in the institutions and ways of acting . . . of a given social group, considered as the normal heritage of the individual social child” (p. 301). In elaborating his theory of social adaptation, Baldwin presents cogent and valuable discussions of a wide range of developmental phenomena, including imitation, creative invention, altruism, egoism, morality, the social self, self-awareness, and theory of mind. Between 1906 and 1911, Baldwin published a multivolume genetic epistemology or developmental theory of knowledge, Thought and Things, that traces mental evolution from early prelogical, prereflective thought and the emergence of meaning through the development of reflection, logic, and higher-order synthetic cognition. His History of Psychology (1913), which traces parallels between the historical development of psychological concepts from the Greeks to the moderns and mental development of the child in ontogenesis, is the first history of science written from the point of view of genetic epistemology. Robert H. Wozniak see also: Cognitive Development; Evolution of Childhood, Biological further reading: John M. Broughton and D. John FreemanMoir, eds., The Cognitive-Developmental Psychology of James Mark Baldwin, 1982. • Robert H. Wozniak, “Lost Classics and Forgotten Contributors: James Mark Baldwin as a Case Study in the Disappearance and Rediscovery of Ideas,” in Thomas C. Dalton and Rand B. Evans, eds., The Life Cycle of Psychological Ideas: Understanding Prominence and the Dynamics of Intellectual Change, 2004.

bateson, gregory (b. May 9, 1904; d. July 4, 1980), American cultural anthropologist and pioneer of cybernetics and communications theory. Gregory Bateson was destined from his own childhood to think about life and learning in evolutionary terms. His father was the pioneering geneticist William Bateson. Before World War II, he worked as a cultural and visual anthropologist in New Guinea, where he met his first wife, Margaret Mead, and then in Bali. Bateson quickly moved out of traditional anthropology, however, and into the young field of communications theory. He became a member of the famous Macy Conferences on cybernetics (1947–53). He also worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, California, from 1949 to 1962, where he wrote about the metacommunicative processes of play and developed his double-bind theory of schizophrenia. Metacommunication is the skill of learning that linguistic and bodily signals are signals, not literal signs. When children play, for example, they mimic bluff, battle, tease,

and so on. They act “as if ”; that is, they know that they are playing. Such metacoding represents an evolutionary step in the development of language and learning for Bateson. It also has something to say about schizophrenia, which for Bateson is partly a function of a person’s inability to distinguish metacommunication from literal truths (the implications for religious ritual and symbol seem especially poignant here). Bateson also speculated that schizophrenia is the product of a double bind in communication between child and mother by which the child picks up two different logical types of communication (the mother’s coded expressions of rejection and her forced but literal affection) and finds itself caught in an impossible situation. If the child accepts the mother’s simulated love, this is likely to provoke fear and withdrawal in her. If, however, the child responds to her coded resistance, she is likely to take this as a negative judgment on her motherly abilities and respond accordingly. The child is thus effectively punished for either discriminating accurately or discriminating inaccurately. Eventually the child may lose the ability to negotiate between the two logical types of communication altogether and become schizophrenic. Bateson also experimented with the communication styles of dolphins and octopuses (a dozen of which he kept in his living room for a year) and became an early spokesman for what would eventually develop into the antiwar and ecological movements. Most abstractly (and he could be very abstract), he was committed to wholeness, unity, process, the “patterns that connect,” as he put it. These were his watchwords as he wrote a series of wide-ranging essays that he would later recognize as “steps to an ecology of mind.” This poetic expression captured Bateson’s understanding of mind as any complex system that can process information and self-correct. Cells, societies, and ecosystems are all forms of such mind, which may or may not possess consciousness. All minds, though, rely on multiple material parts; hence, there can be no final separation of the mental and the physical. This is why Bateson detested dualism, supernaturalism, or any theory or theology that separated what he called the “necessary unity” of mind and nature. Jeffrey J. Kripal see also: Communication, Development of; Mental Illness; Play further reading: Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind, [1972] 2000. • Gregory Bateson, Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity, 1979.

battered child syndrome. see Abuse and Neglect bedwetting. Approximately 85% of children are dry through the night by 5 years of age, 95% by 10 years. By 15, only 1% to 2% of adolescents continue to wet their beds. Boys are affected two to three times more often than girls,

b e d w e t t in g

for unknown reasons. Approximately 10% of the time, bedwetting is caused by a recognizable disease process. Anything that increases the volume of urine or causes increased bladder irritability, in addition to structural abnormalities, can cause bedwetting. A complete history and physical exam with routine urinalysis for all and a urine culture for females generally is adequate to diagnose these problems. Additional testing should only be pursued if suggested by the history and physical or abnormal urinalysis. In the remaining 90%, the exact cause of bedwetting is unknown. Some children’s bladders empty during sleep before filling to capacity. Other children produce more urine than their bladders can hold in the night, while some seem not to be aroused from sleep by the sensation of a full bladder or fail to inhibit the bladder and stay asleep. Regardless of the specific underlying factors, bedwetting is largely genetically determined. Half of children who wet their beds have an immediate relative with the same problem, and 70% have an extended family member who wets the bed. The child of one parent with a history of bedwetting has a 44% risk of developing the same condition; if both parents wet their beds as children, their offspring have a 77% chance of also being affected. No specific gene is known to cause the disorder, although several possibilities have been identified through genetic linkage analyses. Children who bedwet beyond age 5 should have medical causes evaluated. In most cases of uncomplicated bedwetting, children younger than 7 years are merely watched. Parents are educated about the maturational variation among children and then advised to avoid punishing the child for accidents. However, children older than 7 are often more self-conscious, with bedwetting interfering with sleepovers and camp. Once bedwetting becomes distressing to a child older than 6 or a family dynamic is strained, then treatment may be considered. Tr e atm en t Education and demystification are primary interventions for children with bedwetting and their families. Positive reinforcement for dry nights, visual imagery before bed, and mind-body connection activities improve symptoms in many. A bedwetting alarm can cure more than 70% of affected children but requires motivation and organization from the affected child and the parents. The alarm is connected to the child’s underwear and then buzzes or vibrates when moisture is detected. The child must rouse or be aroused by parents, urinate, change his or her underwear and top sheet, and replace the alarm. Visualization and practice before bed as well as drinking excess water before bed (to overlearn the behavior) after initial cure all increase efficacy. Some children learn to wake to urinate, but most sleep through the night and remain dry with this technique. Medication may be considered. One type, similar to a hormone that controls urine formation, can decrease urine

• 95

output during the night. Helpful for discrete periods of time, desmopressin significantly decreases bedwetting episodes when it is used, but symptoms resume in up to 70% after medication discontinuation. Historically, an older antidepressant has been used to treat bedwetting with 50% to 60% efficacy; however, it also fails to provide a long-term cure and has potential cardiac side effects, so it is less commonly used. Var i atio n a mo ng Groups Bedwetting appears to occur evenly across races, countries, and socioeconomic classes. Around the world, behavioral interventions are espoused along with conventional and alternative treatments. Limited evidence-based data supports the use of hypnosis, psychotherapy, and chiropractics in bedwetting treatment; however, a growing body of literature substantiates the role of acupuncture, long-practiced in Chinese medicine and studied internationally in such countries as the United States, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Romania. Short- and Long-Ter m Consequenc es Nighttime bedwetting is often quite stressful to families of affected children. Particularly when parents are uneducated about the accidental nature of the disorder, marital dysfunction and child abuse can result from frustration, shame, and blame. At the least, affected children face barriers to activities involving an overnight stay; for many, the impact is far greater. While children who suffer from bedwetting are no more likely than unaffected peers to have serious psychiatric disorders, as a consequence of this disorder self-esteem is more likely to be impaired. Studies show that affected children have less competence socially, lower school success rates, and higher than expected levels of behavioral problems. Compared with children suffering from chronic illnesses such as asthma and heart problems, children with bedwetting have more negative feelings about their condition, have more maladaptive coping strategies, and have more negative adjustment to the stress bedwetting causes. Children with bedwetting seem to be at increased risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and children with ADHD have more voiding dysfunction than those without ADHD. Furthermore, having ADHD lowers success rates of bedwetting treatment by alarm or medication, mostly due to noncompliance. Alison Schonwald and Leonard A. Rappaport see also: Shame and Guilt; Sleep: Physiology of Sleep; Toilet Training further reading: Howard Bennett, Waking Up Dry: A Guide to Help Children Overcome Bedwetting, 2005.

behavioral disorders, education of children with. see Emotional Disorders, Education of Children with

96 •

b en edic t, ruth ( ful to n )

behaviorism. see Development, Theories of: Behavioral Theories

benedict, ruth (fulton) (b. June 5, 1887; d. September 17, 1948), American anthropologist. Ruth Benedict was a founder of the anthropological school of thought that came to be known as culture and personality. As a mature student, she gained a PhD at Columbia University in New York City under the tutelage of Franz Boas, who impressed upon his students the urgent need to study cultures that were fast disappearing in the modern age, depriving the world of their unique ways of being and understanding. Along with a group of close friends and colleagues, including anthropologist Margaret Mead and linguist Edward Sapir, Benedict developed a strong interest in applying psychological ideas to anthropology. Her great contribution, expressed in Patterns of Culture (1932), is that cultures are organized around central themes or patterns, expressed through customs, rituals, ways of thinking, and social arrangements such as child rearing. Individuals are inexorably shaped by the patterns of the culture into which they are born. Throughout her life, Benedict showed a fascination with the “deviant” individual whose temperament and talents confl icted with cultural expectations (as hers did) and who therefore struggled unhappily against the pattern. Margaret Mead, Benedict’s lifelong friend, is best known for anthropological studies of child rearing in different cultures, based on significant fieldwork in Samoa, New Guinea, and Bali. Benedict, although not a keen fieldworker herself, also made contributions to understanding how cultures shape children. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture (1946) introduced the contrast between shame-based cultures, such as Japan, and guilt-based cultures, such as the United States. It contained a delightful account of Japanese child rearing. The Japanese, she suggested, were indulged more than Americans in babyhood, yet as they grew up they were expected to become more stoic and submit to the wider social group, shame being the mechanism of social control. American culture, with its Puritan foundations, was far more individualistic and used guilt for social control. Benedict’s description of Japanese culture, which gained considerable accolade, was not based on fieldwork—she was never able to visit Japan—but rather on documents and interviews arising through her work on “cultures-at-a-distance” during World War II. Benedict was a gentle, inquiring, and deeply tolerant individual. She worked for the advancement of women and abhorred racial prejudice. She gave the world the term racism in her 1940 book on that topic, Race: Science and Politics. A picture book, In Henry’s Backyard, formed the basis of an innovative animated film alerting children to the “green devils” of racism, which she saw as based on envy, fear, and lack of understanding.

Benedict’s work on cultural patterns was seen by critics, with some justification, as overly simplistic. The strong emphasis on “nurture” rather than “nature” in shaping individuals, in the work of the culture and personality group, has also been subject to criticism, some of it ill informed. She stands as a major cultural theorist of the 20th century. Hilary Lapsley see also: Child: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Mead, Margaret; Shame and Guilt further reading: Margaret Caffrey, Ruth Benedict: Stranger in This Land, 1989. • Hilary Lapsley, Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict: The Kinship of Women, 1999.

best interests of the child. Under current law in the United States and in many other countries, court decisions regarding a child must be grounded on a judgment regarding which option would be in that child’s “best interests.” By its nature, this is a vague standard rather than a precise rule, more a broad delegation of authority combined with a direction to focus on the perspective of the child (rather than on the claims and interests of other parties). At the same time, this amorphous standard has the potential to hide significant bias and to either cover or encourage arbitrary and inconsistent decision making. The concept best interests of the child was first introduced as a standard for determining child custody, an openended, child-centered standard in sharp contrast to the custody standards that had preceded it. In ancient Roman law, and in the English and American common law until the 19th century, custody of a child in a case of divorce or separation would go to the father. In the 19th century, the English courts developed the idea of a “tender years presumption,” such that young children (usually understood as 7 years old or younger) would go to the mother, unless she was shown to be unfit; a number of U.S. courts reached similar conclusions at around the same time. Though the new rule could be seen as simply a change from a paternal to a maternal presumption of custody for the youngest children, what was significant was the alteration in the underlying justification: The paternal presumption had been based on a sort of property right the father had in his children; the maternal presumption was grounded on arguments regarding what would be in the best interests of the children. Over time, the justificatory language of “best interests” turned into a standard itself: a legislative or judicial rule that custody decisions should be grounded on the best interests of the children. Most U.S. states have a statute directing courts to consider a long list of factors in coming to their decision regarding which custody outcome is in a child’s “best interests,” but the statutes usually offer little guidance as to the relative weight to be given to different factors (sometimes guidance has been added by subsequent judicial deci-

b e s t in t e r e s t s o f t h e c h il d

sions, but usually significant discretion and indeterminacy remain). In U.S. custody law today, “best interests” remains the ultimate touchstone, the underlying justification offered for choosing one standard for decision over another, but in many jurisdictions the actual rules may be more specific: for example, a presumption for joint legal or physical custody, a presumption for custody by the “primary caretaker,” a strong preference for parents over nonparents in custody disputes, or deference to the stated custody preference of an older child. It is interesting to note the way that the legal presumption most states have adopted for parents against nonparents in custody decisions grew out of a reaction against a particular “best interests” analysis: the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision in the notorious case of Painter v. Bannister (1966), in which the court argued that placement with more traditional grandparents in Iowa would be more conducive to a child’s “best interests” than returning the child to his “bohemian” father in California. In a different sort of legal evolution, the focus on children’s “best interests” has been the moving and justifying force behind the “nexus test” in custody decisions adopted by a growing number of jurisdictions; this standard holds irrelevant all accusations of parental immorality (accusations of adultery, promiscuity, homosexuality, or polygamy had once been determinative in many custody battles), except in the unusual case in which such alleged immoralities can be shown to directly affect the well-being of the children under care. The phrase best interests of the child has expanded far beyond its origins to become ubiquitous in U.S. family law, covering not only decisions on custody and visitation, but also adoption decisions, decisions whether to allow a custodial parent to relocate, determinations of whether to suspend or terminate parental rights (e.g., due to allegations of abuse or neglect), foster care placements, medical decision making for the child, and countless other contexts in which the question directly concerns children. Even when the legal rule in some areas approximates traditional ideas about parental rights and prerogatives, courts, lawmakers, and commentators often feel a need to justify such rules in terms of how they work for the best interests of children (or, at least, how they serve those interests better than alternative rules). There are occasions when the rules regarding custody and visitation more clearly subordinate children’s interests to other concerns—whether parental rights (e.g., in the way that it takes a significant show of harm to a child before a court will cut off a legal parent’s right to visitation) or societal interests (e.g., regarding when courts are allowed to take race or religion into account in their rulings regarding custody and visitation). The “best-interests” standard does not assume any particular theory of child development or child psychology,

• 97

but it can in fact work in tandem with or incorporate any such theory, for these are basically competing theories about what would be in the best interests of children. Though “best interests of the child,” at least in that formulation of the standard, may have originated in AngloAmerican family law, the standard has become common— now, the rule rather than the exception—in other jurisdictions and in international law. For example, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified in 1989), states (Article 3, point 1): “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.” Those skeptical of the use of “best-interests” standards raise various concerns. Some commentators are worried that the “best-interests” standard gives too much discretion to judges, thus creating too much disparity in outcomes among cases, undermining any sense of predictability, and creating too much of an opening for improper, and hidden, motives and reasons for decisions. Related to these objections, one consequence of a relatively open-ended and discretionary decision standard, as contrasted to a standard more constrained by presumptions (e.g., a presumption for maternal custody or a presumption for an equal split in physical custody), is that the uncertainty both encourages litigation and leads many who value custody to give up property and alimony rights in order to establish their custody rights in a separation agreement. And the litigation that is encouraged is often harmful both to the parents who will have to continue to work together to raise the children and to the children themselves, as the litigation will inevitably focus on each parent accusing the other of being unfit—or, at least, less fit—often an expensive and acrimonious process. There are also circumstances in which a “best-interests” standard risks misleading decision makers. For example, with adoption, the language of “best interests” seems to direct decision makers to find the best possible placement for a child, rejecting all others. However, this could lead an agency or court to reject quite adequate placement options on the basis that a better placement might be available at a later time. The effect, however, would be to let children languish in foster or institutional care when loving homes are available. The better understanding of “best interests” in such cases would be to inquire whether the placement in question is in the best interests of the child, taking into account the current alternatives and those likely available in the near future (where a suboptimal but clearly loving home placement would arguably almost always be preferable to current institutional care combined with uncertain long-term prospects). Additionally, some commentators are troubled that a too-great focus on children’s interests will lead to an under-

98 •

b est in terests o f the chi l d

mining of the rights and interests of parents or the proper claims of certain communities (e.g., American Indian tribes or certain racial and ethnic groups) to which the children belong. Finally, some have argued that the standards and procedures developed to protect “the best interests of the child” in fact work only to protect the interests of a certain class of adults, often in confl ict with children’s real interests. Brian H. Bix see also: Abuse and Neglect: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives; Adoption: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives; Custody; Family Court; Foster and Kinship Care: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives; Freud, Anna; Goldstein, Joseph; Rights, Parental; Rights, Termination of Parental; Solnit, Albert J(ay) further reading: Philip Alston, ed., The Best Interests of the Child: Reconciling Culture and Human Rights, 1994. • Nancy E. Walker, Catherine M. Brooks, and Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Children’s Rights in the United States: In Search of a National Policy, 1999. • Claire Breen, The Standard of the Best Interests of the Child: A Western Tradition in International and Comparative Law, 2002. • Martin Guggenheim, What’s Wrong with Children’s Rights, 2005.

bettelheim, bruno (b. August 28, 1903; d. March 13, 1990), psychoanalytic educator and clinical scholar of child and adolescent development. Bruno Bettelheim was born in Vienna, Austria, to an upper-middle-class Jewish family. After earning his doctoral degree in aesthetics at the University of Vienna, Bettelheim’s interests gradually shifted from philosophy to child development in the tradition of child psychoanalyst Anna Freud. Following the 1938 annexation and invasion of Austria by Nazi Germany, Bettelheim was detained, stripped of all his property, and imprisoned in the labor camps of Dachau and Buchenwald for a year, as a consequence of both his “socialist” connections and his Jewish ancestry. Ironically, it was this terrible year that presaged Bettelheim’s later concern with the impact of milieu on learning and development. His 1943 essay “Individual and Mass Behavior in Extreme Situations” was based on his observations of the guards and responses of his fellow prisoners, which helped Bettelheim preserve his sanity while in the camps. Aided by family connections, Bettelheim was freed from the camps and immigrated to the United States in 1939. In 1944, he was appointed director of the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, then one of the University of Chicago’s laboratory schools. Using his understanding of the relation of personality and environment that he had previously observed in the concentration camps, Bettelheim reorganized the school as a therapeutic milieu in which all aspects of the Orthogenic School’s physical environment and staff were viewed as integral to the child’s personality change. Concerned with the impact of mass society, Bettelheim stressed the importance of an individual approach to each child’s care and to a cheerful physical surround that avoided typi-

cal institutional characteristics. His writing on the work of the Orthogenic School in Love Is Not Enough (1950) and Truants from Life (1955) documents this work and provides compelling portraits of childhood personality development and psychopathology as well as evidence regarding the importance of emotional factors in promoting learning in school. Extending his observations of childhood in contemporary society, Bettelheim later wrote on topics as varied as the impact of group care and child rearing upon personality in such environments as the Israeli kibbutz, the significance of cross-gender identity in both boys and girls, parenthood in contemporary society, and the importance of fairy tales for personal development and culture. Perhaps the best known of Bettelheim’s work, The Uses of Enchantment (1976), highlights the power of fairy tales to help children come to terms with unruly emotions and resolve inner confl icts, issues that are often neglected in contemporary accounts of child development. The most problematic of Bettelheim’s work was The Empty Fortress (1967), which reported on the Orthogenic School’s work with so-called autistic children. While mistaken in his belief that parental emotional disregard was the cause of autism, he used this diagnosis (sometimes incorrectly) as a metaphor to argue that in contemporary society parents have become so preoccupied with their own concerns that they overlook their children’s needs. Bettelheim’s contribution was to show the importance of feelings and wishes in the study of child development. Bertram J. Cohler see also: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Development, Theories of: Psychoanalytic Theories; Folk and Fairy Tales further reading: Nina Sutton, Bettelheim: A Life and a Legacy, 1996.

bilingual education. Bilingual education, understood as instruction of curriculum content through the medium of two languages, can be traced back to Greek and Roman times. In the United States, bilingual schools that taught through German and some other European languages were common in certain states prior to World War I. However, after that point, language maintenance efforts were equated with disloyalty to the nation, and bilingual schools disappeared from the social landscape until the 1960s. It became common to reprimand and frequently punish children for speaking their home languages in school and to advise parents to switch to English in the home if they wanted their child to succeed academically. The twin discourses of bilingualism (and by implication, bilingual education) as an impediment to the learning of English and as a threat to social cohesion are still readily identifiable in media commentary and political debate in the United States and other countries that are characterized by high levels of immigration. However, the political con-

b il in gu a l e d u c a t io n

troversy has obscured the fact that there is a high degree of consensus among researchers with respect to the legitimacy of bilingual education. The research shows clearly that bilingualism represents a positive rather than a negative force in children’s cognitive and academic development and that bilingual education for minority-group students is associated with moderately positive effects on their English academic development. C o n t e xt There are an estimated 5,000 languages spoken in the world’s 200 or so sovereign states. Thus, the majority of states encompass multiple languages within their boundaries. About two-thirds of all children in the world grow up in a bilingual or multilingual environment. To illustrate, 90 million of China’s more than 1 billion population belong to a national minority, and most of these minority groups speak languages other than Mandarin, the official language of the country. Linguistic diversity also exists among the Han majority group as a result of multiple “dialects” that represent mutually unintelligible spoken languages, even though all share the same writing system. Singapore, Switzerland, India, and most African countries are just a few other examples of countries that recognize multiple national languages and that regulate the status and use of these languages in education, government, and other social arenas. In the current era of globalization with unprecedented human mobility and social interchange across cultural and linguistic boundaries, processes of language learning (and language loss) are apparent in societies around the world. Government policies attempt to influence these processes by supporting the teaching of certain languages in schools and, in some cases, by actively discouraging the maintenance of other languages, usually the languages of subordinated groups within the society. Therefore, in addition to their role in promoting academic achievement, bilingual programs have emerged in recent years as a viable option for governments and communities interested in promoting more effective learning of socially valued languages and/or maintaining languages that are endangered, such as many indigenous languages in North America. T y pes, Goals, and Part ic i pan ts There is a range of types of bilingual education programs that differ on characteristics of students in the program, goals of the program, and organizational structures. For instance, programs differ as to whether the participants are speakers of the majority or minority language; that is, whether a language is the language of the numerically dominant group in a society or that of a numerically nondominant group. A similar distinction can be made between dominant and subordinated students or groups. These terms are often used interchangeably with majority and minority, but they refer explicitly to power and status relations

• 99

between societal groups rather than to the numerical size of the groups. Another distinction can be made between enrichment and remedial programs. Enrichment bilingual education refers to programs that aim to enrich students’ educational experience by strongly promoting bilingualism and biliteracy. Dual-language programs involving both majority- and minority-language students are one example of enrichment programs. Remedial programs, by contrast, aim to remediate or compensate for presumed linguistic deficits that bilingual children bring to school. In addition, maintenance programs may be distinguished from transitional programs. Maintenance programs aim to help linguistic-minority students maintain and develop their proficiency in their home language, while transitional programs are designed to use the first language as a temporary bridge to a situation in which academic instruction takes place exclusively through the dominant language of the school and society. Moreover, transitional bilingual programs are often distinguished according to the grade level at which students transition from the bilingual program into mainstream monolingual classes. Early-exit programs are typically motivated by the assumption that students will benefit by transitioning from the bilingual program into the mainstream program as rapidly as possible. The transition usually occurs by second or third grade. By contrast, late-exit programs, also known as developmental programs in the United States, transition students close to the end of elementary school (fifth or sixth grade). The assumption is that academic outcomes in both the majority language and students’ first language will benefit from strong promotion of both languages. Another relevant distinction is between immersion and submersion approaches. The term immersion came into widespread use in the context of French immersion programs initiated in Canada during the 1960s. About 300,000 Canadian students currently participate in immersion programs. In these programs, students whose first language is English are initially “immersed” in a Frenchlanguage school environment for two to three years prior to the introduction of formal teaching of English. Instruction through students’ second language is designed specifically to support them in accessing academic content. Englishlanguage arts are typically introduced in second grade, and English is used as a medium for teaching other subject matter (e.g., science, math, social studies) by third or fourth grade. Generally, by fourth grade, 50% of the instructional time is spent through each language. The goal is to develop fluent bilingual and biliterate abilities among majoritylanguage students. By contrast, submersion programs make no attempt to develop minority students’ bilingualism and provide minimal support to enable them to understand the language of instruction and access curricular content. Bilingual programs can also be categorized according to who participates in the program. Four broad, overlapping

100 •

b ilin gual educ a t i o n

categories can be distinguished. The first category involves programs intended for indigenous students (e.g., Native Americans in the United States) and those from nationally recognized minority groups (e.g., Basque speakers in the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain). Typically, these programs are intended to either maintain or revitalize the minority language. The second category involves students from the dominant or majority group. The goal is to develop bilingual and biliteracy skills among these students. Examples are the Canadian French immersion programs and dual-language programs in the United States that enroll both majority- and minority-language students. The third category involves students who come from immigrant communities. Most of these programs are transitional and remedial in nature, with the primary goal of supporting students’ academic development in the majority language. The final category of bilingual education programs involves children who are deaf or hard of hearing. These programs use a natural sign language, such as American Sign Language (ASL), as a medium of instruction together with the dominant language of the society, frequently with a focus on the written form of this language. Bilingual-bicultural programs are common and well accepted in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Denmark but are still struggling to gain acceptance in North America and many other parts of the world. Ou tcom e s A finding common to all forms of bilingual education is that spending instructional time through two languages entails no long-term adverse effects on students’ academic development in the majority language. This pattern emerges among both majority- and minority-language students, across widely varying sociolinguistic and sociopolitical contexts, and in programs with very different organizational structures. Three additional outcomes of bilingual programs can be highlighted. First, significant positive relationships exist between the development of academic skills in first and second languages. This is true even for languages that are dissimilar (e.g., Spanish and Basque; English and Chinese; Dutch and Turkish). These cross-lingual relationships provide evidence for a common underlying proficiency (or what Fred Genesee and his colleagues have called a cross-linguistic reservoir of abilities) that permits transfer of academic and conceptual knowledge across languages. This transfer of skills, strategies, and knowledge explains why spending instructional time through a minority language entails no adverse consequences for the development of the majority language. Another finding is that the most successful bilingual programs are those that aim to develop bilingualism and biliteracy together. Short-term transitional programs are less successful in developing both first- and second-language literacy than programs such as dual-language programs

that continue to promote both first- and second-language literacy throughout elementary school. Finally, bilingual education for minority students is, in many situations, more effective in developing secondlanguage literacy skills than is monolingual education in the dominant language. However, this kind of bilingual education is not, by itself, a panacea for underachievement. The National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, established by the George W. Bush administration in the United States to synthesize the scientific findings on the education of English-language learners, concluded that bilingual instruction exerts a positive effect on minority students’ English academic achievement that is moderate in size. This finding concurs with the results of other recent comprehensive reviews, such as that done by Genesee and his colleagues in 2006. However, it is important to emphasize that underachievement derives from many sources, and simply providing some firstlanguage instruction will not, by itself, transform students’ educational experience nor reverse the effects of poverty and poor nutrition. Con trov er si es and Futur e Di r ections Controversy surrounding bilingual education is highly selective. It focuses only on the provision of first-language instruction for students from linguistic-minority backgrounds and, in particular, students whose communities have immigrated relatively recently into the host country. For example, there is little concern in the United States about English-speaking students who enroll in SpanishEnglish dual-language programs as a means both to acquire fluency in a second language and enrich their educational experience. There is, however, strong opposition to native Spanish speakers who are not yet fluent in English enrolling in the same programs as a way of maintaining their home language and developing strong bilingual and biliteracy skills. In Canada, there has been little controversy in relation either to French immersion programs intended to support Anglophone students in learning French or Frenchlanguage programs intended to help minority Francophone students outside of Quebec maintain French. These programs serve the interests of the two official language groups. However, few bilingual programs have been established for the many other minority-language groups, and, in some provinces, it is illegal to use any language other than English or French as a medium of instruction. Although opposition to bilingual education often invokes educational arguments (e.g., bilingual education will deprive students of access to English), it is fueled primarily by ideological concerns relating to diversity and power. Use of a language as a medium of instruction confers recognition, status, and often economic benefits (e.g., teaching positions) on speakers of that language. Consequently, bilingual education is not simply a politically neutral instruc-

b il in gu a l is m

tional innovation. It is also a sociopolitical phenomenon that is implicated in the ongoing competition between social groups for material and symbolic resources. The debate among researchers and academics about the scientific legitimacy of bilingual education is finished, although there is still much to be discussed and investigated regarding optimal models and practices under different sociopolitical and sociolinguistic conditions. The ideological debate about the legitimacy of bilingual education for linguistic minorities will continue for the foreseeable future, partly because it has very little to do with education. It represents one small dimension of the larger controversy about national identity, immigration, and human rights in societies where diversity of language, culture, religion, “race,” and sexual orientation is increasingly evident and openly contested. Jim Cummins see also: Bilingualism; Classroom Culture; Ethnic Identity; Language; Literacy; Multicultural Education; Sociolinguistic Diversity further reading: Ellen Bialystok, Bilingualism in Development: Language, Literacy, and Cognition, 2001. • Diane August and Timothy Shanahan, eds., Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners, 2006. • Fred Genesee, Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, William Saunders, and Donna Christian, eds., Educating English Language Learners: A Synthesis of Research Evidence, 2006. • Ofelia Garcia and Colin Baker, eds., Bilingual Education: An Introductory Reader, 2007. • Jim Cummins and Nancy Hornberger, eds., Bilingual Education, Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd ed., vol. 5, 2008.

bilingualism. Many of the world’s children are raised with bilingualism as their first language; that is, they acquire two languages, usually spoken by caregivers, in their early years. Many others become bi- or multilingual later, when they learn one or more languages informally in their community and/or formally in school. The process is not exactly the same, although the end product—fluency in two or more languages—can be. But stipulating the level and types of skills that define “a bilingual” is problematic. Tests of speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension use monolingual norms as the measuring stick and do not measure ability to use different languages in multiple situations with varied interlocutors. A bilingual child is not two monolinguals joined at the tongue but a member of a family and one or more communities who learns how to be bilingual in fluid and varied contexts. The facility with which children become proficient speakers of two or more languages can have more to do with the impact of class, race, and culture on the opportunities and support for their bilingual development than with the linguistic process or individual talents. In countries where nation and language are viewed as indivisible, purist language and cultural ideologies can impede the natural progress of bilingualism and lead to misinterpretations of normal phenomena. Where large immigrant populations exist, the emphasis on the dominant language

• 10 1

and the low status of immigrant languages generally result in the loss of the family language by the third generation, and sometimes by the second. Many immigrant offspring cannot communicate with their grandparents, and many speak to their parents in the dominant language, with negative repercussions for family communication, the authority of elders, and children’s development. Consequently, parents, educators, and the general public are not well served by myths about child bilingualism. Unfortunately, large-scale research is hampered by the many variables related to the different contexts in which children acquire languages. Furthermore, most studies focus on only one aspect of bilingualism: either the linguistic/psycholinguistic analysis of the rate and type of lexicon (vocabulary), phonology (sounds), and syntax (grammar) acquired in each language or the anthropological analysis of the relationship between the children’s languages and the cultural practices that define group membership. A few scholars adopt an “anthropolitical linguistic” perspective to incorporate the ideologies and sociopolitical structures that determine what children learn about the value of specific languages and the status of their speakers. Despite their differences, the leading researchers all challenge popular myths about the negative impact of bilingualism on children’s first words, vocabulary growth, grammar, cognitive load, and identity. Evidence from diverse languages proves the communicative, cultural, and cognitive benefits of bilingualism in childhood, whether both languages are acquired simultaneously or a second one is learned after the first one. Th e Li nguistic Per spectiv e : Simultaneous and Succ essiv e Bi li nguals Children who are raised from infancy with two languages simultaneously—that is, with bilingualism as their first language—acquire each language in almost the same way as the respective monolinguals. In their phonology, vocabulary, and grammar, simultaneous bilinguals and their monolingual counterparts are more alike than different; that is, they go through the same stages, make the same mistakes, and reach the same milestones at approximately the same ages. All children begin speaking by crying, then babbling, until they reach the single-word stage circa 18 months and say two-word “sentences” around 2 years of age. But bilingual infants can babble in both languages, and toddlers as young as 2 years old can distinguish two or more languages, use the appropriate language for people they know, and follow the language lead of strangers who address them. At about 3 years of age, bilinguals produce understandable sentences in two languages, like native speakers of both. Like monolinguals, they differ in the ages at which they arrive at specific milestones. Unlike monolinguals, however, bilingual children can alternate between their languages

102 •

b ilin gual ism

and sometimes mix them, usually in the form of lexical inserts. For example, at 4, my niece described capital F as “one palito [‘little stick,’ Spanish) down, two palitos across.” Some cross-linguistic influences in the area of grammar can also occur; for example, “the car of my uncle” follows the possessive rules of French (or Spanish). Also, children never receive equal input, whether one language is spoken at home and the other outside, either by family members highly educated in the heritage and dominant society’s languages or by poor immigrants with little schooling in either. But most sentences that bilingual children hear and produce are in a single language, even in communities where switching languages (within and across sentences) is the norm, like New York’s Puerto Rican barrios. When both of their lexical stocks are added together, simultaneous bilinguals produce approximately the same number of words as their monolingual counterparts. The fact that data sets in many countries may include many translation equivalents—for example, children say “milk” and “juice” in both of their languages—is evidence against a single-system theory that claims that bilingual children begin with a fused lexicon and then move to a fused syntax before differentiating the grammars. Further evidence for a dual system is the fact that bilingual children make the same mistakes as monolinguals—for example, in English negation (“me no want X”)—and usually do not transfer the word order, verb positions, or grammatical morphemes from one language to another. The majority view is that the human language faculty is multilingual, and simultaneous bilinguals possess two separate but connected systems. “Successive” or “sequential” bilinguals—that is, children who learn a second or third language after the first language has been established—are at the center of a debate about the existence of a critical period for language acquisition. Some researchers maintain that the brain’s faculty for language declines between 5 and 10 years of age, after which children no longer acquire the languages in their environment like native speakers. Rather, they must learn them like adults, resulting in competence that varies more than that of simultaneous bilinguals. Brain lateralization research and brain imaging of adults indicate that late and early bilingual brains differ, but not in ways that decide the critical period issue. The left hemisphere is central to first-language acquisition while second-language acquisition includes the right hemisphere, and the brains of early bilinguals show a common location for processing both languages, unlike the separation in the brains of late bilinguals. Researchers who contest a rigid distinction between simultaneous and successive bilinguals attribute the differences in fluency to exposure and practice, arguing against biological constraints that begin near puberty. Younger is not always better than older, they contend, if older learners get the necessary amount and kind of input. Whether simultane-

ous or sequential, bilingualism is rarely stable throughout childhood, as family lives change. Establishing a second language at home requires 25% or more weekly input, and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages suggests three to five classes per week, for at least 30 minutes each. Immigrant students can pick up basic conversation in six months, but managing academic school work can take five to seven years of exposure and training. Fortunately, children who speak their second language infrequently can become active bilinguals with sufficient incentive and opportunity. Th e An th ro po lo gical Per s pec ti v e : B i l i ngual R eperto i r e s o f I d en ti t y Linguistic anthropologists take a constructivist approach to bilingualism, focusing on the coconstructed practices critical in the production of bilingual repertoires of identity. Children learn how to be a member of their families, communities, and cultures by learning the social rules for the use of the languages that are spoken to them; knowing the grammar is not enough. Bilingual toddlers function like junior ethnographers, ascertaining what language to speak to whom, when, and how, and sometimes chastising adults who break the rules. And they may be surprised when they encounter children who are not bilingual: “¡Qué pena!” (“How sad!”), lamented a 3-year-old in Miami when told that a child who did not respond to his Spanish greeting only spoke English. Gender can play a significant role; girls often speak the family language(s) more than boys because they spend more time at home. Bilingual children are socialized to use each of their languages in culturally specific ways—for example, for greetings and leave-takings, teasing and praying, reading and writing. Because they are not passive recipients of cultural models but active agents who exploit both traditional and new ways of “doing being an X,” bilingual repertoires of identity, particularly in adolescence, may include hybrid linguistic and cultural practices that defy narrow classification. Just as they love and combine the foods, music, and sports of their heritage with those outside the home, they may mix the languages they speak and create new vocabulary that reflects their new reality of lunchrooms and chat rooms, including rapping and downloading. Loan words adapted to the borrowing language’s pronunciation and grammar may become completely integrated, the way French garage became part of English. But borrowing and mixing are often frowned upon, with insiders and outsiders patrolling their respective language borders against Spanglish, Chinglish, and so forth. Nevertheless, children who grow up accustomed to switching to accommodate monolinguals may use both languages with other bilinguals, symbolizing their dual identity, often with pride. Fluent bilinguals are likely to switch, juggling two grammars in rule-governed ways

b in e t , a l f r e d

that defy the charge of linguistic corruption, to accomplish a myriad of communicative strategies, including topic and role shifting. In other situations—for example, when they serve as language brokers for their elders—bilingual children may act more like monolinguals, but, despite its linguistic and emotional pressures, translating makes them appreciate the power of bilingualism. Th e An th ropolitical Per spectiv e : Li nguistic Capital and S ymb olic V io lenc e Parents interested in raising a bilingual child are advised about the linguistic, psycholinguistic, social, and educational factors, but political factors can be crucial. Children become aware of the linguistic capital that their languages enjoy or lack. They are not immune to the symbolic violence done by ideologies of superior versus inferior languages or dialects, the rejection of loans and code switching as corruption, charges of semilingualism, and challenges to the authenticity and/or patriotism of bilingual identities. The violence can be more direct, as in Asia, where the misguided desire to facilitate English pronunciation leads to slicing the tongue’s membrane. Even without frenectomies, linguistic and cultural confl icts can traumatize children. The historical debate about the benefits of bilingualism underscores the need for an anthropolitical perspective. For the first half of the 20th century, xenophobic fears of immigrant pollution and isolationist politics found justification in studies that linked bilingualism with low intelligence and criminality, until their unsound methods and principles—including testing illiterate and impoverished immigrants in English—were disputed. Beginning in the 1960s, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction; more rigorous research since then has documented that bilinguals, compared with monolinguals, enjoy wider linguistic repertoires, enhanced learning strategies, cognitive flexibility, metalinguistic awareness (heightened consciousness about language), and the ability to become trilingual. Accordingly, among scholars who study the subject, support for childhood bilingualism is high. Nevertheless, society’s institutions, especially the media, the schools, the courts, and the health system, often impose policies that affirm the low status of working-class bilinguals in contrast to elite bilinguals. In the U.S. census, children are officially categorized as “linguistically isolated” if no one in their home over the age of 14 speaks English very well, even if younger children are monolingual in English. Private schools, au pairs, and study abroad facilitate bilingualism for wealthy children, while public schools eliminate bilingual education despite its proved success and the No Child Left Behind Act stresses English scores at the expense of other languages. Disney cartoons perpetuate racist stereotypes of racial and class dialects and foreign accents,

• 10 3

while media metaphors and mock speech link immigrant languages to imprisonment, chaos, stupidity, and criminality. Teachers, pediatricians, speech therapists, even judges warn parents that bilingualism is detrimental, and institutional gatekeepers disparage English-as-a-second-language speakers in their children’s presence. In these situations, raising a bilingual child is a political act, in defense of two languages and cultures. Ana Celia Zentella see also: Bilingual Education; Communication, Development of; Ethnic Identity; Language; Sociolinguistic Diversity further reading: Ana Celia Zentella, Growing Up Bilingual: Puerto Rican Children in New York, 1997. • Fred Genesee, Johanne Paradis, and Martha B. Crago, Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning, 2004. • Colin Baker, Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2006. • Annick De Houwer, “Bilingual Development in the Early Years,” in Keith Brown, ed., Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd ed., 2006. • Jürgen M. Meisel, “The Bilingual Child,” in Tej K. Bhatia and William K. Ritchie, eds., The Handbook of Bilingualism, 2006.

binet, alfred (b. July 11, 1857; d. October 30, 1911), French psychologist. Although Alfred Binet’s research interests spanned a large number of areas, including psychopathology, experimental psychology, and child psychology, it is in the domain of intelligence assessment that Binet’s legacy to psychology is most largely felt by both scholars and the general public. An updated edition of his test of intelligence, the version known in the United States as the Stanford-Binet-IV, is still one of the most widely used intelligence tests. Binet’s ideas about intelligence have also given rise to related tests of intelligence, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children (WISC). That his name is almost a “household brand” in the domain of intelligence assessment testifies to his contribution to popular understanding of children and the measurement of their cognitive abilities. Binet’s research in the domain started out with an interest in “abnormal” children; that is, children who were unable to function at the same level as their age peers in the classroom. Many of Binet’s contemporaries considered abnormality as retardation (delayed development) and viewed remediation as simply repeating a grade or attending lower grades that corresponded to the delayed stage of development. However, Binet considered abnormality to be a different developmental pattern rather than simple retardation in the standard developmental trajectory. In other words, those with retardation develop not only slower, but differently. Based on this conception, in 1905 he created, in collaboration with his doctoral student Theodore Simon, the Metric Intelligence Scale to identify those children who should be offered special education. Binet’s perspective was also somewhat different from that of his colleagues

104 •

b in et, a l fred

in the United States, such as Louis Terman, who in 1916 introduced a U.S. version of the Metric Intelligence Scale that became the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Unlike Binet, Terman stressed the importance of hereditary factors in explaining IQ test performance and considered this genetic influence to be so strong that it could not possibly be altered through education. Although Binet’s work focused on children with special needs, the importance of psychometrically sound assessment scales to measure cognitive development was soon generalized beyond the population of abnormal children, both in the United States and in Europe. Binet’s belief in the modifiability of intelligence led him to create mental “orthopedics” to help reeducate children’s psychological functions and attain increased developmental synchrony. One example is the “statue game,” in which all the students must freeze and keep immobile. This exercise proved beneficial to increase children’s concentration and focus, and it considerably calmed down the classroom atmosphere. Many of these “orthopedic” exercises are still used in special education classes today. In addition to Binet’s well-known contributions to the assessment of intelligence, scholars have benefited from his application of experimental methodology to research in education and pedagogy. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Binet insisted that in pedagogy—as in psychology— it is imperative to observe and experiment. Binet’s need to apply a scientifically sound study method to pedagogical issues also led him to develop new statistical tools and to make a systematic use of control groups. Among his statistical inventions was the use of rank correlation coefficients (a measure of the degree of correspondence between two rank-ordered variables) to investigate the relations between academic performance and socioeconomic background. Binet found that academic performance increases with socioeconomic status, a finding frequently replicated in contemporary studies. Robert J. Sternberg and Linda Jarvin see also: Intelligence; Intelligence Testing further reading: T. H. Wolf, Alfred Binet, 1973. • R. J. Sternberg and L. Jarvin, “Alfred Binet’s Contributions as a Paradigm for Impact in Psychology,” in R. J. Sternberg, ed., Anatomy of Impact: What Has Made the Great Works of Psychology Great? 2003, pp. 89–108.

biological parents. see Adoption; Paternity and Maternity; Reproductive Technologies bipolar disorder. see Mental Illness birth defects. see Congenital Anomalies and Deformations; Genetics

birth order. In the United States and other industrialized nations, most parents expecting their second child are

careful to prepare their firstborn for the arrival of a little brother or sister. No doubt this preparation makes the initial adjustment easier for the firstborn, but in the long run it seems to make little difference. In many families in Western societies, discord between siblings is a routine part of family life. Domination of the younger sibling by the older one is also routine, though parents try hard to prevent it. The older child’s domination is sometimes of a benevolent sort—teaching and guiding, rather than controlling or bullying—but often it is not. When siblings play together, the older one tends to behave in a more aggressive manner. Patterns of family life are different in parts of the world where traditional tribal or small village societies still exist. Parents in traditional societies generally make no effort to prepare the older child for the birth of a sibling; the arrival of the new baby is likely to come as a shock. Yet sibling rivalry tends to be muted and short-lived. Typically, children are put in charge of their next-younger sibling by the time the younger one is old enough to join the local playgroup (around age 3). The older child takes this responsibility seriously, protecting the younger one from harm. Since it is considered natural in these societies for older children to dominate younger ones, children are given a good deal of power to instruct and control their younger siblings, with little or no interference from adults. But aggressive interactions seem to be uncommon. Siblings are allies in childhood and generally remain so in adulthood. One feature of family life found in industrialized and traditional societies alike is parental favoritism toward the baby. Although parents treat a second-born child of a given age much the same way they treated the firstborn when the firstborn was that age, they treat children of different ages differently: A younger child receives more attention and affection. Consequently, among parents of two preadolescent children of different ages, there is a tendency to favor the later-born child. In one American study, more than half of the mothers and fathers questioned were willing to express a preference, and about 85% of them admitted feeling more affection for their younger child. Bi rth Or der and Per s onalit y Wherever they live, firstborn and later-born children have different experiences within the family they grow up in. Do they, as a consequence, develop different personalities? It was neo-Freudian psychoanalyst Alfred Adler (1870–1937) who first theorized about the effects of birth order on personality development. Ever since, birth order has been a popular—and contentious—topic among psychologists. In 1983, the Swiss researchers Cécile Ernst and Jules Angst surveyed the previous 35 years of birth-order research and also carried out a large, carefully designed study of their own. Their conclusion—that birth order plays little or no role in shaping personality—produced only a temporary lull in the birth-order industry. The topic remains a perennial favor-

b ir t h m a r k s

ite among writers of pop psychology books. Though many different personality characteristics have been attributed to firstborns, later borns, and middle children, there are some recurring themes. Firstborns are commonly described as serious, achievement-oriented, and bossy; later borns as cheerful, easygoing, and rebellious. Certain types of research studies do provide support for these popular stereotypes. When parents are asked to describe their children’s personalities, or adults are asked to compare themselves with their siblings, personality differences between firstborns and later borns are reliably found. But no consistent differences show up on standard selfreport personality questionnaires or with objective measures. For example, college students who were asked to describe their siblings tended to name the firstborn as the academic achiever, a later born as the rebel. But large amounts of objective data on academic attainment provide no support for these descriptions. Firstborns are not, on average, more likely to graduate from college; later borns are not more likely to rebel by underperforming in school or dropping out. There is a reason why, in this case, everyday observations agree so poorly with objective data: People of all ages behave differently in different social contexts. Judgments by family members are based on the way firstborns and later borns behave in the company of their parents and siblings. Birth-order theorists assume that patterns of behavior acquired within the family are automatically carried along to other contexts, but this assumption has been called into question. Research has shown that children’s behavior with their siblings does not predict how they will behave with peers. Children who get along poorly with their siblings are not at greater risk of having stormy relationships with friends. Firstborns accustomed to dominating their younger siblings are not more likely to behave in a dominant or aggressive manner on the playground, nor are later borns more likely to allow themselves to be dominated. After all, a child who is the smallest one at home might turn out to be the largest or strongest on the school playground. But sibling interactions do not occur only at home. Brothers or sisters, especially if they are close in age, often spend time together outside the home and may belong to the same circle of friends. This can lead to trouble during adolescence, because the younger sibling is likely to be introduced at an earlier age to the temptations of teenage life and, consequently, is more likely to succumb to them. The somewhat higher rates of teenage problem behaviors (e.g., smoking and drug use) found in later borns may be the source of the “rebel” stereotype. However, it appears to be the earlier introduction to teenage temptations that is responsible, rather than birth order per se. The same increased risk of problem behaviors is found in teenage girls who are physically mature for their age. These adolescents, too, are likely to have older friends.

• 10 5

Bi rth Or der and Homo se xualit y A discovery made by Canadian researchers offers another reason why later borns may be seen as rebels: Later-born boys with older brothers are more likely to adopt a homosexual lifestyle in adulthood. The likelihood of homosexuality goes up with each older brother a boy has—more precisely, with each older brother their mother gave birth to—even if the brothers are not reared in the same family. Researchers have hypothesized that the mother’s immune system may become sensitized to a substance produced by male fetuses and that this affects the prenatal development of subsequent male fetuses. Bi rth Or der and I n telligenc e Though there has been much research on the question of whether birth order affects intelligence, as yet there is no consensus. A recent large study of young adult males, carried out in Norway, found that firstborns had slightly higher IQs than their later-born brothers. This result, however, confl icts with earlier findings of no birth-order effects on IQ if comparisons are made between siblings in the same family. It also confl icts with the previously mentioned research on educational attainment. If firstborns are, on average, a little smarter than their younger siblings, then they should be a little more likely to graduate from high school and go to college. But the research shows no educational advantage for firstborns. If firstborns are in fact more intelligent than their younger siblings, the differences appear to be too small to have important consequences. Thus, though birth order undoubtedly has an impact on the child’s experiences within the family, it plays at most a minor role in long-term developmental outcomes. Judith Rich Harris see also: Demography of Childhood; Family; Intelligence; Multiple Births; Personality; Siblings further reading: Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, “The Development of Interpersonal Relationships,” in Human Ethology, 1989, pp. 594– 600. • Judy Dunn and Robert Plomin, Separate Lives: Why Siblings Are So Different, 1990. • Judith Rich Harris, No Two Alike: Human Nature and Human Individuality, 2006.

birthmarks. Birthmarks come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Most involve pigment having to do with excess or decreased color. Some may be made up of abnormal blood vessels or other tissues, such as sebaceous glands that are normally present in the skin, but out of normal proportion. Some pigmentary birthmarks, while present at birth, may not be immediately noticeable because newborns tend to have lighter skin. Babies develop their natural skin color over the first weeks after birth. The most common pigmentary birthmarks are dermal melanocytosis, often referred to as “Mongolian spots,” nevi (moles), and café-au-lait spots.

106 •

b irth m arks

Mongolian spots are brown, blue-gray, or blue-black patches that are most often located over the lower back but may be seen elsewhere. Up to 80% of African American and Asian babies will have these present at birth; they are sometimes mistaken for bruises. They are of no concern and will gradually fade over the first years. Café-au-lait spots are tan to brown, flat, round to oval patches. They can occur in up to a fifth of newborns. While having a few of these spots is not unusual, if a child has six or more, he should be evaluated, since these may be a marker for certain genetic diseases such as neurofibromatosis. Although moles (marks that are often dark brown or black) are common in childhood, they are only seen in about 1% to 2% of newborns or young infants, and these are termed congenital nevi. Most of these are small and will grow at the same rate as the child. Congenital nevi that are more than a few centimeters in size should be followed closely by a physician, as there is a slightly greater chance of caner developing in these larger congenital moles. Depigmented (or white) birthmarks can be seen at birth or shortly after. Though they can occur as solitary and isolated marks (called nevus depigmentosus), they can also be a marker for the genetic disease tuberous sclerosis. In this case, they can have various forms, including small, “confetti-like” spots or lance ovate, “ash-leaf ” shapes. A child with these marks should be evaluated by a physician because tuberous sclerosis is associated with other medial problems and early diagnosis is important. Sebaceous nevi are abnormal collections of the glands that produce oil. They are most often on the scalp. They usually have an orange hue and there is no hair growth in the area. They are affected by hormones and are more obvious at birth. They are flatter during childhood but will become bumpier during adolescence. At adolescence, these birthmarks can develop growths within them, so surgical removal is advised. Vascular birthmarks are also very common and can range from simple self-resolving pink spots to permanent and medically significant lesions. The most common vascular birthmark is referred to as nevus simplex. These are light pink spots that are commonly seen on the forehead, eyelids, nose, and nape of the neck. When on the face, they are commonly called “angel kisses,” and on the nape of the neck they are commonly called “stork’s bite.” These pink spots will become more pronounced when the baby cries or has a fever. The majority of angel kisses will resolve over time. They are harmless lesions that do not require treatment unless they persist into childhood. Stork’s bites may not resolve over time but are usually covered by hair and are not noticeable. Another red patch of infancy is a capillary malformation, often referred to as a “port-wine stain” because of the darker color it acquires over time. These spots can occur over any part of the body. Unlike nevus simplex, port-wine

stains do not resolve and usually slowly darken over time without treatment. Location can be important, as some breakdown can occur in areas such as the groin. Other locations, such as around the eyes, may be associated with vision and brain problems. The lesions can be bothersome in themselves, because of the darkening of the skin, and have a tendency to develop thickening areas that can bleed or blood clots that can be painful. Laser treatment can be very helpful with these lesions. Medical evaluation of these larger lesions is needed. Hemangiomas are vascular birthmarks that are often not obvious at birth, being first seen as a pale or pink spot in the first week of life. They rapidly increase in red color and size and can become more protuberant over the first few months of life. Sometimes they are deeper and may present as a swelling of the skin. Their natural course is to grow for six to nine months until they reach a stable size, followed by slow regression. The majority of hemangiomas will resolve without serious health problems. However, if they are in sensitive areas, such as around the eye, on the nose, or in the diaper area, or are large in size, they can lead to serious permanent damage, and these cases should be evaluated by a physician. Any hemangioma that ulcerates may leave scarring and should also be evaluated by a physician because the ulcer can progress without treatment. Large hemangiomas may be associated with internal or more widespread problems. In certain cases, medical or surgical treatment may be needed. If there is any concern about a hemangioma, medical advice should be sought. Birthmarks are common, and most are benign. If an infant has a birthmark that is unusual, early evaluation by a physician is appropriate. Victoria R. Barrio and Lawrence F. Eichenfield see also: Skin Disorders and Diseases further reading: Lawrence F. Eichenﬁeld, Ilona J. Frieden, and Nancy B. Esterly, eds., Textbook of Neonatal Dermatology, 2nd ed., 2008.

bisexuality. see Homosexuality and Bisexuality blindness. For young children with normal vision, it has been estimated that between 75% and 80% of their early understanding about their environment, about the details of their daily lives, and eventually about basic cognitive concepts is based on their ability to see. Blindness interferes in all aspects of learning and development. The term blindness has no universally acceptable definition, particularly in reference to preverbal children. Only about 25% of legally blind individuals have little or no light perception; the rest have some functional vision. The term legal blindness refers to best corrected distance visual acuity in the better eye of 20/200 or less and/or a visual field restriction of less than 20 degrees. These criteria were origi-

b l in d n e s s

nally established by federal and state governments to determine eligibility for financial aid and special services for adults with acquired vision loss. These measurements are often difficult to determine in young children. For example, one child with distance visual acuity of 20/400 may require the use of Braille to read, while another child with an identical distance acuity might be able to read large print. The latter may be possible because this child has more efficient use of residual vision than the other child. Most educational systems use a distance visual acuity cutoff of 20/60 to 20/70 for determining eligibility for special education services. Children with corrected acuities in the 20/70 to 20/200 range are said to have “low vision” or to be “visually impaired.” More important than these numbers is the determination that a student’s visual impairment interferes with his ability to learn through vision. Epi demiology and Causes Worldwide, 45 million people have blindness. According to World Health Organization prevalence data from 1993 to 1999, approximately 1.5 million of these are children younger than 15 years, including 1 million in Asia, 0.3 million in Africa, 0.1 million in Latin America, and 0.1 million in the rest of the world. Worldwide, approximately 500,000 children become blind each year, predominantly in developing countries. In Asia (excluding Japan) and Africa, the prevalence of blindness and severe visual impairment in children is approximately 6 to 15 per 10,000 children. The causes of blindness in most children in developing countries are acquired conditions that are either readily treatable or preventable. It has been estimated that in developing countries roughly one-third to one-half of childhood blindness is preventable. Examples include nutritional deficiencies such as insufficient intake of vitamin A, causing xerophthalmia (“dry eye”); bacterial infections such as trachoma; parasitic infestations such as toxoplasma; and endemic infections by tiny worms (onchocerciasis or “river blindness”) in Africa, Yemen, and some South American regions. In developing countries where medical access is limited, amblyopia due to uncorrected refractive errors accounts for a significant burden of visual impairment in children. The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Vision 2020: The Right to Sight program has targeted childhood blindness as a high priority internationally. In the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, advances in sanitation, nutrition, mandatory immunizations, access to a high standard of medical and ophthalmologic care, and pharmaceutical treatments of infections render the above-noted causes of blindness very rare. The overall rate of childhood blindness in developed countries is 1 to 3 per 10,000 children. Roughly 50% to 75% of these children have additional neurological or medical problems. In the United States, roughly half of children with visual impairments have genetic/heritable conditions.

• 10 7

The most common causes of significant visual impairment in the United States, in decreasing order of prevalence, are cortical visual impairment (CVI), a group of neurological disorders that affect the brain’s visual cortex before, during, or after birth; retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), the growth of abnormal blood vessels of the immature retina in premature infants; and optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH), a congenital abnormality in which the optic nerve is abnormally small and contains insufficient numbers of nerve cells leading from the eye to the brain. The first two are often associated with multiple disabilities. ONH and albinism are the two most common eye conditions in children who do not have other disabilities. A wide range of other eye conditions can result in significant visual impairment in children. Most are hereditary and/or genetic in origin and include albinism (decreased pigment in the skin, hair, and/or eyes), coloboma (incomplete or abnormal closure of the embryonic optic fissure), diseases of the cornea, glaucoma (abnormally high pressure inside the eye due to inadequate drainage of the normal fluid in the anterior chamber), retinal dystrophies such as retinitis pigmentosa, and specific disorders of the retinal photoreceptors (i.e., the rods and cones). Medical and/or surgical treatment should be implemented promptly to preserve eye health and improve visual function if possible. Some optometrists specializing in low vision can also contribute to information about a child’s functional vision. A certified teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) can make recommendations for adaptations that will allow optimal learning and skill development within the child’s natural environments and routines at home and school and in the community. Dev elopmen tal Featur es When vision is absent or significantly impaired, the impacts on a child’s development may be broad and will depend to some extent on several key factors: the age at the onset of blindness, the etiology and physiological cause(s) of blindness, the nature and extent of any additional neurological disabilities, the child’s genetic “potential” for learning, the nature and intensity of early and ongoing educational opportunities, the availability of environmental adaptations, and the attitudes of key people in the child’s environment. For the vast majority of severely visually impaired children living in developed countries, their blindness is congenital (present at birth) or acquired early in infancy. Many genetic disorders that affect a child’s vision first become apparent during infancy, often heralded by such symptoms as jerky movements of both eyes together (nystagmus), cloudy corneas, and poor visual regard or diminished reaching for nearby objects and faces. However, in some genetic conditions, the actual vision problems may not become apparent until later in childhood, adolescence, or even adulthood. For example, retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of hereditary

108 •

b lin dn ess

disorders resulting in degeneration of the light-sensitive cells (rods and cones) of the retina. In the most common form, the child has normal vision until adolescence, when he or she notices progressive loss of peripheral vision (“tunnel vision”) and reduced ability to see under dim lighting conditions (both due to gradual degeneration of rod cells). In other variants of RP, symptoms associated with progressive vision loss could be expressed in infancy (e.g., Leber’s congenital amaurosis) or childhood. In general, if onset of the child’s blindness occurs prior to about 5 years of age, there is little likelihood that any prior visual experiences or memories will be developmentally useful. Children with conditions that affect the eye only, while sparing the central nervous system, are likely to have developmental progress that is closer to the “normal” milestones of their sighted peers than children who either have blindness on the basis of cerebral abnormalities (e.g., cortical visual impairment) or have both eye and brain disorders. However, even in the absence of any other disabilities, several aspects of cognitive, language, and motor development are unique in children with severe visual impairment: Incidental learning that is available to sighted children is less accessible, acquisition of developmental milestones may occur in a different sequence than is typical for sighted children, and the learning of some concepts and skills (e.g., moving through space) takes longer than it does in children with intact vision. In the language domain, for example, the acquisition of single sounds and words is similar to that of sighted children, but blind children tend to have a more prolonged period of pronoun confusion (e.g., “You want a cookie?” instead of “I want a cookie.”) and of verbatim repetitions of what the child just heard (echolalia). For a sighted child, the conceptual linkages between thought and language are nearly automatic; for the child who is blind, these same concepts can be learned, but it often takes longer. For example, through repeated incidental observations in the kitchen, a sighted young child learns that an object associated with the word “egg” can have multiple physical textures, appearances, and tastes (i.e., scrambled, hard-boiled, runny liquid). His blind peer can easily learn the word yet remain confused until he is older as to why such apparently different substances are all called “egg.” One important aspect of early intervention is for caretaking adults to supplement verbal lessons and reading with hands-on and real-life experiences as often as possible. Children with blindness or severe visual impairment often exhibit other unique behaviors that may concern parents and teachers. Foremost among these are repetitive, stereotypical movements or mannerisms, such as body swaying, rocking, flapping of the arms or hands, gazing at lights, or eye pressing (“blindisms”). The underlying causes are not known, but one theory is that diminished visual input creates a need for exaggerated efforts at seeking vi-

sual or nonvisual sensory stimulation. Repetitive body movements provide intense sensory inputs that are both vestibular (related to balance) and proprioceptive (awareness of one’s body’s changing position in space). As with sighted children’s behaviors, these movements can become even more pronounced during stressful situations. Such behaviors often impede socialization with peers, but fortunately, they often subside as the child gets older, apparently related to an increased awareness of social interaction and a desire to fit in. As noted, some children with severe visual impairment (especially those due to retinal disorders) develop a habit of pressing a finger or thumb forcefully into their eyes. One theory regarding causation is that such pressure may stimulate phosphenes in the retina, creating a sparkling sensation that becomes a form of selfstimulation. Unfortunately, such pressing can further damage and distort the child’s eye and its surrounding tissues. Other unique difficulties seen in children with blindness include problems with head and body posture (e.g., tending to keep their heads down), preoccupation with or aversion to certain textures on the skin or in the mouth, and problems with sleep. Confusion between autism and blindness can sometimes complicate diagnostic and treatment decision. Although roughly 50% to 60% of children with visual impairment also have additional disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders, the presence of common repetitive behaviors needs to be carefully viewed in the total context of the visual impairment. An interdisciplinary team evaluation by professionals who have experience with typical behavioral and developmental features of children with visual impairments can assess whether the child’s repetitive behaviors interfere with his or her learning, communication, socialization, or nutrition. They can then recommend strategies, approaches of care, and educational modifications to help the child become less inner-directed and more interactive with his or her environment. Another major goal for children with blindness is understanding the nature of three-dimensional space. Such awareness has direct implications for the child’s safety as well as confidence to move and explore the environment. Intertwined with mobility skills is knowledge about “orientation” in space. This then facilitates moving more safely, more efficiently, and as independently as possible. Such learning needs to begin as early as possible. These lessons can be accomplished more systematically with the assistance of a professional in the field of orientation and mobility (O & M). Children who are visually impaired do not automatically acquire increased powers in the use of their other senses. They require encouragement to actively explore their environment with all available senses and benefit from hearing verbal descriptions and explanations of these experiences. They and their caregivers need specialized instruction and

b l o o d d is o r d e r s

active assistance from professionals trained in this area in order to fully achieve effective learning and mobility skills and to function as independently as possible. Special adaptations in the curriculum for students who are blind might include learning Braille, adaptive software to allow auditory feedback while browsing the World Wide Web on a computer, and tactile models when studying biology, geometry, geography, and so forth. Adolescents with visual impairments face additional challenges beyond those typical for age, particularly achieving independence and peer acceptance. Even learning to pick out appropriate clothes can be a daunting task. Th e C h i ld and Adolesc en t with Low V i sion The term low vision usually refers to those individuals whose distance visual acuity in the better eye is between 20/70 and 20/200. A comprehensive functional vision assessment must be the starting point for a student’s educational evaluation, which in turn can be the foundation for establishing appropriate services and teaching strategies and for recommending visual aids. Although children with low vision have some obvious functional advantages compared to those who have little or no vision, they may also bear some unique, and often hidden, frustrations. These include delays in diagnosis, misunderstanding by peers and teachers who overestimate what the child can see, and inappropriate or insufficient modifications in the classroom. For the child with residual vision, it will be important for his medical eye-care specialist, teacher of visually impaired, and orientation and mobility specialist to collaborate in assessing his range of visual function. This information, along with data regarding cognitive and language competence, should effect appropriate decisions about curriculum; seating location in class (e.g., to avoid glare near the window); lighting; use of aids for magnification such as stand magnifiers, closed-circuit television (CCTV), or monocular telescope; and appropriate reading media (Braille vs. large print). These decisions sometimes have to be revisited as the child gets older, particularly when the eye condition leads to gradually worsening vision or the emergence of additional disabilities. Stuart W. Teplin see also: Vision; Visual Impairments, Education of Children with further reading: Virginia Bishop, Selected Anomalies and Diseases of the Eye, 1986. • David H. Warren, Blindness and Children: An Individual Differences Approach, 1994. • M. Cay Holbrook, ed., Children with Visual Impairments: A Parents’ Guide, 1996. • Rona L. Pogrund and Diane L. Fazzi, eds., Early Focus: Working with Young Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired and Their Families, 2002.

blood disorders. The blood is a complex solution, consisting of the plasma, which is a clear fluid, in which a number of formed elements—the red blood cells, several

• 10 9

types of white blood cells, and the platelets—are suspended. Abnormal numbers, types, and functioning of these various cell types lead to hematological diseases. Abnor m aliti es of th e R ed Blood C ells : Th e Anemias The red blood cells are small disks packed with an ironcontaining protein called hemoglobin, which gives blood its red color. Unlike most of the cells in the body, the red blood cell has no nucleus and has a life span in the circulation of only about 120 days. The main function of hemoglobin is to pick up oxygen from the lungs, transport it through the body, and release it to the tissues. When there is a decrease below normal levels of the number of red blood cells and the amount of hemoglobin, anemia is said to be present. Anemia may occur because not enough red blood cells are being made (underproduction) or because the red cells do not survive normally in the circulation (hemolysis). Anemias Caused by Underproduction. The most common form of anemia in childhood results from a deficiency of iron in the diet. The major source of iron in the diet is egg yolks, meat, and fish so that iron deficiency anemia is very common in infants whose diet is predominantly milk and adolescent girls whose diet may be inadequate in ironcontaining foods. Iron deficiency may also occur when there is loss of blood from the body due to bleeding. In some parts of the world, blood loss because of hookworm infestation and other serious gastrointestinal disorders is an important cause of iron deficiency anemia. Without enough iron, normal amounts of hemoglobin cannot be manufactured, resulting in anemia. The red cells that are formed are pale and small. The diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia can be made by blood tests and measurement of the level of iron in the blood. Iron deficiency anemia can be easily treated by giving iron medications by mouth and eliminating causes of bleeding or other blood loss when present. Iron deficiency can be prevented by ensuring adequate amounts of iron in the diet. Iron deficiency anemia in infants can usually be prevented by the use of iron fortified infant milk formulas. Blood formation also requires certain other nutrients such as folic acid and vitamin B12. Inadequate amounts of these nutrients in the diet or their impaired absorption may result in anemia; these anemias are uncommon. Because red blood cells are produced in the bone marrow, diseases that replace the normal bone marrow, such as leukemia, frequently are associated with anemia. There are a group of inherited anemias in which hemoglobin is produced in inadequate amounts. The most important of these genetic anemias is called thalassemia. The genes for thalassemia are very frequent in people of Italian and Greek ethnicity, hence the term Mediterranean anemia.

110 •

b lood d isorders

People who have only one thalassemia gene have a mild anemia (thalassemia minor), which resembles iron deficiency anemia but does not respond to iron therapy. Persons who inherit two thalassemia genes, one from each parent who has thalassemia minor, have a severe, life-threatening anemia that requires regular red blood cell transfusions all of their lives (thalassemia major). A serious complication of repeated transfusions is the buildup of abnormal amounts of iron from the transfused blood. Abnormal levels of iron cause tissue damage, especially to the heart, which leads to early death. Iron overload can often be controlled by the use of drugs that remove iron from the body (iron chelators), and the life expectancy of these patients has greatly improved with their use. Thalassemia major can be cured by bone marrow transplantation. Testing at-risk populations to identify individuals with thalassemia minor and providing them with genetic counseling and consideration of prenatal diagnosis have greatly decreased the frequency of thalassemia major births in the United States. Anemias Caused by Hemolysis. The red blood cell is a relatively simple cell, consisting of the membrane, its cargo of hemoglobin, and a group of enzymes that help maintain the cell’s integrity. Inherited abnormalities of the membrane and the hemoglobin are the most frequent causes for the red cell to be destroyed faster than normal (hemolysis). In hemolytic conditions, the red cells survive only for days or weeks rather than the more than three-month survival of normal red blood cells. Because the bone marrow production can often not keep up with the rapid destruction of the abnormal red blood cells, anemia of varying degrees of severity occurs. The most common hemolytic anemia caused by an abnormality of the red blood cell membrane is hereditary spherocytosis. Hereditary spherocytosis occurs in all ethnic groups but is most common in persons of Northern European descent. This condition is usually passed on to a child by one parent who also has the condition (dominant inheritance). Many of the red blood cells of an affected person have a perfectly spherical shape like a BB, rather than the donut, disklike shape of normal red blood cells. Spherical cells have a greatly shortened survival rate due to their destruction in the spleen. Anemia often is seen at the time of birth and may require blood transfusions. If the degree of anemia is severe and persistent, the hemolysis and anemia can be cured by removal of the spleen. A large number of inherited changes in the chemical structure of the hemoglobin molecule are called hemoglobinopathies. In most instances, when an individual inherits only one hemoglobinopathy gene from a parent (sicklecell trait) there is no hemolysis or anemia. However, if two genes for a hemoglobinopathy are inherited, one from each parent (recessive inheritance), the hemoglobin in the red

cell is almost entirely abnormal (sickle-cell anemia) and significant hemolysis and anemia occur. The most frequent hemoglobinopathy in the United States is sickle-cell hemoglobin, which occurs most frequently, but not exclusively, in people of African American or Caribbean American ethnicity. The sickle-cell mutation originally occurred in periequatorial Africa, and persons with the abnormal gene were brought to the Western Hemisphere by the 16th-century slave trade. In periequatorial Africa, as many as 20% of individuals have sickle-cell trait, which is believe to impart a degree of resistance to malaria. The sickle-cell gene also occurs in individuals in Southern Europe (Italy and Greece), the Middle East, and Asiatic India. About 1 in 12 (8%) African Americans have one sickle-cell gene (sickle-cell trait). Their red blood cells contain both sickle hemoglobin (Hb S) and a predominance of normal adult hemoglobin (Hb A). The normal Hb A dilutes the Hb S, and so these individuals are clinically well. However, when a person inherits a sickle-cell gene from both parents, the red cells contain almost exclusively Hb S and cause sickle-cell anemia. About 1 in 400 African American newborns has sickle-cell anemia. Newborn testing for sickle-cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies is now performed in almost all of the United States. Hb S has abnormal physical characteristics when it becomes deoxygenated in the body’s venous system. Deoxygenated Hb S takes on a crystal-like shape in the red blood cell distorting its usual smooth, disklike shape into elongated, sharply pointed cells that resemble agricultural sickles (hence the name coined by Dr. James Herrick of Chicago in 1910.) The abnormal sickle cells are rapidly destroyed, with survivals of only 15 to 20 days. Severe anemia occurs with red blood cell counts and hemoglobin level only about 50% of normal. In addition, the abnormal sickled cells often get trapped in small blood vessels and obstruct blood flow through them. This blockage of the delivery of oxygen to the tissues results in damage to these tissues and causes pain in the extremities and back, which is called the sickle-cell painful crisis. The treatment of sickle-cell crisis is to treat the symptoms; there are few effective therapies for sicklecell anemia and its painful crises. Recently, it has been possible to actually cure certain cases of sickle-cell anemia by bone marrow transplantation. Unfortunately, there is significant risk to this procedure, and because many patients do not have a matched sibling for a donor the procedure has not been widely possible. It is hoped that sometime in the future it will be possible to cure sickle-cell anemia by genetic engineering. B l eed i ng D i s o r d er s Abnormal bleeding is usually a consequence of either a decrease in the numbers or function of the blood platelets or decreased levels of specific plasma proteins, collectively called coagulation factors.

blood types

Platelet Disorders. The platelet is a small, nonnucleated blood cell. Once released into the blood, platelets normally survive for 7 to 10 days. Platelets are very important in the initial response of the blood vessels to injury. They form a plug at the site of vessel injury and then trigger the coagulation mechanism described in the following section. A low platelet count (thrombocytopenia) is associated with small red bleeding points in the skin (petechia), bruising (purpura), nosebleeds, and prolonged bleeding from cuts. Thrombocytopenia can be caused by decreased production of platelets by the bone marrow, which occurs in leukemia or other diseases that crowd out the normal bone marrow. Another group of thrombocytopenias result from destruction of platelets faster than they can be replaced. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is caused by a patient’s production of antiplatelet antibodies (autoantibodies) that cause rapid destruction of platelets. ITP in children is frequently preceded by a viral infection that appears to stimulate the production of antiplatelet antibodies, although the exact mechanism is uncertain. Spontaneous petechiae and purpura occur when the platelet count is very low. The most serious complication of ITP is bleeding into the brain, which fortunately is rare. Effective therapies, including steroid and intravenous gamma globulin administration of serum proteins, are available that reduce the severity of bleeding and increase the platelet count rapidly. ITP in children has a good outlook for recovery: 60% of children have normal platelet counts within 3 months, and more than 90% recover within 9 to 12 months. Coagulopathies: The Hemophilias. There are a number of different proteins (coagulation factors) dissolved in the plasma involved in blood clotting. They interact with one another in a sequential fashion that results in the formation of an insoluble fibrin clot that permanently stops the bleeding. Deficiencies of coagulation factors, many of which are inherited conditions, are responsible for many bleeding disorders. The most prevalent congenital coagulopathy is hemophilia A, caused by a genetic inability to synthesize a coagulation factor called factor 8. The gene for factor 8 is carried on the X chromosome, so the disease is passed from a clinically normal mother who is a carrier to about 50% of her sons (X-linked recessive transmission). Females are very rarely affected; almost all patients are males. One of the most famous patients with hemophilia was the czarevitch Alexei of Russia, last heir to the throne. It is said that his severe disease and the lack of effective therapy was an important contributor to the Russian Revolution in 1918. Robert Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra provides a poignant account of these events. Affected patients have levels of factor 8 in their blood that is only 0% to 1% of normal. Bleeding symptoms may occur in the newborn period but become more evident in

• 11 1

later infancy as the boy begins to walk. Large bruises occur after minimal trauma, which often leads to the diagnosis. The most troublesome and debilitating complication of hemophilia A is spontaneous, repeated bleeding into the joints (hemarthroses), which may result in permanent damage to the joints. In the past, many patients became crippled. Effective therapy for hemophilia can be provided by intravenous infusions of factor 8, which temporarily can provide a near-normal factor 8 level in the blood. Unfortunately, factor 8 lasts only 8 to 12 hours in the blood, so repeated infusions may be necessary to stop a bleeding episode. Concentrates of factor 8, prepared from large pools of human plasma, were used through the 1980s, many of which were contaminated by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As a consequence, many boys with hemophilia contracted and died of AIDS. Today’s factor 8 concentrates are made free of HIV by better methods of preparation and also by the use of recombinant DNA technology that completely avoids the use of human plasma. Howard Pearson see also: Blood Types; Congenital Anomalies and Deformations further reading: R. K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, 1967. • H. A. Pearson, “History of Pediatric Hematology Oncology,” Pediatric Research 52 (2002), pp. 979–92. • H. A. Pearson, “Diseases of the Blood,” in C. D. Rudolph, A. M. Rudolph, M. K. Hostetter, G. Lister, and N. J. Siegel, eds., Rudolph’s Pediatrics, 2003. pp. 1519– 82. • “Sickle Cell Anemia,” http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ ency/article/000527.htm

blood types. The membranes, or outsides, of red blood cells have genetically determined features, composed of a sugar and protein that can prompt an immune response, that can be antigens to systems that do not share the same composition. The exact function of these antigens is not clear, but they allow for the categorization of blood into groups. More than 200 different red blood cell antigens have been identified that can be assigned to 23 genetically discrete blood-group systems. Individuals exposed to antigens that are not present on their own red blood cells may develop antibodies against those antigens. The most important of these categories is the ABO system. Th e AB O Blood S ystem The ABO system was first described in 1901 by Dr. Carl Landsteiner, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1930 for this discovery. Landsteiner showed that the red blood cells of humans can be divided into four distinct categories—group A, group B, group AB, and group O—on the basis of whether clumping occurred when these red blood cells were mixed with plasma from other individuals who did not have red blood cells with similar surface components. Furthermore, he showed that the plasma of individuals contained circulating specific proteins, or antibodies, against ABO antigens that were not present on their own red blood cells. These antibodies are a consequence of

112 •

b lood types

exposure to naturally occurring substances acting as antigens in the environment. If one has type A blood, the A glycoproteins are on one’s own red blood cells, and one’s serum contains anti-B (but not anti-A) antibodies. The converse is true for type B blood. Those with type O blood do not have either of these specific antigens on the red cells and have both anti-A and anti-B antibodies in the serum. Type AB has both types of glycoproteins on the red blood cells and no antibodies to either. Every individual has two genes for the ABO blood groups: one inherited from each parent. Therefore, a person who receives an A gene from one parent and an O gene from the other parent, although they could be considered as type AO, would test as group A. The frequency of ABO blood types in Caucasian individuals is approximately: type O, 43%; type A, 45%; type B, 8%; and type AB, 4%. There are differences between ethnic groups, types A and B being less common in African Americans. Before a blood transfusion, the recipient is typed to determine blood type. Blood from an ABO-compatible donor is selected. If incompatible blood is given—such as giving A or B red blood cells to a group O recipient—the antibodies present in the recipient’s blood rapidly destroy the donor cells, resulting in a transfusion reaction that can be severe and life threatening. However, it may be permissible to give red blood cells from a type O individual (universal donor) to type A, B, and AB recipients. Th e R h ( R h esu s) S ys t em The Rh system was discovered by Landsteiner, some 50 years after he discovered the ABO system. The name Rh was used because when red blood cells from rhesus monkeys were injected into rabbits, the rabbits formed antibodies. These antibodies clumped the red blood cells of about 85% of donors who were designated as being Rh-positive, while individuals whose red cells did not react were designated as Rh-negative. In Caucasians, the frequency of Rh negativity is about 15%, but it is only about 5% in African Americans and virtually absent in Asians. Rh antibodies do not occur unless an Rh-negative individual is exposed to Rh-positive red blood cells by transfusions or pregnancy. Rh-negative individuals are only transfused with blood from an Rh-negative donor. H e mo ly t ic D i s e as e o f t h e N ewb o r n : Er y t h ro b l asto si s F etal i s During pregnancy, red blood cells from the fetus enter the maternal circulation, especially at the time of delivery. If a mother is Rh-negative and her fetus is Rh-positive, the mother may then develop anti-Rh antibodies. In subsequent pregnancies, this maternal anti-Rh antibody may cross the placenta into the fetal circulation and destroy Rh-positive fetal red blood cells, resulting in anemia in the fetus or newborn. The anemia may be so severe that the fe-

tus dies. Infants who survive to birth may develop severe jaundice caused by continuing destruction of Rh-positive red blood cells. Unless jaundice can be controlled, brain damage may occur, resulting in intellectual disability and cerebral palsy. The usual treatment of affected newborns is exchange transfusion through an umbilical cord blood vessel to replace the antibody-damaged Rh-positive red cells of the newborn with normal Rh-negative donor red blood cells. Intrauterine transfusions are now possible. Sensitization of an Rh-negative woman carrying an Rh-positive fetus can be greatly reduced by administering anti-Rh antibodies to the mother at the time of delivery. Hemolytic disease of the newborn due to Rh immunization has virtually been eliminated in the United States because of this treatment. Howard Pearson see also: Blood Disorders; Paternity and Maternity; Pregnancy further reading: L. K. Diamond, “Blood Transfusion: A History of Blood Transfusions,” in M. M. Wintrobe, ed., Blood Pure and Eloquent, 1980, pp. 658–715.

boarding schools. Less than 3% of American secondary students attend private residential schools— boarding schools—and less than 1% attend elite college preparatory schools, or prep schools. Within this last type of boarding school are several varieties ranging from western Outward Bound schools to eastern seaboard college preparatory schools known for their long traditions and elite alumni. Many sociologists have argued that the elite eastern schools prepare students to become members of the power elite. Several decades ago, sociologist Digby Baltzell, for instance, in his work on the Protestant establishment, argued that these schools were critically important for the reproduction of the American upper class. Today, the power of the Protestant establishment has been somewhat diluted by the growth of the new economy and the political rise of the American West, but these schools continue to produce graduates who take their place as leaders in the economy, culture, and often in politics. Since elite prep schools play similar roles across societies in which they are found, a focus on U.S. prep schools will provide a useful snapshot of their nature and functions. Most prep schools are coeducational, although some remain single-sex. Nearly all of the families who send their children to elite schools are affluent; at the most prestigious schools, most parents are from the upper socioeconomic levels as measured by income, wealth, occupation, family history, and inclusion in the social register. The most elite preparatory schools are known as the select 16 because of their exclusiveness. These schools include Phillips Academy (established in 1778), Phillips Exeter Academy (1783), Episcopal High School (1839), Hill School (1851), St. Paul’s School (1856), St. Mark’s School (1865), Lawrenceville School (1883), Groton School (1884), Woodbury Forest

In a country club–like setting, the prep-school students ﬁle from their classes to an ivy-covered brick dining hall for lunch. Almost all of the boys and girls are clean-cut, tan, and attractive. The boys must wear jackets and ties, and most of the girls wear skirts, often so short that they must pull or hold them down as they walk despite the school’s rule that skirts must extend past their ﬁngertips. Many students dress in expensive brand-name clothing such as Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, and Polo and wear Reefs, the preppy ﬂip-ﬂop of choice. Pink is a popular color choice for both sexes (even pink underwear), but the boys disavow any pink nonclothing item because “pink is for girls.” Although New England boarding schools have been educating America’s elite for four generations, they have rarely been the subject of study. Even more unusual are studies like my own, which involved a close-up examination of daily life in one such school, which I call Bolton Academy. Most of the approximately 350 students at Bolton come from the wealthy suburbs of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, while approximately 30% are offspring of alumni or have siblings attending the school. Like other prep schools, Bolton started admitting minority students and women in the late 1960s and 1970s. Now approximately half of the Bolton students are female, and 15% are students of color, most of whom receive scholarships. Due to stiffer competition, only about 4% of the Bolton students matriculate to Ivy League colleges. One of the most surprising ﬁndings of my study was the highly gendered nature of the student peer culture. Entering the dining hall, the students pass the strategically placed ofﬁce of the harried school counselor. Pressured by the school, their parents, and one another, the students try to keep up with the hectic pace of prep-school life and the expectations of excellence, success, and admission to Ivy League schools. The academic and social pressures drive some girls to abuse performance drugs, such as Adderall and Ritalin, not only to help them perform better academically but also to lose weight. Failure is not an option for these students, and some meet with the counselor because of depression, feelings of inadequacy, drug and alcohol abuse, and eating disorders. After the boys ﬁll their trays full of hot food from the buffet line and the girls ﬁx small plates of salad, a bagel, or cereal, they head for “their” table. The distinct and hierarchal nature of their cliques becomes visible as they sit at the same tables day after day with their same group of friends. The higherstatus groups sit nearest the door and farthest from the kitchen and the teachers. Among the boys, two inﬂuential cliques, the hockey group and the high-class club, share an uneasy coexistence. Tim, like many of his friends, comes from a middle-class family and has bonded with the hockey clique but often feels like an outsider in this setting of privilege. His popularity with the girls rests on his “badass” attitude, and he hesitates to act

in any way that would “fuck with his image.” In contrast, the high-class club members, described by the other students as “very rich” and “really preppy,” take pride in their expensive attire and lavish lifestyles. These boys view the hockey players as socially beneath them and label them as “obnoxious jerks” or “the annoying hockey guys,” while the hockey players dismiss them as “snobs,” “the pink team,” or “fruit cakes” because of their emphasis on wealth and appearance and their lack of athletic abilities. Among the girls, a self-proclaimed group of “rich bitches” or “senior princesses” forms a rivalry with a group of “crazy” girls who start a ritual called “topless Tuesdays” and parade around their dorm only in only their panties trying to shock others with their bare breasts. The girls in both of these high-status cliques are pretty, rich, and preppy, participate in dance or theater instead of sports, and focus on clothes and makeup. Shana, the only wealthy African American girl at the school, is a member of the otherwise all-white “bitch squad.” Living up to the group’s reputation, she and her friends use smart boys for help with homework and then ditch them. These girls judge and criticize others, especially girls, on their appearance and clothes, refusing to associate with anyone who “is ugly or over a size 8.” They are attracted to boys with expensive shoes and style and unabashedly declare that they plan to marry for money. Although a few resist, most of these students become caught up in the upper-class pursuit of excellence, success, and perfection and perform extreme masculinity and femininity in order to ﬁt in and not to be a loser. Ben, an intelligent sophomore, feels pressure not to work too hard lest he be labeled a nerd, but he wonders how he will ever meet the male ideal of being “buff,” “good at sports,” “the captain of every team,” and the “best at everything.” Despite secret desires to show sensitivity and emotions and have closer friendships, Ben hesitates to act on these needs. Caroline, a freshman, wants to “be perfect” and to have “perfect” grades, personality, behavior, and looks. Because she does not ﬁt the valued ideal of being blond, blue-eyed, straight hair, and size 4, she is “almost scared” of her low self-esteem. A scholar at her previous school, she sits silently in the classroom lest she talk too much and appear too smart. Acting perfectly prep, the students do what is necessary to rank highly in the social hierarchy and to avoid being associated with groups that the popular kids call the “nerdery,” “losers,” “sucky people,” “ugly,” “worthless,” “sketchy people,” and “outcasts.” They soon realize that acceptance among their peers at prep school as well as in their future upperclass lives of privilege and power often depends on performing gender extremes. Sarah A. Chase further reading: Sarah A. Chase, Perfectly Prep: Gender Extremes at a New England Prep School, 2008.

imagining each other

imagining each other

Perfecting Gender in a New England Boarding School

114 •

b oarding scho o l s

School (1889), Taft School (1890), Hotchkiss School (1892), Choate School (1896), St. George’s School (1896), Middlesex School (1901), Deerfield Academy (1903), and Kent School (1906). In addition to being quite old by American standards, these schools are found in New England and on the East Coast. The oldest of these schools reach back to colonial times and have been preparing young men, and now young women, for leadership and the exercise of social power. These 16 schools are the focus of attention here because it is the graduates of these schools who have the greatest impact on the American and international economy, culture, and society. The graduates of these schools belong to a small society of individuals and families who share a lifestyle that reinforces their sense of solidarity and earned privilege. The ethos of the elite schools is service; service in this context, however, implies leadership and, to some degree, material comfort. The assumption that the upper class is meant to command is implicit in the educational missions of the elite schools that model themselves on British public schools such as Eton and Harrow. In terms of human variety, a study of the elite schools provides the opportunity to examine a special population of children and adolescents who are selected for success and provided with multiple opportunities to attain success. Most of these young people belong to a social class with shared interests, attitudes, and ambitions; it is also a class that reproduces itself through education, social credentials, marriage, and by joining exclusive neighborhoods, clubs, and resorts. The connection between power and the elite schools is enduring. For instance, posted at the entrance to the Groton School is a framed letter from a president of the United States extolling the students to be of service to their country. This service sometimes means public office (Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush are all graduates of elite prep schools). However, most graduates of elite boarding schools do not enter public life but are found in the financial fields associated with Wall Street, international banking, and venture capital. The culture of elite schools helps explain how students internalize privilege and how this sense of entitlement contributes to the preservation of the American class system. Peter Cookson and Caroline Hodges Persell have referred to this socialization process as “deep structure regulation.” This phrase refers to how the schools manage not only the physical lives of students but students’ emotional lives as well. While the schools have become less controlling in recent decades, there is still enough attention paid to the daily behavior of students that most adolescents would find it intrusive. The elite schools produce a recognizable social type who has internalized the values of the class from which he or she comes or the class to which he or she aspires. The elite private boarding schools began and continue as

a highly selective route to the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities. Despite the increasingly competitive admissions environment at highly selective colleges, boarding school students continue to attend Ivy League colleges as well as the nation’s most selective public and private colleges and universities. While the lower socioeconomic strata have had their safety net considerably weakened since the early 1980s, the upper strata safety net remains as strong as ever. As a consequence, even mediocre students who graduate from an elite school generally have an advantage over other students in the race for social advantage and economic rewards. Cookson and Persell, in a 1985 study, found that elite school students with relatively low grade-point averages and SATs attended selective colleges with regularity; in effect, the elite schools have a pipeline to selective colleges. The favorite universities of the graduates of the elite schools remain Princeton, Brown, Harvard, and Yale. The academic curriculum of the elite schools is vigorous and demanding. Prep schools place a strong emphasis on language, mathematics, science, history, and the arts. Standards of performance are very high; students are expected to acquire higher-order thinking skills. One mission statement of an elite school phrased it as follows: “The ability to reason carefully and also logically and to think imaginatively and sensitively is the hallmark of the educated mind.” This near-classical curriculum serves as a strong social signifier about class origin and class destination. The pressure on elite school students does create stress; the expectation for success leaves little room for failure, and life in a boarding school is also intensified by the social demands placed on students living, studying, and sleeping in the same environment around the clock. This stress is expressed in a number of ways: hypercompetitiveness, reliance on drugs and alcohol, experimentation with sexuality, and occasionally symptoms of significant psychological depression manifested in suicide or attempted suicide. From a human development perspective, life in a total institution leaves its mark on those who pass through it. Studies reveal that 90% of the students who graduate from boarding school feel that boarding school changed them in terms of their understanding of the world and their relationship to their peers. These changes are not necessarily in the direction of conformity as the schools might wish; most changes occur due to the strong and ever-present student culture. Learning to manage the contradictions between the exercise of power and legitimating it through earned privilege creates a subtlety of mind that few non-prepschool students experience. This preparation for power takes place at the manifest level (academic credentials), but it also takes place at the latent level (the pursuit of personal and class interest). The graduates of elite boarding schools carry their ideas, beliefs, and dispositions into the larger world and form

b o d y im a ge a n d m o d if ic a t io n

bonds with other graduates of elite schools in the United States and abroad. This networking creates a strong sense of solidarity among the international elite. This sense of solidarity and the exercise of power make the study of elite boarding schools of social importance and may help better explain the riddle of how socialization occurs and how class conscience shapes the social world in seen and unseen ways. Peter W. Cookson Jr. see also: Schools further reading: E. Digby Baltzell, Philadelphia Gentleman: The Making of a National Upper Class, 1958. • James McLachlan, American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study, 1970. • Peter W. Cookson and Caroline Hodges Persell, Preparing for Power: America’s Elite Boarding Schools, 1985. • Reuven Kahane, “Multicode Organizations: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of Boarding Schools,” Sociology of Education 61, no. 4 (October 1988), pp. 211–26.

body image and modification. Though the term body modification may call to mind practices such as cosmetic surgery, tattooing, scarification, body piercing, or foot binding, the term refers to anything done to alter the appearance of one’s body—either permanently or temporarily—including body adornment or decoration. Body modification is often overlooked as such when it falls within the “normal” or “natural” practices of a culture. In the United States, for example, this includes wearing makeup, styling hair, dieting, and exercising, while in other societies, scarification, lip plugs, or body painting are common forms of body modification. Body modification is complex and diverse in its scope, motivation, and meaning, though the actual practices themselves may appear similar. Ear piercing, for example, can signify gender, beauty, wealth, sexual orientation, or be a talisman against evil spirits. Similarly, while tattoos or body piercings signify defiance of social conventions in the United States, and are therefore a popular form of body modification among teenagers, they are ritual body ornamentations necessary to religious expression in the South Pacific. Even within a given culture, the meaning of the body is subject to change over time. For example, while a large body once connoted prosperity, health, and high social ranking in America and Western Europe, this same body type may now signify poverty, ill health, and low socioeconomic status. The meaning and desirability of bodies also change over an individual’s life span, from the cultivation of plump infant bodies to the cultural imperative of slenderness for American girls and women. Since the body is both a receptacle and a vehicle of social meaning, body modification is a highly practical and efficient activity that serves many important psychological and sociological functions: for example, to show affiliation with a social group, to express cooperation with or rebellion against social norms, to demonstrate socioeconomic

• 11 5

position, or to signal a change in status. Body modifications may also be an attempt to communicate or address suffering, as with self-injuries such as cutting. The human body transmits an array of complex information, intentionally or otherwise. Body image—a person’s learned and subjective perceptions of and about his or her body—also plays a role in body modification, particularly around the pursuit of body ideals or appearance norms. When body image is discordant with perceived social expectations for physical appearance— whether the goal is “normalcy” or beauty—people will generally seek to change their bodies accordingly, as with boys who take up weight lifting because they feel “small.” Cultural expectations about ideal bodies—transmitted through family, peers, media images, and even children’s toys, such as Barbie and G.I. Joe—also contribute to body-image disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and muscle dysmorphia, disorders that often become apparent through associated body modifications, such as dieting and weight lifting. While strongly influenced by media, peers, and others who shape the daily experience of children’s lives, children’s body image is significantly influenced by parents, through modeling and daily interactions. Children also develop their body image based on their health and physical capabilities, perceptions of how others respond to their appearance, and cultural and community standards for “ideal bodies,” images conveyed by the media and reinforced by peers and family. Body image is a critical component of self-image and self-esteem and, hence, an important aspect of children’s overall development. Because the body is such a strong conduit of social meaning and a critical component of personal development, children are subject to, or participate in, body modification from infancy onward. Many early forms of body modification in children are intended to signal gender, such as pierced ears for female infants, color-coded clothing (pink for girls, blue for boys), or short, trimmed hair for male children in contrast to longer hair for females. Indeed, the development of gender identity begins early in life and is subtly shaped in part by just such body-based practices. From differences in ideal body images, hair, and clothing to notions of appropriate exercise and cosmetic surgery, gender norms are also at play throughout adolescence and adulthood in the gendered approach to all body projects. Other common forms of body modification practiced on children are religiously or culturally prescribed, such as genital circumcision of male Jewish infants, female and male circumcision among some African ethnic groups, and the Hindu ear-piercing ceremony known as Karnavedha performed on infants of both sexes. Because some of these practices are controversial, they may be alternatively labeled mutilation, but within their own cultural context, these practices are considered an integral part of cultural membership. This difference of perception and labeling—

East African societies are well known for their age-graded forms of social organization. The life cycles of men and women are punctuated by collective rites of passage performed as one’s own age-graded cohort reaches a new social position. Practices and beliefs related to the ages of life changed tremendously in Kenya during the 20th century. Now all children attend primary school, and some of them graduate to higher grades. Yet older traditions of age grading are still active and intermingle with modern forms. The Meru Tigania-Igembe, Bantu speakers settled on the Nyambeni Hills located on the northeast side of Mount Kenya, use physical markings to signal age transitions from birth to the age of majority. These markings signal the cultural creation of manhood in a society where it is believed that both boys and girls will linger in a state of androgyny unless society assists them in clarifying their ultimate gender identity as either a man or a woman. I speak of past practices, traces of which continue to exist in the present, based on ethnographic data collected in the 1980s and 1990s. Among the Meru, a newborn baby was not named until it was expected to survive. At the age of 1 or 2 years, the child was shaved for the ﬁrst time and given the ﬁrst name of a grandparent of the same sex. In the minds of many Meru, there is an equivalence between alternate generations: Grandparent and grandchild were (and still are) regarded as namesakes, and it is believed they will resemble each other, since any ﬁrst name is like a “seed” conveying a kind of psychological temper that will develop during the life course. It is also imagined that something of the grandparent will continue after his or her death through this grandchild. At about the age of 4, a he-goat was customarily sacriﬁced by the father to celebrate the successful growing up of his son; and the father then offered the son a protective necklace and pieces of leather clothing made out of the goat’s hide. Weaning occurred very late, at the time the child was thought to be able to perform some home chores like tending small livestock. Weaning from the breast and physical separation from the mother marked the stage at which the child (mwana) became a “small noninitiated boy” (kaijî): The child entered a new age class that conveyed an emerging gender identity but also implied the necessity for further initiations into full manhood in the future and the remaking of a sex-appropriate body image. Thus, for example, when a boy’s permanent teeth replaced his milk teeth, the father or a friend pulled out the boy’s two lower incisors; this dental surgery, which is carried out without much ado, refashions an organ of the body that the Meru endow with a creative power of growing importance as one matures. The piercing of the ear lobes was the next major mark of a child’s emerging maturity; this operation occasioned a big feast organized by a father who celebrated the development of his family and ties between generations. Paternal grandparents and their friends of the same generation who had reached the age grade of “accomplished persons” (mwariki) were the main ritual actors; with the assistance of a small arrow, they pierced the grandchildren’s earlobes. These

initially tiny holes were then slowly enlarged by pushing in small sticks; heavier rings would later help adorn and elongate the lobes to the extent that they could reach across the mouth, which was the local aesthetic ideal. At puberty, which the Meru identiﬁed by the breaking of the voice together with sexual maturation, a boy entered the category of mwîjî or “big noninitiate,” a word coined by adding a new preﬁx to the root of the previous age. No particular ritual punctuated this natural physical change of the body, but this stage of growth was accompanied by several practical arrangements and a further distancing or departure from the parental homestead. Starting about that time, the “big noninitiated” boy would sleep in a dormitory built by the parents in the neighborhood, wherein he joined the other big noninitiated boys who gave him a second name that was supposed to remain secret. Here the yet to be fully initiated boy was expected to obey the older noninitiates and show respect for the male age hierarchy. After being trained in wrestling, he participated in contests between neighborhoods. He also developed and sharpened his intellectual skills in competitive verbal contests and the exchange of riddles. Yet his ﬁrst duty was to keep on working at his parents’ homestead, where he remained the main laborer. As time passed, the boy eagerly awaited full initiation, but many conditions had to be fulﬁlled. No boy could be initiated until the members of his father’s age class had reached the grade of political authority. This meant that ﬁrstborn sons might be initiated into manhood at the age of 30, while other boys might be initiated at the age of 17. Initiation itself was a highly elaborate ritual whose completion required nearly two years, although now it lasts three weeks and is undertaken at a much younger age. Among the many ritual sequences in a full initiation ceremony, groups of boys were (and still are) circumcised together at a public place, enduring a complicated surgery of the sheath, which signiﬁed a rebirth and new conception of the boy’s personhood. The circumcision was followed by nine months of seclusion in a shanty hut that represented the process of a new gestation. Afterward, the boy, viewed as a “newborn,” entered the warriors’ barrack; together with his age mates, he became a muthaka, a “bushman,” and was given a third name reinforcing his link with his father. The word muthaka also means “son.” The age grade of warriorhood was a protracted stage, and men were expected to earn their fourth name, which was coined after they had accomplished some warrior-like deed. No warrior could marry or have children before one’s own age class was allowed to do so by the senior age class in power. Among the Meru, a young father still had a long way to go before he became an “accomplished person”; this would take more time and more rituals. Anne-Marie Peatrik further reading: O. F. Raum, Chaga Childhood. A Description of Indigenous Education in an East African Tribe, [1940] 1996. • S. Heald, Manhood and Morality: Sex, Violence and Ritual in Gisu Society, 1999.

imagining each other

imagining each other

Marks Make the Man in Kenya

b o d y im a ge a n d m o d if ic a t io n

modification, beautification, or mutilation—is a tribute to the extent to which a society is capable of constructing its own unique perception of the “normal” and “natural.” The difference between what is considered body beautification versus mutilation is largely a function of how that particular body modification corresponds to sociocultural notions of what is “good,” which is itself a complex composite of social values and ideology. Also at issue for such controversial practices is the question of control: Who owns the body and has the right to alter it? From hair styles and dress styles to ear piercing and circumcision, the role of parents in children’s body image and modification is most significant early in life, declining as children enter adolescence and begin to initiate or coconspire in their own body projects as a way of exerting selfcontrol and establishing independence. At this stage, children take a more active role in their body projects, although the formative influence of parents still remains, whether as a direct influence or a counterpoint. Mothers, for example, are significant figures in the transmission of cultural messages about femininity, ideas that are later played out at the site of the body, through hair, clothing, diet, and exercise. These messages are being communicated ever earlier, as with the growing popularity of manicures and other beauty treatments for even preadolescent girls. As adolescence approaches, body projects are increasingly associated with achieving appearance norms or ideals of beauty, such as braces to adjust the position of teeth, diet and exercise to manipulate the size and shape of the body, and even cosmetic surgery to reshape noses, ears, breasts, and other body parts. While once almost exclusively focused on adults, cosmetic surgery is increasingly performed on children and teens. Along with regimens of diet and exercise, many of these procedures are aimed at achieving beauty, a primary dimension of which is body shape and size. Beauty has great value in society, where there are both real and perceived benefits to fitting the social definition of attractiveness, and this bias applies also to children. Children’s attractiveness has been repeatedly shown to positively influence not only the grades they receive in school but also their peer relationships and social acceptance, even as early as preschool. Parents, too, are unconsciously affected by children’s appearance, tending to give more attention and affection to attractive infants. It is little wonder that children and adolescents, who are struggling to define their identity and relationship to the world, are often so captive to ideals of beauty. Though physical appearance tends to be a greater concern for girls than for boys, it is a cornerstone of identity for adolescents of both sexes. Girls often feel pressure even before puberty to conform to a socially prescribed ideal of beauty—an ideal that with few exceptions is contemporaneously centered on thinness—and most of their body projects are focused on

• 11 7

pursuing this ideal. Experimentation with hair and makeup begins at an increasingly earlier age, and it is currently estimated that by fourth grade, approximately 80% of girls have been or are dieting. Anorexia is growing in prevalence among young girls, while boys, once believed to be exempt, are becoming increasingly concerned with their body shape and size, albeit in a different manner. In contrast to girls, for whom thinness is the reigning body ideal, boys are increasingly invested in achieving an ideal of athleticism and muscularity. Adolescent male body projects associated with this ideal include the use (or abuse) of performanceenhancing drugs, body-building techniques, and nutritional supplements aimed at increasing muscle mass and tone. Though there are meaningful differences between cultural and ethnic groups in the United States in defining body ideals—such as the emphasis on attitude and personal style over body size among African American girls—examples from other cultures illuminate the constructed nature of all notions of beauty. While in America, girls go on diets in order to be thin, among the Azawagh Arabs of Niger, fatness is considered such a beautiful and desirable trait that girls as young as 5 years old are sent to fattening houses to plump up and may also be force-fed. In some instances, however, unattractiveness may be the goal of body modification, as with children in 19th-century West Africa, whose parents used facial scarification to make their children undesirable to slave traders. In addition to appearance, another common motivation for body modification, including cosmetic surgery, is the benefit to children’s emotional development. In fact, these two motives are highly interrelated via the medium of the self: The body’s appearance—including dress, grooming, adornments, and other elaborated exteriors—is generally considered a prime expression of the self, one reason that the body is such a preoccupation for adolescents. Notions of self are intimately linked to the body—through one’s own body image and others’ reactions to one’s appearance—and appearance is highly related to social status and acceptance; these in turn all have an impact on emotional development and self-esteem. Witness the teenage girl who has rhinoplastic surgery to enhance her self-confidence. In fact, teens who seek cosmetic surgery typically do so in order to fit in and look acceptable within their peer group, a reason that goes far beyond superficial appearance. Because the body is such a potent symbol of the self and society, its form and appearance are highly political. This politicization of the body occurs not just on the national stage but also in homes when children and caregivers clash over when children may get their ears (or other body parts) pierced, wear makeup, style their hair, or dress the way they choose. Here, the body becomes contested terrain in which the overarching issue is who controls the child’s body. For adolescents in particular, for whom identify formation is a

118 •

b ody image an d mo d i fi cati o n

critical developmental task, body modification projects are typically centered around this theme of control. Along with identity development, children’s body modifications are also associated with rites of passage, in which the body is ritually marked or altered in some way that signals (or induces) a change in social position. While such explicit rites of passage have become increasingly distanced from mainstream life in most industrialized countries, people still modify their bodies to mark the advent or conclusion of important times in their lives. For adolescents in particular, who are entering a phase of life defined by separation from caregivers toward greater autonomy, symbolic rites of passage can be a means of negotiating this transition. Examples of this include body modifications intended to indicate an initial transition to adult status, such as boys growing their first mustache (a rite of passage into masculinity) or teenagers getting a tattoo or body piercing. Body alterations can also indicate leaving behind a stage of life, as with a teenager who cuts her hair after breaking up with a boyfriend or a child who adopts a new style of dress upon moving to a new school. When a child comes home with a tattoo or pierced ears or makes independent choices about hair, clothing, and makeup styles, she is using the medium of her body to make a declarative statement about her identity and independence, be it rebellious or conventional. These adolescent body projects are complex with a multitude of potential meanings. Cultivating a punk or gothic body style, for example—a hallmark of rebellious adolescence—signifies not only a peer-group affiliation but also an identity experiment and a physical manifestation of resistance to both parental and societal expectations. Paradoxically, even when the body is used to proclaim disdain for mainstream culture or ideals, that overarching ideal or value system is still the motive, albeit negative, for the ways in which the message is physically expressed. Erica Reischer see also: Gender; Peers and Peer Culture; PerformanceEnhancing Drugs; Rites of Passage; Sexual Development further reading: J. J. Brumberg, The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls, 1997. • Harrison G. Pope, R. Olivardia, and K. Philips, The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession, 2000. • Thomas F. Cash and T. Pruzinsky, eds., Body Image: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice, 2002.

bone and joint disorders. see Orthopedic Disorders

books, children’s. see Literature: Children’s Literature books on child development, landmark. Any historically based trawl through landmark books on child development inevitably encounters problems of definition. First, where to start and end the consideration of

such books? In this article, the point of departure is the late 19th century (which witnessed the first empirical childdevelopment studies implemented more or less along the lines recognizable today), and the terminus is the last decade of the 20th century (as it takes time for a book to acquire landmark status). Next, which cultural and intellectual traditions to include? Here, the selection is limited to the works of Europe and North America. A still larger question concerns what makes a book worthy of landmark status. Inevitably, some of the works described in this article represent personal predilections formed by research experience stemming from issues concerned with the development of brain and behavior, but others are books whose landmark status few would dispute. Many other books with claims to such status—including works in the psychoanalytic tradition (by Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson, among others) and the anthropological (Margaret Mead, John W. M. Whiting, and Beatrice B. Whiting)—are described in other articles on specific theorists and theories throughout the rest of this volume. E ar ly L an dm ar k s In 1888 and 1889, Wilhelm T. Preyer published his twovolume book The Mind of the Child, based on longitudinal observations of his son. Greatly influenced by Charles Darwin’s work as well as Ernst Haeckel’s theory of recapitulation (which states that the stages of development of each individual repeat the stages of evolution of the species), Preyer attempted to reconcile the extremes of nativism (with its emphasis on biologically innate dispositions, capabilities, and structures) and empiricism (with its emphasis on individual experience as the source of all knowledge) as applied to the study of child development. In doing so, he came to reject Haeckel’s theory and concluded that the development of a child’s perception, will, and mind is susceptible to environmental influences, even though it is “primed” by evolutionary pressures. While Preyer’s approach remained largely descriptive, his book provided one of the first systematic attempts to record the details of infant behavioral development using a protocol of direct observation, which was advanced for its time. For this achievement, at least, he might be viewed as one of the founders of child psychology. If Preyer can be regarded as a founder of the field from a biological standpoint, then James Mark Baldwin can certainly stake a claim to be such a figure for the study of cognitive and social development. Unlike Preyer’s work, however, Baldwin’s observations and experiments were guided by a self-devised theory, one that can be termed the theory of sensorimotor adaptation, which states that the developing child gains knowledge of the world through actions and circular reactions that vary according to environmental circumstances. This theory is expounded in Mental Development in the Child and the Race (1895). Baldwin can also

b o o k s o n c h il d d e v e l o p m e n t , l a n d m a r k

be credited with another landmark book, Social and Ethical Interpretations in Mental Development (1897), a treatise on the development of the social self. It embraced a breathtaking array of topics, examples of which are altruism, empathy, friendships, play, stranger anxiety, and temperament. In fact, intimations of the currently fashionable theory of the child’s mind can be discerned in this highly original and important book. From B eh av ior i sm to Cogn i t i v i s m In the 20th century, two of the major schools of thought on child development were behaviorism and cognitivism. The radical behaviorist John B. Watson set about ridding psychology of such Baldwinian ideas as mental states and, in fact, anything that smacked of consciousness. These “metaphors of the mind” had to be replaced with observable responses elicited by well-defined stimuli, Watson argued, if psychology was to be regarded as a proper science. Watson’s “physics of behavior” (also known as classical conditioning) entered the realm of child development with his book Psychological Care of Infant and Child (1928). This book reflected the ethos of his quote, “Give me a dozen infants . . . and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and teach him to become any type of specialist I might select.” Watson’s book, together with his publications in popular magazines, had an enormous impact on child care, particularly among middle-class U.S. parents. While he advocated treating children with respect and discouraged excessive corporal punishment, his underlying credo was that parents should engender “good habits” in their children through a dispassionate training regime based on emotional detachment. Watson’s unfettered nurturist rhetoric gave rise to opposition from the so-called maturationists, including, notably, Arnold Gesell and Myrtle B. McGraw. In fact, this label was a misnomer, as both Gesell and McGraw tried to find a medium between the extremes of nature and nurture. Of the many books written by Gesell, one stands out as a landmark, namely, The Embryology of Behavior (1945), written with the help of Catherine S. Amatruda. This book can be considered a prospectus for the view that individual development abides by the principles of self-organization in open systems, which function through a continuous inflow of energy. Indicative of Gesell’s conviction that the study of development is a multidisciplinary undertaking, it also foreshadows significant features of current dynamical systems approaches to identifying the processes of change over ontogenetic time. McGraw drew inspiration from the writings of John Dewey and George Coghill, the founder of neuroembryology. Dewey theorized that the laws of energy as devised by Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell could be applied to infant development, which McGraw did in her groundbreaking studies of infant locomotion. Many of these studies formed the basis of her landmark book The Neuromuscu-

• 11 9

lar Maturation of the Human Infant (1943), which still reads with a remarkable freshness today. The 1950s witnessed a reaction in which cognitivism usurped the stranglehold of behaviorism on academic psychology. Narrowly defined, cognitivism amounts to the view that the human mind consists of discrete, internal mental states whose functions can be captured by stagebased models of information processing. But this narrow definition is belied by the richer visions of cognitive development expressed in landmark books by at least two major developmentalists, namely Jean Piaget and L. S. Vygotsky. The sort of cognitivism associated with Piaget, which he referred to as genetic epistemology, amounted to a monumental attempt to steer the middle ground between preformationism (the idea that development is an unfolding over time of a predetermined script or plan for the creation of a mature form) and environmental determinism. While often depicted as a stage theorist, Piaget was not wedded to the idea that cognitive development could be demarcated by a fixed succession of discrete stages, nor did he couch mental operations as proceeding through a chain of informationprocessing stages across real time. Rather, his focus of interest was the delineation of cognitive structures (which he termed schemes) underpinning the acquisition of knowledge and how they were transformed through temporary imbalances in the relationship of assimilation (modeling the new or unfamiliar on the basis of the routine or familiar) and accommodation (creating new responses). Three of Piaget’s books stand out as landmarks among his mind-boggling output of academic texts. Two concern the period of infancy, namely, The Origins of Intelligence in Children (1936) and The Child’s Construction of Reality (1937). Translated into English in 1953 and 1955, respectively, these books together represent a tour de force of direct observation leading to simple experimentation and back again that revealed new (and not so new) insights into the mental abilities of infants. Perhaps the main insight delivered is that of how infants acquire the concept of object permanence, the idea that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight or out of one’s own consciousness. The relative simplicity of the procedure devised by Piaget to investigate object permanence has evolved into something of a cottage research industry in developmental psychology, with literally hundreds of studies being devoted to it. Piaget’s third landmark book, which addresses cognitive development beyond infancy, is The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence (1958), which he wrote with Bärbel Inhelder. Covering the cognitive structures that function as concrete operations (a stage in the development of children’s thinking when they are able to see things from more than one perspective at once and also recognize the necessity of, for example, the weight of a ball of clay remaining exactly the same even when it is molded into a different shape) and that show the first glimmerings

120 •

b ooks on chil d d ev el o pmen t, l an d ma rk

of those pertaining to formal operations (abstract thinking such a symbolic logic) in adolescents, it once again rests on simple, but ingenious, experiments whose procedures are still followed in the early 21st century. The cognitive tradition also survives today through new theoretical developments that have been building up momentum since the mid-1990s. The vehicles for this potential transformation have been so-called dynamical systems thinking and connectionism. Two books feature as landmark publications in these respects. The first book is A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action (1994) by Esther Thelen and Linda B. Smith. A dynamical system is simply any system that changes over time, where time can be anything from milliseconds to years. Such systems are either linear or nonlinear, the latter being the source of inspiration for the book. In a nonlinear dynamical system, an agent of change can originate in the moment-to-moment activity of a developing organism (e.g., an animal repeatedly grasping an object) and ultimately induce a qualitative shift in behavioral organization on a longer time scale (the creature making a transition from a palmar to a pincer grasp). Thelen and Smith synthesize and express with great clarity the intricacies of such thinking and its implications for child development. While their initial examples create the impression that they are striving for a general theory of sensorimotor development, they extend the principles applied in this context to cognitive development, particularly with regard to category formation and language. Connectionism is a theoretical approach that also addresses the behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems. The utility of connectionist models for simulating change in child development is elucidated in a landmark book by Jeffery Elman and colleagues entitled Rethinking Innateness: A Connectionist Perspective on Development (1996). In essence, the book tenders a new framework for studying child development founded on different types of learning and the formation of representations that are buttressed by recent findings from developmental neurobiology. The authors’ resolution of the nature-nurture issue might be paraphrased in two ways. First, they say, genes influence virtually all behavior, but virtually no behavior is determined by them. Second, the environment is instructive and the genotype permissive. S o c i a l a n d E mot io nal D e v elo pm en t Alongside the schools of behaviorism and cognitivism, the 20th century witnessed other approaches to the study of child development. In the realm of children’s social and emotional development, John Bowlby undoubtedly wrote a landmark work in the trilogy consisting of Attachment (1969), Separation (1973), and Loss (1980). These books, based on Bowlby’s clinical experiences of the effects of maternal deprivation on children, and his two subsequent

books on the same theme had a profound effect on both theory and practice relative to child development. On the one hand, his work fostered a new breed of researchers that was prepared to take ideas from psychoanalysis and ethology and apply them to the study of infants in real-life situations. On the other hand, it offered a humane approach to the care of children that assuaged the excesses of Watson’s behaviorism, set in motion improvements in the institutional care of children, and generally enabled parents to better understand their infant’s everyday, and sometimes puzzling, patterns of behavior. Without the pioneering work of Mary D. Salter Ainsworth, it would be fair to say that the theory of infantmother attachment would never have achieved the status it has in the early 21st century, as witnessed by the superabundance of studies it has nurtured. In 1978, Ainsworth and her colleagues published the landmark book Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation (1978), derived from a corpus of monthly observations of 26 Baltimore families. Its major concern was the establishment of a method aimed at measuring the security of attachment, which is termed the Strange Situation. This 20-minute system of assessment designed to reveal individual differences in the way 12-month-old infants react to the brief separations and reunions with their mothers has become one of the most widely used methods in research on child development. The Strange Situation has been the subject of ongoing controversy about the interpretation of cross-cultural variation in attachment patterns. However, the book itself remains an excellent piece of writing on how to carry out research on individual differences that relies not on psychometric tests but on a keen eye for observation under constrained circumstances. Perhaps one of the most salient of phenotypic markers of human diversity is sex differences. Without doubt, the representative landmark book of this area of study is The Psychology of Sex Differences (1974) by Eleanor E. Maccoby and Carolyn N. Jacklin. At the time it was written, there were a number of suppositions, or what some called “myths,” about cognitive and other differences between boys and girls. Through careful scrutiny of a mountain of literature on sex differences, Maccoby and Jacklin dispelled a number of myths and identified sex differences that are supported by research. The latter have to do with aggression, mathematical and spatial skills, and verbal skills. In addition to differences, there are also similarities between the sexes, which the authors are at pains to point out. Thus, for example, they conclude that boys and girls share common pathways of learning throughout the preschool years. Beyond these years, however, contemporary educationalists are growing increasingly concerned about more academic failures among boys, a difference that might in part have its roots in a finding discussed in the book, namely, that from the outset boys have more difficulties in learning to read.

bowlby, john

Maccoby and Jacklin’s book had a substantial influence on research concerned with this aspect of human diversity as well as giving food for thought about the education of boys and girls. The overriding view expressed in the book is that parental influences on the socialization of children to adopt particular gender and sex-based preferences are not paramount. Rather, it is biological influences that drive the development of sex differences. Maccoby has more recently softened this view. In particular, she stresses that sexsegregated experiences have a profound influence on adult heterosexuality, parenting, and employment. Dev elopmen t i n Soc iocultur al Con te xt If Piaget’s influence on U.S. developmental psychology had to await the demise of behaviorism, Vygotsky’s influence arose similarly in the wake of Piaget’s. The attraction of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory was twofold. First, it dissented from Piaget’s view of the child as a lone searcher of knowledge and provided one in which the child was aided and abetted by parents, teachers, and peers. Second, and related, it clearly spelled out its implications for curriculum design, instruction, and assessment methods that were new and intuitively appealing to educational practitioners. The richness of Vygotsky’s theory can best be appreciated through his two landmark works: Theory and Thought in Language (1962; originally published in 1934 in Russian) and Mind in Society (1978). The first book, regarded by some as his greatest work, is essentially about the role of language in cognitive development. For Vygotsky, thought and language have independent origins and then grow together such that the sociocultural experience of language guides and facilitates thought. In contrast, Piaget maintained that the development of mental concepts propagated the acquisition of language. What really separated the two theorists in this regard was the role Vygotsky accorded to internal or private speech, which he said enables the developing child to internalize social experience, leading to “higher mental functions.” His perspective on the interface between language and cognitive development, and especially that concerned with selfdirected utterances, has had an abiding influence on how the nature of child development is construed. Its distinctiveness is brought into further relief in Mind in Society, which contains a representative selection of Vygotsky’s theoretical essays. Here, one finds concepts that are indubitably Vygotskian in origin. The ones that stand out are the interrelated concepts of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and scaffolding. In short, what they convey is that tasks the child cannot master alone but is able to do with the assistance of adults and more accomplished peers (the ZPD) become independently achievable through a system of support (scaffolding), which gradually abdicates responsibility to the child. The implications of these and other concepts discussed in the book (such as those regard-

• 12 1

ing the role of play in development) have been absorbed, for example, into research on parent-infant communication and executive functions in older children. They have also given rise to new dynamical assessment methods and influences on educational practice, such as play therapy for children with developmental disorders. In addition, Vygotsky’s ideas inspired an intellectual tradition that has helped create a cultural psychology. Along with anthropological traditions, the Vygotskian lineage is one of the major theoretical strands that envisions children’s development as embedded in and shaped by the contexts, practices, and discourses of everyday life. In sum, this selection of landmark books conveys the range and richness of ideas that animated the first 100 years in the scientific study of child development and whose influence can still be felt in many corners of contemporary scholarship on children. Brian Hopkins see also: Advice Literature, Popular; Development, Concept of; Development, Theories of; Research on Child Development further reading: Emmy E. Werner and Ruth Smith, Journeys from Childhood to Midlife: Risk, Resilience and Recovery, 2001. • Michael Tomasello, Constructing a Language: User-Based Theory of Language, 2003. • Harry W. Gardiner and Corrine Kosmitzki, Lives across Cultures: Cross-Cultural Human Development, 3rd ed., 2004. • David Howe, Child Abuse and Neglect: Attachment and Development, 2005. • C. Wenar and Patricia Kerig, Developmental Psychopathology, 2005. • Dan H. Sanes, William A. Harris, and Thomas A. Reh, Development of the Nervous System, 2006.

bowlby, john (b. February 26, 1907; d. September 2, 1990), British psychoanalyst and creator of attachment theory. In formulating attachment theory, John Bowlby drew on concepts and empirical findings from many fields beyond psychoanalysis. These included ethology, evolutionary biology, cybernetics/systems theory, cognition, and developmental psychology. He had an uncanny knack for recognizing cutting-edge ideas before they became generally accepted and was able to synthesize them into a new theory about close relationships. Attachment theory originated from the notion that the disruption of family relationships through separation, social deprivation, and bereavement adversely affects children’s emotional development. Bowlby became sensitized to this topic through his clinical work as a child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. After World War II, he and his research team at the Tavistock Institute in London studied young children who were hospitalized or institutionalized without access to parents. At the same time, the World Health Organization commissioned him to survey the wellbeing of institutionalized, mostly orphaned, children. From his findings, Bowlby concluded that to facilitate healthy development, “the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship

122 •

b ow lb y , john

with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment.” He also concluded, “If a community values its children it must cherish their parents.” In Attachment (1969), the first volume of his trilogy, Bowlby argued that an infant who seeks to be close to his or her attachment figure when frightened and checks in with that figure while exploring increases his or her likelihood of protection and, hence, survival. Emphasizing the child’s active role in the relationship, he also maintained that an attachment figure’s prompt and sensitive responsiveness to a child’s distress engenders a more secure and trusting relationship that fosters self-reliance. In making these claims, he drew on Mary D. Salter Ainsworth’s short-term longitudinal studies of infant-mother attachment in Uganda and the United States. Bowlby’s second volume, Separation (1973), reviewed emotion research and social learning theory to underscore that fear is attenuated when a child can flee from danger and toward an “older and wiser” attachment figure. In the third volume, Loss (1980), Bowlby fleshed out ideas on the role of memory and other forms of representation (internal working models) in relationship functioning and personality development in the context of bereavement. The theory has shown remarkable robustness and has been highly productive in generating research. Particularly influential have been longitudinal studies from infancy to early adulthood, not only in the United States but several other cultures. More recently, research on attachment at the representational level in adults and children has reconnected attachment theory with its clinical roots. Bowlby has been criticized for excessive emphasis on the role of the mother, lack of attention to the father, and undermining the role of women as workers outside the home. This criticism is, in large part, due to changes in societal norms after the theory was developed. Many studies on child-father attachment and on attachment as related to child care have led to extensions and adaptations of the theory, but they have not undermined its major principles. However, much more work is needed to show how different cultures incorporate attachment into family and societal functioning and how multiple attachment relationships in families interact and what differentiates secure infantmother attachments from attachments between adults. Inge Bretherton see also: Attachment, Infant; Attachment Disturbances and Disorders; Development, Theories of: Psychoanalytic Theories further reading: J. Holmes, John Bowlby and Attachment Theory, 1993.

brace, charles loring (b. June 19, 1826; d. August 11, 1890), founder of the Children’s Aid Society and pioneer of child welfare and foster care.

Charles Loring Brace was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, and raised primarily in Hartford. Moving to New York City in 1848 to attend Union Theological Seminary, Brace began working with a Methodist mission at Five Points (Manhattan’s most notorious slum) and delivering sermons at a city prison and charity hospital. These experiences convinced him that, while adults were “confirmed in the ways of vice,” children were still susceptible to moral influence and thus the most productive focus of reform work. Brace was also disturbed by the common practice of incarcerating vagrant children in juvenile and adult prisons. Most of these children, he argued, were not criminals but only poor. What they needed were jobs, education, and homes. In 1853, Brace founded the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) to provide New York’s poorest children just such benefits. Perhaps the most successful of the CAS’s many initiatives was the Newsboys’ Lodging House, in which, for an extremely modest charge, vagrant children could find a bed for the night, schooling, and a job-referral service. Brace insisted on the charge because he wanted to preserve what he saw as the chief virtue of street children: their “manly” independence. A Girl’s Lodging House opened a decade later but was less successful, largely because its managers insisted on residents’ sexual abstinence (boys were subject to no such strictures). Another successful CAS project was “industrial schools” for poor children whose need to work or shame over their ragged clothing barred them from public education. The most influential and celebrated—and infamous—of Brace’s CAS initiatives was his Emigration Plan, under which groups of poor city children were sent to the country and displayed to local residents. If approved by a CAS agent, these local residents could take one or more of the children home to live with and work for them. Brace’s most significant insight was that no orphanage or juvenile asylum could care for children as well as an ordinary family. Throughout its history, the Emigration Plan’s ideal goal was adoption, but initially it operated primarily as a job-placement service, as reflected in the fact that the families taking children were called “employers.” The Emigration Plan was widely imitated, domestically and abroad. Between 1854 and 1929, 250,000 children were relocated by what came to be called “orphan trains,” with 105,000 of these children placed by the CAS alone. Starting in the 1870s, critics became increasingly concerned with the CAS’s inadequate initial screening and postplacement monitoring of the families taking children, and western states also began to protest New York’s exportation of its “human garbage.” As a result, all the organizations sending out “orphan trains” began increasing placement supervision and making placements closer to home. By 1930, most of the surviving organizations—including the CAS—had evolved into modern foster care and adoption agencies. To this day, the CAS remains one of New York’s most innovative and effective child welfare agencies. Stephen O’Connor

b r e a s t f e e d in g see also: Adoption: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; Foster and Kinship Care: Historical and Cultural Perspectives further reading: Charles Loring Brace, The Dangerous Classes of New York and Twenty Years’ Work among Them, 1973. • Stephen O’Connor, Orphan Trains: Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed, 2003.

brain development. see Neurological and Brain Development

breastfeeding. Human milk is the natural extension of fetal life, essential for growth and development of the infant and young child. It is sufficient by itself to support optimal growth and development for the first six months of life. Anthropological and comparative studies suggest that humans wean infants at 3 to 4 years. While many infantmother pairs throughout the world breastfeed for this duration, in the United States and many other countries, weaning occurs at an earlier age, possibly to the disadvantage of both the child and the mother. Breastfeeding initiation and duration rates gradually increased in the United States at the end of the 20th century. United States Healthy People 2010 goals of 75% initiation, 50% still breastfeeding at 6 months, and 25% still breastfeeding at 1 year are still not met. African American breastfeeding rates are about 30% lower at all ages than white and Hispanic rates in the United States. Breastfeeding initiation rates in other countries vary widely from lows of 20% in some industrialized Asian nations to as high as nearly 100% in many European countries, especially in Scandinavia. Duration rates vary in relation to national policies on maternity leave for mothers working outside the home, with greater duration in those countries providing paid maternity leave of 4 to 12 months. Anatomy and Ph ys io logy of L actat io n a n d B r e as t f eed i ng The glandular tissue of the mammary gland is embedded in connective and adipose tissue, with ducts leading from the secretory structures to openings on the tip of the nipple. Mammary gland tissue initially develops in the 18- to 19week fetus, remaining small throughout fetal life and childhood until puberty, when over a period of two to three years growth of both glandular and supportive tissues occurs, usually prior to the onset of menses. Newborn infants occasionally secrete small amounts of milk for a few days after birth due to the influence of maternal hormones. Mammary gland size and capacity for storage of secreted milk varies widely among women, although there is no relationship between breast size and capacity to produce milk. Approximately 95% to 98% of women can produce adequate milk for their offspring without need for any supplementation. During pregnancy, under the influence of progesterone and prolactin, breast enlargement occurs. The pigmented

• 12 3

area around the nipple, called the areola, will usually darken, as well. Later in pregnancy, the initial milk, called colostrum, may be secreted in small amounts, but major production of milk is prevented by the high circulating concentrations of the hormone progesterone. Following delivery of the infant and the placenta, milk secretion increases, and, even without suckling by the infant, the breast enlarges and colostrum leaks from the nipple. Emptying of milk by the infant increases milk secretion by removing an inhibitor of milk production that is a normal component of breast milk. Stimulation of the nipple during the process of suckling also carries neurological messages to the pituitary gland, resulting in release of the hormone oxytocin, which causes contraction of smooth muscle cells around the mammary gland ducts. This forces milk out of the ducts and into the infant’s mouth. This process is known as let down; it will occur a number of times during each suckling episode. Oxytocin also stimulates uterine muscle contraction, facilitating expulsion of the placenta, reducing bleeding, and returning the uterus to its prepregnancy size. Suckling also stimulates release of prolactin, another pituitary hormone, which is essential for milk production. Milk volume increases daily after birth in response to the frequency and completeness of emptying of milk from the breast. Thus, the infant who is hungry will feed more frequently, sending a message to increase milk production. As the infant becomes more satisfied and reduces the frequency of feeding, the volume of milk produced diminishes slightly or reaches a steady state. This feedback mechanism between infant and mother continues throughout breastfeeding. Gradual weaning from the breast occurs when the infant increases the interval between each feed, until no further milk is removed, at which point milk production ceases. During the first days of life, the volume of colostrum secreted is small, only 1 to 2 ounces (30 to 60 milliliters) and is low in fat and high in protein and antibodies, providing immediate protection against a wide variety of infections. By about the third or fourth day of lactation, milk production increases in response to the infant’s need. C om po s i t io n o f H um an M i l k Each species of mammal, including humans, provides a complex array of milk components that are specific for that species. The composition of the milk is constantly changing, reflecting the specific needs of the infant at different ages and under different circumstances, including exposure of mother and infant to specific infectious agents. Small amounts of foods eaten by the mother also enter into the breast milk, providing the child with a broad range of taste experiences preparing him to accept a wide array of culturespecific foods after weaning. Some components assist in the development of the digestive tract itself. Because human milk is so balanced to

124 •

b reastfeedin g

the needs of the infant, the breastfed infant’s stool volume is small. Human milk is high in whey and low in the phosphoprotein casein, in contrast to cow’s milk, which is the opposite. The amino acid composition of the proteins is also quite different and meets the precise growth needs of the human. The lipids in human milk provide a high-caloric source for energy and specific fatty acids essential for optimal development of the brain and retina. High in cholesterol, human milk supports the prolonged period of brain growth in the human, as this process is dependent on fat nutrition. The structure of the triglycerides is different from that of other mammals and of fats of plant origin, which, in combination with the lipase of human milk, assures a high rate of absorption. At the beginning of a breastfeeding episode, the fat content of the milk is relatively low, gradually increasing two- to threefold in concentration as the feed proceeds. The high fat content at the end of the feed may signal the infant to end the feed. Calcium and phosphorus are present at concentrations lower than in cow’s milk, but they are absorbed more efficiently than in infant formula or whole cow’s milk because of their binding to digestible proteins. Iron, zinc, and copper, as well other trace elements, are also present in human milk in low concentrations but, with their high rates of absorption, are adequate to the needs of the infant. Vitamins A, B, C, and E are present in adequate concentrations, but vitamin K is at a low concentration. An injection of this vitamin is needed. Vitamin D is at too low a level to prevent rickets. Current recommendations are that infants and young children be given daily oral vitamin D drops. A specialized mechanism in the lactating mother assures the appearance of new, specific antibody in her milk within days of the first exposure to an infectious agent. For this system to work optimally, intimacy, including kissing, between mother and infant is essential so that the mother is constantly “sampling” the bacterial and viral environment of the infant and, thereby, making antibody to protect her infant. I m po rta nc e o f B r e as t f eed i ng fo r th e I nfan t The breastfed infant is healthier and has fewer diseases than infants who are not breastfed. A large number of acute infectious diseases have been repeatedly shown to occur in significantly lower incidence and with reduced severity in both developing countries and in well-developed nations, including the United States. It is not only the presence of antibacterial and antiviral effects of human milk but also avoidance of contaminated water and foods that contribute to these differences. The diseases with proved protection include diarrhea and other gastrointestinal infections,

respiratory disease including wheezing and pneumonia, otitis media (middle ear infection), botulism, urinary tract infections, blood infections, and meningitis. Rates of reduction in incidence range from 50% to 90% for all these diseases, and the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the greater the benefit. The need for hospitalization of breastfed infants is reduced by more than two-thirds compared with artificially fed infants. The protective effects of breastfeeding continue beyond the actual period of breastfeeding; middle ear infection is less frequent in 2- and 3-yearold children who were breastfed only during the first year of life. This is probably due to enhancement of the immune system and permanent changes in the bacterial flora in the airways. Chronic diseases later in childhood and adolescence vary in incidence in relation to the duration of breastfeeding. These include reduced rates of insulin-dependent diabetes (type 1), inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn disease), leukemia and lymphoma, obesity, asthma, and some allergic conditions. Enhanced development, as measured by childhood IQ and school performance, has also been associated with breastfeeding in proportion to duration of human milk intake. This may be due to direct effects of human milk components on brain development, to reduced rates of illness during infancy and early childhood, or to increased maternal-infant bonding, including physical contact. These beneficial effects on development have been reported for both full-term and premature infants. I m po rta nc e o f B r e as t f eed i ng fo r t h e Mot h er Less well recognized is the beneficial effect of breastfeeding on the health of the mother, both during the postpartum period and later in life. These include reductions in postpartum uterine bleeding, more rapid return to prepregnancy weight, and reduced stress accompanied by improved mothering behavior. Many of these acute benefits may be mediated by the hormone oxytocin, which, in addition to causing smooth muscle contraction, also has an effect on emotional well-being. Long-term benefits include delay in return of menses and ovulation, with increased spacing between infants. The anovulatory, or birth-control, effect of breastfeeding is evident during exclusive breastfeed, including at least one feed during the night. Increased spacing between sequential births of 20 to 24 months has been shown to reduce the risk for premature delivery and to reduce infant mortality rates. Other long-term benefits include up to a 50% reduction in premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and type 2 diabetes in direct relation to the woman’s cumulative duration of breastfeeding. Although the lactating woman loses approximately 5% of

b r e a s t f e e d in g

her bone calcium during the first three months of nursing, rapid recalcification of bone occurs after weaning. M ater nal Con tr ai ndicat ions to B r e as t f eed i ng Most maternal illnesses and medications are entirely compatible with breastfeeding. However, there are some relatively rare situations in which breastfeeding by mothers may not be safe for the infant. These include mothers with active tuberculosis who have not had at least two weeks of treatment, mothers receiving highly toxic antimetabolites for cancer therapy or other diseases, and mothers receiving radioactively labeled products for diagnostic or therapeutic indications. Mothers who are using illegal drugs should not breastfeed due to potential toxicity. In the United States and most developed countries in the world, it has been recommended that women who are positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) not breastfeed their infants because of evidence that the virus can be transmitted to the infant in human milk. In countries with higher risks for infant illness and death from diarrhea and other infectious diseases and from malnutrition, the recommendation is to inform the mother of the relative risks of breastfeeding and not breastfeeding, letting her make the decision. In the absence of antiviral treatment, approximately 25% of infants born to HIV-positive mothers will be infected either during pregnancy or at the time of birth, with an additional 14% acquiring the infection during nursing. However, in locations where infant mortality is high without breastfeeding, the risk of death may be higher. This matter remains controversial, and new studies may change the recommendations. Maternal varicella (chicken pox) and herpes simplex lesions on the breast may require delay in initiation or interruption of breastfeeding. Occasional alcohol consumption in small amounts is not a contraindication to breastfeeding, although large amounts may both inhibit milk production and may transmit large doses of ethanol to the infant. Tobacco use is not a contraindication for breastfeeding, but mothers who smoke should be counseled never to smoke in the same room with the child since second-hand smoke is injurious to the infant. Mothers who are chronic carriers of hepatitis B and C viruses should be encouraged to breastfeed since it has been repeatedly demonstrated that breastfeeding does not increase the risk of acquiring those infections. Transmission of these viruses to infants of carrier mothers occurs in utero or at the time of birth only. I n fan t Con tr ai ndicat ions to B r e as t f eed i ng Classic galactosemia (a metabolic disorder caused by the lack of an enzyme required to digest galactose) is the only

• 12 5

absolute infant contraindication. Most other inborn errors of metabolism are compatible with breastfeeding. Occasionally, a newborn with a very high serum bilirubin concentration may have to be taken off breastfeeding temporarily to avoid brain toxicity. R ec om m en datio n s fo r I n i ti atio n a n d M anage m en t o f B r e as t f eed i ng Cultural practices affect breastfeeding initiation and management, but generally agreed upon principles and practices are widely accepted worldwide and recommended universally by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, La Leche League International, and the International Lactation Consultants Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Academy of Family Physicians, the American Dietetic Association, as well as many other national professional organizations. These generally accepted guidelines are summarized in the following sections. Antepartum. It is strongly advised that all young people receive education in the importance of breastfeeding and in its practice. In addition, all pregnant women should be given information by oral, written, and visual communications to ensure that their decision is a fully informed one and they can initiate nursing right after birth. Formal training should be available for all pregnant women, followed by individual support by experts in breastfeeding after delivery for as long as needed. At Birth. The infant should be put to the breast within the first 30 to 60 minutes following delivery. The mother and infant should be kept together in close proximity throughout the postpartum period, and the mother should be encouraged to put the baby to the breast at the earliest signs of hunger and before the start of crying, a late sign of hunger. With this practice, it can be expected that a minimum of 8 to 12 breastfeeds per day will occur. With this frequency, milk production will increase optimally. Mothers should be helped to position their infants correctly. Breastfed infants should be given no water, food, or other milk during the initiation and thereafter for the first six months of life, unless there is a medical indication for supplementation. Vitamin K at birth and vitamin D daily are the only recommended supplements. Breastfeeding should be continued for a minimum of one year and thereafter for as long as mother and infant wish to continue it. Cultural Variations. Breastfeeding practices vary around the world, with some but not all compatible with success. In many Asian countries, it is widely believed that colostrum is not normal milk, since it appears thicker and yellower, and women commonly do not initiate breastfeeding until the

126 •

b reastfeedin g

third or fourth day after delivery. This denies the infant the much-needed anti-infective properties of colostrum and also delays and mitigates against optimal milk production. In some African and Asian countries, it is common practice to feed various mixtures of herbs and honey to infants prior to initiation of breastfeeding or as a complement to breastfeeding. Since these products are of no advantage to the infant and may interfere with establishment of a milk supply, as well as be contaminated, it is to be discouraged. In many countries, it is accepted and expected that mothers will breastfeed infants publicly. More than half of the states and the federal government of the United States have recently enacted laws making breastfeeding of an infant a legal act or civil right in any location in which the mother and infant may legally be. Reluctance to breastfeed in public is given by many women as the reason they choose not to breastfeed or to terminate breastfeeding in early infancy, to the disadvantage of their child and themselves. While pregnancy prepares the breast for lactation immediately after the birth of the infant, it is possible for a woman to gradually induce milk production, even when not having been pregnant, by repeated stimulation of the nipple by a suckling infant with or without additional hormonal stimulation. Some adopting mothers utilize this practice. For biological and adopting mothers who are unable to breastfeed or choose not to, other alternatives to the use of infant formula include the purchase of frozen, pooled human milk from approved human milk banks. The older common practice of employing a wet nurse to feed an infant has gone out of practice in most developed countries because of the risks of infection, cost, and cultural preference. In some parts of the world, including the United States, private, paid, or voluntary arrangements for obtaining expressed milk from other women is utilized, as well as the practice of nursing another woman’s infant. These ad hoc arrangements carry a small risk for transmission of infections and are best undertaken with medical supervision. Environmental Issues. Human milk has been found to contain small but detectable amounts of many chemicals from the environment, often stored in body fat. With the onset of lactation, some of these chemicals are mobilized into the mother’s circulation and make their way into the milk. Although such contamination of human milk gets much attention in the media, it should be recognized that there is no evidence of any significant increase in infant acquisition of these chemicals or of infant illness as a result of breastfeeding. The great proportion of transfer of these agents from mother to infant occurs during pregnancy. Only when the mother has had a large, acute, toxic dose of such chemicals, such as mercury, is there evidence of the infant being put at risk. Breastfeeding is a complex process, delivering a complex, made-to-need substance to the human infant. It has many

advantages over artificial feeding for infants, mothers, and the general health and well-being of society. Lawrence M. Gartner see also: Eating and Nutrition; Feeding, Infant; Malnutrition and Undernutrition further reading: Valerie A. Fildes, Breasts, Bottles and Babies, 1986. • Gabrielle Palmer, The Politics of Breastfeeding, 1988. • World Health Organization, Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding, 2003. • R. A. Lawrence and R. M. Lawrence, Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession, 2005. • American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians, 2006.

bronfenbrenner, urie. see Development, Theories of: Social Contextual Theories

buddhism. Like many religions, Buddhism was not created with an eye to its long-term viability as a social institution. Instead, Buddhism came into its full social and institutional presence in a gradual manner and somewhat by accident. This seems particularly true for the range of Buddhist positions on children and childhood, positions that emerged slowly and for a variety of different reasons. Thus, in the surviving accounts of the Buddha’s career (all of which were written hundreds of years after his death), it would seem that he, like many contemporaneous mendicants, simply taught a way to avoid future rebirth in samara—the ceaseless cycle of life and death—with little attention paid to legislating rules for family life or specific instructions for raising children. In the centuries after the Buddha’s death (roughly the 5th century BC), a complex framework of monasticism grew into existence, with detailed rules for running a celibate community but also with dictates for interacting with the community at large. Understanding this gradual growth of institutional armature is crucial for understanding the place of children in Buddhism, since building institutions and providing a role for children in Buddhism were both agendas intent on managing the reproduction of tradition—in one case the physical plant, in the other the staff. Thus, while on one plane Buddhism is rightly depicted as a religion fundamentally directed toward the goal of getting out of life and into nirvana, this in no way inhibited the development of all sorts of life-managing doctrines and practices. That said, it is fair to offer the following generalization: Buddhism, by and large, has little to say about children directly. Likewise, child-directed rituals are few: There are no birth-purification rites or infant baptisms, nor are there rites of circumcision or even clear rulings on child rearing; similarly, there are no Sunday school–like entities until the colonial era. Still, at least five categories of discourse related to children appear in Buddhism. First, there is the Buddha’s supposedly perfect childhood. As found in various biographical accounts, the Buddha was supernatural from the beginning

b u d d h is m

and did not actually have a normal childhood since, after being delivered from his mother’s side, he arrived into the world already walking and talking. Actually, it is clear that many Buddhist authors wanted to emphasize that the Buddha was immaculately conceived. Thus it is usually stated, or implied, that his mother, Maya, practiced Buddhiststyled ethics and received the Buddha in the form of a sixtusked elephant in a dream. This piece of mythology was far from being an arcane textual claim since it was regularly rendered in the art that decorated popular pilgrim sites and reliquaries throughout India. Second, Buddhist literature, apparently from very early on, relied on the trope of parent and child to explain one’s relationship to the Buddha and, by proxy, one’s relationship to tradition and one’s preceptors. In the monasteries, this meant that the teacher-disciple relationship was explicitly designed to mimic the father-son pair in the family. Similarly, in slightly later texts of early Mahayana Buddhism (which appears roughly at the beginning of the current era), correct Buddhist identity was spoken of as being a son of the Buddha. For instance, in a crucial sequence in chapters 2 and 3 of the Lotus Sutra, the narrator has the Buddha explain to his leading disciple, Sariputra, that Sariputra has always been a son of the Buddha even if he has not quite understood what this sonship involved. In fact, in older strata of Buddhist literature Sariputra had claimed that he was a figurative son of the Buddha, but the Buddha convinces him in this narrative that this was only an initial form of sonship that had to be expanded in order for Sariputra to win his full inheritance, generated by a so-called rebirthing from the Buddha’s mouth. Later in the narrative, the text offers a facsimile of this new Buddhist sonship to those who would read this text with faith, thereby turning the text into a free-floating refathering mechanism that actualizes itself in the very process of reading. In Tibetan Buddhism, as in more developed tantric forms of Mahayana Buddhism, one also finds a kind of parent-child template that explains the relationship between a neophyte and his or her guru, with the example of Milarepa and his master Marpa being a much-loved example. In some tantric practices (largely secret), it appears that the neophyte is initiated into the guru’s spiritual lineage/family by receiving a drop of semen on his or her tongue, which is believed to effect this kind of tantric rebirthing. Arguably, much of this is an attempt to render in ritual much of the father-son logic that had been generated in the earlier strata of Mahayana sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra and others. Third, and in a very different vein, East Asian authors developed a kind of Buddhist filial piety that focused on getting sons and daughters to recognize a debt to their parents that could only be repaid by making offerings to Buddhist monasteries. Roughly in the 6th century, a cycle of myths appear in which Mulian is shown using his Buddhist

• 12 7

powers to travel to hell to save his mother. Key to understanding these stories is that Mulian is both a monk and a filial son, with these two roles being successfully combined such that Mulian’s career as a monk is motivated by his desire to care for his mother and, more distantly, his patriline. Terming this “great filial piety” (da xiao), advocates argued that sons fulfilled their own filial duties by participating in annual Buddhist rituals celebrating Mulian’s exploits and by transferring goods from the sphere of the household to the monastics. This medieval fusion of Buddhism and filial piety defined a new form of Buddhist family values that has lasted to the present in East Asian countries. Fourth, in India and East Asia, there is evidence of a kind of Buddhist fertility cult. For instance, it is claimed in chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra that if women propitiate a bodhisattva named Avalokitesvara (in Chinese, named Guanyin), then they can expect to become pregnant and even select the sex of their child. Later in China, this bodhisattva shifted from being male to being female and was given a new epithet: “Child-Granting Guanyin” (Songzi Guanyin). Along with Child-Granting Guanyin, another bodhisattva, Ksitigarbha (in Chinese, Dizang), became central in a cult of fertility in East Asia. Later in Japan, roughly in the 14th century, Dizang (in Japanese, Jizo) was presented as the special guardian of deceased children, even as he appears equally in charge of fertility and the health of children. These strands of East Asian Buddhist thought on filial piety, fertility, and deceased children took a somewhat different turn in the 20th century. In Japan in the 1970s, there emerged a cult based on caring for aborted fetuses. Built around “rites for the water child” (mizukokuyo), a sizable number of Japanese monasteries began offering monthly and annual services designed to placate aborted fetuses. It was also claimed that caring for the spirits of these aborted fetuses served to ensure the health of the family’s living children. Last, in Chan and Zen, the masters’ disciples were categorized as little filial sons (xiao xiaozi). Thus, in the earliest Chan monastic rules—the Chanyuan qinggui of 1103—the funeral of an abbot requires that his chosen descendents don customary Confucian funeral garb and treat the abbot, their master, as though he was their father. This suggests that the Chan monastic system, like its Indian predecessor, also relied on the at-home model of patriarchal rule to structure authority in the large public monasteries. Alan Cole see also: Child: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives; Religious Instruction further reading: Helen Hardarce, Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan, 1997. • Alan Cole, Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism, 1998. • Alan Cole, Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Literature, 2005.

128 •

b uilt env iron men t , chi l dren a n d the

built environment, children and the. American children spend more than 90% of their lives indoors, and the places where they live, play, and learn inevitably influence their development. Research on children and the built environment has revealed that environmental characteristics more proximal to the child, such as conditions in the home or school, have more developmental impact on them than those more distant, such as neighborhood conditions or the degree of urbanization. Social class also plays a central role in the quality of the built elements in places like home, school, or neighborhood that children inhabit. Hom e a n d S c ho o l Qua l i t y Contemporary residential settings of American children are a far cry from the experience of their forebearers. In colonial America, family activities such as cooking, eating, sewing, schooling, and sleeping occurred in one or two rooms for nearly the entire populace. Family sizes of 10 or more were common and private space a rare commodity. By the mid-19th century, a typical American family farmed, and children spent their days helping their parents garden, caring for animals, hauling water, and performing numerous household chores. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, a marked shift from agrarian to urban life dramatically reshaped childhood settings. Urban settings became more demarcated by social class, with large numbers of poor children living in squalid conditions that led to excessive rates of infectious diseases and various social problems. Residential crowding became fused with polluted conditions, and play spaces were transformed from home and nearby yards and fields to streets and commercial establishments. Compared to their wealthier counterparts, poor children had relatively free range throughout urban neighborhoods. Many did not go to school regularly if at all beyond the younger school ages, and in a trend that sadly persists to this day, the schools poor children attended were often inferior. Both contemporary and historical conditions of the built environs for American children vary considerably from those encountered by the majority of today’s children throughout the world. Unfortunately, little systematic investigation of the built environment and child development has occurred in the developing world. Substandard housing involving structural defects, poor maintenance, physical hazards, and inferior indoor climate adversely affects mental and physical health in young children. Substandard housing, in turn, is typically linked to poverty but impairs development even when income is taken into account. Nonetheless, the importance of housing quality in child development has likely been underestimated since most research emanates from affluent countries where substandard housing barely approximates what most of the world’s children must live with. For example, even low-quality housing in North America and Western Eu-

rope typically has safe water, indoor plumbing, electricity, refrigeration and cooking appliances, safe heating equipment, and a ratio of at least one room per person, whereas millions of children in the economically underdeveloped world lack such basic amenities. In the developing world, fewer than half of urban dwellings and fewer than 25% of rural homes have safe drinking water available inside the home. Younger children are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of poor-quality housing because of developmental immaturity in concert with greater time spent in the home. Particularly in low-income families, young children who live on higher floors of high-rise buildings suffer more behavioral problems. This is probably due to greater social isolation of the mother plus inaccessible outdoor play spaces. Because it is difficult to supervise and monitor children outside of the immediate residential unit, parents in high-rise buildings often restrict their children’s outdoor play. School building quality affects development in a different way. Standardized achievement test scores are lower in poorer-quality school buildings, as are teacher turnover and morale. More open plan layouts with ill-defined and poorly bounded instruction spaces engender greater distraction and noise and cause more off-task time. Because these U.S. and European data do not reflect the degree of crowding and substandard school building construction (e.g., absence of central heating/cooling, indoor plumbing) experienced by the majority of the world’s children, the negative effects of poor-quality schools are likely underestimated. Crowding. Residential crowding, measured as people per room, is inimical to children’s development, with similar adverse effects found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Children living in more crowded conditions suffer from more psychological distress, poorer cognitive development, and elevated aggression compared with children living under less-crowded conditions. These effects occur because parents in more crowded homes are less responsive to their children and engage in harsher, more punitive parenting. Such parenting behaviors likely reflect elevated social withdrawal and stress, two common sequelae of crowding among adults. The effects of crowding may be different for boys and girls. Boys show more sensitivity in physiological stress reactions and behavioral conduct problems. Girls are more vulnerable to psychological distress. Crowding in schools also has negative effects. Research in North America and Europe shows that crowding at child care or primary school adversely affects children’s cognitive and emotional development. Larger class sizes also hurt academic achievement, especially for low-income children. Moreover, children in larger schools feel more alienated and less connected to their school community.

b u il t e n v ir o n m e n t , c h il d r e n a n d t h e

Noise. Noise levels are rapidly escalating throughout the world and are a major problem for children in homes and schools. Primary school children in noisier schools, independent of family socioeconomic status, have delayed reading acquisition. Interestingly, these effects occur at sound levels far below those necessary to produce hearing damage. Children in noisy environments appear to tune out auditory stimuli, perhaps as a way to cope with stimulus overload. Unfortunately, this tuning out occurs indiscriminately and impairs reading ability, since learning to read is dependent upon adequate speech perception. Ambient noise, the sounds people hear everyday in the world around them, is usually chronic and uncontrollable. High levels may contribute to a sense of helplessness: the belief that one cannot control one’s environment. Helplessness undermines academic motivation. Some of the ill effects of noise on reading may also occur indirectly via teachers. Teachers in noisy classrooms suffer more fatigue and stress. There is also considerable loss of instruction time in noisy schools. For example, in a study of a primary school in New York City located next to a train track, more than 10% of teaching time was lost because of acoustic intrusions. Ambient noise can also directly affect children’s physical health. Primary school children in noisy schools have elevated blood pressure and stress hormones. Chaotic Environments. In order for children to thrive, they need regular, predictable, and increasingly challenging interactions with their surroundings. Crowded, noisy, substandard housing along with unpredictable and lessstructured social interactions and routines undermine cognitive and emotional development. Such living conditions occur more often in low-income households, which is one reason why poor children suffer more cognitive and socioemotional deficits relative to their wealthier counterparts. Toxic Environments. Although current housing in the developed world no longer resembles the squalor depicted by Charles Dickens, Friedrich Engels, Jacob Riis, and other 19th-century reformers, homes continue to harbor toxins and allergens that are harmful to children. Neurotoxins such as lead and other heavy metals, pesticides, and solvents from cleaning products all have well-documented adverse cognitive and behavioral outcomes in children, particularly during the pre- and neonatal period. Childhood exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the home is a major threat to physical health as well. One explanation for the surging asthma epidemic in North America is the presence of high levels of residential allergens (e.g., cockroaches), particularly in low-income, urban neighborhoods. An additional indoor pollutant contributing to asthma and other respiratory ailments for many children in poor countries is the high level of smoke associated with the use of biofuels (e.g., wood) for heating and cooking.

• 12 9

Indoor Climate. Indoor climate, particularly elevated temperatures, as well as improper ventilation reduce student performance, particularly on more demanding tasks that require sustained attention. Carbon monoxide, particulates, and possibly allergens are believed to underlie these effects. School absenteeism has also been linked to poor indoor climate quality in school buildings. N eigh b o r ho o d As children move into adolescence, their daily orbits expand beyond the confines of home and school to include neighborhood and community. Yet the years since the 1970s have witnessed a dramatic compression in the home range of youth, especially in North America and Europe. Children who do not explore their surroundings miss important learning opportunities that contribute to confidence and competency. Decreased exploration is also bad for children’s physical health. Reduced physical activity is a major reason for the epidemic of childhood obesity in America. Parental concerns about safety and crime are a major factor in restrictions on mobility in children, but so is urban sprawl. High traffic volumes, limited-access motorways, and greater distances make it very difficult for children to walk or bike in many North American communities. Before the mid-20th century, most American neighborhoods had well-connected and pedestrian-friendly streets. However, as automobiles became ubiquitous in daily life, homes, schools, parks, and retail buildings were no longer accessible on foot. Mounting traffic made streets hazardous, especially for children and youth. In the 21st century, fewer than one in seven American children walks or bikes to school. Fift y years ago, four out of seven American children got to school this way. According to the World Health Organization, within the next generation the major, worldwide nutrition challenge for children will shift from malnourishment to obesity. While restrictions on children’s movement have increased dramatically in affluent countries, children in developing countries continue to have considerable free range. Unfortunately, this often heightens their exposure to multiple physical hazards such as traffic and pollutants that are endemic to many urban centers in the developing world. Research in North America and Europe indicates that children who live on streets with high traffic or who have to cross more streets to go to school have substantially higher rates of pedestrian injuries and fatalities. Pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of injuryrelated deaths in children throughout the world. These hazardous street conditions are even worse in underdeveloped countries. Although there are few data, living in a city may influence children’s social development. Adults in cities throughout the world experience more incivilities and behave less caringly than residents in small towns or rural areas. Urbanites

130 •

b uilt env iron men t , chi l dren a n d the

are also less likely to know and interact regularly with their neighbors compared to rural citizens. Pl ay Setti ngs and Toys When children live in communities affluent enough to provide playgrounds, they play less often on playgrounds with stand-alone equipment like swings and slides. Children play more frequently and in more complex ways on playgrounds designed to encourage interactions with other children and active manipulation of the equipment, materials, and structures provided. Play-setting features that enable children to manipulate and construct settings more attuned to their developing competencies, with greater challenges over time, support more sophisticated play. Unfortunately, concerns about physical injury, particularly in the litigious American climate, have markedly limited adventure-style playgrounds designed to encourage active manipulation of materials and construction of play spaces by children themselves. Children also prefer and exhibit more complex play in moderately sized, enclosed spaces, particularly when they provide visual accessibility to other children. Natural elements often provide better and more complex play opportunities and may provide restorative elements to help children recover from stress and cognitive fatigue. Preadolescent children prefer outdoor over indoor settings for play. Some of the reasons for this include the wider array of motor and social play opportunities and independent mobility afforded by outdoor settings. Natural areas compared to traditional playgrounds support greater physical activity and motor-skill development. The benefits of nature on children’s play are universal, but children’s access to nature is clearly influenced by urbanization, social class, and in some societies by gender. Toys are a critical component of the immediate built environment, especially during early childhood. Toy design is linked to preference and may affect cognitive and socioemotional development. Children everywhere play more with toys that are functionally complex. Movement attracts and holds attention, and the ability of a child to control how a toy or object operates is important. The relationship between toy complexity and preference is nonlinear, with some medium amount of complexity optimum. Moreover, this inverted U-shaped function shifts upward with age: Older children desire more complexity. It is universally documented that monotonous stimuli depress exploration, beginning in early infancy. The degree of gender stereotyping in toys influences play behaviors, and the level of violence portrayed in video games affects aggression. Env i ronmen t and C h i ldhood Pov ert y One of the defining qualities of childhood poverty is a confluence of inferior environmental conditions. Low-income children are significantly more likely to reside in substan-

dard, noisy, crowded housing with more chaotic surroundings and are exposed to more toxins and allergens. They move more frequently, and the higher proportion of income expended on often poor-quality housing contributes to tremendous strain among low-income families. Poor children’s homes are more often situated in high-crime, physically dilapidated neighborhoods, often with inadequate municipal services and containing a greater number of physical hazards. Relative to more affluent children, poor youth have less access to parks, attend schools with lower per capita financing and lower physical quality, are in larger classes taught by less-experienced teachers, and must contend with higher rates of teacher turnover. Poverty exacerbates poor-quality physical environments and is a primary force in the ecological context that shapes children’s lives. Gary W. Evans and Pilyoung Kim see also: Allergic Diseases; Lead Poisoning; Marketplace, Children and the; Parks, Playgrounds, and Open Spaces; Toys and Games; Universe of the Child further reading: Joachim F. Wohlwill and Harry Heft, “The Physical Environment and the Development of the Child,” in Daniel Stokols and Irwin Altman, eds., Handbook of Environmental Psychology, 1987, pp. 281–328. • David Satterthwaite, Roger Hart, Caren Levy, Diana Mitlin, David Ross, and Jac Smit, The Environment for Children, 1996. • Gary W. Evans, “The Environment of Childhood Poverty,” American Psychologist 59 (2004), pp. 77–92. • Gary W. Evans, “Child Development and the Physical Environment,” Annual Review of Psychology 57 (2006), pp. 423–51.

bulimia. see Eating Disorders bullying. A child is being bullied when one or more peers intimidate or put down a more vulnerable other. In contrast to a confl ict situation in which children have equal power, as when two friends have an argument, in a bullying situation there is an imbalance of power between the perpetrator and the victim. An imbalance can also be achieved in a numerical sense when a group of youth gang up on one child. Regardless of the intentions of the perpetrators, behaviors can be classified as bullying as long as the target child finds the behavior unwanted and offending. Unlike teasing, the parties involved in bullying do not share the common understanding of a friendly intention. Bullying takes many forms. Across cultures and age groups, name-calling is by far the most common form of bullying among boys and girls. Young children, and boys of all ages, are more physically aggressive than are adolescents and girls of any age. Conversely, girls—especially young teens—are often depicted as the masters of covert social tactics of meanness. Despite these gender differences, victims typically get bullied in multiple ways. There is no evidence that one form (e.g., a kick or a punch) always hurts more than others (e.g., a nasty rumor).

b u l l y in g

Pr evalenc e Bullying is a universally common experience in any group settings starting in preschool, especially when adults do not monitor behaviors and intervene with incidents. Depending on the definition of what constitutes intimidation, prevalence estimates of bullying vary somewhat across gender, class, and culture. For example, 70% to 80% of American adolescents report having been bullied at some point during their school career, and about 50% of young teens in urban schools report at least one experience of bullying in school during a two-week period. Estimates for engaging in bullying are typically lower, with around 20% to 25% of American secondary school students stating that they have bullied others. Even though bullying behaviors are likely to be underreported, one or two bullies can intimidate or terrorize entire classrooms or grade levels. Prevalence estimates for persistent bullies and chronic victims are lower, ranging from 5% to15%. The large differences between prevalence estimates of occasional versus repeated bullying are meaningful when considering the social and personal functions of the behavior addressed in theoretical accounts of bullying. Th eo r etical Accoun ts of Bully i ng B eh av io r Sociologists and anthropologists presume particular types of bullying, such as gender policing, serve a socialization function. For example, gender norms (e.g., “boys don’t play house;” “boys don’t cry”) are shaped in part by bullying, inasmuch as those who deviate from the group norms are punished. In other words, children are presumed to resort to bullying to reinforce group norms by intimidating those who violate the group’s identity or threaten its cohesiveness. If the tactic “works,” the deviant individuals change their behavior. The threat of being ostracized or excluded by peers can indeed be a compelling reason to change one’s behavior. According to this perspective, bullying should stop once the child complies. The establishment and maintenance of dominance hierarchy is accomplished through hostile behavior in primate troupes. By aggressing toward those who challenge the power hierarchy of the group, the leader secures the social order of the collective as well as maintains his or her dominant position. This account may apply to bullying among children inasmuch as bullies frequently have high social status. In contrast to nonhuman primate troupes, however, children’s peer groups do not benefit from the dominant status of the bully. What motivates an individual child to bully others? Psychological studies reveal that some aggressive children find the signs of suffering by their victims reinforcing. But the high social status of bullies is especially rewarding.

• 13 1

Although the popularity of bullies may be based on fearmotivated respect by peers, their high social standing partly explains the inflated self-perceptions of bullies. Contrary to the popular belief, bullies often have high, as opposed to low, self-esteem and view themselves more socially accepted than they are. These findings make sense when considering the social feedback bullies receive from their peers: Children rarely challenge bullies and may instead join in or encourage their behavior (e.g., by watching a fistfight or by helping spread nasty rumors about someone). When bullies are socially rewarded with popularity, interventions targeting bullies rarely work. Even if short-term reductions in bullying behaviors can be accomplished, the behavior changes are rarely maintained over time. Hence, bullying is not necessarily caused by lack of social skills but reflects a motivational problem that cannot be ameliorated by focusing interventions on perpetrators. In sum, theoretical accounts of bullying vary, some emphasizing the social or group function, others focusing on the individual. Regardless of the particular account, however, social norms supporting bullying behavior are regarded as one of the major challenges for intervention. Some of the most promising antibullying interventions are specifically designed to change the social norms that encourage and maintain bullying because of its detrimental effects on the victim. Th e Pl igh t o f th e V ic ti m Research on daily encounters of bullying in middle school reveals that even single incidents are associated with increased feelings of anxiety, anger, and humiliation. Assuming that bullying indeed is a way for the group to police or foster collective norms, bullying experiences are meant to be painful, but bullying would be expected to stop once the child complies with the normative expectations. For example, children who transfer to a new school or move to a new neighborhood might be prime targets if they push the limits of what is normative or threaten the cohesiveness of the existing group(s). Emotionally painful experiences of bullying might indeed make them behave in ways that help them fit in. Although data supporting this functionalist account is limited to qualitative analyses of case descriptions, the high prevalence rates of occasional bullying experiences are consistent with this perspective. But there are also chronic victims of bullying who do not appear to modify their behavior to fit in. Instead, bullying experiences increase the very vulnerabilities that seemed to evoke hostile behavior. For example, socially withdrawn and passive children are at heightened risk of getting bullied, and these children become even more withdrawn and submissive after repeated experiences of bullying. Similarly, youth who respond to bullying with unregulated aggression are at high risk for continued peer maltreatment that only

132 •

b ullyin g

increases related manifestations of maladjustment, such as extreme peer rejection and school difficulties. Hence, when bullying continues, the causes and consequences form a vicious circle. In these cases, bullying does not serve a group socialization function, although ganging up against one person can enhance the cohesiveness of the group. Although most victims of bullying suffer emotionally, they rarely report their source of distress to anyone. It is also unlikely that victims of bullying resort to violence as a means to get back at their tormentors. Nevertheless, the tragic school shooting incidents in the United States since the late 1990s highlighted the fact that violent offenders, like chronic victims of bullying, have trouble effectively dealing with social failures (e.g., public ridicule or rejection by a romantic partner). Some violence prevention and antibullying interventions therefore teach youth strategies that help them better cope with bullying incidents and find constructive strategies that can stop peer maltreatment.

In sum, certain behaviors that deviate from group norms mark a child as an easy target. Whereas bullying experience might teach a lesson in some cases, in others bullying experiences only exacerbate the very behaviors that evoke hostility. Although victims are unlikely to retaliate by resorting to violence, they need help effectively coping with social failures and peer intimidation. Promising antibullying prevention approaches aim to change the social norms that encourage and maintain bullying as well as teach children responses that help them respond to and cope with peer intimidation. Jaana Juvonen see also: Aggression; Prejudice and Stereotyping further reading: Dan Olweus, Bullying at School, 1993. • Ken Rigby, Bullying in Schools and What to Do about It, 1996. • Jaana Juvonen and Sandra Graham, eds., Peer Harassment in School: The Plight of the Vulnerable and Victimized, 2001. • Cheryl Sanders and Gary Phye, eds., Bullying: Implications for the Classroom, 2004.

c camps, summer. Research conducted by the American Camp Association (ACA) has confirmed what the first camp directors knew: Camps are potent fun. Parents, staff, and children report significant growth in campers’ selfesteem, independence, leadership, friendship skills, social comfort, peer relations, adventure seeking and exploration, environmental awareness, positive values, healthy decision making, and spirituality. Naturally, no camp promotes growth in every child, nor does every child mature in each area. However, enough children have grown in noticeable ways that the institution and social movement of organized youth camping in the United States has blossomed from a single camp in 1861 to more than 12,000 camps, serving 10 million children annually. These children, and the trained staff who lead them, represent myriad ethnicities, socioeconomic levels, nationalities, religions, and abilities. Around the world, families recognize that camp changes lives, and policy makers view camp directors as youth development professionals. The earliest camps in the United States were nonprofit experiments directed by educators who saw opportunities to teach children in ways schools did not. From the 1860s to the 1890s, private school headmasters, such as Fredrick and Abigail Gunn, and university students in education, such as Ernest Balch, created programs that brought children out

of what were viewed as “depraved” or “corrupt” urban settings and into the New England countryside. The Gunnery Camp, initiated on the Connecticut coast in 1861, may have been the first. Under the direction of enthusiastic and often idealistic adults, children experienced the essential trinity of camp: community living, away from home, in an outdoor, recreational setting. This holistic experience included physical exercise, such as hiking; mental challenges, such as cooperative problem solving; social skill development, such as making friends from different backgrounds; and spiritual events, such as outdoor worship. Soon after camp’s inception, adults recognized its value for children who were poor, disabled, or ill. For example, Dr. Joseph Rothrock founded a camp for boys with physical disabilities in 1876. More recently, specialty camps arose for children with wide-ranging medical needs, such as cancer, AIDS, burns, and diabetes; mental health needs, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and substance abuse; sports interests, such as soccer, tennis, and sailing; and academic interests, such as the environment, computers, and outer space. Most camps also offer some form of need-based financial assistance. Initially, organized camps had no professional association or governing body, but the distinctive opportuni-

camps, summer

ties of camps attracted the attention of leaders of youthserving organizations, such as the YMCA and the National Recreation and Park Association. By 1910, influential professional educators, such as Luther and Charlotte Gulick, cooperated with these organizations to establish boys and girls camps across the United States. Camping also inspired new organizations. In 1902, Canadian American naturalist and author Ernest Thompson Seton founded the Woodcraft League of America. Woodcraft was—and still is—a set of adventurous outdoorliving skills and an educational philosophy of understanding and existing in harmony with nature. In 1906, Seton sent his Woodcraft guide to British Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who borrowed parts for his Scouting for Boys. After the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated in 1910, Seton revised that work as the first American Boy Scout Handbook. Other camping organizations soon developed, including Camp Fire Girls (1911; now the coed Camp Fire USA), and the Girl Scouts of the USA (1912). Dissatisfaction with traditional schooling; concern for the physical, mental, and spiritual health of children; a Protestant work ethic; the American pioneer spirit; interest in American Indian traditions; progressive educational theories; conservationism; and the philanthropic interests of social service organizations were among the most important factors that converged to propel the nascent youth camping movement. In the 1920s and 1950s, patriotism and military traditions also fueled interest in camping. Most recently, trends toward outdoor education, teaching values, and providing child care for working families have renewed enthusiasm for traditional summer camps. Despite the wholesome intentions and creative vision of camp’s founders, the first decades of camping were not without controversy. Pioneers such as Ernest Balch chastised other early directors, such as Winthrop Talbot, for creating a servant class at his camp by hiring a cook. Balch was among those directors who believed camp should be thoroughly egalitarian. When the Camp Directors Association (later renamed the ACA) formed in 1910, there was criticism of those directors who were capitalizing on camping’s popularity and running for-profit operations. Other early controversies included how much religious education should be included in the daily program; how structured camp schedules should be; what contact should be permitted with the “outside world”; what role military traditions, patriotism, and American Indian lore should play; and whether the ACA should be a federation or an association. These philosophical, stylistic, and managerial controversies persist, along with new ones such as how much electronic technology should be permitted at camp, whether healthy competition is an oxymoron, and whether the best camp experience is coed or single sex. Such questions engender productive discussions among camp professionals about the best ways to serve children. Increasingly, directors must

• 13 3

ask themselves, “Are we a mission-driven camp or a marketdriven camp?” Of the estimated 12,000 U.S. camps, approximately 8,000 are operated by nonprofit groups, including youth agencies and religious organizations, and 4,000 by independent, for-profit operators. About 7,000 are resident camps and 5,000 are day camps. The most common session length at resident camp is no longer between six and eight weeks, but closer to two weeks. Approximately 2,300 U.S. camps are accredited by ACA, meaning they have voluntarily complied with up to 300 industry-accepted and government-recognized health, safety, and program quality standards. Some camps operate year-round programs (e.g., conference and retreat centers, environmental education), both to stay solvent and to offer variations on the camping theme. Trip camps provide programs where participants transport themselves to different sites by backpacking, riding, or canoeing. Travel camps transport campers to geographic and topographic places of interest. One task nearly all campers must accomplish is learning to cope with homesickness, the developmentally normal longing for home. Research since the mid-1990s has elucidated the most effective ways children can prevent strong homesickness. Spending practice time away from home, rehearsing effective coping strategies, and becoming familiar with the camp’s culture, structure, and routines are all ways to cultivate a positive attitude about camp and reduce the likelihood of intense homesickness. Camps and the ACA take an increasingly proactive role in partnering with families to promote healthy adjustment to the separation from home. Many camps now provide new camper families with the ACA’s homesickness prevention DVD-CD set, entitled The Secret Ingredients of Summer Camp Success. The International Camping Fellowship brings together camps from countries as diverse as Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Russia, Greece, Japan, Romania, Mongolia, and Malaysia. Abroad, the American model of camp evidences inspired variation but is faithful to camping’s roots. Naturally, every camp incorporates local and national religious and cultural customs. Religious and cultural differences can also create strife, but programs like Seeds of Peace—which brings together Arab and Israeli youth—use camp as a vehicle to literally make the world a better place, one friendship at a time. Now that research has confirmed camp’s value, camp directors, researchers, and funding organizations are turning their attention to these key questions: How can camp programs best complement school programs, and how can the best camp practices be implemented? How can camps work with state governments to protect the duration of summer vacation? How can camps manage inherent risks, and how can they better meet the needs of campers with medical, physical, emotional, and behavioral problems? Finally, how

134 •

camp s, summer

can camps comply with an ever-expanding variety of laws and regulations that affect children? Camping was a way of life for the planet’s earliest people. Now people deliberately re-create valuable portions of that experience to teach some of life’s key skills and lessons. Although marshmallow has replaced mammoth at the end of the roasting stick, nothing has replaced the fellowship, respect for nature, self-reliance, and, for some, connection with a higher power. No doubt those transcendent forces felt around the first campfires will always be present at children’s camps worldwide. Christopher A. Thurber see also: Extracurricular Activities; Organizations for Youth; Sports further reading: Hedley S. Dimock and Charles Hendry, Camping and Character: A Camp Experiment in Character Education, 1929. • Eleanor Eells, History of Organized Camping: The First 100 Years, 1986. • Christopher A. Thurber and Jon C. Malinowski, The Summer Camp Handbook, 2000. • American Camp Association, “Camp Research and Trends,” http://www.acacamps .org/research/

cancer. Childhood cancer is quite rare overall, as only about 1% of all malignancies occur in patients who are younger than 20 years of age. Yet childhood cancer is second only to breast cancer in the number of years of life saved by successful treatment. This counterintuitive conclusion arises from the fact that the cure rate for childhood cancer is now rather high, and a successfully treated pediatric patient can expect many additional years of life. For example, when the modern treatment era for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) began, more than 50 years ago, the five-year event-free survival rate was just 4%. Now, at least 89% of patients with ALL can expect to be cured. A 5-yearold child treated for ALL can reasonably expect to live another 65 to 70 years, whereas an elderly person treated for colon cancer may live only an additional 5 to 10 years. This astonishing increase in treatment success has resulted from a fruitful effort to understand the biology of childhood cancer and to coordinate clinical research across centers in the United States and Europe. I nc i d enc e of C h i ld hood Canc er The most common categories of childhood cancer are the leukemias, which make up about 31% of new cases, and the brain tumors, which make up about 19% of new cases. These two categories together account for roughly half of all new pediatric cancer cases every year. Other relatively common categories include the lymphomas, neuroblastomas, soft-tissue sarcomas, osteosarcomas, and retinoblastomas, which together account for another 33% of childhood cancers. The remaining 17% of new childhood cancer cases comprise a broad range of rare cancers. The incidence rate for childhood cancer has been increasing progressively over time. According to the National

Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, the incidence of both leukemia and brain tumor increased significantly in the United States over the period from 1975 to 2002. During this interval, the rate of childhood cancer overall increased by 27%, with leukemias increasing by 37% and brain tumors increasing by 61%. It is hard to explain such a dramatic rise in incidence, although it may reflect the use of better diagnostic tools. In particular, the incidence of childhood brain tumors increased by 11% per year from 1983 until 1986, a time period during which magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was first used in brain tumor diagnosis. Yet other types of childhood cancer, including soft-tissue sarcomas and liver tumors, have also undergone significant increases in incidence over the same time period, without a major change in diagnostic capabilities. The increase in incidence of childhood cancer in the United States is paralleled in Europe. This rising incidence of childhood malignancy remains unexplained. Etio lo g y o f C h i l d ho o d Canc er All cancers result from an alteration of the genetic information that is sequestered in DNA. Yet whether such alterations arise as a result of a heritable genetic mutation or an environmental trigger is often ambiguous. The classic example of a genetic etiology is retinoblastoma, a cancer of the retina of the eye. Retinoblastoma tends to cluster in families, suggesting that family members may share an inherited mutation, yet there is also evidence that, in most cases, an inherited tendency is not sufficient to induce cancer. This has led to a “two-hit hypothesis,” which postulates that two separate events are required to induce cancer. In the case of retinoblastoma, the “second hit” is probably a random genetic mutation that occurs against the backdrop of a preexisting familial mutation. In other cancers, the second hit may be an environmental toxin, and, in some cancers, there is evidence to suggest that both hits are environmental; one of the clearest examples of a cancer that results largely from environmental exposure is smoking-induced lung cancer. Certain familial conditions are associated with a greatly increased cancer risk. There are many inherited syndromes or conditions that are associated with a substantial increase in the risk of childhood cancer. For example, pediatric cancer can be associated with Down syndrome, Bloom syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, Gorlin syndrome, von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, neurofibromatosis (NF-1 and NF-2), ataxia-telangiectasia, tuberous sclerosis, xeroderma pigmentosum, and more than 30 other heritable genetic conditions. In general, the mechanism by which any particular syndrome or mutation gives rise to childhood cancer is poorly understood. Variation in cancer incidence that is correlated with ethnic risk factors may also be genetic, though ethnic risk factors tend to be weaker in predicting cancers and are there-

cancer

fore not well understood. The epidemiological network in many parts of the world is not sophisticated enough to track all childhood cancers, and patients in some parts of the world may never be diagnosed. Yet there is clear evidence that African American children are likely to be at higher risk for ALL than are European American children, although the survival rate is essentially the same for both groups. Similarly, the incidence of ALL is high among Hispanics who live in California, in Florida, and in Costa Rica, suggesting that there may be a genetic risk factor for ALL common to people of Hispanic origin. In general, the younger a cancer patient is at diagnosis, the less time there has been for the environment to induce cancer and the more likely it is that cancer arose in the context of a familial genetic condition. Because the peak age at incidence of ALL is younger than 5 years of age, this argues that a genetic abnormality may be the underlying cause of leukemia. Yet there has not been a specific genetic mutation identified, except in a very small number of cases. However, certain genetic variants appear to put children at greater risk of developing ALL, if these children are also exposed to risk factors such as maternal smoking during pregnancy, high levels of pesticides, or environmental toxins such as gasoline, paint thinners, or solvents. The incidence of ALL varies greatly between different countries. The only countries where leukemia incidence in young children is more than 6 patients per 100,000 children are Denmark, Australia, Sweden, and parts of the United States. Conversely, the only countries where the incidence of leukemia in young children is less than 2 patients per 100,000 are India, Israel, and Nigeria. There is a trend for affluent countries to have higher rates of ALL, for unknown reasons. In general, there is a twofold difference in incidence of childhood leukemia between the richest and poorest countries. One explanation for such country-tocountry variation in childhood cancer may be differences in industrialization with accompanying environmental pollution or differences in food sources, types, or additives. The incidence of ALL is known to have increased at least fourfold in the United States and in Europe between the 1920s and the 1980s. During this time period, the overall standard of living increased greatly and the death rate from other childhood diseases fell sharply. This could mean that children who once would have died of diarrhea or influenza or pneumonia are now more likely to survive, only to fall victim to leukemia instead. Alternatively, it could mean that the incidence of ALL is somehow inversely related to the prevalence of infectious disease. Although a specific virus has not been linked to childhood leukemia, nor is there evidence of viral DNA within leukemic cells, it is nevertheless possible that leukemia is a rare reaction to a relatively common infection. There seems to be an ALL protective effect from increased social contact during the first year of life (e.g., nursery school attendance), and social contact clearly

• 13 5

increases the rate of childhood infections. It has been proposed that leukemia can occur if there is delayed exposure to an infectious agent, followed by a rare genetic event that may involve DNA breakage or flawed DNA repair within white blood cells. There is also a hypothesis that high socioeconomic status may be a risk factor for childhood leukemia, such that children of affluence are more prone to ALL. This trend is not as clear-cut as once was thought, and there is a great deal of controversy as to whether the socioeconomic status effect is real. Perhaps the best recent evidence comes from a population-based study that included 5,240 cases of childhood leukemia diagnosed in Canada between 1985 and 2001. This study found robust evidence that the risk of leukemia was lower among the poorest children, suggesting that high socioeconomic status is indeed a risk factor for childhood leukemia. This result is quite surprising; epidemiological studies generally find higher rates of morbidity and mortality among children of poverty, and no convincing explanation has been offered as to why this trend may be reversed in the case of childhood leukemia. Risk factors for brain tumor are even more poorly understood than risk factors for leukemia. Ironically, the only well-established risk for childhood brain tumor is radiation, and this is known only because radiation has been used so successfully in treating childhood leukemia. As noted, the five-year event-free survival rate for ALL was originally just 4%, but recognition that leukemic relapse usually occurs in the brain led to the use of prophylactic cranial radiation therapy (CRT) to reduce this type of therapeutic failure. Within 20 years, the 5-year event-free survival rate had increased to 53%, and most of this improvement was attributed to CRT. Yet prophylactic CRT was also associated with a 28-fold increase in the risk of secondary brain tumor, which explains why there is now an emphasis on preventing leukemic relapse in the brain without resorting to CRT. Additional risk factors for brain tumor are poorly understood but may include several genetic conditions, such as neurofibromatosis (NF-1 and NF-2), Li-Fraumeni syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Turcot syndrome, and familial adenomatous polyposis, as well as exposure to environmental toxins (e.g., N-nitroso compounds, pesticides, tobacco smoke), viruses or other infectious agents, medications, and certain parental occupational exposures. D i agno s i s o f C h i l d ho o d Canc er There is solid evidence that the diagnosis of cancer in a child is often delayed, because the disease is rare and symptoms can overlap with more common infectious illnesses. The diagnostic methods that are used for childhood cancer are essentially the same as are used for adult cancer. Patient history and physical examination will likely be important far into the future, even if other diagnostic methods improve substantially, because the initial ex-

136 •

can cer

amination helps the physician focus on particular issues. Laboratory tests—of blood particularly, but also of bone marrow—are also likely to remain important, especially as more immune-based tests become available that are able to recognize biological markers of cancer. Diagnostic imaging methods—including MRI, computed tomography (CT), and positron-emission tomography (PET)—have matured at an impressive rate, and these methods will continue to grow in importance in cancer diagnosis. Tumor biopsy is often done—either by needle, by minimally invasive surgery, or by surgical procedures—in order to make a definitive diagnosis. Biopsy material or surgical samples are then evaluated in a pathology laboratory, either to make the initial diagnosis or to confirm the diagnosis during surgery. Tissue samples are also subjected to expanded analysis of DNA abnormalities and other intracellular factors that may lead to further diagnostic clarity and assist in treatment decisions. T r e atm en t o f C h i l d ho o d Canc er Generally, childhood cancer is treated with the same modalities that are familiar from the treatment of adult cancer. Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and bone marrow transplantation have all been used for childhood cancer, and all of these treatment modalities are still in current use. But a major difference between childhood and adult cancer is that child patients are typically healthier and more resilient than adult patients, so children can tolerate far more aggressive treatment. Another major difference is that childhood cancer can be associated with a developmental or genetic insult to stem cells, whereas adult cancers more often arise as a result of “abuse or disuse” of mature or differentiated cells. Eventually, treatment of childhood cancer may become a matter of redirecting cancerous cells down a more normal developmental pathway, whereas adult cancers may be unable to revert to a healthy precancerous form. Surgery has been frontline therapy for cancer for hundreds of years and likely will remain so for many years to come. Even if chemotherapy becomes far more effective than it is now, surgical reduction of the tumor mass will mean that there are fewer tumor cells to treat and that the function of normal structures in the body can be preserved. Radiation is still widely used for cancers that are inoperable, for tumors that cannot be entirely removed by surgery, and for tumor types that tend to recur locally, but radiation is not useful for tumors that are metastatic, or able to spread throughout the body. For tumors that tend to seed cancer cells throughout the body, for tumors that tend to invade adjacent structures, and for tumors that are resistant to radiation, chemotherapy is the treatment of choice. Chemotherapy first gained acceptance as a treatment modality only in the mid–20th century, and in those early days many patients felt that the treatment was as traumatic as the dis-

ease. But there has been remarkable progress in how cancer chemotherapy is used: Drugs are more carefully targeted to kill tumor cells while sparing normal cells, there has been an increasing emphasis on controlling tumor cells rather than on merely killing them, chemotherapeutic agents may be used to modulate the patient’s immune response to the cancer, patients can now be supported through most clinical crises that arise during the course of treatment, and the patient is often spared the devastating side effects that once made treatment so aversive. An important source of success in treating ALL has been the use of very aggressive chemotherapy—which would ultimately be toxic to the blood cell–producing bone marrow—combined with bone marrow transplantation to reconstitute the marrow. This approach has enabled oncologists to treat ALL and other cancers with doses of chemotherapy so high that they would be fatal, unless the patient is “rescued” by marrow transplantation. Since many leukemic cells can lurk in the marrow, killing marrow cells may be partially responsible for the increased survival of ALL patients in recent years. Furthermore, reconstituting the patient’s immune system by bone marrow transplantation may stimulate the transplanted cells to attack the patient’s cancerous cells. In the United States, roughly 90% of pediatric cancer patients are treated in a clinical trial, which is in sharp contrast to the situation in adult cancer patients, among whom fewer than 10% are enrolled in a clinical trial. This is important because clinical trials standardize treatment and assure that patients receive state-of-the-art therapy. The success in enrolling children in clinical trials probably accounts for why progress in treating childhood cancer has been much more rapid than progress in treating adult cancer. The weakness of the current system is that many adolescents and young adults are treated in adult centers, even if they have a pediatric cancer. There has been an astonishing improvement in treatment efficacy for childhood cancer, and many pediatric cancers are curable or at least survivable. According to data from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the five-year survival rate was better in 2006 than in 1962 for all forms of childhood cancer. For example, ALL survival went from 4% to 94%, osteosarcoma (bone cancer) survival from 20% to 65%, Hodgkin’s (blood cancer) survival from 50% to 90%, neuroblastoma survival from 10% to 55%, and Wilms (kidney tumor) survival from 50% to 90%. Yet this dramatic increase in therapeutic success has come at a cost. Evidence first began to surface around the mid-1970s that surviving ALL patients could have severe cognitive impairment following treatment. Perhaps the adverse impact of treatment on the pediatric brain was not recognized at first because so few children survived. But, when larger numbers of surviving patients were evaluated, and especially when longer periods of follow-up were used,

c a t h o l ic is m

a clear trend was demonstrated for higher ALL cure rates to be associated with greater cognitive impairment. Now there is strong evidence that high-risk children—those who are very young when diagnosed or who get aggressive chemotherapy because they have an ominous type of ALL—are likely to experience more severe academic problems than are children who get less aggressive therapy. Overall, learning is impaired in roughly half of the long-term survivors of leukemia diagnosed at younger than age 2. In other forms of childhood cancer as well—especially brain tumors— improvements in treatment success have come at the cost of serious treatment morbidities. The realization that successful treatment can lead to unfortunate side effects that impair the quality of life over the long term has brought greater attention to the needs of cancer survivors. There is a very compelling need for new treatments that are effective but that minimize treatment aftereffects. C h i l d ho o d Canc er i n t h e F u t u r e Clinicians and scientists do not know whether the striking recent increase in incidence of childhood cancer is a grim harbinger for the future or a short-term trend that has already played out. Yet the rising levels of environmental pollution in many parts of the world surely cannot be good news for children, and there is a possibility that the rate of childhood cancer will continue to rise. There is therefore a compelling need for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches so that ill children can be identified sooner and treated more successfully. Gene-targeted therapy and therapy to modulate the immune system are potentially important. But perhaps the most difficult challenge that remains for pediatric specialists is to increase the success of treating childhood brain tumors while preserving the cognitive abilities of the patient. R. Grant Steen see also: Infectious Diseases further reading: R. G. Steen and J. Mirro, Childhood Cancer: A Handbook from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 2000. • C.-H. Pui, C. Cheng, W. Leung, S. N. Rai, G. K. Rivera, J. T. Sandlund, R. C. Ribeiro, M. V. Relling, L. Kun, W. E. Evans, and M. Hudson, “Extended Follow-up of Long-Term Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia,” New England Journal of Medicine 349 (2003), pp. 640–49. • E. M. Ward, M. J. Thun, L. M. Hannan, and A. Jemal, “Interpreting Cancer Trends,” Annals of the New York Academy of Science 1076 (2006), pp. 29–53.

capital offenses. see Death Penalty, Children and the care providers. see Child Care; Kinship and Child Rearing catholicism. The New Testament shows Jesus taking children in his arms and blessing them, saying, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever

• 13 7

does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:14b–15). Jesus’s words radically affirm children’s capacity for faith, even as the reaction of Jesus’s disciples (who try to keep the children away) attests to an adult sense of children’s limitations. This image of Jesus is central in a Catholic church that teaches that children come into the world marked by grace (God’s loving image) and by original sin (mythologically explained in the story of Adam and Eve in Gen. 1–3). St. Augustine wrote in the 4th century that infants, thought not capable of deliberate and conscious sin at an adult level, reveal their “noninnocence” in greedy cries for their mothers’ milk. Catholics today do not make the same judgment on hungry infants, but they do hold that children, like all people, retain a goodness that recollects God’s love and a tendency to do evil that is evidence of the human separation from God. Throughout their history, Catholics have sought to balance a belief that human beings are both good and evil from birth with an understanding that children’s capacities for good and evil increase with their progress toward adulthood. As early as the 13th century, Catholic theologians spoke of an “age of reason” (generally age 7) after which children could be held more accountable for their sins because of their ability to understand what they were doing and to choose evil over good. Today, growing awareness of developmental psychology makes precise judgments about children’s capacities more difficult. Nevertheless, the contemporary tradition continues to negotiate a balance between guiding children and respecting their capacity for religious and moral activity. Fa m i ly R i tua l s : Th e D om e s tic C h u rc h Despite the fact that most contemporary Catholics would place family at the center of their faith, the New Testament has very little to say about marriage or family. When Jesus does address family, he speaks of it mostly as something with potential to distract believers from the important work of discipleship (Luke 14:26). This radical insight underlies traditional Catholic valuing of the vowed religious life of priests and nuns over family life. Popular religious devotions to the holy family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus stand as a counterwitness to this teaching. However, today more than ever, the church teaches that even if celibacy is a higher calling, family life is holy in its own way, not a second-best choice but the primary path of discipleship for human beings. As esteem for the family has grown, emphasis on the family’s role in the religious and moral development of children has increased. The image of “domestic church,” common in the writings of some early church fathers who wrote during the 1st through 4th century, was recovered at Vatican II (when the world’s bishops gathered in Rome to update church teachings, 1962–65). Families are viewed as the smallest Christian communities with a fourfold mission to

138 •

cath ol icism

grow in love, welcome and nurture children, contribute to a more just society, and develop the church of their home. As the late Pope John Paul II stated in Familiaris Consortio (1981), within this church, parents are called to lead their children in faith, prayer, and service. In fact, though family devotions such as evening prayer, rosaries, and scripture reading were common in the 20th century, they are considerably less common today. In Europe and Latin America, lower levels of adult religiosity mean that fewer parents have an interest in passing the faith onto their children. In the United States, it is typically only Hispanics (40% of American Catholics) who embrace traditional family devotions. In all countries with significant Catholic populations, a minority of Catholics engage in “family catechesis,” involving a combination of old devotions with newer practices such as spontaneous prayer and family service projects, but the typical Catholic family is more likely to limit their religious practice to prayer before meals and at bedtime when children are young. Most theological writing on the domestic church emphasizes the crucial and irreplaceable role of parents as first educators and first teachers of the faith for their children. Less often, the capacity of children to serve as models of faith for their parents is recognized. In his Letter of the Pope to Children in the Year of the Family (1994), John Paul II held up the examples of faith-filled children in scripture, among the saints, and in the modern church. The contemporary attempt to recognize the gifts of children is particularly relevant in some European countries where children are more likely to embrace faith than their parents and thus are seen as the hope of the church. Th e Lo cal Par i sh : Sac r amen ts of I nitiation In the 20th century, Catholic life was centered around neighborhood parishes. At Sunday Masses, the parish school, devotional activities, and social events, extended families and neighbors gathered as a community. In the contemporary United States, Catholic families have migrated to mixed suburban neighborhoods, and identification with parishes has waned. Many urban parishes are closing, while large, new suburban parishes are being built. The commitments of Catholic families are divided between multiple schools, workplaces, and other civic institutions. In Europe and Latin American, as secularization advances, church attendance is considerably lower, and parishes lie even further at the margins of adult Catholic life. Still, in most countries, parishes continue to play a key role in the socialization of children into the Catholic faith through the sacraments of initiation: baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation. Most Catholic children are baptized into the church as infants. This ritual is viewed more as reception into a community of faith than a necessary remedy to remove the stain of original sin, though the presence of sin

and grace in the child is recognized. Traditionally, godparents present the child to the community and promise to act as spiritual guides, though their role has declined in practice and the parental role has become more important. Hispanic Catholics may have multiple padrinos and padrinas who play more significant roles in children’s lives. Around the age of 7, most children receive the sacraments of reconciliation and Eucharist in the same year. Preparation for first reconciliation (formerly penance) focuses on how sin moves people away from God and others, and confessing sins to God with the help of a priest who represents the church community is a way of recognizing this. Priests give children appropriate penances (e.g., apologizing to siblings children may have hurt) and offer absolution. Often parents are reintroduced to a sacrament they may not practice regularly because they experienced it in a pre–Vatican II context. First Eucharist follows an intensive year of preparation in which children are introduced to an age-appropriate version of the Catholic understanding of how ordinary bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ. The day is marked by special clothes (white dresses and veils for girls, suits or blazers for boys, often more elaborate for both among Hispanics), family parties, and gifts of money and devotional items such as saints’ medals, crosses, and prayer books. The age of 7 has been standard for first Eucharist since 1910, but in the early church even baptized infants were given Eucharist because advanced understanding was not considered a requirement for reception. Today, first Eucharist represents a step on the way to taking fuller responsibility for one’s faith. The age for confirmation varies widely and depends on the decision of the local bishop and on his position in an ongoing discussion about what the sacrament is meant to signify. Until the 13th century, the bishop added his seal of confirmation to the baptism of newly initiated Christians as soon as he was available to do so. Those wanting to retrieve this view claim that confirmation should occur as soon as possible after baptism and Eucharist. Even today, adult converts to Catholicism generally receive all three sacraments in one ceremony. However, in modern times confirmation has begun to signify mature acceptance of Catholicism. The sacrament is seen as a rite of passage for adolescents, similar to a bar or bat mitzvah in the Jewish tradition. Some dioceses offer it in 8th grade, others in 10th, and some encourage children to wait until they are ready. The experience of Catholic children whose families are active in parish life includes weekly Eucharist, often at a family Mass during which children may elect to attend the children’s liturgy of the word where they discuss the day’s scripture readings with a teacher and return to Mass in time for the celebration of the Eucharist. Some boys and, since 1994, girls participate in the Mass as altar servers, while others may serve as lectors or choir members. However, in

c h il d

the United States, only about 40% of Catholics attend Mass weekly, and in Latin America and Europe, only a slim majority attend. Even with increasing attempts to recognize the growing maturity of children, initiation into the sacramental life of the church is far more significant in the lives of some children than others. R eligiou s Educat ion The religious education of Catholic children has traditionally occurred primarily in the prayers and devotional practices of the home and at a weekly Mass where they were introduced to the symbols, stories, and values of the faith. Catholic schools in the United States and public schools in Latin America provided a relatively dry, supplementary catechesis. Since Vatican II, as Mass attendance rates, parish subcultures, and family devotional practices have declined, Catholics everywhere have realized that religious education must play a more significant role in the formation of children. Moreover, in Latin America, religious instruction for children in public schools has become more controversial, creating a need for new alternatives. In response, there is an attempt to provide parish programs that appeal to children by integrating spiritual practices, service, and stories about people of faith with traditional teachings. Most Catholic children receive their religious education in weekly classes at their local parish. Teachers work with a variety of materials to explain the Catholic faith and show its relevance to the daily lives of children. Amid widespread agreement that the religious education needs reform, debate continues over whether the curriculum is too conservative or too liberal, too experiential or too dry. In many countries, a Montessori program called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (created by Sofia Cavaletti in Rome in 1954) is gaining in popularity. About 15% of Catholic children in the United States (down from 50% in the 1960s) attend Catholic schools. The percentage attending Catholic schools has been steadily declining, though it seems to have leveled off in the 21st century. These children typically have daily religion classes as well as opportunities to attend and participate in Masses, retreats, and prayer services. In the post–Vatican II church, the makeup of parish schools has changed significantly. Today, a majority of principals and a large majority of faculty are lay people. In many schools, priests and nuns play only marginal roles. The student body of Catholic schools has also changed and now includes more children who are minorities (24%) and more non-Catholics (13%). A key concern is maintaining the Catholic identity of the schools while respecting the beliefs of all community members. A very small minority of Catholic children are home schooled by their parents, most of whom have religious motivations for adopting this rigorous practice. Catholic home-schooling parents are often dissatisfied with the quality of religious education and desire to take seriously their

• 13 9

role as first educators of their children. Critics contend that children benefit from encountering different views outside the home. Con ti nui ng Con trov er si es The clergy sexual abuse crisis of the 1990s rocked the Catholic Church because it revealed the extent of the large and heartbreaking problem of sexual abuse of children and teens by clergy. The Church’s response is suggestive of broader continuing controversies. Any adult who has contact with Catholic children in any capacity is now required to attend a training session on sexual abuse. All children in religious education programs and Catholic schools are taught to distinguish the appropriate touch of loving adults from unsafe touch. Though obedience to adults is generally upheld, children are told that in some situations they should say “No.” The church is trying to acknowledge children’s legitimate role as questioners of adults who may speak the truth when adults fail them. The dilemma that plays out tragically here runs through the Catholic tradition: How can the Church acknowledge the innocence of children and still respect their ever-present and growing capacity to reason, discern, and question for themselves? Julie Hanlon Rubio see also: Child: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives; Eastern Orthodoxy; Judaism; Protestantism; Religious Instruction further reading: Robert D. Duggan and Maureen A. Kelly, The Christian Initiation of Children: Hope for the Future, 1991. • Marcia J. Bunge, ed., The Child in Christian Thought, 2001. • Thomas C. Hunt, Ellis A. Joseph, and Ronald J. Nuzzi, eds., Catholic Schools Still Make a Difference: Ten Years of Research: 1991–2001, 2002. • Florence Caffrey Bourg, Where Two or Three Are Gathered: Christian Families as Domestic Churches, 2004.

child Historical and Cultural Perspectives Religious and Philosophical Perspectives Physiological Perspectives Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

historical and cultural perspectives. In each human society, there is a widely held conception of childhood that includes children’s abilities, proper activities, and contributions at different ages as well as their expected needs for care, patterns of growth, and developmental pathways to maturity. Such conceptions vary in form and content across culturally differing populations and historical periods, but in all there is recognition of childhood as a distinct period of life with age-related properties, norms, and expectations. This last statement would be a truism but for the longlasting influence of Philippe Ariès’s best-selling book of 1962, Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life, in which he declared, “In medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist.” In the aftermath of Ariès’s claim, some writers on the history of childhood followed his lead in de-

140 •

ch ild

nying that childhood was recognized by Europeans of the Middle Ages and in emphasizing their harsh and distant treatment of the young. Detailed historical research into Ariès’s claim in France, England, and Germany, however, has shown that it does not stand up to close examination. Historian Nicholas Orme summarizes some of this literature as follows: None of the scholars . . . has found material to support the assertions of Ariès; all, in different ways, have rebutted them. They have gathered copious evidence to show that adults regarded childhood as a distinct phase or phases of life, that parents treated children like children as well as like adults, that they did so with care and sympathy, and that children had cultural activities and possessions of their own. This book [on England] reaches similar conclusions. Medieval people, especially (but not only) after the twelfth century, had concepts of what childhood was, and when it began and ended. The arrival of children in the world was a notable event, and their upbringing and education were taken seriously. The Church and the common (secular) law regarded children as equal to adults for some purposes. Equally, both branches of authority accepted that children were not yet adults and required separate treatment.

Ariès had created a historical narrative that began with the unenlightened parents of medieval times and concluded with the child-centered parents of the modern era. This narrative was flattering to modern readers but based on inadequate evidence. For example, Ariès famously interpreted (or misinterpreted) medieval paintings in which children were depicted wearing adult clothing as meaning that children were conceptualized as little adults. The revised view of historians brought medieval Europeans into the range of cultural conceptions of childhood found by anthropologists in other human societies. Anthropologists have found that conceptions of childhood and child-rearing practices vary cross-culturally along numerous dimensions, starting with the degree to which stages of childhood are marked by distinct terms, rituals, and expectations. Some peoples, like the Gusii of Kenya, conduct elaborate initiation ceremonies for boys and girls (including genital operations), through which they are promoted to quasi-adult status as mature and gendered persons. The ceremonies were for teenagers before the onset of British colonial rule in 1907. They were seen as transforming a boy (omoisia) into a warrior (omomura) and a girl (egesegaane) into a woman ready for marriage (omoiseke). Before undergoing the ceremonies, boys tended sheep and goats; girls fetched water and cared for infants. After the ceremonial transition to adulthood, the males lived in the warriors’ cattle camps and females cultivated the soil with their mothers until they were married. The British rulers proscribed armed confl ict and disbanded the cattle camps, removing the social purpose of the male initiation cere-

mony. The ceremonies moved downward in age so that boys of 10 to 11 and girls 7 to 9 years old went through them, but they remained significant to the community and its children as dramatic steps toward personal maturity. The Luo people next door to the Gusii have no such ceremonies. From the Gusii perspective, Luo adults remain children throughout their lives, but the Luo have their own less dramatic ways of recognizing the growing maturity of their children. This contrast is replicated in other parts of subSaharan Africa where peoples with initiation rites live next to those without these practices. Although ritual markers are aspects of a distinctive cultural identity for some peoples, those without such markers also recognize the immaturity of children and their phases of development. Work is another aspect of childhood that varies across cultures. Peoples who live by labor-intensive horticulture ranging from Africa to Central America often put children to work at an early age and tend to regard their play as an unnecessary distraction; all members of the family carry out essential subsistence and household tasks at home. From the viewpoint of societies that have abolished child labor, these rural children are not as free as they should be. But they work under parental supervision, and in the context of a community without schools that depends for survival on the domestic cultivation of crops and animal husbandry, children’s participation represents not only a necessary labor contribution but an educational experience that prepares them for adulthood. On the other hand, in parts of the Pacific where people live by fishing as well as agriculture, or where, as in India, traditional technology in the form of the plow and draft animals has made sedentary agriculture relatively efficient, there is less pressure on children to work and more time for them to form groups and engage in symbolic play and other activities of their own. There is also cross-cultural variation in the child’s relationships with parents, siblings, peers, and others in the community. Bronislaw Malinowski, the great ethnographer of the Trobriand Islands in Melanesia, reported observing parents beating their children but just as often children beating their parents. This audacious behavior of children has since been observed elsewhere in the Pacific, but in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the world it is almost unimaginable. For the Gusii, as for many other African peoples, respect is the cardinal virtue for children to acquire, and even toddlers are remarkably compliant. In these largely patriarchal societies, children are under hierarchical control and, as the lowest in the age hierarchy, are expected to obey their older siblings and adults in the family. The authority of parents and older siblings lends an increasing formality to the growing children’s interactions that plays an important part in their future adult relationships. Yet the egalitarian-hierarchical dimension, though a major component of parent-child communication and re-

c h il d

lations, captures only one aspect of cultural variation in childhood social interaction. There can be, as anthropologist Ruth Benedict pointed out many years ago, discontinuities in a culture’s conception and treatment of children such that they are indulged in the early years and only when deemed able are they expected to follow hierarchical norms of respect no less compelling than those of societies that introduce respect in infancy. This seems to be the case among urban Chinese and Japanese, who have their own distinctive ways of combining affection and authority in the organization of parent-child relationships. In fact, the cross-cultural evidence shows remarkable variety in how peoples of diverse cultures organize childhood social relations according to equally diverse conceptions of what such relations consist of and where they are leading. For a particular community at a particular historical moment, there is a particular developmental pathway toward adulthood— comprised of cultural traditions, moral ideals, and contemporary pressures—that is recognized as the right path and is as rich in local symbolism as any other aspect of culture. These pathways vary across historical periods, as societies change in the economic, structural, and cultural environments of families and children. At present, there is a great gulf in conceptions of childhood between the contemporary American middle class and many of the agrarian peoples of the world. Agrarian peoples in Asia, Africa, and Latin America often view the domestic group and parent-child relationship in hierarchical terms, with young children at the bottom of a domestic hierarchy, acting respectful and obedient, working hard in domestic production, and being quiet rather than talkative in the presence of adults. With age, the child graduates to higher status and receives respect from younger children while continuing to respect the elders. Contemporary Americans, on the other hand, tend to conceive of the parent and child as partners: in play, in verbal dialogue, and in activities that foster the acquisition of desirable verbal, and eventually academic, skills. Young children are regarded as emotionally vulnerable beings who should not be beaten or harshly scolded yet who must learn to become independent of their parents, from infancy onward. Despite this sharp contrast across cultures, it was only a few generations ago that Americans held that “children should be seen and not heard” and took seriously the saying, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” As Americans moved to the cities from rural areas in which children worked on the family farm, they reconceptualized (more than once) the developmental pathways for children and the moral norms by which they were raised. The cross-cultural contrast today thus partly replicates the historical shift in American society. Yet it would not be right to assume that rural American conceptions of the child in the past were similar in most or all respects to those of agrarian peoples on other continents. Cultural traditions operate to diversify the ways in

• 14 1

which peoples with similar economies and social conditions conceive of childhood and child rearing. The tendency to diversify has been observed within several regions of the world. Among the foragers of subSaharan Africa who live by hunting and gathering, there are variations in the organization of infant care: The !Kung San of the Kalahari Desert have an exclusive mother-infant relationship, the Efe of the Ituri rain forest have multiple care by adult women, and among the Baka of the Central African Republic rain forest, fathers play a large role in infant care. In Europe, the affectionate and sometimes authoritarian style of interacting with preschool children that is widespread in Italy contrasts with a concept of desirable distance between mother and child in Germany. Mothers in Japan try to avoid any confrontation with their 2-year-olds on the grounds that it would disrupt the learning relationship, while their counterparts in Taiwan seek confrontations as occasions for the “opportunity education” advocated in ancient texts. On some Pacific islands, children live free and unregulated by parents or other adults; on others they are under hierarchical control. Understood in the contexts of their cultural traditions and the practical conditions of their social lives, these contrasts make sense and exemplify how conceptions of “normal” childhood and norms for rearing children vary widely and are adjusted to particular circumstances. Despite this variability, it is virtually universal that parents of a particular community believe their current way of child rearing is natural, normal, and necessary, and they tend to disparage alternative ways as stupid, immoral, or ludicrous. Many Americans, aware that their ancestors considered the corporal punishment of children to be a discipline necessary for the inculcation of moral virtue, are nonetheless convinced that it is immoral “physical abuse” and should be legally prohibited. They see their standards as signs of moral progress over generations past. (Given America’s diversity and political divisions, there are of course other Americans who advocate corporal punishment and express nostalgia for the past.) Whatever the position, it comes with a sense of moral certainty and superiority, at least before the next generation departs from it. This variation in moral aspects of child rearing across cultures and historical periods does not preclude general trends. Humans lived largely by domestic agriculture and animal husbandry for thousands of years before the Industrial Revolution and urbanization of the 19th and 20th centuries. (The hunter-gatherers had survived at the margins from an earlier age, in places ranging from Australia and Africa to Arctic America, but they were a small minority.) Agrarian conditions generated cultural similarities between geographically disparate peoples, such as resemblances in economic and demographic conditions of family life, accompanied by broadly similar moral codes for parent-child relations and cultural models of the life span in which par-

142 •

ch ild

enthood symbolically occupies the central place. Fertility and filial loyalty were cardinal virtues, necessary ingredients of an ideal personal career. The desire for numerous children who supported their parents was paramount. This meant bearing as many children as possible, raising as many to maturity as conditions would permit, engaging them in domestic food production during childhood, and securing their lifelong loyalty on the land they (or some of them) could expect to inherit. This agrarian model and its virtues were consecrated by the great world religions, which emerged from the literate agrarian societies of Asia; elsewhere, local religions without scriptures celebrated the same virtues. Culturally and ideologically, agrarian societies fashioned a particular conception of childhood that resonated throughout the world. The experience of growing up in an agrarian society was directly affected by this conception: High fertility meant one had numerous siblings and often neighboring cousins of the same ages, and participation in the family’s work routines—tending animals, cultivating crops, carrying water, caring for babies—could begin as early as 4 years of age. Children were seen as economic assets and usually contributed directly to domestic production, though (as mentioned previously) societies varied widely in the amount of work assigned to children and the ages at which tasks were expected. Childhood obedience in task performance and respect for parents and elders were transformed in adulthood into the filial loyalty on which parents could depend in their later years. In the more developed agrarian societies, from West Africa to Eurasia, older children, particularly boys, worked outside of the home, as apprentices in craft production, service provision, and religious organizations. The boy would be apprenticed to a master, who was conceptualized as being in loco parentis and entitled to the labor of the child and to discipline him while obliged to provide him food and housing. The boy would start with the most unskilled and menial tasks but also learned from observation of the skilled craftsmen at work until he graduated to performing the higher-level tasks himself. This apprenticeship system of training applied also to premodern schooling (e.g., the Qur’anic school of the Islamic world, the gurukula of Hindu India, the heder of Eastern European Jews), extending agrarian parent-child models of relationship, learning, and economic participation to settings outside the child’s family. A radical break with the agrarian conception of childhood came with the spread of mass (Western) schooling after 1850 in Europe and Japan and after 1950 in Latin America, Africa, and the rest of Asia. The universal schooling of boys and girls regardless of social status originated as an idea in Europe’s 16th century Protestant Reformation, with the call for all believers to read the Bible; it was

widely though unevenly implemented in Protestant areas of Europe and North America during the next two centuries and reformulated in secular terms during the French Revolution (1789–99) and its aftermath throughout Europe. During the early 19th century, mass schooling assumed a bureaucratic organization, initially in Prussia, and became associated with the rise of the nation-state (except in the United States) and with the bureaucratization of governmental activities (in the United States as elsewhere). In the 1870s, school attendance became legally compulsory in much of Europe, North America, and Japan and after the Russian Revolution in the Soviet Union. Following World War II, mass schooling spread to all the newly decolonized nations, from sub-Saharan Africa to Indonesia, as well as to other countries like China, Iran, and Nepal; Latin America expanded its school systems to reach most children in most countries. This was arguably the most important event in the modern history of childhood. The importance of mass schooling began with its curtailment of parental power over children. The state’s decree that children must attend school, initially for at least for four to six years, subsequently for much longer periods, meant that parents lost much of their control over their children’s labor and other activities. It also meant that children must learn a common curriculum through a set of standardized procedures stipulated by bureaucratic authority. Standard school buildings, age-segregated classes, professionally trained adult teachers, scripted classroom interactions, formal assessments, and school inspectorates were parts of the shift from agrarian models of learning to the bureaucratic model that spread throughout the world. Previously, a child’s education could be accurately conceptualized as taking place at home and in craft workshops or traditional schools modeled on the home; now education was conceived of as the function of the school. The acquisition of canonical knowledge, skills, and attitudes there; the assessment of all children according to a common standard; the evaluation of school children by their teachers, peers, parents, future employers, and themselves according to their progress up the academic hierarchy—these represented a sharp break with the agrarian model of childhood experience and the life span. Whereas the agrarian model presumed an age hierarchy for each gender through which each child would progress to adulthood in the context of a kin group and local community, the new model ushered in by bureaucratic schooling presumed—even where domestic production still prevailed—an academic-occupational hierarchy in which the level of school completed would, or at least could, lead to employment at a particular ranked level in an urban occupational structure. Entering school now meant a child’s initiation into a wider world of national and even international institutions. A later step in the impact of bureaucratic schooling oc-

c h il d

curred when women’s schooling had expanded to a point that a large proportion of mothers had attended school and brought its conceptions of childhood, learning, and teaching into the home and particularly into the rearing of their own children—a process still going on in much of the world. Such mothers are likely to formulate their goals for child rearing in terms of advancement in school and its desirable consequences and are also able to act as coaches and tutors for their children in their schooling. Schooled mothers observed in different countries tend to communicate verbally with their infants and to continue verbal engagement with their children as they reach school age, thus promoting, consciously or not, the verbal skills schools desire and reward. There are long-term global trends other than school expansion that changed, and continue to change, the status of children and childhood experience: The spread of bureaucratic employment takes economic production out of the home and puts it in factories and offices where (for the most part) children cannot participate in it or see it. Urbanization alters the environments in which children grow up as well as parental perceptions of their costs (higher) and contributions (negligible). The demographic transition to lower birth and death rates, strongly associated with urbanization and education, has greatly improved child survival in most places but diminished the number of children born. Yet all of these trends are uneven across the world, not only between the developed countries where they started in the 19th century and the less developed countries that changed after 1950 but also within the latter category itself. For example, in 2005, 77% of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean was urbanized, but only 29% of South Asia and 31% of sub-Saharan Africa. Infant mortality (deaths during the first 12 months, of every 1,000 live births) ranged from 165 in Afghanistan and Sierra Leone to 11 in Costa Rica (and 5 in the industrialized countries). The total fertility rate (lifetime fertility of the average woman) ranged from 7.8 in Timor Leste to 2.5 in Latin America and the Caribbean (and 1.6 in the industrialized countries). As Göran Therborn says of the patriarchal family: Compared to the world of 1900 patriarchy has had to retreat everywhere. The legal rights of women and children have been extended in all countries, and the extension of education and paid work has extended autonomy. Dramatic socio-economic, political and cultural changes have undercut the authority of fathers and elders. However, the most important feature of the twentieth-century change of patriarchy is not its universal tendency. It is the variation in outcome as well as timing.

In other words, despite the trends that have destabilized and changed—perhaps irreversibly—agrarian social orders

• 14 3

of the past, the world has not become homogeneous in its family life—or in other aspects of children’s environments. The idea that “modernization” is a universal process that would radically reduce, possibly eliminate, institutional, cultural, and psychological variations in the world seemed plausible to some social scientists in the mid-20th century, but evidence to the contrary soon emerged and, like the historical research disproving Ariès’s notion that medieval society lacked the idea of childhood, provided a more accurate account. Consider the contrast mentioned previously between Japanese and Taiwanese mothers’ culturally influenced styles of confronting their young children: The middle-class mothers observed in both of these economically advanced East Asian countries live in modern apartments in large cities and had at least a high school education in Western-type schools, but they drew on different cultural models of childhood in training their children. This suggests that cultural variation in childhood environments is not a thing of the past. Generalizing across diverse cultures and historical periods about cultural conceptions like those of childhood is perilous and can lead to false judgments. It may be true that there has been a trend toward child-centeredness among Western parents in recent times, as suggested by Ariès and others, and that if reformulated in terms of parent-child communication, egalitarian attitudes toward children, concern with the feelings of the child, and a focus on the child’s welfare and future career, this trend has been spreading to other parts of the world. Yet it is just as likely on present evidence that even child-centeredness can take different social forms with differing symbolic content among the diverse cultures of our heterogeneous world. Robert A. LeVine see also: African Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in; American History, Childhood and Adolescence in; Ariès, Philippe; Asian Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in; Benedict, Ruth (Fulton); European History, Childhood and Adolescence in; Islamic Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in; Latin American Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in; Mead, Margaret; Paciﬁc Island Societies and Cultures, Childhood and Adolescence in; Whiting, Beatrice B(lyth); Whiting, John W(esley) M(ayhew) further reading: Robert A. LeVine and Merry I. White, Human Conditions: The Cultural Basis of Educational Development, 1986. • Nicholas Orme, Medieval Children, 2001. • Göran Therborn, Between Sex and Power: Family in the World, 1900–2000, 2004. • UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children, 2007, 2006.

religious and philosophical perspectives. Ideas of childhood throughout history have not only expressed but also frequently shaped larger religious and philosophical beliefs. This article traces the complex relations and differences between a wide diversity of written conceptions of childhood, especially those that have influenced today’s de-

144 •

ch ild

veloped world, from ancient times to the present. Different perspectives are compared around three broad questions: What are children as they enter the world? How should one conceive of the aims of child rearing? And what, as a result, are adults’ and society’s child-related responsibilities? Thinkers have struggled in often quite divergent ways throughout history to understand children as distinct members of humanity. Anc i en t Per spectiv es The ancient Mediterranean world, up to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, generally sees children as imperfect and irrational and child rearing as a communal civilizing responsibility. The 4th century BC Greek philosopher Plato places child rearing at the center of his two major social treatises, The Republic and The Laws. Children enter the world like unruly animals, lacking fully human reason or speech (logos). Vigorous discipline and education (paideia) are required if they are to grow up into rational, virtuous, and free citizens. Children’s gradual acquisition of reason risks merely adding cunning to disordered passions, especially in the greater capacities of boys (although girls, too, require education up to a point). Philosophy itself receives much of its justification from its ability, in contrast with traditional stories and poetry, to turn children’s excitable imaginations in the direction of true order and justice. Because males are considered the more rational gender, the responsibility for educating children belongs, in Plato, chiefly to men. Mothers bring children into biological existence and sustain them prior to the capacity for logos around age 7, and they have ongoing special obligations toward girls. But children’s souls are ultimately the possessions of the paterfamilias, the male head of the extended household. Plato’s Republic imagines children ideally being raised by the polis, or city-state, without knowing their biological parents at all. However, in his later Laws he recognizes the importance of parental attachment and dedicated teachers. Male leadership in child rearing will persist virtually unchallenged into late modernity on the assumption of men’s greater rationality and knowledge of the public good. Aristotle writes much less on childhood, in brief parts of his Nicomachean Ethics and Politics, but his slightly different perspective significantly influences later medieval Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Aristotle’s chief innovation lies in his less sharp distinction of body from mind, bios from logos, and his correspondingly less severe judgment on children’s animal beginnings. Children’s lack of reason simply means they are not yet capable of true goodness or happiness (defined as activity in accordance with virtue). The job of the father and educator is to train children’s growing rational and social potential. Aristotle criticizes Plato for underestimating the greater investment that will be made by biological parents than anyone else in a child’s good. He also supports traditional Greek honor-shame codes, articulated for

example in Homer, that encourage children to grow up to bring honor to their extended household though economic skill for boys and sexual purity for girls. The Hebrew Bible, canonizing 1,000 years of tradition around the 1st century AD, provides a somewhat more affirming assessment of children’s natures. Taking a primarily spiritual rather than biological approach, it frequently views children as images of God and expressions of new hope for a disordered world. The very first command to humanity in the Torah is the Genesis 1:28 injunction to “be fruitful and multiply,” lending spiritual value to procreation. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden enjoy a certain childlike innocence, in the sense less of nonrationality than of simplicity and moral purity. God’s promises to Israel through the Abrahamic and Sinai covenants are centered on a nation of offspring and marked by male infant circumcision. Nevertheless, children remain objects of strict discipline, property of fathers, and occasional victims of infant exposure or ritual sacrifice (illustrated in the story of Abraham and Isaac). The only one of Moses’ Ten Commandments to speak directly concerning children echoes honor-shame codes by requiring children to “honor your father and your mother.” The Christian New Testament offers a similar perspective but now more strongly influenced by the Greeks. On the one hand, the Gospels use children as positive metaphors (Jesus as “the Son of God” and his disciples as “children of God”), assert Jesus’s infancy as the divine incarnation, and show Jesus healing children and welcoming them into his presence (often against the resistance of his disciples). Most strikingly, Matthew 18 reports Jesus placing a child in the midst of his followers as a model for human entry into heaven. On the other hand, early Christianity adopts the surrounding Greco-Roman view of children as the lowest members of society. The apostle Paul claims to have “put an end to childish ways” in order to overcome the passions of the flesh and thereby live by the grace of the spirit. Other New Testament letters argue for strict household codes similar to Aristotle’s according to which children are to be submissive and obedient. Non-Mediterranean religions of ancient times also suggest ambiguities about the relative goodness versus unruliness of children. Hindu sacred texts depict children as entering the world imperfect because reincarnated and hence still in need of final rebirth or moksha. Nevertheless, the child is the object, even as an embryo, of numerous purification and initiation rituals intended to aid its movement toward liberation. Child rearing is again chiefly directed by fathers, here as a continuation of the male family line, a duty to ancestors, and in the case of boys a kind of physical rebirth into the next generation. At the same time, a male guru or second father frequently provides a religious education that transcends biological attachments. Children’s simultaneous imperfection but possibility for spiritual growth is central also in ancient Buddhism. Here, family ties are arenas for

c h il d

compassion but finally also subordinated to the spiritual nonattachment of enlightenment or nirvana. Medi eval and R efor m ation S y n th eses Second- to 16th-century European and Middle Eastern thought on childhood produces a wide variety of sometimes confl icting syntheses of biblical and Greek perspectives. The early church theologians of Western and Eastern Christianity in the 2nd to 4th century hold a generally positive view of children as “innocent” in the sense of spiritually and morally untainted, indifferent to status and wealth, and sexually pure. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Gregory of Nyssa all see children as full human beings entering the world without sin. John Chrysostom, one of the great figures in Eastern Christianity, writes of children as ready to be formed by parents as an artist creates a sculpture and as God created the world. Children’s innocence is viewed as a sign that despite evil humanity remains primordially an image of God. A dramatic shift occurs with Augustine of Hippo’s AD 397–401 autobiography Confessions, which becomes arguably the most influential text on childhood in Western Christianity. Augustine revises Plato to argue that childhood demonstrates humanity’s condition of original sin. Childhood and youth are periods of struggle, turmoil, selfishness, and the great sin of pride: taking one’s own experiences for the whole. Infants’ tantrums and unconcern for others display a disordered human nature, inherited from Adam, that as humans grow older they would be ashamed not to have put under control. “Innocence” is reinterpreted through the Latin term nocere (to harm) to refer to children’s lack of strength (not will) to do harm. Children need to be steered away from their innate corruption, idleness, self-aggrandizement, and growing lust through the strict discipline of parents, teachers, and ultimately God. Indeed, beyond Plato, childhood unruliness is taken as a symbol for human fallenness overall and hence humanity’s need, beginning with infant baptism, for God’s mercy and grace. The emergence of Islam as a new Abrahamic religion in the 7th century AD emphasizes children’s common but fallen humanity. The Qur’an understands children in an Aristotelian light as their fathers’ property. It refers to children as blessings to the household from Allah (26:133, 40:67, and 60:12) but also, indeed more frequently, as “temptations” or “trials” that threaten parents’ seeking their own true reward in heaven (8:28, 18:46, 57:20, and 64:15). Children’s need for moral and spiritual discipline, even from the very start of life, is emphasized in the requirement that the first sound a newborn should hear at birth is a religious authority or male relative whispering in its ear the Islamic call to prayer. Likewise, the obligatory circumcision of boys, at different ages in different cultures, is a ritual of purification needed to help form the child’s character toward submission to Allah’s teachings. Girls remain subordinate but are neverthe-

• 14 5

less provided greater equality in the Qur’an than previously in Arab culture as also children of Allah. The 12th-century theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali unites Muslim and Greek perspectives into a complex developmental picture of children’s character, intellectual, and religious formation. The 13th-century Christian monk Thomas Aquinas, the father of modern Catholicism, synthesizes biblical and Greek ideas in yet another way. Drawing chiefly on Aristotle, Thomas argues that children come into the world “irrational animals” lacking “the use of reason.” Nevertheless, since nature itself is the fruit of a good and rational Creator, children develop individual and moral reason in appointed stages. Around 7, a child gains minimal reason by becoming able to learn from others, around 14 begins also to think for himself or herself, and around 21 gains the full human capacity for reasoning alongside others. Since they lack reason altogether, infants who die unbaptized go to limbo instead of hell (but not heaven). Parenting, too, is viewed as part of God’s natural law (though less perfect than celibacy), mothers through physical attachment and fathers through marriage. A century later, the great female theologian Christine de Pizan’s The Treasure of the City of Ladies defines (upper-class) mothers’ household roles almost entirely as supports to fathers’. The 16th-century Protestant Reformation sees a revival of Augustinianism. John Calvin writes extensively in his Institutes and Commentaries that children are born with “the seeds of sin,” which, through the development of reason around 7 and puberty around 14, only give rise to increasing capabilities for “the fruits of sin.” Child rearing provides children spiritual and moral discipline to prevent sin from utterly ruling and dominating them as adults. Unlike for Thomas, infant baptism provides no actual salvation but only a retrospective encouragement as the child matures to recognize their great need for God’s mercy. Calvin’s most important innovation is to involve not only the community but also the then-emerging nation-state in the difficult child-rearing task. Strong parenting and stable marriages are vital, but so also are the spiritual discipline of the church (the child’s true “mother”) and the social discipline of state law. Calvin creates the first juvenile justice system and the first public schools in Europe—because family alone is insufficient for training unruly children into citizenship. S h i f ts i n Mo d er n i t y The onset of modernity in the 17th- and 18th-century Enlightenment ushers in further major shifts in philosophical and religious understandings of childhood that powerfully shape attitudes today. The turning point is a 1693 essay by the great theorist of human rights John Locke, titled Some Thoughts Concerning Education, read widely among the emerging European bourgeoisie. Against the harsh Calvinistic Puritanism of England at the time, Locke argues that children enter the

146 •

ch ild

world as “white paper” or “wax” upon which society should inscribe or impress enlightened “Reason.” Children only become good or evil to the extent that they gain or fail to gain the use of their growing rational faculties. Locke has a rather dim view of mothers as clouding emerging rationality through “Cockering and Tenderness.” But fathers, too, see a more limited role next to the educational function of schools, in which children (especially boys) may learn the new discoveries and practices of the arts and sciences. The goal of child rearing is thinking and independent individuals worthy of free citizenship and rights. At the same time, children themselves lack social rights until they have reached adult autonomy. Almost a century later, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s similarly popular 1762 treatise Emile, or On Education criticizes Locke for failing to appreciate the inherent goodness and rationality within children themselves. Rousseau’s romanticism involves a significantly higher view of “Nature” in which children start out, like noble savages, filled with an “innocence” now understood as purity, joy, and spontaneous goodness. The chief problem of child rearing is not the child but the corruptions of adult society, which children need protection from and eventually may transform. Children’s natural inner love of self (amour de soi) must be cultivated against the temptations of outer public reputation (amour-propre). Its high regard for childhood makes Emile the first philosophical treatise to argue for detailed empirical observation of the lives of actual children themselves. However, Rousseau more sharply than Locke differentiates education by gender: Nature suiting boys to public life and girls to the private home. The Enlightenment does not represent, however, a straight march toward children’s purity, as evidenced by the last published work of the greatest modern philosopher of all, Immanuel Kant’s relatively unknown 1803 Education. Kant argues that childhood is neither blank nor innocent but involves a fundamental human struggle between reason and desire. Like Plato, Augustine, and Calvin, Kant views children as passionate, unruly “animals.” But unlike them, he also sees children’s reason as emerging from the inner child him- or herself, so that “discipline” takes on the meaning of the “cultivation” (Bildung) of the child’s increasing capacity for self-legislation. The purpose of education is to strengthen the child’s use of his or her own moral and intellectual autonomy in the face of powerful immediate wants. In effect, Kant recasts 18th-century Protestant approaches from figures like John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards, replacing children’s original sin with physical desire and the grace of God with the inner power of reason. The most extensive writings on childhood in Christianity during this period, however, come from the founder of modern Protestantism itself, Friedrich Schleiermacher, in his 1806 novella Christmas Eve: Dialogue on the Incarnation and his 1820 collection of sermons The Christian Household.

Schleiermacher takes Rousseau one step further to argue that children enter the world pure gifts from God. Children intuitively understand the fundamental theological “feeling of absolute dependence” through their great natural capacities for love, joy, play, and goodwill. Indeed, against the avarice of adult society, children are “the pure revelation of the divine,” God’s true Christmas “gift” or “incarnation.” Here for the first time, the chief focus shifts to girls, who most embody pure divine goodness. And it is in Schleiermacher that can be found the earliest sustained defense of the child-rearing primacy of mothers. As in the emerging ideology of industrialization, which designates separate spheres for men and women, it is mothers above all, albeit supported by breadwinning fathers, who are called to nurture the natural private sanctity of the home. In contrast, John Stuart Mill’s 1859 utilitarian treatise On Liberty takes up child rearing as a question primarily of weaning children from the narrow circle of personal and family selfishness and toward enlightened social liberty. The rights of families are limited by the rights of states to educate their future citizens. Setting the groundwork for universal public schooling across Europe, Mill argues that free societies can be achieved only on the basis of systems of national education. The liberties produced by education are the right of boys and girls equally, as well as rich and poor. Each child’s nascent capacities for public reason cannot develop without liberal and scientific training. Somewhat like Plato, Mill views children themselves as lacking self-governance and requiring protection from self-harm. But now all children should be educated in equal liberties, and the paterfamilias is replaced by the state. C h allenges To day The late 20th and early 21st centuries have witnessed a renewed interest in childhood among religious and philosophical thinkers as modernist perspectives have increasingly encountered their limits. Above all, children themselves have not fared as well as confidently predicted. Fundamental new thinking has been prompted by children’s conditions amid globalization, widespread poverty, victimization by and participation in violence, market commodification, influence by mass media, and growing up in conditions of cultural pluralism, marriage instability, and shift ing roles of men and women. As a result, new questions are being asked about children’s agency, vulnerabilities, gender, rights, and spirituality. One broad contemporary view, especially among philosophical and religious communitarians, argues that as a result of modernity children are treated too permissively. Children require instead strong families and civil societies to initiate them into robust and particular social values. This top-down perspective recovers a less sanguine conception of childhood chiefly from premodern thought and writings as well as the need for developmental discipline into common

c h il d

goods through strengthened marriages and fatherhood. Globalization threatens children by its market individualism and uprooting of traditions. But cultural, religious, and character education can provide children a moral compass for navigating an increasingly fragmented world. A contrasting broad perspective, with again both secular and religious proponents, instead presses elements of modernity toward further postmodern conclusions. Children need to be treated with still greater individual humanity as agents and constructors of their own worlds, participants in larger social meaning, uniquely gifted by God, and bearers of full human rights. The most visible articulation of this bottom-up approach is the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which declares children’s global rights to such things as nondiscrimination, protection from violence and poverty, parenting, education, and freedom of expression. This view develops upon new 20thcentury movements in feminism, social justice, and liberation theology by lifting up the dignity and voices of children against their historical and contemporary marginalization. Wherever one falls among these and other contemporary possibilities, it is clear that, as in previous times of great historical transition, rethinking childhood will involve also rethinking the very meaning of humanity. John Wall see also: Animism; Aristotle; Buddhism; Catholicism; Confucianism and Taoism; Confucius; Eastern Orthodoxy; Hinduism; Islam; James, William; Judaism; Locke, John; Mormonism; Native American Religious Traditions; Plato; Protestantism; Rousseau, Jean-Jacques further reading: Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner, Children in Historical and Comparative Perspective: An International Handbook and Research Guide, 1991. • Hugh Cunningham, Children and Childhood in Western Society since 1500, 1995. • Marcia Bunge, ed., The Child in Christian Thought, 2001. • Jacob Neusner, ed., The Ethics of Family Life, 2001. • Peter B. Pufall and Richard P. Unsworth, eds., Rethinking Childhood, 2004. • O. M. Bakke, When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity, 2005.

physiological perspectives. The child is not simply a miniature adult. Every organ system of the body has its own developmental course, starting in embryonic life and continuing into adulthood. Maturation of various physiological processes proceeds at variable speeds. This adds vulnerabilities in the young to myriad assaults, depending upon the timing and extent of injury, disease, or nutritional compromise. Developmental arrest or development off track means outcomes that may show delay or are aberrant. While recovery and adaptation potentials are greater in the child than the developed human organism, so are the potentials for lasting compromise or at least an altered developmental course. The discussions in this volume on the child’s organ systems and diseases all have developmental perspectives. This dimension makes the concept of health and well-being that

• 14 7

much more complex for a child than for an adult. In the absence of expected developmental changes and maturation, the concepts of delay and of disease states special to childhood come into play. This is the physiological backdrop for understanding child health and behavior. This unique developmental dimension is most vibrant in understanding brain development and, therefore, behavior. In the past 25 years, more has been learned about how the brain functions, the influences both internal and external that alter that mind and that behavior in predictable, understandable, and adaptive ways. The notion of the child as a “blank slate,” whose every behavior, even every thought, is due to simply the sum total of positive and negative environmental reinforcement has been put to rest. Rather, the intricate workings of the brain as it is developing provide a powerful instrument by which environmental forces are inputted, processed, and outputted in an idiosyncratic way, specific to the various functions of that specific brain, in that specific econiche. There is a dynamic interface between the child’s developing brain and the world around him. The capacity for information processing is vast: There are about 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) in the central nervous system, each one connected to as many as tens of thousands of others. The communication from one neuron to another occurs via connections called synapses, in which the long communication “wire” of the neuron (the axon) connects with the receiving station (the dendrite) of another. Each connection is simple, telling the connecting neuron to either get more excited or more inhibited. The sum total of all the communication to that neuron is computed as the neuron “decides” whether its electrical firing should increase or slow down. This information is then communicated to its myriad connections. With trillions of such connections in the central nervous system, the power of the brain to process information is more vast than any computer. While humans are born with pretty much the full complement of neurons, the number of synapses (synaptogenesis) begins to explode at birth. The number and type and distribution of these connections appear to be largely driven by genetic programming and local brain chemical conditions that tell a growing axon to zig or to zag. By the end of the first three years of life, there is an overabundance of synapses, enough to process information from almost any venue, which gives humans the potential to adapt—as they have, both as a species and as individuals—to almost any environment. But learning is the paring down of possibility, of learning coherent rules and distinct categories of mental processing. This inexhaustible potential is much like a large block of marble awaiting the master’s fine chisel to create a statute of coherence and beauty. The synapses formed in early life are not destined to survive if not stimulated. Much like a plant that withers without water, synapses that are not stimulated are extinguished

148 •

ch ild

in a sort of “neural Darwinism.” Only those that are used survive, lending a selective advantage to processing only that information that is salient to the child’s environment. The environment can encourage the growth and complexity of brain connections. Teaching a child a second language early in life allows the brain to apportion more of its real estate to language processing, an advantage that may persist throughout the lifetime. This, however, does not mean that an enriched environment is necessary to fashion an enriched brain. In fact, the “ordinary expectable environment” or the “good enough environment” offered by most families provides sufficient stimulation to optimize brain development. However, there is little doubt that innate talent and innate challenge are modulated by the complexity and quality of the synaptic connections in that specific area of functioning. This is the resonance between nature and nurture, the innate processes of development, and the influence of the environment. The synapses in the brain do not work like an electrical outlet. Rather, the connections occur via chemicals called neurotransmitters, which are ejected from the end of the axon onto the dendrite. More than 100 of such neurotransmitters have been discovered. Many are well known, such as serotonin (involved with mood and depression), dopamine (associated with behavioral regulation), endorphins (involved in pain diminution), and cortisol (involved with the stress response). Part of what makes every child unique (e.g., in terms of temperament) is her unique neurotransmitter profile—high in one area, low in another—that leads to a tendency to respond one way or another to the world. Finally, the brain is not equipotent. That is, not every area can perform every function. Rather, each part of the brain has its own specific role. For example, one set of neurons in the vision center only lights up if there is a vertical line, another with a horizontal one. The right side of the mature brain is more involved with mathematics, the left with language. This geographic demarcation in itself has its own developmental course. Brain modules are integrated into higher-order processes like decision making and thought and—the biggest mystery of all—into human consciousness. The physiological perspective as applied to brain development has lead to great excitement, as well as some unwarranted hype, in the world of child development. Surely, as researchers come to understand more about the human brain, they shall come to better understand the forces guiding children’s development: What goes right and what goes wrong or what makes for the differences in human development. And the much-used metaphor of “building a better brain” is a powerful one. Social support in the maximization of development for children means resources and protections applied early in life and continuing into adulthood. Additionally, the physiological perspective by no means

implies that all child development will eventually be broken down to understanding the functioning of synapses; this would be akin to thinking that knowing all there is to know about bricks can explain all there is to know about the aesthetics of architecture. There are many lenses by which the complexity of children can be viewed and understood, many of which are covered in this volume. The physiological perspective provides a useful window into the intersection of the physical processes that interact with the behavioral issues and, most salient, the linkage of brain function and behavior. But no matter what a brain may look like under the microscope or in an MRI, the child’s overt behavior will always serve as a necessary level of understanding, perhaps the most important of all, by which to judge that function. The whole child can and should never be subsumed by his parts. And as all those parts change over childhood, the integration and interaction make for the most exciting process on earth. Steven Parker and Suzanne D. Dixon see also: Evolution of Childhood, Biological; Neurological and Brain Development

legal and public-policy perspectives. Children have always occupied a special place in the law of most European and North American countries, albeit one that has changed dramatically over the centuries. In legal terms, childhood is technically the period of time before an individual acquires the full legal rights and responsibilities of adulthood. Under the English common law, individuals were considered infants prior to attaining the age of 21, with the exception of the king, who reached majority at the age of 18. The statutory age of majority in most of the United States, as well as elsewhere in the world, is now 18 years, although in many countries the age of majority is not reached until age 21, and in some countries it is as young as 16. Upon reaching the age of majority, children shed their special minority status to become full rights-bearing citizens. Law defines childhood not only in terms of chronological age but also in relation to the corresponding legal status of parenthood. To be a child is to be, by definition, in relationship with one or more adults identified as legal parents. These parents need not actually be present in a child’s life; they may be deceased or absent in some other way. Most of the time, the law defines the parent-child relationship in biological terms, although exceptions have always existed. Adoption is probably the most common and well-known exception to biological parenthood. Under the common law, the presumption of paternity also operated to identify the mother’s husband as the legal father of the child even if he was not the biological father. New reproductive technologies such as egg donation and gestational surrogacy have introduced complexities into the biology of motherhood.

c h il d

Rights and responsibilities associated with legal parenthood are sometimes assigned to the person who has most functioned like a parent in the child’s life, including samesex partners of a biological parent. While the law acts as if the legal parent-child relationship securely rests on biology, the numerous exceptions to the biological norm reveal a measurable degree of uncertainty surrounding this fundamental legal relationship. Laws regulating childhood often operate negatively by denying children a vast array of rights, including the right to vote, to run for office, to contract, to marry, to make medical decisions, to determine where to live, to drive, to drink, to engage in sexual relations, and so on. Some laws also operate affirmatively to grant children special benefits, such as protection from abuse and neglect, welfare support, and access to rehabilitative services. Yet a perspective that focuses solely on what the law prohibits or provides obscures a deeper and more complex picture of the overlapping and sometimes confl icting claims of legal authority over children. Law directly prohibits children from enjoying adult rights and responsibilities, but in the process it also distributes the power to control the upbringing of children. Parents play the primary role in this socialization process, but parental authority is circumscribed by state regulation of the terms and conditions under which this authority can be exercised. Since the late 19th century, the state has exercised its parens patriae power to override parental authority in specific areas such as education, work, and abuse and neglect. By the late 20th century, courts and legislatures had also begun to recognize the right of adolescents to make their own decisions in certain domains of life, such as sexuality, religion, and custody. Confl ict between parents and the state over child rearing and the increasing claims of children to self-government are at the core of the most important laws and legal decisions involving children over the last century. Changes in the balance of decision-making authority among the state, parents, and children provide a window onto the law’s underlying conception of childhood and its transformation over time. Prior to the late 19th century, children were treated in most parts of the world as the property of their parents, possessing almost no legal rights and subject to the full physical, social, and economic control of their parents. These legal conceptions reflected the prevailing view that children required the strong moral upbringing of parents to bring their untamed natures into line with the values of “civilized” society. During this period in history, the law in common-law and civil-law countries tended to incorporate traditional religious beliefs about the proper parental role in raising children to become good moral citizens. Custody laws typically gave fathers the primary authority for this endeavor. In the United States, married women had no independent legal identity and no right to the legal custody of

• 14 9

their children. Indeed, the law at this time treated married women in much the same way as children. Up until the end of the 19th century, wives and servants were often grouped with children as individuals subject to the full legal authority of the male head of household. Illegitimate children and their mothers in the 19th century had an even harder time of it, as depicted in Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1865 novel Ruth, which offered a sympathetic portrait of an unmarried mother living in a morally censorious society. Under the English poor laws, fathers had no duty to support their illegitimate children, and unmarried mothers frequently had to resort to workhouses or other parish relief. The public support of illegitimate children and their mothers was seen as promoting immoral behavior on the part of unmarried women. Poor children were often forced to work as domestic servants or apprentices in more welloff families. Although informal adoption was an option for children in the United States, it was not common. Character traits such as immorality and criminal tendencies were believed to be inherited, and many people were hesitant about adopting children from the lower classes. Views about children in the United States as in many other countries began to change in the late 19th century away from a belief in illegitimate and delinquent children’s inherent depravity and in the direction of a more romantic view of children’s moral innocence. Laws and public policies started to operate on the assumption that nurture rather than nature was the prime ingredient in the development of children and that bad childhood behavior such as delinquency was the result of a bad familial and social environment rather than inherited traits. This change was reflected in a wide variety of state laws, including laws relating to child welfare, compulsory education, juvenile justice, custody, and labor. The child-saving movement in the United States fostered many of these changes by promoting both private and public efforts to further the best interests of children. As industrialization took over and men went to work outside the home, mothers acquired primary responsibility for children’s physical, moral, and intellectual upbringing. The “tender years” presumption in custody law that developed at this time automatically awarded fit mothers custody of children younger than the age of 7. These changes in attitude and family structure were accompanied by a rise in state laws directed to protect children from abusive or neglectful families, to ensure children’s educational development, and to foster delinquent children’s rehabilitation. Some of these reforms were designed to stimulate sound economic growth for the country by educating children to become good workers in a newly industrialized economy. Some were also intended to promote the assimilation of newly arrived immigrants to the United States by requiring that children be educated in public schools. But many

150 •

ch ild

of these legal changes were the result of a Progressive Era focus on the physical and emotional needs of children and their welfare. The increase in state involvement in children’s lives brought about a corresponding decrease in the right of parents to control the upbringing of their children. Labor was a particularly contested area. The assumption that children were a legitimate source of economic support for a family did not disappear overnight, and child labor peaked in the early decades of the 20th century. Moreover, in 1918 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a national child labor law on the ground that it exceeded Congress’s power under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. Despite these resistances, reformers continued to press for national legislation. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 banned the employment of most children younger than the age of 14, and this time the Supreme Court upheld the restriction on child labor. State compulsory education laws went hand in hand with labor legislation, and by 1921 these laws were in place in all the states. Apart from agricultural and family businesses, children could no longer be counted on as a significant year-round source of family income. Instead, children were now treated as family dependents deserving of physical, emotional, and economic support. Although state authority over children increased in the early part of the 20th century in part as a result of Progressive views of a nurturing state exercising its parens patriae power to help protect and socialize children, the U.S. Supreme Court from the beginning set limits on state incursions into the rights of parents to control the upbringing of children. As the Court has stated on many occasions, “the child is not the mere creature of the state” (Pierce v. Society of Sisters, p. 535). In a pair of cases from the 1920s, the Court laid the foundation for the modern doctrine of family privacy by holding that state laws limiting parental authority with respect to certain educational choices violated the parents’ fundamental constitutional rights. In the first of these decisions, Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), the Court struck down a state law prohibiting the teaching of German in school. Similarly, in Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), a state law requiring that children below the eighth grade attend public school was found to violate parents’ right to choose private education. Greater controversy has surrounded parents’ right to object to their children being required to read certain textbooks, to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or to take part in school prayer. While the law is not settled in this area, the Court generally takes the position that the state has the power to expose children to civic ideas but cannot coerce their participation in activities such as reciting the Pledge or engaging in prayer. The troubled history of the juvenile justice system in the United States is an especially vivid illustration of the ways in which the Progressive ideal of a nurturing state failed to

achieve its goals. When juvenile courts were established at the turn of the 20th century, with Illinois being the first in 1899, rehabilitation rather than punishment was the primary aim, a direct outgrowth of the prevailing view that delinquent children were in need of developmental guidance and that the role of the juvenile justice system should be to nurture and socialize. By the 1960s, serious questions about the fairness and efficacy of a system that provided no rights to children had arisen, and in the 1967 decision in In re Gault the U.S. Supreme Court held that children in juvenile court possess certain constitutional rights, such as the right to counsel and the right to confront witnesses. By the mid-1990s, state laws increasingly made it easier to transfer the worst youthful offenders to the adult criminal court. A discernible shift in the direction of treating the worst youthful offenders like adults has taken place, a shift reminiscent of 19th-century ideas about delinquent children’s inherently bad characters and moral culpability. Child welfare laws protecting abused and neglected children originated in the early 20th century, also as a result of Progressive views about the importance of the state role in protecting innocent children. Prior to the 1900s, uncaredfor children were treated much like adults. Orphans and children abandoned by their parents worked as indentured servants in well-off families or were placed in private orphanages. Later in the 19th century, private agencies began to place children with foster families, but the system was not heavily regulated by the state. Early 20th-century child welfare laws dramatically increased the power of the state to intervene in family life by removing neglected or abused children from their parents’ care. Problems with the child welfare system illuminate some of the dangers associated with increased state power in this area. The experience of American Indian children is an example of an especially egregious governmental policy that promoted the removal of Indian children from their parents in order to place them in non-Indian homes off the reservation, a policy eventually changed with the passage of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978. Child welfare authorities in the United States have several times conducted massive raids on polygamous fundamentalist Mormon communities, resulting in the forced removal of hundreds of children. Despite greater awareness of the problems, questions are raised about a system of child welfare in which a disproportionate number of impoverished and minority children are found to be neglected and placed in foster care solely on the basis of factors associated with poverty. Although universal public education is one of the most important and long-lasting achievements of the early 20thcentury reform movement, unequal funding for public schools perpetuates a system of unequal education in the United States, the ill effects of which fall most heavily on inner-city minority children. Beginning with the 1954 U.S.

c h il d

Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, states were charged with the task of providing an educational environment that would give children of all backgrounds and races the skills necessary for participating as equal citizens in the broader society. Over the course of the next few decades, courts ordered desegregation and busing at the primary and secondary school levels. By the late 20th century, however, the social and legal tides had shifted. De facto educational segregation emerged as white families relocated from the inner cities to the suburbs, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the system of local funding for public schools against constitutional attack despite the disparate effects on poor communities. In 2007, the Court prohibited voluntary state efforts to desegregate schools where evidence of a history of intentional state discrimination was absent. As a result, states cannot take direct steps to remedy the effects of residential segregation on young children’s educational upbringing. While the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 aims to improve the educational experience for all children, its emphasis on standardized testing and harsh punitive measures have provoked widespread criticism. Welfare in the United States is another area where the state’s responsibility for protecting children has dramatically evolved. In 1935, the federal government passed the federal Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) assistance program, which was intended to provide financial support to poor families with children. From the beginning, the ADC program focused on payments to “deserving” recipients, such as widows and white families with children. As the range of recipients expanded in the 1960s to include single parents and minority households, the program also increased state involvement by requiring recipients to give up basic rights to privacy and personal liberty in exchange for ever-decreasing benefits. In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, which eliminated the federal entitlement program altogether in favor of block grants to the states, signaling a change in policy from a focus on the best interests of children to a more punitive system for moving impoverished, and often uneducated, parents into the labor market. Outside the United States, child welfare systems vary considerably depending on the region. Countries in Western Europe, for example, have a strong history of social welfare programs that benefit children and generally have a stronger tradition of state responsibility for raising children than exists in the United States. Parental leave laws tend to be very generous in Western Europe, health care is universal, and some countries like France offer family allowances upon the birth of a child. In contrast, countries that offer relatively little in the way of family support, such as the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, also have some of the highest child

• 15 1

poverty rates among Western countries. Like Western Europe, countries in some regions of Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia emphasize collective responsibility for children, although many countries in these regions have inadequate resources to deal with the high numbers of children at risk from social problems such as poverty, armed confl ict, trafficking, and health crises such as AIDS. The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, ratified by the United States in 2007, seeks to ensure that adoptions are made in the best interests of the child and to prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children. The adoptive child’s country of origin may also regulate intercountry adoption practices. In 2007, U.S. parents adopted more children from China than from any other country, and the Chinese government strictly limits foreign adoptions to oppositesex married couples between the ages of 30 and 50, where the spouses have high school educations, are employed, and not disabled, deformed, or obese. In some countries, children are still treated as the property of their parents, even to the extent of being sold for intercountry adoption or, in the case of young girls, into marriage. Child prostitution, forced child labor, and child trafficking still exist in many parts of the world. Despite international treaties banning these practices, domestic enforcement is difficult. The emergence of the children’s rights movement in the United States and elsewhere in the world in the late 20th century has added an important new dimension to the law’s treatment and conception of childhood. In 1989, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which as of 2008 had been ratified by all member states with the exception of the United States and Somalia. The Convention identifies a set of affirmative entitlements, including the right to parental care except in certain circumstances, the right to freedom of expression and religion, the right to freedom from physical violence and neglect, and the right to an appropriate education. The CRC also requires that states help families provide children with an adequate standard of living. Critics of the CRC in the United States argue that the treaty will weaken parental rights and increase state intervention in family life. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution affords children no fundamental affirmative right to state protection from parental abuse (DeShaney v. Winnebago County, 1989), a position at odds with the CRC’s emphasis on state responsibility for guaranteeing the primacy of children’s best interests over parental rights. Only in 2005 did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that the juvenile death penalty violated the U.S. Constitution and international norms of justice. In addition to seeking affirmative rights, the children’s rights movement promotes the idea that children have interests independent of both the state and parents and that

152 •

ch ild

older children especially should possess some legally recognized rights to autonomy and self-determination. In the United States, the idea of children’s autonomy rights dates back to the 1960s, when the U.S. Supreme Court first held that children have procedural rights in juvenile court and rights to free expression in school. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), a case involving schoolchildren wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War, the Court found that children have a First Amendment right to express their political views in school as long as the speech does not disrupt the learning environment. In a later case recognizing a mature minor’s right to choose to terminate her pregnancy without parental consent, the Court observed: “Constitutional rights do not mature and come into being magically only when one attains the state-defined age of majority. Minors, as well as adults, are protected by the Constitution and possess constitutional rights” (Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, 1976, p. 74). By the time they reach early adolescence, children in the United States enjoy an increasing array of rights, including the rights to free speech and free expression, rights to contraceptives and reproductive health care, and some rights to determine with whom they will live. By the age of 16, in most states in the United States, adolescents can emancipate themselves through court order or through marriage. Viewed through this lens of autonomy rights, children are no longer solely objects of socialization or dependent beings in need of nurture and care. Older children are at least partly seen as autonomous individuals in their own right. Comparisons with children’s autonomy rights in other countries are not easy to make. In France, for example, which has ratified the CRC and also has a strong tradition of social welfare, Muslim girls are prohibited under French law from wearing the traditional head scarf in school, arguably in violation of the CRC’s protection for children’s religious rights. Controversy also exists in the human rights community over the legality of certain medical procedures, such as female circumcision, performed on young children in some African countries. Defenders of cultural pluralism argue that, as long as there are no long-term, adverse health effects, parents should have the right to consent to a procedure that is central to the community’s cultural and religious traditions. Child rights advocates, in contrast, argue that children have the inherent and universal right to be free from unnecessary medical procedures until they are of an age when they can consent for themselves. Critics in turn reply that child rights advocates exhibit a cultural bias in failing to recognize the many ways in which parents in Western countries consent to medical treatments that are medically invasive but “unnecessary,” such as male circumcision. The children’s rights movement bears some similarities to the early 20th-century children’s reform movement.

Much like Progressive reformers, children’s rights advocates have a programmatic plan for ensuring children’s welfare and advocate a strong state role in advancing that plan. Also similar to early 20th-century reformers, children’s rights advocates rely heavily on a developmental paradigm of children’s needs and abilities. Critics of the children’s rights movement, like critics of the Progressive reformers, focus on the movement’s weakening of parental rights and the dangers of state assimilation. Yet the children’s rights movement also differs from the earlier reform effort in important ways, primarily in its emphasis on international norms of child justice and on children’s autonomy rights. Despite continuities with the early 20th-century movement for children’s welfare, the children’s rights movement signals a major turning point in the law’s conception of children. Once viewed exclusively as dependents under the socializing control of parents and the state, children are increasingly treated as distinct individuals with their own independent moral, political, and legal claims. Anne C. Dailey see also: Dependency, Legal; Education: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives; Parens Patriae; Property, Children as; Rights, Children’s; Welfare further reading: Martha Minow, ed., Family Matters: Readings on Family Lives and the Law, 1993. • S. Randall Humm, Beate Anna Ort, Martin Mazen Anbari, Wendy S. Lader, and William Scott Biel, eds., Child, Parent, and State: Law and Policy Reader, 1994. • Stephen Macedo and Iris Marion Young, eds., Child, Family, and State, 2003.

child care Historical and Cultural Perspectives Effects on the Child Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives

historical and cultural perspectives. Child care— paid care for young children whose parents or parent works outside the home; also known as day care—is both an old and a relatively new phenomenon. Parents of young children have always shared child-rearing responsibilities with others from their communities, and to the present day it can be difficult to pinpoint the demarcation between informal and formal care. In traditional, rural societies, responsibility for young children was embedded in the fabric of community life. Industrialization and urbanization brought new patterns of family life and new stresses on families. A private, domestic sphere emerged, with child rearing a defining activity, assigned largely to mothers. At the same time, inadequate wages for factory work (requiring both parents to work outside the home), presumption of women’s greater suitability for some types of factory work, and/or absence of a male head of household (due to death, abandonment, or disability) collided with women’s

c h il d c a r e

heightened domestic responsibilities. The fact that many newly urban families had left their traditional social support systems behind exacerbated the challenges posed by the evolving labor market. New work and family patterns and their associated difficulties suggested a need for new social institutions to support families. As one such institution, child care appeared first in Europe and somewhat later in the United States. Beginning in the latter decades of the 18th century, rudimentary child care was provided in houses of asylum or refuge, so residents with small children could work to pay their keep. The crèche, the prototype for today’s child care centers, emerged in mid-19th-century France. Crèches were located near factories so that mothers could breastfeed their babies and continue to work in the mills. The first significant formal child care provision in the United States was the day nursery, which appeared in the 1850s and 1860s and grew steadily in number until the 1920s. The immediate goal of the day nursery was to provide basic physical care and supervision for young children who otherwise would be left on their own or in the care of older siblings. Its larger goal was to keep the poorest families intact by ending the painful practice of giving children up to the care of other institutions. From the outset, day nurseries struggled to meet the needs of large numbers of children with severely inadequate resources, and conditions ranged from bare to deplorable. These struggles were exacerbated by the ambivalence of the very same reformers and philanthropists who had helped create this new institution, due to fear that it would somehow weaken family bonds. Such ambivalence contributed to funding that was typically inadequate so that children in day nurseries were sometimes harmed instead of protected. The day nursery never achieved the legitimacy, or the public funding, that formal education achieved in this same period. By the early decades of the 20th century, those concerned with the welfare of poor children were disparaging child care altogether and urging that deserving (i.e., morally blameless) female-headed families with young children should receive a stipend that would allow mothers to stay at home. The limited state mothers’ pensions programs that resulted did little to meet the support needs of young, struggling families but, nonetheless, served as the prototype for the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children created in the late 1930s. From that point on, the child care issue would become in part a corollary to the question of how best to support and what to expect of young parents dependent on welfare. The larger question of how to reconcile the ideal of motherhood with the economic reality of many young families’ lives (and later with women’s heightened aspirations for their own lives) remained largely unaddressed. From their inception, child care centers as such never

• 15 3

served more than a modest portion of young children. Until the 1970s, the great bulk of nonfamilial care was provided by neighborhood women paid to care for relatively small numbers of children in their homes. Child care participation rates began increasing significantly only in the 1970s, as mothers of very young children entered the labor force in large numbers. It is estimated that close to half of all infants and toddlers in the United States now spend at least 30 hours a week in some form of paid, nonfamilial care, the majority in home child care settings, and the proportion in center-based care increasing as children move through the preschool years. Of some 70% of preschoolers in organized programs, about half appear to be in preschool (i.e., settings whose primary goal is educational rather than protective) and half in child care. Cur r en t Status Even as it has expanded in the past few decades, child care has remained a diffuse institution. The wide age range of children served and the great variety in forms of care complicate questions of purpose, quality, and desirable qualifications or attributes of child care providers. Child care is partly an extension of families’ own natural social support systems, partly a kind of community resource, partly a particular type of formal human service, and partly a child development intervention. Some view it as not that different from what parents do, others as not at all comparable to parenting. Young children, particularly infants and toddlers, seem to need primarily attentive, attuned, warm, and responsive caregiving, including abundant close physical contact with a caregiver, consistency in the caregiving figure, from day to day and over time, and some degree of predictability and structure in daily schedule. The attributes of good caregiving sound somewhat like good parenting, but it is not clear how care is experienced by a child when it is provided by someone for whom it is a job and who, however caring, is a temporary figure in a child’s life, rather than by someone who has a deep and lifelong emotional bond to that child. Over the past few years, child care—including that for infants and toddlers—has come to be redefined as a kind of early schooling experience. This has shifted definitions of purpose and quality to include provision of language richness and cognitively stimulating environments. Regardless of the definition of quality used, study after study has found that a majority of young children in child care in the United States, and especially large numbers of infants and toddlers, receive care that ranges from mediocre to dismal. Typical findings include children waiting to eat, to be helped with basic physical needs, or simply for a response to a bid for attention; children rarely being held, hugged, or cuddled; little rich or extended verbal interaction or cognitive stimulation, toys being out of reach, and

154 •

ch ild c are

Aia Ke Ola I Na¯ Ku¯puna

imagining each other

Fami ly-Bas ed Car e i n Nativ e H awai i an Cultur e

My daughter Mahina, a young toddler, spends several days a week in the care of her grandparents, my father and mother, her Papa and Tu¯tu¯ as she calls them. When she is with her grandparents, Mahina spends many hours a day clinging like a ﬂower lei around the neck of her indulgent Tu¯tu¯, while Tu¯tu¯ goes about her daily business. As I write this, Mahina is playing at the seaside in my parents’ backyard, which opens onto Ka¯ne’ohe Bay in Ko‘olaupoko, Hawai‘i. Mahina sits in Tu¯tu¯’s lap at the water’s edge watching the crabs crawl along the rocks as tiny ﬁsh dart back and forth in the shallow water beneath. She looks up to watch a ﬁsherman with a throw net on a distant reef and listens intently as Tu¯tu¯ explains step by step what the man is doing. Needing to get some work done, Tu¯tu¯ then scoops up Mahina and plops her in a two-person canoe that sits on the grassy shoreline. As Tu¯tu¯ tends to the plants nearby, she hums a gentle melody and rocks Mahina in the canoe as if to mimic the rhythm of the ocean. Inside the canoe, Mahina giggles as she sways from side to side, learning to shift her weight with the vessel in order to stay upright and maintain her balance. When Mahina tires of the canoe, she crawls out to visit her Papa, who is pulling weeds on the hillside. She watches as Papa disentangles the native laua‘e ferns from the alien weeds and tries her hand at tugging a few weeds herself before Papa sends her back to my mother. “Mahina, have you learned your ABCs today?” my father asks her teasingly. “All the other kids are in school, you know. You can’t just play all day. Go tell your Tu¯tu¯ that you need to start learning something or we’re going to fall behind.” Like many Hawaiian families, our family jokes a lot, and there are often various levels of kaona, or hidden meaning, to

lack of consistency in caregivers. Some children seem to cope reasonably well with such day in and day out experience. Others are probably harmed in ways that adults are just beginning to understand. Roots of th e Qualit y Problem Beyond the inherent difficulty of providing high-quality child care, especially to infants and toddlers, the reasons for the child care quality problem in the United States are rooted squarely in societal priorities, beliefs, and values. In every country, perceptions of children’s needs, of women’s roles, of the importance of maternal care and the desirability of nonmaternal care, are filtered through a complex set of lenses to yield a particular child care narrative. A country’s history and situation, its broad values and myths about itself, play a role in shaping child care provision, as do religion, population size, and degree of homogeneity, (fluctuating) labor force demands, birth rates, and, not least,

the things we say, so it is hard to know for sure if my father was serious about what he said or, knowing that I was within earshot, was speaking in jest. However, my sense is that there was a little bit of each going on. The fear of my daughter, and other Native Hawaiian children, falling behind in school readiness is not new to me or my family. Native Hawaiian children are often characterized as starting behind even before they begin their formal schooling at kindergarten. The dire statistics facing Native Hawaiian families and our young children are chanted almost ritualistically by Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian agencies alike: Native Hawaiian families suffer from economic deprivation, low educational attainment, poor health status, substandard housing, and social dislocation. Hawaiian children are twice as likely to be poor as children of other ethnic groups in Hawai‘i. They are also much more likely to have a parent in prison, as Native Hawaiians suffer from one of the highest rates of incarceration as a group in the United States. A recent advertisement urging legislators to invest in formal child care programs for Native Hawaiian children pictures an overstretched dollar bill at the top, along with a header that reads, “ ‘All Children Safe, Healthy and Ready to Succeed.’ Native Hawaiian Children: Help Now! Or Pay Later.” The ad explains that, statistically, Native Hawaiians, who constitute a little over one-third of the children born in Hawai‘i each year, have risk factors that lead to high dependency on the state’s social support system. A related state legislative bill argues that “highly structured and monitored,” formal, outside of the home, early education for Native Hawaiian and other low-income children would be a cost-effective, preventive measure that would generate a sizable return on the state’s investment through savings in wel-

beliefs about the role and responsibility of government in supporting family life. To cite two examples: Sweden’s high-quality, universal public child care system, while originally stimulated by labor shortages, has been shaped by a long tradition of social democracy, consensus that government has an important role to play in assuring social well-being, an egalitarian ethos with respect to gender roles, and a strong child orientation. In Italy, significant regional differences in maternal employment patterns, a decentralized governmental system, an assertive role by the Catholic church in family and community life, and a tradition of extended family care have contributed to a mixed private-public child care system, with nonfamily care for children younger than 3 rare. Child care in the United States has been shaped by national values of family privacy, individual responsibility, a belief in the primacy of the marketplace in social provision, and a belief in a limited government role in family life. (Upon

c h il d c a r e

• 15 5

Aia Ke Ola I Na¯ Ku¯puna (continued)

vetoing the first federal bill to define child care as a public responsibility, President Richard M. Nixon argued that its passage would commit the vast moral authority of the national government to the side of communal approaches to child rearing, over and against the family-centered approach.) Most young families who need child care must purchase it out of their disposable household income, in a marketplace made up largely of private individuals and firms and a diverse array of human service agencies. The nature and quality of care that children receive depend on their parents’ ability and willingness to pay and to accomplish the necessary logistics, on the local supply of care, and on parents’ ability to locate available care and determine the quality of a particular setting. State governments play a modest regulatory role, but government regulation mostly provides an assurance of minimum conditions of care. For almost all family child care providers and for about 40% of center-based providers, the need to make a profit

based early childhood settings where all trace and scent of the parents and their world must be removed from the children each day. Remnants of this tradition remain with us today. Time and again, we ﬁnd that various early childhood and social service agencies in Hawai‘i view Native Hawaiian parents and families, and our inﬂuence on our young children, as a “problem”—a detriment to be compensated for rather than a source of strength and knowledge to be supported and built upon. Similarly, my conversations with various friends and colleagues have encouraged me to consider enrolling my daughter in more a formal child care situation, somewhere where she might be more “suitably stimulated” socially, cognitively, and emotionally. However, in the case of many Hawaiian families, such as mine, our choice to leave our young children in the care of their ku¯puna (grandparents) is not a purely economically motivated decision. In Hawaiian culture, the use of elder family members to care for young children is a very familiar practice. We truly believe in the beneﬁts of this intergenerational exchange and its necessity for the perpetuation of our Hawaiian culture. Aia ke ola i na¯ ku¯puna (There is life-giving substance from the elders). There is much that my daughter can learn at the seaside with her grandparents that she could never learn in any classroom. So for now that is where she will remain. Julie Kaomea

imagining each other

fare, crime, and remedial education costs. The bill suggests that many Native Hawaiian and other low-income families are unable to meet the hefty price tag for high-quality, formal early childhood programs and therefore rely on the “unstructured,” informal home care of kith and kin. The bill goes on to explain that there are some subsidies available for assisting these families with child care costs. However, these funds currently give families a good amount of leeway in their choice of child care provider. Consequently, instead of opting for formal child care settings, the majority of families receiving child care subsidies apply their funds toward the “unstructured, unregulated, informal” care of relatives and other extended family members. The bill recommends closer monitoring and regulation of these funds to get these children out of their “at-risk” homes and into “highquality,” “formal” child care programs for at least a good part of the working day, thereby increasing the chances that these children will enter school “ready to succeed.” Historically, the beginnings of center-based early child education and care in many countries had to do with taking the babies of immigrant and poor, working-class families away from their parents during the day because their parents could not be trusted to raise them “correctly.” This was true of the settlement-house tradition of early childhood education and care for Italian and Irish immigrants in the United States, which was well intended but also implicitly insulting. It was also true of the crèche tradition in France, where, upon bringing their children to the crèche each day, poor and working-class parents had to remove their children’s clothing and hand their naked infants over the threshold of the nursery to the crèche nurses who would bathe them. The need to strip and bathe the infants at the point of entry to the crèche is a powerful metaphor and metonym for the function of center-

Adapted from Julie Kaomea, “Reﬂections of an ‘Always Already’ Failing Native Hawaiian Mother: Deconstructing Colonial Discourses on Indigenous Child-Rearing and Early Childhood Education,” Hu¯lili: Multidisciplinary Research on Hawaiian Well-Being 2, no. 1 (2005), pp. 67–85.

may lead to cost cutting that may sometimes threaten good service. For example, it can lead to a high ratio of adults to children; the hiring of staff with little or no preparation to care for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers; and, through poor salaries, to high rates of staff turnover. Moreover, though most child care is subject to state regulation, half or more of all care is provided by unlicensed caregivers (some of whom cannot afford the investment necessary to meet minimal health, safety, and space standards). Child care is expensive to provide well, being particularly labor intensive (e.g., requiring low ratios of adults to children and long hours of work) and inherently inefficient: There is no shortcut to sitting on the floor following the lead of a 2- or 3-year-old in no hurry to finish a pretend story using blocks and action figures. Good-quality infant and toddler care costs between $12,000 and $15,000 per year and care for preschoolers about $8,000 per year. Few parents can afford to pay this much, even with government

156 •

ch ild c are

subsidies at current levels. Providers, whether for profit or not for profit, are caught between the cost of high-quality care and what parents are able and willing to pay. Not least, child care in the United States carries a greater burden of family support—especially during infancy and toddlerhood—than is the case in other industrialized countries. In other countries, child care is not only publicly funded but is embedded in a broader constellation of supports for young children and their families: strong public maternal and child health care systems, paid parental leave systems, and child allowances. Thus, for example, the availability of parental leave policies allows more working mothers to choose to stay home during their infant’s first year or two, reducing the demand for infant care. The costs of child care are seen as part of a larger investment in young families, making child care a less singularly ideological issue. Lo o k i ng to t h e F u t u r e The challenge of providing decent quality child care in the United States will be ameliorated somewhat in coming years by the growth of public preschool provision. Public preschools, with their defined public funding base and supports for quality learning and developmental experiences, will, in effect, become a de facto part of the child care system. One question in that regard will be the willingness of thousands of local school systems to assume some full-day responsibility for children in half-day preschool programs. Increasing the quantity and strengthening the quality of infant and toddler care will nonetheless continue to pose an enormous social challenge. Moreover, as the United States becomes increasingly diverse, child care providers will have to grapple more directly with the beliefs and preferences of cultural minorities. Latino families, for instance, often prefer more family-like child care arrangements, even at the cost of what child development professionals define as quality. For all these complexities, there is reason to believe that even the U.S. ambivalence about child care has begun to be addressed. Other social institutions increasingly share the child-rearing role with families, and this is widely recognized. At its best, child care provides opportunity for rich, stimulating experiences, interaction with other children, screening for developmental support needs, and related benefits. But millions of children do not experience child care at or anywhere near its best. Robert Halpern see also: Head Start; Kinship and Child Rearing; Preschool and Kindergarten; Work and Home Life, Conﬂict between further reading: M. Lamb and K. Sternberg, “Sociocultural Perspectives on Nonparental Child Care,” in M. Lamb et al., eds., Child Care in Context, 1992. • S. Kontos, C. Howes, M. Shinn, and E. Galinsky, Quality in Family Child Care and Relative Care, 1995. • NIEER/ National Institute for Early Education Research, The State of Preschool, 2004. • NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, Child Care and Development: Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, 2005.

effects on the child. Since the 1970s, the percentage of American mothers with young children who work outside the home has almost doubled. As a result, the number of young children who spend time in nonparental child care has risen dramatically; in 2002, almost 50% of 3- and 4year-olds and approximately 38% of children younger than age 3 were in child care full time. (While the term child care is often used interchangeably with day care, child care is the more inclusive term, reflecting nonparental care situations that are intended for working parents and thus may be offered for extended hours during the day or during nontraditional work hours.) These trends have led to increased interest in the effects of nonparental care on children’s development. Assessing the impact of child care on young children’s development in the United States presents a unique challenge; in contrast to other countries like France and Sweden, where publicly funded child care is extensively available and utilized, the availability and type of child care arrangements used by families in the in the United States vary widely. In the United States, families from every socioeconomic stratum utilize nonparental care for their young children; wealthy families may turn to private-market solutions such as live-in nannies, while low-income families rely on family, friend, or neighbor care in a home-based setting or on government-subsidized center-based care. Because the child care choices of low-income families are constrained by their financial situation and because of recent welfare reform legislation that requires women with young children to work, most of the recent child care research in the United States has focused on low-income children. There is general consensus that high-quality child care is linked to better cognitive and social outcomes for young children, and multiple studies have provided both theoretical and empirical support for an association between responsive and stimulating child care and enhanced child development outcomes. However, the timing, duration, and type of child care as well as characteristics of a child’s home environment, such as family income, can color how child care affects children’s development. The combination of increased rates of child care use by American families and the widely accepted view among developmental researchers that early child care experiences can have an impact on later development has lead to concerted efforts by the scientific community to better understand the varying effects that child care can have on healthy child development.

T y pes and Qualit y of C h i ld Car e Child care in the United States generally takes place in a home (either the child’s, a relative’s, or the home of an unrelated adult) or in a center, each of which can vary in quality. Several elements of child care settings have emerged as meaningful indicators of quality. Elements of structural quality are those that pertain to the child care environment

c h il d c a r e

itself, such as the ratio of children to staff members, the condition of the physical facility, teacher qualifications and training, staff turnover rates, and program administration. Process quality refers to the actual experiences of children and staff in a care environment. Elements of process quality include the frequency and content of interactions between the child and caregiver and between the child and other children. Process quality and structural quality are, in fact, highly correlated, and both can have immediate and lasting effects on children’s cognitive and social development. Findings are mixed as to whether home-based or centerbased care is better for children. Studies have generally found that center care produces lasting cognitive and social gains when there is a low ratio of children to staff members. Some studies have found that, compared to home-based settings, center-based programs tend to offer more stimulating toys and materials, such as activity stations and opportunities for play with sand and water. Additionally, the staff in center facilities may have more specialized training and be better credentialed in early childhood education than home-based care providers. Several recent studies have found that high-quality center care had a significant and lasting influence on children who would have otherwise been cared for by an adult in a home-based setting. However, several other studies have demonstrated the relative superiority of home-based care to center-based care. For example, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Research Network (hereafter referred to as the NICHD Network) has found that home-based care settings scored higher on measures of structural quality, such as low childto-staff ratios, than did center-based care environments. The NICHD Network uses data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (SECC); initiated in 1991, the NICHD SECC tracked the child care choices of more than 1,200 families from the time the child was born. Families in the study sample came from 10 sites in the United States and largely represent the population of families with young children in the communities from which they were recruited. Although sample families were slightly more likely to receive public assistance than U.S. families in general, 75% of families in the NICHD SECC were white, and mean education and income levels were higher than those of U.S. families in general. Findings from the NICHD SECC suggest that center-based care settings exert the least positive impact on child developmental outcomes, mostly because child-to-staff ratios were higher than recognized standards such as those used by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (recommendations for infants are generally 1 adult for every 4 children; preschool-age children should have 1 adult for every 10 children). Other studies have suggested that when home-based child care involves stimulating interactions between caregivers and children, it can contribute to positive developmental out-

• 15 7

comes typically associated with time spent in centers, such as improved school readiness and language skills. C h i l d Age A great deal of attention has been paid to the differential effects of nonparental child care on children of varying ages. In particular, researchers have focused on children age 1 and younger. Findings from the NICHD study described earlier indicate that almost three-quarters of infants received some form of nonmaternal care on a regular basis in their first year of life. Findings for very young children have been mixed. In several studies, child care begun in the first year of life had a negative influence on later social and emotional adjustment, as well as on cognitive outcomes. For the youngest children in home-based care settings, whether the caregiver received specialized training had an impact on the level of responsiveness and stimulation that the caregiver provided. Researchers have also concentrated on the effects that child care may have on children in their third and fourth years of life. Children who enter care when they are 2 or 3 years old have distinctly different experiences than their infant counterparts. For instance, data suggest that care initiated after a child’s first year can confer positive effects on development and can produce significant and lasting gains for disadvantaged children, whereas care begun in a child’s first year of life may have adverse consequences on attachment and social development. Children who experience quality center-based care when they are 2 or 3 years old may have improved school readiness skills and thus may be more prepared for formal schooling upon kindergarten entry. Fa m i ly I nc om e The impact of different types of early child care settings may depend on family income. For instance, home-based care for children from low-income families tends to be of low quality. Poor families, including those who rely heavily on the mother’s wages, tend to enroll their very young children in nonparental care earlier, which, as mentioned previously, has been associated with negative behavior outcomes. Studies have found that children in families that experience bouts of poverty and financial stress tend to receive the poorest quality child care. In fact, the NICHD SECC found that home-based care for children from poor families often lacked educational toys and materials that enhance children’s learning experiences. Home-based care for very low-income children tended to be less stimulating and more disorganized than center-based care. Yet one study showed that poor children received higher-quality center care than their middle-class counterparts. Additionally, there is evidence that 3- and 5-year-olds from poor or welfare families who received center care demonstrated score increases on assessments of school readiness.

158 •

ch ild c are

Research implies that children from low-income families who qualify for child care subsidies may experience better child care than do their near-poor peers and that highquality child care made available to poor children at a very early age can, in fact, produce lasting cognitive and social gains. Likewise, children of wealthier parents who can pay for high-quality early child care in a center setting benefit from those care arrangements. However, children from middle-income families who cannot afford quality child care and do not qualify for child care subsidies may be enrolled in low-quality child care arrangements. For example, studies on the child care usage of middle-income families across several U.S. cities found that middle-class families are more likely to enroll their children in centers with lower-paid staff, less-qualified staff, higher teacher-to-child ratios, and higher staff turnover rates compared to very high- and very low-income families. Hour s i n Car e There is a great deal of evidence that time spent in child care matters for child outcomes. Researchers have argued that long hours in nonparental care for children younger than 6 months of age may negatively impact development, particularly in the areas of attachment and emotional regulation. For instance, 15-month-old children who had been in care for more than 10 hours per week demonstrated negative effects on maternal attachment. Likewise, some research findings on slightly older children suggest that extensive time in center-based care is associated with increased behavior problems, such as aggression and tantrums. For children at age 2 who had spent time in a succession of different care arrangements, problem behavior was observed more frequently than among children who spent less time in one or more care arrangements. Two-year-old children in the NICHD SECC who were exposed to large amounts of center care demonstrated increased behavior problems, as reported by caregivers, and decreased social competence, as reported by mothers. Similarly, children who spent more hours in care were observed by their care providers, teachers, and mothers to be more fearful and shy. C o nc lu sio n Taken together, the recent surge of research on child care suggests that it is the quality of care that matters most for children’s development and that, ultimately, developmental outcomes are influenced by characteristics of the child care setting in interaction with family and child characteristics. Anna D. Johnson and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn see also: Emotional Development; Social Development; Work and Home Life, Conﬂict between further reading: J. P. Shonkoff and D. A. Phillips, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, 2000. • D. M. Blau, The Child Care Problem: An Economic Analy-

sis, 2001. • J. Brooks-Gunn, A. Sidle Fuligni, and L. J. Berlin, Early Child Development in the 21st Century: Proﬁles of Current Research Initiatives, 2003. • J. C. Gornick and M. K. Meyers, Families that Work: Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment, 2003. • A. Clarke-Stewart and V. D. Allhusen, What We Know about Child Care, 2005. • The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, Child Care and Child Development: Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, 2005.

legal and public-policy perspectives. Since the 1980s, child care has become an increasingly important part of American social policy. This is partly attributable to advocacy of state and national organizations, working in partnership with several key members of the U.S. Congress, to educate policy makers about the value of high-quality and affordable child care. While great strides have been made in bringing child care to the attention of public policy makers, many eligible children from low-income working families remain without such care. Two main reasons for this are insufficient federal and state funding and lack of awareness among policy makers and the public at large regarding the benefits of good-quality and affordable child care for children, families, employers, and society.

Ov erv i ew of Feder al and State C h i ld Car e Po l ic i e s Prior to the 1990s, American child care policy was characterized by ideological stalemate. Liberals (most of whom were Democrats) advocated for an increase in publicly supported child care programs, while conservatives (most of whom were Republicans) opposed any type of government role in child care, which they considered strictly a private family domain. The debates over child care were deadlocked since President Richard M. Nixon’s stinging 1971 veto of a national child care bill. Enactment of the 1990 Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) marked the beginning of a new era as federal funds became available for states to subsidize child care for children younger than age 13 and to improve child care quality. The CCDBG was the first federal child care program not part of welfare or any other initiative. In 1996, Congress revised the CCDBG as part of welfare reform (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act), shifting the CCDBG’s emphasis from low-income working families, the target population for the 1990 law, to welfare recipients. Under the 1996 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families law (TANF), 50% of a state’s welfare recipients have to meet certain work requirements, with leeway given to parents of very young children, or the state risks losing TANF funding. In order for TANF recipients to work or participate in training or education programs, states need to provide child care assistance. This provision bolstered support for a sizable increase in federal child care funding. The 1996 law also renamed the CCDBG as the Child Care and

c h il d c a r e

Development Fund, signifying the merging of the CCDBG with several welfare-linked child care programs, although it is still commonly referred to as the CCDBG. Under the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, Congress reauthorized the TANF program and tightened its work requirements. This federal reauthorization further strengthened the linkage between child care and welfare policies in these two areas of state funding. C h i ld Car e Fundi ng In 2006, federal and state spending on child care from the TANF and child care block grants totaled approximately $11.7 billion, a slight drop from previous years. Approximately $4.9 billion of that amount came from the three CCDBG funding streams: mandatory, federal share of matching funds, and discretionary. Specifically, the federal government is mandated to allocate funding to each state, according to a formula determined by the CCDBG law. States receive matching funds as long as they spend a corresponding amount of their own funds and comply with other funding requirements. Congress determines the CCDBG discretionary funding each year under the appropriations law. In addition to CCDBG funding, states allocate funding for child care by redirecting TANF funds. States are allowed to transfer up to 30% of their TANF block grant funds to the CCDBG. They are also allowed to spend TANF funds directly on child care. Under the CCDBG, states must make vouchers available to parents to use at an eligible child care provider. Care for approximately 85% of children under the CCDBG is financed with vouchers. States may also enter into contracts with eligible providers who agree to hold a certain number of slots for publicly funded care. C C D B G El igi bi li t y Despite large federal and state investments in child care, millions of eligible children are not receiving assistance. One of the major reasons is because most states set their CCDBG income eligibility level below the maximum level (85% of state median income) allowed under federal law and even below the federal government’s recommended level (75% of state median income). At least 70% of state mandatory and matching funds must be spent on TANF families, those transitioning off TANF, or those at risk of becoming TANF dependent. This leaves only 30% of such funding for other low-income working families. Consequently, in many states these eligible families are on waiting lists for subsidized child care. Mindful of the importance of parental choice in child care policy making, the federal law grants states flexibility with regard to eligible providers. Thus, families receiving CCDBG assistance may use centers, group, or family providers or care in the child’s own home. Care provided by

• 15 9

religiously affiliated entities, relatives, or any other legal child care provider is also eligible for reimbursement under the CCDBG. C h i ld Car e Qualit y When discussing child care quality, it is important to note that the United States lacks federal child care standards. Efforts to approve such provisions have been highly controversial because of opposition from organizations and other constituencies that oppose a federally regulated child care system, prefer state flexibility over federal authority, or are concerned that federal child care standards could increase the cost to child care providers, thereby making tuition out of reach for low-income families. Instead of federal standards, the CCDBG stipulates that as a condition of federal funding states must have health and safety requirements in three areas: prevention and control of infectious diseases (including immunization), building and physical premises safety, and minimum health and safety training for the provider setting. These areas are distinct from child care licensing requirements, which states must also have in place in order to receive CCDBG funding. Licensing policies address issues such as group size, ratios of staff to children, and staff qualifications, with considerable variation across states. Another source of funding for child care quality is the CCDBG’s 4% set-aside for activities to improve quality and availability of care. Also, the CCDBG discretionary fund has a set-aside for quality expansion, a portion of which is designated for infant and toddler care. Under the CCDBG, states have the flexibility to establish higher payment rates for care that is above the level of quality required for licensure or federal funding. Examples include programs that receive national accreditation or inhome providers who obtain certain child care credentials. H e alth and Safet y of C h i ldr en i n C h i l d Car e To enhance the ability of child care providers to safeguard children’s health and safety, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Public Health Association (APHA), and National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care issued recommended standards. The second edition of their work, Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standard: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs (2002), contains 659 standards in areas such as staffing, health promotion, infectious diseases, and nutrition. Stepping Stones to Using Caring for Our Children: Protecting Children from Harm (2003) contains the 233 standards in Caring for Our Children that were considered to have the greatest impact on reducing frequent or severe disease, disability, and death in early education and child care settings. The federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau provided

160 •

ch ild c are

funding and other support for both Stepping Stones and Caring for Our Children. C h i ld Car e Advo cac y Organizations representing children, women, educators, labor unions, and community agencies have advocated for national child care legislation for decades. Following enactment of the 1990 CCDBG, child care policy deliberations shifted from one of whether the government should be involved in child care to what that role should be. In the early 2000s, child care advocates lobbied for reauthorization of the CCDBG and securing additional government funding, especially given the tightening of welfare-to-work requirements in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act. Aside from the funding issues, child care remains a policy arena full of challenges. Among them are the scarcity of care for welfare and other low-income parents who work evening and night shifts, difficulties getting children to child care settings in neighborhoods other than their own by having to rely on public transportation, and the lack of infant and toddler care, which is typically more expensive than care for other children because of its higher staff-tochild ratios. Recently, child care and early education advocates have focused on 3- to 4-year-olds as part of school readiness initiatives and the assumption that lawmakers can generally relate more to the child care needs of this age group than of infants and toddlers. Some policy makers think that having welfare recipients work as child care providers would solve two problems at once: welfare-to-work requirements and the low availability of child care providers. But this quick fix is not a viable solution, because without proper education in child development, safety, and other aspects of care, quality suffers and children are put at risk. Furthermore, child care providers’ low wages makes this an impractical option. Child care policy leaders and analysts often turn to other countries for ideas about how the United States might improve its policies. Other industrialized countries, especially Western Europe, usually have universal (available to all children) child care and early education, built upon paid family leave policies that foster parental care of infants. Some child care policy experts are beginning to propose ideas for replacing the block grant with plans that might lead to a more equitable distribution of benefits between welfare and other working low-income families. Others have suggested stronger coordination and linkage among child care, Head Start, and other early education programs. It is unclear if there is enough support among advocates and members of Congress to support any of these initiatives. Regardless, there is much to be done to ensure that children of all socioeconomic backgrounds, regardless of religion, race, or culture, have access to high-quality and affordable child care so that they can develop to the best of their potential. Sally S. Cohen

see also: Work and Home Life, Conﬂict between further reading: Caring for Infants and Toddlers, The Future of Children 11, no. 1 (Spring–Fall 2001). • S. S. Cohen, Championing Child Care, 2001. • Center for Law and Social Policy, http://www .clasp.org • National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center, http://www.nccic.org • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb

child selling. see Baby and Child Selling child support. Child support refers to the periodic payment of monetary assistance pursuant to a legally binding order or agreement for a child who does not reside with the payer. Today, all individuals recognized as a child’s legal parents may be required to pay child support. Nonparents may also be required to pay child support in some circumstances. The support obligation typically terminates when the child reaches the age of majority or becomes emancipated, although in some jurisdictions there may be a continuing obligation to support an incompetent adult child or to provide postmajority educational support. Th e H istory of C h i ld Support In most nations, the legal obligation to pay child support is of relatively recent origin. The first statement of such an obligation within Anglo-American sources is contained in the Elizabethan Poor Laws (1601), which instituted a comprehensive public welfare program and a legal duty to reimburse the state for benefits. This reimbursement obligation was not restricted to parents; grandparents were liable for the support of their grandchildren, husbands for the support of their wives, and adult children for support of their parents. The Poor Laws did not provide a mechanism for children to directly obtain support from an absent parent, and the common law also failed to provide such a remedy. Needy children were thus forced to seek public relief; only the state could enforce a parent’s support duty. This indirect approach to child support derived, in part, from the legal unity of the family. The common law vested virtually all income and property rights in the male household head; neither wives nor children had an enforceable support entitlement. Indeed, the legal identities of wives and children were so merged with that of the family patriarch that they could not individually maintain a lawsuit, even against an individual outside the family. Family relationships were also permanent: Legal divorce was unavailable and parental status interminable. The new social conditions produced by the Industrial Revolution produced a wave of laws that pierced both the unity and permanence of the family. Statutory divorce laws permitted spouses to terminate their marriages, and neglect laws enabled the state to terminate the rights of parents

c h il d s u p p o r t

who did not provide appropriate care. New support laws also authorized both former wives and children to directly obtain support from the family’s male breadwinner after separation from him. These new support laws also permitted the child to obtain more than subsistence benefits. Statutory standards specified that the support obligation should reflect the father’s income and the family’s prior standard of living insofar as the father’s current means permitted. Support values thus were subject to modification based on changes in the child’s or father’s circumstances, and judges were granted extensive discretion to fashion awards sensitive to each family’s circumstances. Little evidence exists on how courts exercised their discretion in awarding support. Although there is late 19thcentury data showing that alimony was awarded infrequently, there is virtually no information on the frequency with which child support was awarded, the level of payments, or the factors that judges deemed important in fashioning an award. The results produced by the new child-support laws are largely a mystery right up until the modern era. Mo d er n I n novat ion s i n C h i ld -Support L aw During the 1970s and 1980s, public authorities in many nations began, for the first time, to collect comprehensive data on child-support awards and payments. The impetus for this data collection effort—and the wave of child-support laws that accompanied it—were rising rates of family dissolution and dependence on public aid, the same concerns that motivated both the 16th-century Poor Laws and 19thcentury support innovations. In the United States, most of the new laws were initiated by the federal government, which pays for most public assistance to children, instead of the states, which traditionally have been responsible for the development of family law. One set of innovations focused on increasing the number of individuals with legal support obligations. Support duties were everywhere recast in gender-neutral terms so that mothers as well as fathers could be required to pay child support. Responding to dramatic increases in nonmarital birth rates and new, highly accurate paternity tests, legislatures also enacted laws designed to increase the rate of paternity establishment for nonmarital children. In the United States, the federal government required the states, as a condition of federal child-support funding, to adopt streamlined case-processing methods and enact statutes of limitation extending to 18 years after the child’s birth; it also mandated procedures for voluntary paternity acknowledgment. In some countries, but not the United States, support obligations were also extended to stepparents. A second set of innovations focused on increasing the likelihood that support would be paid. In the United States, the federal government established a tax-refund intercept

• 16 1

program and a parent-locator service. It also provided incentives to the states to institute new automated support systems, new laws to streamline and improve interstate support enforcement, and new penalties, such as passport revocation and license suspension, for nonpayment. Although the United States has not done so, many nations have gone further and adopted child-support assurance schemes. Under such a scheme, the support obligor, or person who is bound by legal obligation, makes payments to a governmental agency. Even if the obligor fails to pay, that agency sends at least some portion of the required payment to the payee. It also assumes the task of collecting unpaid support. Some nations have expanded the child-support assurance concept further by guaranteeing a minimum support payment; when the payer’s legal support obligation is less than this minimum, the state pays the difference. A third set of innovations aimed to achieve higher and more consistent award values. Surveys of support awards under traditional, discretionary standards showed that these standards produced inconsistent, but typically lowvalue, awards that produced, on average, a significant livingstandard loss for the child and gain for the payer parent. To alter this pattern, virtually all industrialized nations adopted numerical guidelines to govern support-value determination. Typically, these guidelines produce a presumptive award from which the decision maker may deviate based on one or another specified case characteristic. Although traditional support law had identified the living standard of the child’s intact family as the touchstone of support-value determination, no guidelines were designed to achieve this level of support. Instead, the vast majority aimed to produce an award value that roughly represents the proportion of total parental income the child would have received from the obligor had the parents lived together. Legislators’ preference for this “continuity-of-expenditure” approach over one aimed at maintaining the child’s living standard reflected several factors. First, because two households cannot live as economically as one, family separation ensures that some portion of the divided family will experience a living-standard loss. Second, because mothers typically earn less than fathers and obtain custody of the children 80% to 90% of the time, very large support transfers would often be required to maintain the children’s preseparation living standard. Transfers of this magnitude would create strong work and payment disincentives for payers, and in some cases they would also create serious hardship. The continuity-of-expenditure approach relies on consumer surveys of child-related outlay in intact families. This survey data is used to derive standardized percentages that reflect the number of children to be supported. The relevant percentage is applied to the payer’s income, as defined by a guideline formula, to yield an award value. The “percentage-of-obligor-income” and “income-shares” models are perhaps the most common continuity-of-expenditure

162 •

ch ild support

guideline types. Income-shares guidelines are typically more complex; most guidelines of this type take the payee’s income into account as well as the payer’s and require or permit add-ons to the basic support value for potentially large and variable expenditures associated with health or child care. Increasingly, both models also take account of time the child spends in the home of the payer. Because of variation in their details and income definitions, guidelines using similar methodologies often produce very different award values. For example, a 1997 survey of U.S. support guidelines found that the highest presumptive monthly award ($1,054) for a sample middle-income family was in Nebraska, an income-shares state, and that the second-lowest ($604) was in Kentucky, another incomeshares state. Cross-nationally, the values produced by support guidelines tend to bear an inverse relationship to the level of public support for single-parent families. In countries like Australia and the United States that offer minimal public support, guideline percentages are relatively high in comparison to those of countries like the Scandinavian nations that offer substantial public support. Many countries have entrusted the task of administering support guidelines to an administrative agency to lower costs to both the parties and the government. In other countries, notably the United States, courts or the parties themselves continue to determine support values. Th e Succ esses and Fai lur es of Moder n C h i ld -Support L aws Changes in child-support law have been accompanied by research showing that eligibility for child support is associated with a wide range of serious risks. Children living in single-parent households are far more likely than children in two-parent households to experience poverty, poor health, behavioral problems, delinquency, and low educational attainment. As adults, they have higher rates of poverty, early childbearing, and unstable personal relationships. Reduced economic status is the most important identifiable source of the disproportionate risk borne by children in single-parent households. Most of the research reports suggest that this factor is responsible for about half of the disadvantage associated with single parenting. Child-support assurance schemes that guarantee children a fairly generous level of state support clearly succeed in reducing child poverty and thus significantly reduce the risks associated with living in a single-parent household. For example, in the United States, where there is no childsupport assurance and relatively few child-related benefits, more than half of children living in single-mother homes were poor in the late 1990s. In Sweden, which has a generous child-support assurance system and a high level of child-related benefits, fewer than 10% were poor during this period. Child-support assurance systems are expensive,

however, and some experts assert that they may encourage family dissolution and nonsupport. The success of initiatives to improve the adequacy, consistency, and payment of child support by private support obligors is less clear. In 1978, the first year that the U.S. government collected national child-support data, 59% of support-eligible mothers had obtained support orders. About half of those awarded support received full payment, and the average value of support paid ($4,889 in 2001) represented less than half of what economists estimated as typical child-rearing costs. State research also documented consideration variation in award values among families with the same number of children and similar incomes. In 2001, the same U.S. government survey found that 63% of eligible mothers had obtained support orders. Slightly less than half (45%) of those with orders received full payment, and the average value of support paid ($3,192 in 2001) had actually declined in inflation-adjusted dollars. Research at the state level continued to document consideration variation in award values among families with the same number of children and similar incomes; some surveys showed that more than half of awards deviated from the presumptive values contained in the relevant support guideline, and more than 80% of deviations produced lower-thanguideline support amounts. These disappointing results do mask some successes, however. First, paternity-establishment reforms have improved outcomes for never-married mothers. In the United States, the award rate for this group more than doubled between 1978 and 2001; given the rising numbers of nevermarried mothers, current results would be much worse were it not for this improvement. Over the 1990s, the poverty rate of U.S. custodial mothers eligible for child support also fell markedly; in 1993, their poverty rate was 37% and in 2001, 25%. However, the single-mother poverty rate remained four times higher than that of married-couple households with children, and most of the poverty-rate improvement appears to be due to increased employment among custodial mothers rather than higher support payments. Governmental efforts to collect child support also cost money. During the late 1990s, U.S. child-support enforcement agencies spent about $1 for each $4 that they collected. Among the English-speaking nations, the highest return rate was in Australia (7:1) and the lowest in the United Kingdom (3:1). Marsha Garrison see also: Custody; Parenthood; Paternity and Maternity; Separation and Divorce further reading: Marsha Garrison, “Autonomy or Community? An Evaluation of Two Models of Parental Obligation,” California Law Review 86, no. 1 (1998), pp. 41–117. • J. Thomas Oldham and Marygold S. Melli, eds., Child Support: The Next Frontier, 2000. • William S. Comanor, ed., The Law and Economics of Child Support Payments, 2004.

c h il d b e a r in g, a d o l e s c e n t

childbearing, adolescent. Childbearing among youth in the United States has become increasingly visible to scholars, policy makers, and the general public as a consequence of several demographic trends. In spite of the fact that birth rates (i.e., the number of births per 1,000 women) were decreasing rapidly among teens (i.e., those ages 15 to 19) during the 1960s and 1970s, the entrance of the large baby boom cohort into adolescence during this period increased the absolute number of births to teen women, creating the illusion that teen birth rates were increasing. As birth rates among adult women have been declining more rapidly than rates among teen girls, the proportion of births occurring to teens has increased. Finally, the percentage of teen births occurring to nevermarried girls increased from 14.8% to 78.7% between 1960 and 2000. However, overall birth rates for teen girls declined from 89.1 to 48.7 during this same time period, and this decline occurred for non-Hispanic whites, nonHispanic blacks, and Hispanics. For women of all reproductive ages, increases in the proportion of births to unmarried women, termed the nonmarital fertility ratio, have been driven by decreases in marriage rates, increases in nonmarital birth rates, and decreases in marital birth rates. Changes in marriage have had a greater impact on the nonmarital fertility ratio than changes in reproductive behavior. For teens in particular, increases in the nonmarital birth ratio are less of a reflection of the rate at which unwed girls are becoming pregnant and more of a reflection of changes in the circumstances under which pregnant girls give birth. Teen women, like their older counterparts, have been decreasingly likely to marry in response to a premarital conception. Teen childbearing is associated with numerous factors. Girls born to an adolescent mother are more likely to become a teen parent than their counterparts born to older mothers, and girls living with a single mother or a stepparent in adolescence are more likely to have a teen birth than their counterparts who live with two biological parents. Girls are also more likely to become parents early if they have parents who are less educated or less economically advantaged or if they themselves have lower academic achievement or aspirations. Girls living in more disadvantaged communities (e.g., communities with larger percentages of impoverished families) are at greater risk of early parenthood, regardless of their own characteristics. Girls are more likely to have a teen birth if they reside in states with weaker child-support enforcement, but their chances of having an early birth increase only slightly, if at all, as the level of welfare benefits in their state increases. Yet, girls growing up in an Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)–receiving household are much more likely to have an early birth than girls whose parents did not receive welfare. Finally, girls are more likely to become

• 16 3

mothers early if they experience changes in family structure and income. Girls from more disadvantaged families and communities are more likely to have a child early because they associate it with fewer negative consequences. To the extent that these girls reject conventional paths to adulthood (i.e., marriage or a career) or view them as blocked, they perceive early motherhood as having fewer negative consequences. Girls born to or living with single mothers are not only directly exposed to unwed motherhood, but they also receive less monitoring and supervision. Girls who experience major life events, like parental divorce or unemployment, are thought to have a diminished sense of control over their future. Although the influence of various factors on the likelihood of early parenthood appears to have changed little over recent decades, racial and ethnic differences in early parenthood have changed. Up to the early 1990s, blacks had the highest teen birth rates, followed by Hispanics and then by non-Hispanic whites. Due to the large decline in teen birth rates among non-Hispanic blacks during the 1990s, Hispanics have surpassed blacks in their teen birth rates. As of 2000, rates for non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics were 32.6, 79.2, and 87.3, respectively. Higher birth rates among minority teens are due in part to their greater socioeconomic disadvantage. Differences in teen birth rates across racial groups and over time can be better understood by examining changes in the “proximate determinants” of fertility: sexual activity, contraception, abortion, and pregnancy. Declines in teen birth rates during the late 1990s have been linked to declines in pregnancy. A small fraction of the decline in pregnancy rates has been attributed to increases in sexual abstinence, but the remaining large share of the decline has been attributed to increases in contraceptive use. Other developed countries have similarly experienced large declines in teen birth rates over recent decades. Declining birth rates in developed countries have been attributed to the greater motivation to delay childbearing for the sake of pursuing an education and developing work skills and to increased knowledge of contraception and access to it. The decline in birth rates for U.S. teens has been considerably smaller than the decline observed in many other developed countries. Consequently, teen birth rates in the United States are high in comparison to those of Canada and European countries. The relatively higher birth rates among U.S. teens are only partly due to their greater socioeconomic disadvantage. Within all socioeconomic groups, U.S. youth tend to have higher teen birth rates than their counterparts from other developed countries. Nor are the higher birth rates on the part of U.S. teens due to greater levels of sexual activity. U.S. youth begin having sex around the same age as youth in other developed countries. U.S.

164 •

ch ildb e arin g, a do l es c en t

imagining each other

Launching a Reproductive Career in Kenya In 1980, Kenya had one of the world’s highest population growth rates. Although various population theories, using information about education, modernization, and Christianization, predicted that the nation’s fertility should have declined, it actually had increased. Exemplifying this situation was the village of Kikuyu farmers where I was working at the time, in the productive central highlands north of Nairobi, where completed family size had risen to around eight. My research with adolescents in this village from 1979 to 1981 suggested reasons that early and frequent childbearing persisted despite widespread education, modernization, and Christianization. Early insight came when one of the study participants, whom I shall call Wanjiku, took me home to visit her mother and hear about the recent marriage of her sister. Wanjiku, aged 16 and then in year three of high school, admired her sister, aged 21, for her good education, lucrative town job, and well-connected, afﬂuent husband. But she had also worried about how “old” her sister was before she married, the difﬁculty of ﬁnding an eligible husband, and the challenge of hanging on to a desirable man other women might steal. The large wedding had been a notable event, given the social and material status of both parties and the bride’s parents’ desire to demonstrate their success. The service had been held in the local Episcopal church, known for prudent congregants oriented to Westernized modernity, progress, and upward mobility. Arrangements—ﬂowers, guest list, clothing, hospitality, and bride-price from the groom’s parents—had absorbed months of planning and negotiation. The selection of a white satin wedding gown and veil had featured promi-

youth are said to have higher teen birth rates because of other factors: a weaker consensus that childbearing is only an adult behavior, less accepting attitudes toward teen sex, less access to family planning services, and less extensive youth development programs. Teen childbearing continues to be an issue of concern not only because of increases in the proportion of teen births to unwed mothers, but also because it is associated with negative outcomes for mothers and children alike. To consider just a few examples, teen mothers are less likely than their counterparts without an early birth to complete high school and to marry, and the children of teen mothers are less likely than the children of older mothers to receive prenatal care. More recently, scholars have argued that some of the negative outcomes associated with early childbearing are not a consequence of having a teen birth but a reflection of conditions that existed prior to the birth. According to this argument, girls whose life chances are more precarious are more likely to select themselves into early motherhood; these girls would have had comparable experiences even if they had postponed a birth. It has also been argued that teen childbearing is less consequential

nently. The picture-book wedding was, in Wanjiku’s words, “just like the magazines.” Given the constrained modesty of village lifestyles, I had been intrigued by how Western the wedding sounded and was keen to learn more about it. Wanjiku and I entered the cinder-block, tin-roofed house, stepped onto the prized concrete ﬂoor, and sat on a vinyl sofa in a scrupulously clean living room complete with TV. After serving strong, steaming milk-and-sugar tea in a ﬂowered enamel mug and regaling me with a general account of events, Wanjiku’s mother proudly exhibited the big wedding album. Following sedate shots of people and settings, we ﬁnally turned to the full-page picture of the beaming bride and groom. The bride was indeed lovely and the groom quite impressive, but I was stunned: The white satin front of the dress bulged roundly to accommodate a very advanced pregnancy. Too astonished to inquire at the time, I later learned this was viewed as a desirable state of affairs. An established pregnancy represents, in local idiom, the “proof of the pudding.” For traditional Kikuyu society, sexual compatibility and a woman’s fertility potential were important preconditions for marriage. Tradition favored early marriage for women and valued large families for production and protection. Historical accounts report an extensive ritual initiation and social agenda for youth that included ngweko, mutual masturbation with interfemoral clitero-penile contact without penetration. Although these accounts insist that premarital pregnancy didn’t happen, the attitude toward intimacy as part of mate selection apparently persisted even as the custom of ngweko disappeared: A survey of village households revealed

now than it was in the past, due to changes in institutional responses (i.e., pregnant teens are no longer required to drop out of school) and reduced stigma surrounding single parenthood. Little is known about the relationship context of births to “single” teen girls or about the fathers of their children. Statistics based on mothers of all ages reveal that the number of births that occur to cohabiting girls is growing and substantial. Information that teen mothers report about fathers on birth certificates suggests that teen fatherhood is much less common than teen motherhood. It is estimated that only about a third of the partners of teen girls are teens themselves, and about a fifth of them are 25 years old or older. Kara Joyner see also: Abortion; Adolescent Decision Making, Legal Perspectives on; Adoption; Demography of Childhood; Health and Sex Education further reading: C. A. Bachrach, “The Changing Circumstances of Marriage and Fertility,” in Robert A. Mofﬁtt, ed., Welfare, the Family and Reproductive Behavior, 1998, pp. 9–32. • Frank F. Furstenberg, “Teenage Childbearing as a Public Issue and Private Concern,” American Review of Sociology 29, no. 1 (2003), pp. 23–39. • Centers

c h il d h o o d r e s il ie n c e

• 16 5

Launching a Reproductive Career in Kenya (continued)

for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Birth Data, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm • Child Trends, http://www.childtrends.org • Guttmacher Institute, http:// www.guttmacher.org

childhood resilience. Since the last two decades of the 20th century, mental health professionals have focused on the question of why some children cope successfully with major adversities in their lives, while others develop serious and persistent emotional problems. The resilience these children display is not a fixed trait but a dynamic process that enables them to deal effectively with adversity in their lives. Current knowledge about the roots of resilience comes from a dozen longitudinal studies (studies of populations followed over time) that extend from Hawaii and California to the Midwest and the eastern parts of the United States. These studies include Asian American, African American, and Caucasian children who have been followed at different developmental stages. Among them are youngsters who managed to cope successfully with poverty, parental abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, family discord, and divorce.

marriage or an illegal abortion that risked reproductive health. Fear of infertility after abortion and untreated sexually transmitted disease was a common concern in everyday as well as clinical and public health discourse. Then, even if one secured a well-educated husband with good ﬁnancial prospects, legal polygyny raised the risk that a second wife would step in later and divert hard-won resources. Wanjiku’s older sister’s best friend, an accomplished minister’s daughter, was holding out for a “good” marriage without premarital pregnancy, but with no success despite her advantages. By contrast, a less ambitious, local, farm-based marriage and a judicious premarital pregnancy could seem attractive. Therefore, young women like Wanjiku must weigh carefully modern and traditional routes to marriage against the need to maintain reproductive health and start a successful reproductive career. Wanjiku herself did less well in school than had her sister: Her postprimary exam score merely merited placement in the local high school, which predictably led to scores insufﬁcient for university admission. She opted to remain safely at home and cultivate domestic and farm management skills for which her mother was famous. She volunteered as a high school aide. Within months, Wanjiku was visibly pregnant, and her happy parents announced that their 18-year-old daughter was soon to be married to a high school teacher who would also inherit the farm holdings of their sonless family. Thus, she was safely launched on a long and fertile reproductive career. (Note that fertility behavior changed during the 25 years after this research: by 2006, the total fertility rate had fallen to 5.0.) Carol M. Worthman

imagining each other

that most ﬁrst births came a few months after marriage. Thereafter, births occurred about every two years and continued as long as possible. In the uncertainties of a modernizing world, many children were needed to ensure at least one would succeed and support one’s old age. Pregnancy constituted proof of both sexual competence and the woman’s fertility and set the stage for marriage. As villagers put it, pregnancy established the prospective bride as “healthy.” With harambee, or progress, the age at marriage for young women had gone up to age 20, postponed by schooling and work, both of which were desirable accomplishments in a bride. Such delay also increased possible need for contraceptives and abortion to prevent premature childbearing. Both were believed to damage fertility, increasing the chance that a young woman becomes “lost,” incapable of childbearing. Consequently, concern for a prospective bride’s “health” increased, and pressure for premarital pregnancy to demonstrate it intensiﬁed. For Wanjiku and her peers, to coordinate securing a husband with launching a childbearing career posed a crucial and risky challenge. Children, more than husbands, were essential to a woman’s worth and dignity in old age, but a husband was needed for access to land and other material and social resources for child rearing. Romantic love, as one mother noted, just interfered with the practical business of family. Pursuit of education and employment enhanced marriageability but stalled the marriage-childbearing project. Delay was risky. Sexual predators commonly plagued young women, particularly if they roomed away from home while studying or working in town, and might force an undesired pregnancy and

Their findings are complemented by the results of longitudinal studies from Australia and New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden, and Great Britain and Germany. The individual’s characteristics and sources of support in the family and community that are associated with successful coping among these high-risk children have been replicated in all these different geographic contexts, with different socioeconomic and ethnic groups, and in different historical periods—from the children of the Great Depression to the child survivors of World War II to contemporary children on three continents. In most cases, these protective factors in the child and her environment also predicted benefit to “low-risk” children. Children who have coped successfully with adversity tended to be in good physical health and were less easily distressed in adversity than those who developed learning and behavior problems. Resilient children had an active, sociable, “engaging temperament” and possessed good communication and problem-solving skills, including the ability to attract substitute caregivers. They had a particular talent or skill that was valued by their elders or peers and a conviction that their actions could make a positive differ-

166 •

ch ildhood res i l i en c e

ence in their lives. They enjoyed school, had realistic educational and vocational plans, and assisted others in need. Resilience was also fostered by external resources in the family and community. Foremost was a competent, caring mother; a close relationship with a primary caregiver that nurtured trust; and affectionate bonds with alternate caregivers, such as grandparents or older siblings, teachers, and elder mentors. An external support system in the neighborhood, school, church, or youth groups that rewarded competence and provided them with positive role models and a faith to live by enhanced resilience. The children who made a successful adaptation in the context of adversity were not passively reacting to the constraints of negative circumstances. Instead, they actively sought resources within their family and community that increased their competencies, opened up new opportunities, and decreased the number of stressful life events they subsequently encountered. Children who displayed greater autonomy and social competence in their preschool years encountered fewer stressful life events by age 10. Boys and girls with higher scholastic competence at age 10 reported fewer stressful life events in adolescence. Youths who displayed a higher degree of self-efficacy in their teens experienced fewer stressful life events in adulthood. The processes that linked individual dispositions and competencies with sources of support from the family and community highlight the importance of the early childhood years in laying the foundation for resilience. The possibility of recovery from a troubled childhood or adolescence at later stages of development is enhanced if an individual is able to draw on a foundation of secure attachment and supportive care in the early years. Just as risk factors tend to cluster in a specific developmental period, so do protective factors. The presence of variables that buffer adversity at one point in time also makes it more likely that other protective mechanisms come into play at a later time. Tur ni ng Poi n ts i n Li fe Tr a jector i es Several longitudinal studies in the United States and Great Britain have shown that most high-risk children who were troubled adolescents turned their lives around in young adulthood and became responsible partners, parents, and citizens. Among the most potent forces resulting in positive changes in their lives were continuing education at community colleges, educational and vocational skills acquired during military service, marriage to a stable partner, membership in a religious group that required active participation in a “community of faith,” and recovery from a life-threatening illness or accident. The individuals who used such opportunities and whose life trajectories subsequently took a positive turn differed in significant ways from those who did not. They were more active and sociable, had been rated as less anxious by their parents and teachers, were more competent problem

solvers and readers, and had been exposed to more positive interactions with their primary caregivers in infancy and early childhood than youths whose coping problems persisted. Gen d er D i f f er enc e s All longitudinal studies of risk and resilience report gender differences that vary with the stages of the life cycle. In the prenatal period and infancy, more males than females perish or have serious physical problems. In childhood and adolescence, more boys than girls tend to develop serious learning and behavior problems and display more externalizing symptoms (acting-out behaviors). In late adolescence and young adulthood, more girls than boys are subject to internalizing symptoms, especially depression. Among the high-risk youth who had grown into troubled teenagers, more females than males managed to make a successful transition into adulthood. Protective factors within the individual—an engaging temperament, scholastic competence, and self-efficacy—tended to make a greater contribution to the quality of adult adaptation for females; external resources in the family and community tended to make a greater impact on the lives of males who successfully overcame childhood adversities. Gen e -En v i ro n m en t I n t er ac t io n s Longitudinal studies in the United States, Europe, and Australia have all shown that pre- and perinatal complications are linked to negative outcome in genetically vulnerable children, especially the offspring of alcoholic, depressed, and schizophrenic mothers. Several studies have suggested that in the case of antisocial behavior and depression, environmental risk factors operate most strongly with genetically vulnerable children. Investigators in Dunedin, New Zealand, have demonstrated that the frequency of subsequent antisocial behavior and depression displayed by abused children is moderated by genes that regulate the production of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin. Individuals with one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HTT gene exhibited slightly more (self-reported) depressive symptoms in adulthood than did individuals homozygous for the long allele. Emergi ng Issues i n th e Study of R esi li enc e The evidence for the phenomenon of childhood resilience comes almost exclusively from studies conducted in industrialized countries. Cross-cultural perspectives on the development of children from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East are urgently needed. Many of these children now enter North America and Europe as immigrants and refugees. Researchers need to know more about individual dispositions and sources of support that enable them to transcend cultural boundaries and about the role

c ir c u m c is io n , f e m a l e

of resilience in the face of war, displacement, and political violence. An exciting new avenue of research is focusing on cardiovascular reactivity and immune competence as moderators of children’s vulnerability to stressful life events. Further research on the role of psychobiological reactivity to both physical and emotional stressors should become an important item on the agenda of behavioral scientists interested in resilience. Finally, there is a need to document the effectiveness of intervention programs that attempt to alter the course of development of children who live in adversity, from preschool programs to mentoring programs in high school. Some of these intervention programs, like the Chicago-based ChildParent centers (for 3- to 9-year-olds) and the Big Brothers/ Big Sisters program (for 10- to 16-year-olds), have proved to be effective in combating school failure, violence, and drug abuse. Children from the poorest neighborhoods profited the most. It is unlikely that there is a model intervention program that will succeed every time with every child who grows up in adversity. But it is imperative to map the diverse pathways and contexts in the family, school, and community that increase competence and self-efficacy, decrease the negative effects of psychosocial and biological risk factors for children, and open up opportunities. Emmy E. Werner see also: Poverty, Children in; Stress; Temperament; Violence, Children and; War, Children and further reading: J. David Hawkins and Richard F. Catalano, eds., Communities That Care: Prevention Strategies: A Research Guide to What Works, 2000. • Michael Rutter, “Resilience Reconsidered: Conceptual Considerations, Empirical Findings, and Policy Implications,” in Jack P. Shonkoff and Samuel J. Meisels, eds., Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention, 2nd ed., 2000, pp. 651–82. • Emmy E. Werner and Ruth S. Smith, Journeys from Childhood to Midlife: Risk, Resilience and Recovery, 2001. • Sam Goldstein and Robert Brooks, eds., Handbook of Resilience in Children, 2005.

children’s hospitals. see Hospitalization chorionic villus sampling. see Genetics: Genetic Testing

circumcision, female. Female circumcision, also widely referred to as female genital cutting or female genital mutilation, is an umbrella term for a wide range of practices involving the alteration of the external female genitalia. It can entail any of a number of procedures, varying in severity and including symbolic pricking of the clitoral prepuce, partial or complete clitoridectomy, excision of all or part of the inner labia, and infibulation, in which all the external genitalia are cut and then stitched nearly shut. These practices historically have been performed in numerous cultures across Africa as well as in some parts of the

• 16 7

Middle East, Malaysia, and India, but it should not be assumed that the custom is “ancient and entrenched” everywhere it is found. Instead, it is a practice in flux: abandoned in some contexts, adopted in others, and widely undergoing alterations, particularly in that accompanying ritual is often falling away and girls are generally circumcised at a younger and younger age. Although the prevalence rate for female circumcision is much higher in some nation-states than others, ethnicity is a better indicator of whether a person or community practices circumcision or not, and frequently practicing groups straddle national boundaries. Female circumcisions were historically practiced in the West as well, as a Victorian “cure” for perceived female ailments including “hysteria.” Presently, there is a widespread global campaign opposed to female circumcision, including resistance to any medical support intended to make it less harmful; and while male circumcision in Africa increasingly is performed in clinical settings or with some medical support, this is much less common for female circumcision, which has become highly stigmatized by activist campaigns and is often illegal. Although religious rationales are sometimes offered for female circumcision, it is not explicitly mandated by Islam or Christianity. In many societies, female circumcision is seen as equivalent to male circumcision, and there are very few contexts in which female, but not male, circumcision is practiced. Often, female circumcision has been performed in the context of coming-of-age ritual or as preparation for marriage. While it is commonly assumed that the reason for performing circumcision is to suppress female sexuality, this reason is not necessarily stated by practitioners themselves, who often invoke the importance of “tradition” and adhering to powerful female peer conventions, nor does the evidence necessarily indicate that the practice has the actual effect of eliminating female sexual desire or pleasure. As the ages at which girls are circumcised go down, this becomes increasingly an issue affecting children. The focus of anticircumcision campaigns has over the years somewhat shifted from an emphasis on the health effects of these practices—which vary greatly, depending on the type of procedure—to combating them as violations of the human rights of women and children. A standard approach to opposing circumcision practices performed on minors is rooted in claims of child abuse and violations against the United Nations’ Declaration of the Rights of the Child (UNDRC). Scholars have pointed out, however, that such claims risk alienating and putting on the defensive parents and other relatives who—while believing that they are acting in the best interest of the child—become accused of being incompetent and/or abusive. It may be problematic, as well, to simply refer to the assertion in the UNDRC that every child has the right to “develop . . . in a normal manner” in

168 •

circum cision , fema l e

Empowering Girls in Sierra Leone

imagining each other

I n i t i at io n i n to t h e B o n d o S o c i et y

In Sierra Leone, West Africa, different ethnic groups initiate all male and female youth into status groups, which are sometimes referred to by the Western misnomer “secret societies.” Anthropologists have described this cultural region as the Poro/Sande zone, in reference to the male (Poro) and female (Sande) institutions that govern the initiations of preadolescents. It used to be commonly asserted in Sierra Leone that no person could become a head of state, or even a serious politician, without the grassroots support of Sande and Poro leaders from the interior of the country. Among the ethnically Kono people, who inhabit the eastern part of Sierra Leone, the women’s “secret society” is also known as Bondo. In the past, a high-ranking woman, called Soko, from one of the founding lineages typically established a Bondo chapter, and all girls within the jurisdiction were required to be initiated and put under this chapter and the senior woman’s authority. The Bondo social hierarchy paralleled that of its Poro (male) counterpart. As with the Bondo leader, the head of the Poro was a senior male authority from one of the founding lineages; all uninitiated boys in his village or jurisdiction had to be initiated into his Poro “bush.” Initiation into either a Bondo or Poro chapter called for a surgical refashioning of the genitals, a process known as excision for females or circumcision for males. This process took place at parallel ages and for reasons related to the development of adult gender identity. In Kono society, all principal male and female political and religious advisors usually held high-ranking roles within Poro and Bondo as well. Thus, the

cultural contexts in which being circumcised is to develop in a “normal” manner. Increasingly, children are seen as having cultural rights, along with more basic rights to, for example, food and shelter, and some observers have pointed to the irony inherent in the fact that, according to international law, children have both a right to practice their culture, under Article 30, and a right to be protected against traditions prejudicial to their health, under Article 24(3). These issues become more sharply focused as individuals from circumcising societies migrate. A number of observers point out that if girls were to be made to undergo circumcision procedures in exile settings, without the strength of previous community support, the procedures would likely be perceived as far more traumatic than would have been the case “at home.” What one child may perceive as a fulfilling “traditional” coming-of-age ceremony associated with her home society, another child born or raised elsewhere may experience as traumatic violence and alienation. Therefore, even those critical of a blanket condemnation of all circumcision procedures agree that allowing any such operations would have to be tied to an age of consent, although the

institutions of Poro, Bondo, and initiation were inextricably linked with and reinforced by traditional dual-sex sociopolitical institutions and cosmology. According to traditional Kono cosmology, before a child entered Bondo or Poro, he or she was considered an “androgynous” or confusingly dual-sex male or female child. Thus, the purpose of initiation was to transform a dual-sex, androgynous, or “protosocial” child into a socially recognized single-sex male or single-sex female person. The rite of male circumcision involved the removal of the foreskin (a female element in the male, reminiscent of the “feminine” prepuce), which symbolically effected the creation of a male sex. The rite of female excision involved the removal of the “masculine” clitoris (a male element in the female) and represented the ritual creation of a female sex. The single-sex female and single-sex male persons were then brought together in the institution of marriage, where they reproduced the next generation. Preadolescent and adolescent girls traditionally entered Bondo accompanied by female elders, such as their grandmothers, as well as numerous other initiated female cousins, relatives, and friends. After several traditional rites involving relatives from both their mothers’ and fathers’ family lines, the young initiates were taken to the river and ritually washed with protective medicines and painted with white clay to mark their anomalous status; their hair was braided and they were carried off to the ritual operation site, where they were excised by a specially trained female operator. The newly initiated girls, called sandene, were then congratulated and celebrated

issue of informed consent is complicated by diverse cultural ideas regarding age of maturity and the decision-making powers of children versus parents. Ylva Hernlund see also: Circumcision, Male; Rites of Passage further reading: Bettina Shell-Duncan and Ylva Hernlund, eds., Female “Circumcision” in Africa: Culture, Controversy, and Change, 2000. • Ellen Gruenbaum, The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective, 2001.

circumcision, male. The routine surgical removal of infant boys’ foreskins for a medical rather than ritual rationale has an accidental origin, an increasingly contentious status, and an uncertain legal and moral future even as the procedure gains scientific interest as a public health measure for stemming the spread of HIV, especially in parts of Africa. Male circumcision has long occurred among Jews and Muslims, as well as in many societies outside the monotheistic tradition, especially in East and West Africa. But the common medical procedure dates only to the mid-19th century. In 1870, Dr. Lewis Sayre, an orthopedic surgeon

c ir c u m c is io n , m a l e

• 16 9

Empowering Girls in Sierra Leone (continued)

examining the partial paralysis of a 6-year-old boy’s legs, was cautioned by the nurse to avoid the child’s sore penis, which Sayre later described as “irritated and imprisoned” in an infected foreskin. The next day, Sayre surgically removed the boy’s foreskin, and the child’s penis, legs, and overall health quickly improved. Thereafter, Sayre championed the use of circumcision as a routine procedure to improve the physical and psychological well-being of boys. It rapidly became normative in the United States and Britain but also, to a lesser extent, Australia. In traditional societies, male circumcision occurs before marriage. Typically, the procedure is linked to a rite of passage that includes moral and religious education about adulthood. In the West, however, it became an element of modernization. No single factor explains the rapid and widespread acceptance of routine circumcision to non-Jews in the late 19th century, although the wider scientific and sociocultural contexts of the Victorian era are instructive. The routine procedure took hold in, and likely legitimated, the rise of the modern medical professions, which included a shift from home births to hospital deliveries. Indeed, male

communities. Although it is doubtful that international efforts have prevented women from carrying on their traditions to any signiﬁcant degree, clearly there are now many different, often conﬂicting, voices on the contemporary meanings and future of these women’s rituals in Sierra Leone. In the words of a 23-year-old Sierra Leonean American woman studying in the United Kingdom: It’s been 15 years since my initiation and I still ﬁnd it difﬁcult to come to terms with my experience. On the one hand I feel that I can relate to my extended female cousins or fellow Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora who have also gone through Bondo. They admire the fact that we have something so personal in common. We share an exclusive bond and I feel proud to be a part of this intimate circle. Yet the response from some of my close African girlfriends who have not undergone this practice is a lot more judgmental and disapproving. They consider it to be a backward tradition that serves as a tool for men to suppress women sexually. They feel that young girls have little if any say in the matter and are forced to endure pointless physical and emotional pain. Many of them do not know that I have been through Bondo. I feel ashamed to conﬁde in them something they have described to me as disgusting. Fuambai Sia Ahmadu

imagining each other

by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of women, dancing, clapping, ululating, tossing money, and singing songs of women’s reproductive powers. Many adult women fondly recall these celebrations—their honored status, their special treatment, the solidarity and sisterhood with coinitiates, and the joviality of the Bondo masquerade. Among the older generation, the physical pain of excision is often talked about in terms of female “stoicism” and “bravery” and is associated with women’s ability to withstand and survive childbirth, among other positive attributes. Today, there are many variations in “traditional” initiation ceremonies. These are a result of complex global forces, including the interactions between colonialism, modernity, and the spread of Christian missionary and Islamic schooling and religious practices. Since the 1990s, massive emigration due to a protracted war and increasing poverty have also affected initiation and excision in multiple ways, particularly with respect to the timing of ceremonies, the length of seclusion, modiﬁcations in “traditional” genital cutting, age at excision, and so on. The ceremonies also have been affected by other forces related to globalization and postmodernity, such as a growing international opposition to and condemnation of what abolitionists have called female genital mutilation (FGM). Criminalization of FGM and coordination of international efforts to eradicate the varied practices in African countries have in many ways stigmatized women’s initiation and excision traditions and placed signiﬁcant pressure on national governments to do more to eliminate these practices within their

further reading: Fuambai Ahmadu, “Rites and Wrongs: An Insider/Outsider Reﬂects on Power and Excision,” in B. ShellDuncan and Ylva Hernlund, eds., Female “Circumcision” in Africa: Culture, Controversy, and Change, 2000.

circumcision through World War II was a bodily token of parents’ medical sophistication, education, faith in science, and wealth. Circumcision, too, fit with the prevailing notion of the human body and disease. The reigning view of physiology held that a delicate web of nervous energy permeated the body. Physical and mental diseases were understood to result from excess stimulation or agitation. Removal of the sensitive foreskin would, in this view, prevent any unhealthy genital irritation. The procedure was prophylactic. Circumcision was also understood to prevent early childhood phimosis, or the condition of a nonretractable foreskin. Circumcision also addressed two moral outlooks current in the Victorian era. First, Victorian reformers severely censored licentiousness as antithetical to proper piety, work, moral citizenship, marriage, and childbearing. Circumcision was understood to curtail boyhood masturbation by removing the easily aroused foreskin, thereby directing youthful energies to social, productive, and reproductive labors rather than more prurient and solitary pursuits. Indeed, the rise of male circumcision corresponded with a broad sense among religious leaders that society needed a

170 •

circum cision , ma l e

vigorous moral and bodily rehabilitation—everything from physical education and a healthy diet to circumcision. Second, public heath reformers aggressively targeted immigrants and the cities for a thoroughgoing moral and bodily cleansing. With the rise of the germ theory of disease, various locations on the body and body politic were marked for sanitizing, including foreskins. Circumcision emerged as a neonatal rite of passage into the modern world and its commitment to medical science and increased state scrutiny of the health of citizens. Through the early part of the 20th century, male circumcision slowly gained status as a normative neonatal procedure in tandem with the medicalization of birth. In the early 1930s, physicians started to advocate circumcision as a preventive for penile cancer and venereal diseases, especially syphilis. The latter rationale gained importance during World War II. At this time, circumcision was largely associated with white, middle-class, urban-dwelling men and, of course, Jews. The procedure was rare among the rural poor and African Americans and was seen partly as an effort at modernizing these underclasses. Specialized clamps were developed as early as the mid-1930s. After World War II, the procedure declined dramatically in Britain with the creation of the National Health Service in 1948. English physicians failed to agree on the medical benefits of circumcision and so excluded it from automatic coverage. Since the United States lacked a national health plan, there was little incentive to formulate a singular policy. Consequently, the medical procedure persisted—albeit with increasing debate. In the post–World War II era, American physicians and health care associations increasingly promoted male circumcision. The rationale no longer centered on masturbatory fears. It still included protection against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and penile cancer as well as defense against urinary tract infections (UTIs) and cervical cancer. By the early 1960s, the rate of routine male circumcision in the United States approached 90%. Comparable high rates exist today in Israel, South Korea, and the Philippines (in the latter two countries the practice was adopted as a result of American influence and scientific prestige, although in South Korea the surgery is not typically neonatal). Most non-Jewish American parents agreed to circumcise their newborn sons not from any detailed medical knowledge but from a vague, diffuse sense of hygiene and a largely unquestioned approach to medical authority. Many parents, too, believed it best for their sons to resemble their fathers and subscribed to a general sense of foreskinless aesthetics. The normal American penis was foreskinless. Today, however, increasing debate swirls around the procedure. Most American medical organizations such as the American Pediatrics Association now acknowledge some health benefits to male circumcision. Yet they no longer endorse its routine occurrence. Approximately 60% of

all newborn American boys are now circumcised after birth, a rate unmatched by any other English-speaking country. The rate is greatest in the Northeast (80%), then decreases in the South and Midwest (60% to 70%), and is lowest in the West (40%). Approximately 20% to 30% of the males in the world are circumcised. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that Americans spend $70 million annually on the procedure. Individual states regulate the procedure as practiced by physicians and Jewish ritual circumcision specialists. In many states, Medicaid no longer automatically covers the surgery. When viewed in context of the overall annual health expenditure of the United States, however, which was a bit under $2 trillion in 2005, the per capita and total cost of the operation is infinitesimal. Since the 1980s, growing opposition to routine and ritual circumcision has stridently argued against any demonstrable medical benefit to the procedure that cannot otherwise be achieved through proper hygiene and safe sexual practices. The anticircumcision or “genital integrity” movement sees the procedure as a form of child abuse that violates the Hippocratic oath, impairs the boy’s later ability to fully enjoy sexual pleasure, and, most outlandishly, results in all manner of psychological distress, including rage, hate, fear, betrayal, shame, distrust, victimization, powerlessness, withdrawal, low self-esteem, and emotional numbing, all of which circumcised men allegedly attempt to overcome through promiscuity, competition, misogyny, and alcohol and drug abuse. If, in many respects, early circumcision advocates pinned their hopes for medical modernization on the removal of the foreskin, current circumcision opponents see the practice as the source of contemporary anxieties about masculinity. Additionally, circumcision opponents routinely vilify Jews, whom they erroneously believe responsible for the spread of the procedure in the United States. Some well-known “intactivists” have even gone so far as to argue that Jews infl ict the procedure on non-Jews as a way of avenging the Holocaust! It is, to be sure, wholly appropriate to questions the utility and morality of any routine medical procedure, especially one enacted on children and infants. Circumcision opponents routinely exaggerate the potential for harm from the procedure and routinely neglect all studies that find that circumcision is medically efficacious. Still, it is reasonable to ask, as they do, whether the supposed benefits mandate the performance of circumcision on infants. Is the procedure truly in the best interests of the child? Would it not be equally efficacious to allow older boys to consent? Do the medical benefits, moreover, which are preemptive, justify parents making a body-altering decision for their sons? An increasingly common legal challenge to male circumcision hinges on the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution since female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, is illegal.

c iv ic e d u c a t io n

As legal and moral challenges to the surgery grow in the United States, so, too, does evidence begin to accumulate from Africa that the procedure inhibits the female-tomale spread of HIV and AIDS, which is the main path of the disease in Africa. Recent studies have claimed that the foreskin, which is susceptible to minute scratches and tears, contains specialized cells (e.g., Langerhans) that readily join with HIV and other pathogens. Many Western-trained scientists, and local African cultures, now promote circumcision as one element in a broad program to contain the African AIDS epidemic. Eric Kline Silverman see also: Circumcision, Female; Judaism; Rites of Passage further reading: David L. Gollaher, Circumcision: A History of the World’s Most Controversial Surgery, 2000. • Eric Kline Silverman, “Anthropology and Circumcision,” Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (2004), pp. 419–45. • Shaye Cohen, Why Aren’t Jewish Women Circumcised: Gender and Covenant in Judaism, 2005. • Eric Kline Silverman, From Abraham to America: A History of Jewish Circumcision, 2006.

civic education. The goals of civic education are to develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and attachments of children as citizens within their society. Whether civic education is effective in producing good citizens depends, in part, on how one defines citizenship. Some commentators divide citizenship into three types: the personally responsible citizen who demonstrates citizenship through individual acts such as volunteering, the participatory citizen who engages in local community affairs and stays current on local and national issues, and the justice-oriented citizen who, like the participatory citizen, emphasizes collective work toward community betterment while maintaining a more critical stance on social, political, and economic issues. Civic education in the United States aims to foster the development of adult citizens with some combination of these skills and dispositions. Civic education takes place in formal educational settings such as schools as well as in nonformal educational contexts such as community-based organizations and families. Families exert direct and indirect influences on children’s civic education. Parents model behaviors such as voting and volunteering, shape children’s values concerning contributing to the common good, and typically choose the communitybased institutions in which their children engage. Children’s civic education also is influenced by their family’s socioeconomic status. Compared to economically stressed families, in middle-class homes and communities children are more likely to have access to opportunities for civic engagement through their schools and community-based organizations. Besides families, community-based organizations such as 4-H, Boys and Girls Clubs, and Scouts provide a venue for children’s civic education. The development of citizenship is a prominent goal listed in the mission statements of many community-based youth organizations, and membership

• 17 1

during one’s youth in such organizations is one of the best predictors of civic engagement in adulthood. Civic knowledge is the content typically associated with a social studies education. Courses in history and government convey information that enables young people to exercise the rights and fulfill the obligations of citizenship. Content analyses of civics textbooks suggest that there is more emphasis on the rights than on the responsibilities of citizens. In addition, the framing of citizenship in most textbooks fails to clarify the citizen’s obligation to participate in political life in order to defend and preserve civil liberties. According to national studies of high school students, the content that students learn in civics classes does affect their level of civic knowledge, especially if that content is meaningful and is combined with practices that enable students to act on the knowledge. Content is more meaningful if it is connected in some way to students’ lives. For students from ethnic minority backgrounds, this can mean ensuring that the history and contributions of their ethnic group are included as part of the national story. Adolescents in general tend to remember information about due process and governmental structure when studying the laws regulating driver’s licenses. National studies also show that students understand local government better than the federal government, possibly because the federal government is distant from things that matter in their everyday lives such as the safety of their neighborhoods or the quality of their local schools. Students are less likely to appreciate and remember history if it is taught as a series of disjointed events, major figures, and “facts.” Rather, history comes alive for students if they understand that it is a product of collective actions, of competing perspectives, and often of the struggles of groups to attain their rights as citizens. Indeed, students’ motivation to learn and their retention of civic information is enhanced by controversy, whether through debates in class, discussions of current events in which competing perspectives are aired, or contested views of historical events. Too often, only the “good parts” of history (such as the passage of the Civil Rights Act) are taught, with little attention to the negative parts (such as the laws supporting segregation and the acts of civil disobedience) that preceded them. Controversy motivates students because they learn that it matters to have an opinion and to take a stand. Knowledge is a necessary but not sufficient goal of civic education. To be engaged citizens, students also have to develop civic skills such as clarifying their arguments and communicating their opinions in public, listening to others’ perspectives, organizing activities and groups, and assuming leadership. Young people gain such skills through practice, largely in extracurricular or community-based activities. The most effective models emphasize a partnership between youth and adults in which young people take the

172 •

civic educat ion

lead and adults act as mentors or coaches. Typically, these nonformal educational settings offer more opportunities than do classrooms for young people to assume authority and be in charge. If youth have a say in the projects that the group takes on, they are exercising their voice in the organization. But the group’s projects cannot succeed unless the members assume responsibility and pitch in. To the extent that young people identify with the organization and feel like they have a voice in it, they are more likely to develop a sense of responsibility and obligation to the organization and its mission. Exercising rights and assuming responsibilities that benefit the common good are civic behaviors. Thus, by being involved in community-based organizations, young people develop an understanding of what it means to be a citizen. In very concrete activities and in very local relationships, they gain a sense of themselves as part of a larger community with rights and obligations associated with membership in that community. In the process, young people develop the psychological dispositions that undergird democratic societies. They learn to work with and trust fellow community members whose perspectives may differ from their own. They see how their self-interest is linked to the interests of the whole group, and they develop habits of civic participation. Engaging in extracurricular activities or communitybased organizations also develops the democratic dispositions of young people. Engagement in such organizations is associated with higher levels of trust, cooperation, and commitment to the common or public good. In the giveand-take with peers in the group, youth learn how to articulate their point of view, to hear others’ perspectives, to deliberate on that which is best for the whole, and to compromise to achieve that goal. By working together toward a shared goal, young people also learn a sense of civic efficacy, meaning that goals that benefit the group are achieved by working together. In schools, the climate for learning and the opportunities for connecting formal classroom learning to community issues are critical components of civic education. At a basic level, students who learn about the Bill of Rights in classrooms where differences of opinion are discouraged may feel skeptical about the tenets of the Constitution. A sizable body of literature shows that classroom climates in which teachers encourage an open exchange of divergent opinions, including perspectives that challenge the teacher’s position, are good conditions for civic education. Such democratic climates are positively related to civic competencies and values in students, including their ability to critically assess issues, their tolerance for dissenting views, their civic knowledge, and their commitments to democratic norms such as tolerance and civic participation. Community service is a more common civic behavior for youth in the United States when compared to their peers in other postindustrial nations. In the last few decades,

that practice has become institutionalized in school-based service-learning courses, which combine hands-on activities (such as environmental projects, tutoring, service to the elderly, or community beautification projects) with classroom-based instruction and reflection. In such projects, student citizens address public issues that members of their community share. Because it is classroom based, service-learning is more likely than community service to generate discussions between students, especially if teachers structure time for group discussion of the community experiences and link them to learning in the classroom. Although there is wide variability in the content and implementation of service-learning, when it is implemented well, students in service-learning courses outscore their peers in classrooms with traditional instruction in social studies, civics, or government on measures of civic knowledge, dispositions, and efficacy. Elements of good implementation of a service-learning program include direct service (e.g., tutoring or visiting senior citizens) as opposed to indirect service (fund-raising or office work), duration of at least one semester, and challenging assignments. Some studies show that engaging in well-implemented service-learning during the adolescent years causes some students to rethink their priorities and results in a higher level of civic commitment. The civic engagement of younger generations is focal in educational policies throughout the world. Most societies consider the adolescent years a time when young people should learn about the political system, and so they include some formal civic education during those years. However, despite rising levels of education in most developed countries, civic participation, measured by conventional indicators such as voting, has been declining in younger generations. And in developing countries, civic opportunities available via formal schooling do not reach the large numbers of students who complete only a primary level of education. Until recently, research on youth in the developing world has emphasized traditional development goals such as health and education; thus, literature on youth civic engagement is limited. Furthermore, in postcolonial societies, the nation-state may be a less meaningful source for identity, rights, and responsibilities than are ties of kinship, religion, or ethnicity. Rapid economic, social, and political changes in many parts of the world also make intergenerational forms of political socialization less reliable. Nonetheless, international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child have drawn attention to the civic capacities and needs of those younger than age 18. And a discourse on social inclusion within developed as well as developing countries has drawn attention to various ways that democratic societies are impoverished when the voices of some groups, whether due to gender, age, economic resources, or other factors, are excluded. With increasing globalization and with the promise of the Inter-

clark, kenneth b(ancroft)

net for communicating across the borders of nations, the civic education of future generations and even the meaning of citizenship may continue to evolve. Constance Flanagan see also: Community Service and Service-Learning; Freedom of Speech; Political Activism, Children and; Social Studies, History, and Geography further reading: R. Niemi and J. Junn, Civic Education: What Makes Students Learn, 1998. • J. Torney-Purta, R. Lehmann, H. Oswald, and W. Schulz, Citizenship and Education in TwentyEight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen, 2001. • Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE: The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, The Civic Mission of Schools, 2003. • C. A. Flanagan, “Volunteerism, Leadership, Political Socialization, and Civic Engagement,” in R. M. Lerner and L. Steinberg, eds., Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, 2004, pp. 721–46. • J. Westheimer and J. Kahne, “What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy,” American Educational Research Journal 41, no. 2 (2004), pp. 237–69. • C. Flanagan, P. Cumsille, S. Gill, and L. Gallay, “School and Community Climates and Civic Commitments: Patterns for Ethnic Minority and Majority Students,” Journal of Educational Psychology 99 (2007), pp. 421–31.

clark, kenneth b(ancroft) (b. July 24, 1914; d. May 1, 2005), American psychologist, educator, scholar, and civil rights activist. Kenneth B. Clark’s contributions to improving the lives of children and their families by researching and writing about the root causes of race prejudice in the 20th century were of historic proportions. A graduate of Howard University and Columbia University, Clark taught psychology at Howard (1937–38) and at Hampton Institute (1940–41). In 1938, he married the psychologist Mamie Phipps, then a graduate student at Howard University studying selfperception in black children. Kenneth Clark became the first African American to be a full tenured professor (1960) at the City College of New York, where he taught from 1942 to 1975, and to be a member of the New York State Board of Regents (1966–86). Mamie Clark continued her work at Columbia, where, in 1943, she became the first African American woman and the second African American (after her husband) in the university’s history to receive a psychology doctorate. Kenneth Clark and his wife were coauthors of a breakthrough psychological study of black and white children, upon which the widely accepted theory that black children felt inferior by virtue of their color in segregated Southern schools was based. The Clarks’ study set a precedent when social science data was recognized—for the first time—as acceptable legal evidence by the United States Supreme Court in its landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision (1954), which held that “separate but equal” educational facilities were unconstitutional. The case for the complainant was argued by Thurgood Marshall, then an attorney with the National Association for the Advancement of

• 17 3

Colored People and later a Supreme Court justice himself. The Clarks’ carefully documented research was popularly known as “the doll study” because it showed that, when given a choice between playing with black or white dolls, black children in segregated schools favored playing with white dolls. This study proved, Marshall argued successfully, that segregation was the direct cause of loss of selfesteem and, as a result, the lagging academic performances of black children as compared to white. There were a few critics of the doll study from academia—New York University law professor Edmond Cahn, for one, who felt that constitutional rights should not be based on what he called the “fl imsy” findings of social science—but those who held this view were in the minority. Clark believed that children are the fundamental building blocks of a healthy, psychologically balanced, democratic society. As he wrote in his 1955 book Prejudice and Your Child, “One of the most characteristic and impressive things about the American people is their dedication to their children. Ours is indeed a ‘child-centered’ society. Almost no sacrifice is too great for parents to make if it will benefit their children. Parents will work, scheme, attend church, buy life and endowment insurance, move from country to city, from city to suburbs, from one neighborhood to another, from south to north, from east to west— all for the welfare of their children.” Among his other classic works are Dark Ghetto: Dilemmas of Social Power (1965), Possible Reality (1972), and Pathos of Power (1975). Between 1939 and 1940, Clark also published with his wife three major articles on the subject of race and children. Clark was recognized as a full-fledged partner in the national campaign for civil rights and equal justice. In 1946, he and his wife founded the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem to serve the needs of emotionally disturbed children. In 1965, under a federal grant, he made an in-depth study of children in poverty and created a nationally acclaimed program, Harlem Youth Opportunities, Inc., through which young men and women from the ghetto were motivated to find jobs and to become part of mainstream society. In his later years, he became a consultant to a number of the Fortune 500 companies, assisting them in their efforts to comply with the new civil rights laws calling for affirmative action in employment. Clark’s classic books on race and poverty urging social change helped motivate a new generation of intellectually inspired civil rights leaders with whom Clark himself became a close advisor. These included a number of stalwarts of the civil rights movement of the 1960s: Roy Wilkins, Whitney M. Young, James Farmer, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., The Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Malcolm X. Clark also had a practical, far-reaching influence on the thinking of U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, with whom he talked during the height of King’s protests. Woody Klein

174 •

clark, ken n eth b( a n c ro ft)

see also: Development, Theories of: Social Contextual Theories; Education, Discrimination in: Racial Discrimination; Race and Children’s Development

class size. The relationship between school class size and student achievement has been one of the most researched topics in education. Studies appeared in the United States in the first decade of the 20th century, and new articles still appear. Class size is an issue of great fiscal importance. It is a key teacher workload concern. School class sizes differ substantially around the world and within nations. The average elementary school student in Norway may attend a class with 10 or 12 age mates. In Bangladesh, a class may have 40 students. Classes in North Dakota are much smaller than classes in Los Angeles. Class sizes reflect both wealth and population density. They have declined steadily around the world. The pupil-to-teacher ratio in U.S. public schools dropped from about 40 in 1900 to about 23 in 2000. The research results on whether children learn more in smaller classes are quite clear: Student achievement increases as class size drops. Dozens of studies support this conclusion. In 1982, for example, Gene V Glass and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of some 75 studies of class size reduction and published the results in School Class-Size: Research and Policy. This synthesizing of data on thousands of students of all ages in many different subjects confirmed what educators long suspected: Children learn more in smaller classes and decidedly more in very small classes. One of the most ambitious and best experiments in the history of educational research—the Tennessee Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) study reported by Frederick Mosteller in 1995 in The Future of Children: Critical Issues for Children and Youths—has confirmed it. Even though the research on class and achievement is clear, the leap to policy recommendations to reduce class sizes is not easily made because achievement gains from class reductions may not be as cost-effective as other methods. The relationship between class size and achievement is what mathematicians call “geometric.” Each unit decrease in class size predicts an increase in achievement, and each subsequent unit decrease predicts a larger increase until size “1” is reached. Decreasing class size from 30 to 29 may produce a very small, indiscernible increase in achievement, whereas decreasing from 10 to 9 is likely to increase achievement more markedly. The question is often asked, “What is the optimal class size?” The person asking the question wants an answer like “19” or “14.” In fact, the only answer that research gives is “1.” Most elementary school classes in the United States have about 25 students. The gains in achievement from even very expensive size reductions, say from 25 to 20 students, would not be impressive. Compared to other approaches, such as cross-age tutoring, class size reduction is not particularly cost-effective.

It is often argued that even though achievement gains from class size reduction are not large in general, impressive gains could be obtained by reducing classes at certain grades or subjects. By and large, such assertions are mere conjecture with little empirical research to back them up. Th e Tennessee STAR experiment seemed to suggest that smaller classes were more beneficial at the early elementary grades (e.g., kindergarten and first grade). The researchers also found that splitting a class in half was more beneficial than merely introducing a teacher’s aide to reach the same pupil-to-adult ratio. However, these qualifications were not as well established as was the overall finding that smaller classes learn more. Similarly, it has never been convincingly shown that gains in achievement from class size reduction occur for one subject (e.g., math, reading, science, social studies) and not another or for one type of student and not others. The STAR study suggests that class size reduction benefits the achievement of very young children (kindergarten through third grade) more than older students (fourth through sixth). No solid evidence supports the conclusion that poor or minority pupils benefit more than others from smaller classes. Teachers want smaller classes because they require less work. Students want smaller classes because they feel better served. School boards and taxpayers often want larger classes because they reduce the cost of schooling. The two sides frequently argue about class size when they meet at the bargaining table. Gene V Glass see also: Ability Grouping; Grades and Grading; Schooling, Inequalities in

classroom culture. Classroom conversations are often very different from those of everyday life. While everyday conversations are organized in two-part sequences, classroom lessons are organized in three-part sequences: a teacher’s initiation act (“What time is it, Denise?”) induces a student’s reply (“2:30”), which in turn invokes a teacher’s evaluation (“Very good, Denise!”). This three-part I-R-E structure exists because teachers often ask “known information questions” in which students’ knowledge is tested rather than new information sought from them. Recitation lessons, therefore, are teacher centered and require students to respond, often individually, with student behavior evaluated quite publicly. In everyday conversation, by contrast, speakers routinely ask questions in order to obtain information they do not possess (information-seeking questions); identify the next speaker, who is someone who presumably possesses that information; and acknowledge or thank them for their trouble (acknowledgment). The presence of an evaluation, which comments on a student’s reply to a question, is one of the features that distinguishes conversations that take place in classrooms and other educational settings (such as tests) from those that occur in everyday situations.

classroom culture

A competition among individuals is implicit but not explicit in the contrast between this snippet and everyday conversation. This feature of classroom culture recapitulates the competitive and individualistic features of U.S. culture in which classrooms and schools are situated. In classroom discourse, students are often invited to compete for turns at talk, which becomes a microcosm of the competition they face from kindergarten to graduate school for other scarce educational resources, such as course grades, access to high-ability groups, rigorous academic tracks, seats in selective colleges, and, after they complete school, jobs in the workforce. The difference between the discourse patterns of the classroom and the discourse patterns of the home has been at the crux of competing explanations of the educational challenges faced by low-income youth. The “cultural deficit” explanation asserts that the language of low-income and minority youth is inadequate for complex expressions, while the “cultural discontinuity” account counters that claim by saying that the language of the classroom is often incompatible with the discourse patterns of low-income and minority families. Cult ur al Discon ti nuit y bet ween Hom e a n d S c hoo l Students of language use in homes and schools have suggested that recitation-type lessons in school may be compatible with the discourse patterns in Anglo families but may be incompatible with the discourse patterns of certain minority group families. This discontinuity, in turn, may contribute to the lower achievement and higher dropout rate among minority students. In the hallmark study in this tradition, Shirley Brice Heath in Ways with Words (1983) reports that the children of middle-income teachers in “Trackton” were taught to label and name objects and to talk about things out of context, which were the skills demanded of students in school. These same teachers talked to the students in their classrooms in ways that were very similar to the ways in which they talked to their own children at home. They instructed students primarily through an interrogative format using “known information questions” and taught students to label objects and identify the features of things. However, this mode of language use and language socialization was not prevalent in the homes of low-income students. Low-income adults seldom addressed questions to their school-age children at home and even less often to preverbal children. Where Trackton teachers would use questions, Trackton parents would use statements or imperatives. And when questions were asked of Trackton children by their parents, they were much different from the types of questions asked by teachers. Questions at home called for nonspecific comparisons or analogies as answers. They were not the known information or information-

• 17 5

seeking questions associated with the classroom. Heath concludes that the language used in Trackton homes did not prepare children to cope with the major characteristics of the language used in classrooms: utterances that were interrogative in form but directive in pragmatic function, known information questions, and questions that asked for information from books. While providing a powerful antidote to cultural deprivation explanations of educational inequality, the cultural discontinuity account of educational inequality is not without its detractors. Critics fear that its assumptions that schooling should assimilate culturally and linguistically different youth will not help achieve educational equity in U.S. society because this perspective can mistakenly reduce inequality to a problem of miscommunication. Even if parents read more stories to their children at bedtime or teachers learned to respect language-minority students’ codes or learned to communicate effectively with them, critics argue that structural inequities (glass ceilings, down-sized corporations, and institutional discrimination in the workplace, for example) would remain. Despite these disclaimers about cultural discontinuity as a theory to explain educational inequality, a vigorous set of policy recommendations has emerged from this body of work. The basic idea is to use students’ home knowledge and language as a resource in classroom instruction. A first wave of intervention research based on sociolinguistic insights about the logic, grammaticality, and coherence of language variants incorporated the language and culture from disadvantaged groups to develop classroom instruction that was more culturally compatible. A second wave of intervention research uses students’ language and culture as resources for developing fundamentally important academic skills, such as critical thinking in reading. These researchers do not want to simply build upon the strengths of home language to smooth classroom interaction; they want to empower students by linking cultural resources with critical thinking. Modi fy i ng C l assroom Discour se for Cult ur al Compati b i lit y The work of teachers collaborating with researchers at the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) is a representative example of the attempt to modify classroom discourse to achieve cultural compatibility. KEEP teachers spontaneously introduced narratives jointly produced by the children into the beginning of reading lessons—a detail later observed by researchers associated with the project. In addition, they shifted the focus of instruction from decoding to comprehension, implemented small-group instruction to encourage cooperation, and included children’s experiences as part of the discussion of reading materials. All of these modifications were consistent with Hawaiian cultural norms and had significant consequences. Student

176 •

classro om cul ture

participation in lessons increased, and their scores on standardized tests improved. Both of these effects were notable because they contravened the notoriously low school performance of Native Hawaiians. Usi ng Cult ur al R e sourc es to Empower Studen ts’ C r itical Th i nk i ng William Labov’s pathbreaking 1972 work Studies in the Black English Vernacular showed that youngsters who seemed culturally and linguistically deprived in formal testing situations provided linguistically elaborate and logical statements in less-formal conversations. Organizing classroom instruction so that these discourse strategies could be transferred to the classroom has proved to be a vexing task. Carol Lee, in a 1995 article in Reading Research Quarterly, has described how one teacher accomplished this important goal by introducing and building upon material drawn from popular cultural routines and rituals. Convinced that African American youth who are skilled at “signifying” (the practice of exchanging ritual insults in a one-upmanship fashion) use certain strategies to process dialogue that are comparable to those that expert readers use to construct inferences from narratives, the teacher designed instruction to make students’ tacit knowledge explicit and usable when analyzing short stories and passages from novels. Organizing classroom discourse around inquiry and students’ everyday knowledge has beneficial results for many groups of students. Current research suggests that scientists do their work within a community of practice. They transform their observations into findings through interpretation and argumentation, not simply through measurement and discovery. While scientists may claim that they discover facts passively, close observation of their practice reveals they construct findings actively. While textbooks depict the scientific method as orderly, logical, and rational, sociological studies show that scientific practice entails making sense out of contradictory observations, choosing among competing hypotheses, and convincing others about the importance of findings. Ann Rosebery and colleagues, in a 1992 study, explored this idea that scientific understanding is shaped by a community through scientific argument, rather than received from authority, with a class of seventh- and eighth-grade Haitian students in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Water Taste Test was designed to investigate the “truth” of a belief held by most of the junior high school students that the water from the fountain on the third floor was superior to the water from the other fountains in the school (in part because “all the little kids slobber” in the first-floor fountain). After discussing methodological issues of sampling, masking the identity of the water, and ways to overcome bias in voting, the students conducted a blind taste test of water from several fountains. Test results showed a vast majority of the junior high school students thought they preferred

water from the third-floor fountain but chose the first-floor fountain. In order to interpret their findings, the students analyzed the school’s water. Analysis showed that the water from the first-floor fountain was 20 degrees colder than that from the other fountains (and theorized that the water was cooled by underground pipes and warmed as it flowed to the third floor). Therefore, they concluded that temperature was probably a deciding factor in students’ preferences. Summ ary and Conc lusions The approaches to classroom instruction that appropriate the language and cultural knowledge of low-income and language-minority students are radical departures from the recitation scripts that dominate the culture of many classrooms. Here, students construct literary and scientific understandings through an iterative process of theory building, hypothesis testing, and data collection. These students posed their own questions, generated their own hypotheses, and analyzed their own data. These activities facilitated students’ appreciation of responses that were different from their own, which Vygotskians and Piagetians alike agree is essential in learning to take the perspective of the other. Like scientists and literary critics in real life, these students challenged one another’s thoughts, negotiated conflicts about evidence and conclusions, and shared their knowledge in order to achieve an advanced understanding. Like adults in real-world situations, these students worked in a community of practice in which the exploration of individual participants was guided and supported by the whole group. The research reviewed here reinforces a more general point: The engagement of students in learning activities results from a connection between social participation structure (form) and academic curriculum (content). If the social participation structure is familiar to students, then performing with new academic content is less alienating. On the other hand, if the academic content is familiar or engaging, then students may be willing to try out new ways of interacting and using language. The issue underlying both cases is safety—not having to risk looking clumsy or stupid in front of others. Lesson content and form, taken together or separately, can reduce the risk of embarrassment, which in turn triggers resistance—the withholding of assent to learn and to participate in learning activities. Hugh Mehan see also: Bilingual Education; Education, Discrimination in; Multicultural Education; Peers and Peer Culture; Schooling, Inequalities in; Schools; Sociolinguistic Diversity; Teachers further reading: Terry McCarty, S. Wallace, R. H. Lynch, and A. Benally, “Classroom Inquiry and Navajo Learning Styles: A Call for Reassessment,” Anthropology and Education Quarterly 22 (1991), pp. 42–59. • Hugh Mehan, Lea Hubbard, Irene Villanueva, and Angela Lintz, Constructing School Success: The Consequences of Untrack-

c o gn it iv e d e v e l o p m e n t ing Low Achieving Students, 1995 • Norma González, Luis C. Moll, and Cathy Amanti, eds., Theorizing Practices: Funds of Knowledge in Households and Classrooms, 2005.

clerc, (louis) laurent (marie) (b. December 26, 1785; d. July 18, 1869), American educator. Deaf people in the United States today lead their international counterparts in education, professional achievement, individual self-determination, and cultural autonomy. Their language, American Sign Language (ASL), is the most used, studied, and sophisticated of manual languages; its influence is ubiquitous. Many historical factors and individuals have contributed to deaf Americans’ success. None is more important than Laurent Clerc. Clerc came to the United States in 1816 from the Royal National Institute for the Deaf in Paris, where he was a teacher, to assist Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet in establishing the institution that became the American School for the Deaf (ASD), the first permanent school for deaf children in the United States. Deaf since early childhood, Clerc did not speak, but he read and wrote French and learned written English under Gallaudet’s tutelage. He and Gallaudet toured New England in 1816 to convince parents, legislators, and wealthy benefactors of the educability of deaf children, using Clerc as the example of what deaf people could achieve. They raised $5,000 in donations, matched by another $5,000 from the Connecticut State Legislature. In 1818, on his own, Clerc met with members of the U.S. Congress, including Speaker of the House Henry Clay, conversing with them in written French and English, to gather support for a federal donation of land to the ASD. Congress gave the ASD 23,000 acres of federal land. Clerc is most recognized for establishing the first American pattern of deaf education, which was firmly grounded in the use of sign language for classroom communication and in the employment of deaf teachers. Clerc brought French Sign Language with him when he came to the United States. He and his ASD students modified the language to fit American customs and local, or home, sign systems. As the ASD’s lead teacher and most fluent user of sign language, Clerc instructed both new teachers and new students in this early ASL. Many of the ASD’s teachers and the institution’s former students went on to found or teach in other schools for deaf children, thus spreading ASL throughout the United States. By the 1850s, the ASD model dominated American deaf education. Nativists, social Darwinists, and eugenicists attacked ASL in the late 19th century, however, and the ASD model lost favor for nearly 100 years. Schools for deaf children dismissed their deaf teachers and began emphasizing the use of speech and lipreading rather than ASL, a method termed oralism. For decades, the American Deaf community resisted these changes, holding firmly to Clerc’s belief that ASL provided the most effective communication for deaf

• 17 7

children and insisting that deaf students should be taught by deaf teachers. Spurred by the civil rights movement, scholarly research establishing that ASL was a language (not a gestural gloss on English) and pointing to studies showing poor educational achievement by orally educated students, deaf Americans in the last three decades of the 20th century successfully pressured schools to reintroduce the use of ASL and to hire deaf people as teachers and administrators, re-creating the model Clerc introduced. John Vickrey Van Cleve see also: Gallaudet, Edward Miner; Hearing Impairments, Education of Children with; Sign Language; Special Education: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives further reading: Harlan Lane, When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf, 1984. • Douglas Baynton, Forbidden Signs: American Culture and the Campaign against Sign Language, 1996.

clothing. see Body Image and Modiﬁcation cognitive development. The study of cognitive development encompasses all of the processes that contribute to children’s acquisition of knowledge about their world. These processes include phylogeny, the process of human evolution encoded in genetic material; culture, the socially inherited body of past human behavioral patterns and accomplishments that serves as the resources for the current life of the social group into which children are born; and ontogeny, the child’s experiences with its environment that realize the child’s genetic potential in a culturally organized way. The study of human cognitive development shares with all aspects of the study of human development the complicating circumstance that the biological and cultural foundations of development coevolved over some 6 million years. As a consequence, the structure of the human body, including the brain, the central organ responsible for the acquisition of knowledge, has itself been modified by cultural processes so that biology and culture are intrinsically intertwined in the process of cognitive development. For example, the human brain has developed specialized potential for learning language, a defining characteristic of Homo sapiens, but it is children’s interactions with their specific linguistic and cultural environment that determine the particular language they will learn. Until well into the 20th century, it was thought that infants are born with only rudimentary capacities for perceiving and coordinating with their environment, a view summed up in the expression that newborns’ experience is a “blooming, buzzing, confusion.” The brain was seen as a general processing organ that supported the ability to respond to some stimuli in the environment in a highly stereotyped manner typical of Pavlovian unconditioned reflexes (e.g., startle, sucking) and to associate new stimuli with those that elicited unconditioned reflexes (e.g., they

178 •

cogn itiv e dev el o pmen t

could learn through a process of conditioned reflex formation and by responding differentially to the consequences of various behaviors [operant conditioning]). This view, which dominated the study of cognitive development in the middle of the 20th century, has been radically altered in recent decades. It is now widely believed that children arrive in the world with a remarkable, if incomplete, set of cognitive abilities that help them act upon and interpret their experiences. In addition to generalpurpose adaptive mechanisms such as habituation to repeatedly presented stimuli, memory, imitation, and contingency detection, a plethora of domain-specific “modules” or “privileged domains” have been claimed to be functioning at birth. On this view, infants are born with a vast repertoire of “skeletal knowledge,” inherited as part of their evolutionary endowment, that is gradually fleshed out by experience. Among the specific domains that are claimed to be present at, or very soon after, birth are language, a variety of physical laws, elements of the number concept, and the distinction between animate and inanimate entities. These inherited capacities are then shaped by culture as the child interacts with its specific environment. Brain development at the species level has been shaped over many thousands of generations by selective pressures that are manifested as patterns of neural connections that follow highly constrained sequences from early in embryogenesis. During the process of brain development, cell division results in an astounding and rapid proliferation of nerve cells; it is estimated that the vast majority of the estimated 100 billion neurons in individual nervous systems originate prenatally. Importantly, synapses, points of contact between two neurons, are massively overproduced and subsequently undergo a process of “pruning” in which the synapses that are more active are strengthened and retained while those that are less active are eliminated. Because they are activity dependent, the processes of synapse formation and pruning clearly reflect the influence of the child’s interactions with its specific cultural environment. For example, up to about 6 months of age, children are equally adept at discriminating speech contrasts present in any of the world’s languages, but between 6 and 12 months, discrimination of speech contrasts in nonnative languages decreases markedly. However, if exposed to nonnative speech sounds between 6 and 12 months, the ability to discriminate the nonnative speech sounds is retained, even if the second language is not learned. As children develop within their particular cultural context, there are both universal patterns and culture-specific adaptations in the growth of their cognitive abilities. Infants in all cultures quickly display increasing mastery of many forms of knowledge. If one object hits another, they expect the second object to move. They are surprised if an object they are attending to is hidden from view and then disappears when their view is no longer obscured. By the

age of 3 months, they appear to appreciate that animals such as cats and dogs or airplanes and birds are members of different categories, although psychologists disagree about the extent to which perceptual similarity (as opposed to conceptual inclusion) serves as the basis for their knowledge. Memory for past events increases markedly over the first year of life. At 6 to 7 months of age, they display knowledge of the statistical regularities in their native language, although it will be several months before they begin to display comprehension of words. Early in the second year of life, infants display increasingly systematic and complex forms of problem solving; trial-and-error attempts to solve such problems as retrieving a toy through the bars of a crib begin to give way to the application of simple reasoning, such as pulling on a cloth on which the toy is resting. At about this same time, children begin to use their first words, indicating the onset of the symbolic capacities underpinning language. Further indication of the onset of symbolic capacities is the emergence of pretend play in which one object stands for—that is, represents—another, as when a toy rake is used as if it were a comb. Language and symbolic capacities that underpin further cognitive development grow rapidly between 18 and 36 months of age. Not only do children’s vocabularies grow rapidly, but this growth is accompanied by the development of the ability to combine words in accordance with the grammar of children’s native language, enormously increasing their ability to acquire information and to communicate their growing understandings to those around them. At the same time, they begin to be able to use pictures and miniature models as guides to the way they search for absent objects, another indication of growing symbolic thought processes. Once they have achieved elementary mastery of their native language and developed fundamental capacities to categorize and think about the world, children’s experience of the world begin to expand in new ways. Yet, during early childhood, they are still susceptible to difficulties when dealing with a number of cognitive tasks that adults cope with routinely, especially when they are placed in unfamiliar circumstances. For example, they appear at times to fail to take into account what people around them are experiencing, they are susceptible to confusing things that look like rocks from real rocks, and they often reason in a manner that appears entirely illogical. However, when facing these same sorts of challenges in familiar settings where they can bring their own personal prior experience to bear, they often appear perfectly competent thinkers. During middle childhood, the “islands of cognitive competence” displayed by young children appear to become better connected. Children think through a range of problems in a more logical manner, so long as the material to be thought about is present for them to deal with. They are more likely to be able to think about two or more aspects

c o m b a t , y o u t h in

of a problem at a time, as expressed, for example, in their ability to think through a potential action and its consequences before acting. Their ability to engage in deliberate remembering increases, providing a larger and larger store of knowledge upon which to base their inferences about their experiences in the world. The mutual contributions of phylogeny, culture, and ontogeny on the process of cognitive development during childhood are nicely illustrated by studies of conceptual development in the domain of number. By approximately 4 months of age (the earliest age at which they have been tested), infants display elementary knowledge of addition and subtraction of small numbers. They are surprised if they the see an adult place two objects behind a screen and then remove one if two objects remain there when the screen is lowered. So long as the number of objects is not too large, when 3-year-olds who have not attended preschool view the addition or subtraction of N objects from a known number and are asked to predict the answer and then check their prediction, they provide reasonable cardinal values as predictions and accurate counting procedures to test their predictions. Such results provide evidence for the existence of “skeletal principles” as a consequence of human phylogenetic history. Evidence of cultural influences on development of even relatively simple arithmetic calculations is also abundant. Baoule and Dioula children live adjacent to one another in the Côte d’Ivoire. The Baoule are primarily farmers who use primitive agricultural methods to eek out a subsistence living; the Dioula also farm, but they also engage in trades such as tailoring and peddling, which require frequent participation in the money economy. The children in both groups display knowledge of relative quantity, a skeletal principle, but the Baoule children display far weaker counting and calculation skills than Dioula children. However, if Baoule children attend school (an important cultural influence on cognitive development), differences in elementary arithmetic ability disappear. Research comparing the development of numerical knowledge and skills among middle-class and workingclass children in the United States also supports the idea that culture elaborates on core domain knowledge to different degrees and perhaps in different ways. Researchers observed children and their mothers in their homes, presented a variety of arithmetic tasks to the children, and observed mothers present prespecified problems to their children. They found that children from both social classes were regularly engaged with activities involving numbers, but by 4 years of age children from middle-class homes displayed greater competence on more complex numerical tasks than did their working-class peers. During motherchild interactions, all mothers adjusted their goals to reflect the child’s ability, and children adjusted their goals to their mothers’ efforts to organize the activity. However,

• 17 9

the working-class mothers were more likely to engage in greater simplification and were more likely to profess lower expectations for their children in conversation with the interviewer. Finally, dramatic evidence of the influence of culture on number development comes from research among the members of the Pirahã tribe in a remote part of the Amazon jungle in Brazil. The Pirahã are among the cultures in the world that have at most a few count words on the order of “one, two, many,” and cultural practices involving number are virtually nonexistent. Pirahã adults display only very elementary arithmetic abilities when confronted with small arrays of objects, but their performance quickly deteriorates with larger numbers, similar to results obtained with American preschoolers. But Pirahã children who learn Portuguese show no such difficulties. As children enter adolescence, the transition to adulthood, there are additional changes in the brain, cognitive processes, and cultural practices that contribute to cognitive development. During this period, there is an additional period of rapid proliferation of synapses followed by pruning in the frontal and prefrontal areas of the brain that is associated with increased capacity of the young people to engage in systematic thinking. And it is during this transition period that young people begin to be placed in situations of responsibility where such systematic thinking is essential not only to their own welfare but also to their capacities to raise a family in a manner that will maximize the continued success of their social group. Michael Cole see also: Attention; Concepts, Children’s; Creativity; Development, Theories of: Cognitive Theories; Imitation; Intelligence; Intelligence Testing; Language; Learning; Logical Thinking; Memory; Neurological and Brain Development; Perception; Piaget, Jean; Planning; Problem Solving; Stages of Childhood; Vygotsky, L(ev) S(emenovich) further reading: U. Gaswami, ed., Blackwell Handbook of Cognitive Development, 2002. • K. Inagaki and G. Hatano, Young Children’s Naïve Thinking about the Biological World, 2002. • M. Cole, “Culture and Cognitive Development in Phylogenetic, Cultural-Historical and Ontogenetic Perspective,” in D. Kuhn and R. S. Siegler, eds., Handbook of Child Psychology, vol. 2, 6th ed., 2006, pp. 636–86. • C. A. Nelson, K. M. Thomas, and M. de Haan, “Neural Basis of Cognitive Development,” in D. Kuhn and R. S. Siegler, eds., Handbook of Child Psychology, vol. 2, 6th ed., 2006, pp. 3–57.

colic. see Crying and Colic youth in. Worldwide, approximately 250,000 children, mostly teenagers, are associated with fighting forces of governments or opposition groups, guerrilla groups, or paramilitaries. Teenagers and people in their early 20s are often recruited for their large size, cognitive abilities, and willingness to take risks. Here youth is defined as people between 13 and 24 years of age, recognizing that

combat,

180 •

comb at, youth i n

different cultures define youth in different ways and may not regard teenagers as children. The phenomenon of youth combatants is not new, as many teenagers fought in the American Civil War, and the Crusades included children’s brigades. In contemporary armed confl icts, however, youth soldiering occurs on a much larger scale than it did even half a century ago or in the more remote past. Youth enter armed groups through a mixture of forced and nonforced recruitment. The specific recruitment methods are highly contextual, and in a particular confl ict armed groups may use a mixture of coercion and incentives. At greatest risk of recruitment are youth who are separated from their families, the very poor or marginalized youth, and those who live in active zones of fighting where joining an armed group can provide the only means of protection, food, and survival. This pattern resembles that in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other highly industrialized countries, which often use incentives to lure poor and at-risk youth into national armed forces. Widely used methods of forced recruitment include abduction, press-ganging, quota methods, and conscription. In the northern Uganda confl ict between the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government, the LRA recruits youth almost entirely by abduction. Not uncommonly, the LRA forces abductees to kill members of their family or village, thereby making it difficult for the youth to return home. In countries such as Ethiopia and Colombia, armed groups have recruited by press-ganging, which entails rounding up groups of youths from marketplaces or schools at gunpoint. In Angola and Sierra Leone, armed opposition groups typically recruited by attacking villages and forcing all the young people to go with them. In Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) recruit partly through a quota system in which each household is forced to hand over one boy or girl. The government of Myanmar (formerly Burma), the largest single recruiter of children and youth at present, recruits by having police detain youth, threaten them with prison time, and offer military service as their only way out. Youth may also decide to enter armed groups without explicit coercion, though talk of “voluntary” recruitment can obscure the desperate circumstances and lack of viable options available to many youths. Youths’ decisions reflect diverse motives and the influence of their social ecologies, such as the family, peer groups, the community, their religious or ethnic groups, and the society. These motives and influences create a mixture of “push” and “pull” factors. Family conditions are powerful influences on recruitment. In Sri Lanka, some girls have joined the LTTE to escape forced marriage and family abuse; in Colombia, girls have joined guerrilla groups in search of a sense of belonging and a surrogate “family.” In Afghanistan, boys in the northern provinces often joined the fight against

the Taliban because their relatives were fighting and soldiering was seen as a type of labor that young people are expected to provide in a situation of armed confl ict. In Liberia, numerous youths joined a rebel group because they had been victimized by government forces or to avenge the killing of family members. In some cases, Liberian youth joined armed groups for protection, since not having a gun or being associated with a group made them highly vulnerable. Not uncommonly, youth join armed groups to obtain money. For very poor youth, joining an armed group offers the opportunity to acquire goods, often through looting and stealing, that they could not obtain otherwise. Soldiering sometimes provides money that youth send home to support their families. Youth also may join to obtain a sense of prestige and power that they had not had in civilian life. The motives—protection, belonging, power, prestige, and money—are visible also in the decisions of youth in the United States and other countries to join gangs. Ideology and political socialization also influence youths’ decisions. Youth are political actors and may join struggles to end oppression, as occurred during the antiapartheid struggle in South Africa. They may also join because they see fighting as a means of overthrowing an unjust social order and achieving liberation. Adults often use propaganda as a means of appealing to youths’ sense of idealism. Some youth find meaning through their participation in violence, including acts of terrorism, which is an integral part of many armed confl icts. In Sri Lanka, the LTTE recruits girls in part as suicide bombers, since girls can slip through checkpoints more easily than boys can. Selected girls enter the Liberation Birds, a squad of young suicide bombers whose willingness to die for the cause confers honored status and special rewards for their families. Inside armed groups, youth have diverse roles that tend to vary according to gender, age, and culture. Typically, boys serve as combatants, although small boys may be used as porters, guards, and camp laborers. In Angola, girls were rarely used as combatants but were recruited primarily for their ability to carry heavy loads long distances without making noise. In other African countries, some girls are combatants, even commanders, whereas others are domestic laborers, cooks, medics, or spies. In African confl icts, girls are usually exploited as sex slaves who are bound by threat of violence to provide sexual service on demand to their captors or groups of soldiers. However, the LTTE and some armed groups in the Philippines prohibit girls’ sexual exploitation and have an explicit discourse of gender equality. The impacts of associating with an armed group are physical, psychosocial, economic, and spiritual and depend on a host of factors such as the youth’s gender, role, and the amount of time spent with the armed group. Girls who have been raped while in military roles are particularly likely to be stigmatized and often experience profound reproductive

c o m f o r t h a b it s

health problems. In general, the longer one’s stay with an armed group, the greater is the risk of negative outcomes, such as being killed or wounded or feeling overwhelmed by one’s war experiences. However, the impacts depend on one’s role and experiences inside an armed group and also how one had been recruited. Less likely to suffer serious damage are youth who had been porters, who did not fight or see frequent killings, or who did fight and kill but saw themselves as following orders and doing what was necessary to survive following their abduction. More likely to suffer serious impacts are those who repeatedly witnessed or participated in firefights, extreme brutality, or who carry the stigma of having killed members of their own families or villages. Often, the greatest impacts come from current stresses such as not having a job or feeling isolated and stigmatized. In African societies, spiritual distress may have significant impact. A boy soldier may believe that he is haunted by the spirit of the person he killed and that he needs to be cleansed by a local healer before reentering his family or village. Fortunately, most former child soldiers have a positive life course and cannot be discounted as a “lost generation.” In Mozambique, the first longitudinal study of formerly recruited boys indicated that most children cope relatively well and become functional as civilians. Although a minority suffer lingering issues such as traumatic memories, the majority transition into civilian life, performing roles such as husband, father, worker, and citizen. Effective transition to civilian life occurs through holistic, community-based assistance that includes education, health services, family and community mediation, and spiritual and livelihoods supports. Michael Wessells see also: War, Children and further reading: J. Boyden and J. de Berry, eds., Children and Youth on the Front Line, 2004. • R. Brett and I. Specht, Young Soldiers, 2004. • S. McKay and D. Mazurana, Where Are the Girls? 2004. • N. Boothby, J. Crawford, and J. Halperin, “Mozambican Child Soldier Life Outcome Study: Lessons Learned on Rehabilitation and Reintegration Efforts,” Global Public Health 1, no. 1 (2006), pp. 87–107. • M. G. Wessells, Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection, 2006.

comfort habits. The term comfort habits refers to behaviors used to cope with heightened levels of emotional distress. In children, they take the form of cuddling a blanket or soft toy (security objects), thumb and pacifier sucking, head banging, body rubbing and rocking, hair twirling, and nail biting. Typically, they are used at bedtime when the child is trying to settle down or as a soothing distraction when the child is cranky, hungry, bored, or not feeling well. The actions are often repetitive and ritualized; for example, stroking the fringe of a blanket with the fingers and holding it under the nose.

• 18 1

The ability to regulate one’s emotions, especially negative emotions such as distress, fear, and anger, is seen as a core component of socioemotional development in the infanttoddler period. Even very young infants use nonnutritive sucking and body rubbing to control discomfort, although at this age caregiver assistance is often needed in situations where the level of discomfort is relatively high. With developmental improvements in memory, motor skills, and self-awareness over the first two to three years of life, there are major increases in children’s ability to differentiate different arousal states, in their repertoire of behaviors for regulating these states, and in their desire to handle their own distress. The advantage of comfort habits, of course, is that they are under the child’s control. A child with an attachment to an object such as a blanket, for example, has selected the object himself and will seek it out when stressed or fatigued. Caretakers may not always be available in times of stress, but comfort habits are. Many of these comfort habits begin in the first year of life and end by the time the child enters school around 4 or 5 years of age, although it is not uncommon for some to continue into late childhood and adolescence in a modified and more developmentally appropriate form (e.g., keeping the security object in one’s room) or when the child is under stress (e.g., problems at school). Thumb/pacifier sucking and body rubbing are seen in the first six months of life. Head banging on the sides of the crib, head rolling against the crib bars, and rocking back and forth while sitting on hands and knees may start as early as 6 months. Although the comforting function of security objects may be evident during the first year of life, their use increases rapidly during the second year when a more verbal and mobile toddler begins to ask for the object or to get it herself. On the other hand, some comfort habits begin later in childhood. Nail biting, for example, typically begins between the ages of 5 and 10 years. All of these habits end when children discover alternate ways of coping with stressful situations. There is widespread consensus that comfort habits are a normal part of development, although the choice of comfort habit(s) and the intensity and frequency of use depend on child temperament, child-rearing practices, and maternal personality. Some children use rhythmic rocking; others suck on a pacifier. Some children have only one comfort habit; others combine habits (e.g., holding a blanket and sucking a thumb). Some children easily give up a habit; others become considerably distressed if a habit is thwarted (e.g., their security object is lost). In general, gender has little effect on the development of comfort habits. Girls are more likely than boys to twirl their hair, but this difference may be due simply to the fact that girls typically have longer hair than boys. Certainly, a child’s sensitivity to distress plays a role in determining comfort habits. Infants as young as 2 months of age demonstrate dramatic differences in how quickly

182 •

comfor t habits

they recover from stress or pain. A child with few obvious comfort habits may simply be less sensitive to upset. Research shows that temperament also plays a role in determining the type of comfort habit used. Children attached to soft objects tend to have strong emotional reactions to both pleasurable and sad situations, enjoy quiet times, are persistent, have relatively long attention spans, and are sensitive to tactile stimulation (e.g., itchy clothing, the sun’s warmth). Children attached to pacifiers, on the other hand, tend to be highly active children who prefer to run rather than engage in quiet activities. Differences in child-rearing practices probably account for the cross-cultural differences seen in some comfort habits. Although nail biting crosses every social and economic barrier, object attachments and thumb sucking are much more common in children from countries experiencing a high standard of living, urban settings, and affluent families. Overall, in the United States, for example, it has been estimated that about 60% of young children have at some time been attached to a soft object, although the prevalence rate varies as a function of social class. Cultures in which object attachments and thumb sucking are more likely to occur appear to be those that encourage frequent separations and independence from the mother; for example, when infants sleep in their own rooms, are breastfed for a shorter period of time, or are left to fall asleep on their own. These observations have led both psychoanalytically oriented and social learning theorists to hypothesize that object attachments stem from the child’s need to cope with separation from the mother. Parents contribute to the maintenance of comfort habits through the rules they set for the habit’s use (e.g., the pacifier may be used only when the child is going to sleep) and even through explicit directions to use the habit for stress reduction (e.g., telling the child to “get Blanky” when he is upset). Parents also often try to play a role in decreasing habit use, especially thumb/pacifier sucking, head banging, and nail biting, although they are usually less successful in discouraging than in encouraging their use. The small number of studies conducted on maternal personality suggest that its role in determining whether a child becomes attached to a soft object is mediated by associated childrearing beliefs and practices. Psychologists generally agree that, when comfort habits are used in a developmentally appropriate way, there is no reason to suspect that they indicate emotional insecurity in the child or reflect deficiencies in the parent or in the parent-child relationship. Nevertheless, there is cause for concern even in the toddler years if the behavior becomes self-injurious (e.g., intense head banging), interferes with the child’s social functioning (e.g., failure to be calmed by parents), or if the habit is bizarre or fails to soothe. Other causes for concern include a habit that persists beyond the age when most children give it up or a habit that reappears

in later childhood or adolescence. These occurrences may lead to other problems; for example, prolonged thumb sucking may interfere with the proper growth of the mouth and alignment of teeth. They may also be a signal that the child is under stress or depressed. To keep things in perspective, however, it is useful to note that sucking, biting, and mouthing habits continue across the life span. Many adults, for example, chew gum, bite their nails, or gnaw on pencils. Adults also use special objects for comfort just as children do. A favorite photograph or pen can make a new office feel more familiar and secure. This functional continuity across the life span indicates that comfort habits are best viewed as individual differences in people’s attempts to cope with stress and discomfort. They are a normal developmental phenomenon. Elyse Brauch Lehman see also: Emotional Development further reading: Claire B. Kopp, “Regulation of Distress and Negative Emotions,” Developmental Psychology 25, no. 3 (May 1989), pp. 343–54. • Alison J. Steier and Elyse Brauch Lehman, “Attachment to Transitional Objects: Role of Maternal Personality and Mother-Toddler Interaction,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 70, no. 3 (July 2000), pp. 340–50. • Steven P. Shelov and Robert E. Hannemann, eds., Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5, 4th ed., 2004.

comic books. Comic books graphically relate narratives through speech balloons and drawings. In modern comic books, story lines are serialized. When bound together, the completed narrative is referred to as a graphic novel. The story lines of comic books and graphic novels are told in partially connected frames, with continuity between frames being inferred by the reader. This type of disconnected presentation of information forces readers to engage their imaginations, thus becoming active participants in the creation of the story line. Comic books and graphic novels are found throughout the world in diverse locations such as Europe, Asia, India, Latin America, and the Middle East. More than 15 different genres of comic books and graphic novels have been identified, including humor, crime, horror, science fiction, religion, and pornographic. However, it is the superhero genre that typifies the American comic book. In 2006, all of the top 25 grossing comic books in the United States involved superheroes. The target audience for most comic book genres is 10- to 14-year-old boys. However, recent estimates suggest that comic book readers vary greatly in age, with as much as 25% of comic book sales generated by individuals over age 40. Not all comic books are meant for youth; some even carry an explicit advisory warning because their content is similar to that of R-rated movies. Although newspaper comic strips were prevalent between the late 1890s and 1920s, the comic book was not introduced to the American public until the 1930s. The height

c o m m u n ic a t io n , d e v e l o p m e n t o f

of comic book popularity in America occurred during the 1950s, at which time the average household purchased 15 comic books per month. Currently, the annual gross sales of comic books in the United States ranges between $400 million and $500 million, with sales declining yearly. Graphic novels, however, are becoming increasingly popular, with annual sales in the United States greater than $200 million and trending upward, a phenomenon found throughout the world. For instance, Japanese graphic novels, referred to as manga, make up nearly 20% of Japan’s entire publishing market. Given the engrossing nature of comic books, the potential influence of this form of media seems great. As early as 1910, newspaper comics were thought to weaken the use of good manners, teach lawlessness, cheapen life, and increase the chance of mental illness. Although concern was raised over the tawdry nature of comic book characters, the glorification of violence as a means of problem solving, and the promotion of gay (e.g., Batman and Robin) and lesbian (e.g., Wonder Woman) lifestyles, it was the story lines of crime comics, which involved stealing, murder, mayhem, torture, and other criminal activities, that caused the greatest public concern. In the 1940s, nearly 50 cities attempted to ban the sale of crime comics. Ten years later, violence in comic books was thought to promote deceit, stimulate unhealthy ideas about sex, and increase aggression and delinquency in children. In 1954, the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency initiated hearings on the influence of comic books on youth. As a direct result of the Senate hearings, the Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in order to monitor and censor comic book content. Although the CCA is still in place today, the overwhelming majority of comic books today contain violent themes, such as decapitations, eviscerations, and amputations. In fact, finding a comic book without any acts of aggression is very difficult, for even humorous comic books that target a preteen audience contain acts of slapstick violence. Moreover, many comic books portray female characters with hyperfeminized body proportions and wearing sexually provocative clothing. Although comic books have been shown to increase children’s understanding of physical disabilities and promote sex education and AIDS education, one of the most controversial features of comic books continues to be their realistic depiction of violence. The Seduction of the Innocent by Fredrick Wertham (1954) remains the best-known book on the impact of violent comic books on youth. Wertham concluded that comic book reading led to illiteracy, racial prejudice, deviant sexual beliefs, and the endorsement of and desire to follow a lifestyle of delinquency, including criminal behavior and violence. However, Wertham’s methods were so flawed that these findings have been discredited. Few studies have been conducted since the 1950s, and the ones that have been conducted have failed to con-

• 18 3

sistently link comic book violence with aggressive behavior or attitudes. Steven J. Kirsh see also: Literature; Magazines; Media, Children and the further reading: M. Benton, The Comic Book in America, 1989. • S. J. Kirsh, Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research, 2006.

commitments, in-patient. see Mental Health Care communication, development of. Pragmatics, or communicative competence, involves the appropriate and strategic use of language in social contexts. Pragmatic skills include a range of behaviors: greetings, requests, forms of address, apologies, and routines such as “trick or treat.” They also include behaviors necessary for conducting conversations such as initiating them, taking turns, maintaining the topic, giving and responding to feedback, and concluding them. There are forms that convey one’s role in a conversation (e.g., “I” vs. “you”) and degree of knowledge shared with listeners (e.g., “a” vs. “the”). What primarily characterizes these behaviors is their contextual sensitivity. That is, no communicative behavior is inherently appropriate. Rather, its appropriateness varies as a function of the social context (who is interacting with whom in what setting). Infants demonstrate increasing evidence of communicative intent and acquire minimal pragmatic skills over the course of their first year. By about 10 months of age, when they use gestures or vocalize, they make eye contact with their partners, use consistent forms, pause for responses, and persist with their efforts when they are not understood. Even before they begin to produce words, they are able to use gesture, intonation, and phonemes to communicate requests for objects or actions, their desire to direct others’ attention, as well as their refusal of objects or actions. From 12 to 24 months, the range of communicative functions infants can express increases dramatically along with their vocabulary. Such oft-heard pragmatic expressions as “please,” “thank you,” “uh-oh,” “hello,” and “bye” are typically acquired well before 2 years. One skill necessary for conversation, turn taking, has its roots in the first year. In many cultures, infants enjoy familiar caregiver-infant routines such as give-and-take games and peekaboo. Through these caregiver-driven routines, infants learn that particular responses follow specific caregiver behaviors. At the age of 1 year, infants begin taking a more active role in initiating these interactions, which often include vocalizations. From the age of 2, the responsibility for initiating communicative interactions becomes more balanced. As children move into their third year, the capacity for simple conversation unfolds. Most of the literature has focused on the development of particular pragmatic skills during the preschool and middle

184 •

commun icat ion , dev el o pmen t o f

childhood periods in middle-class North American and European samples. The earliest studies of pragmatic behavior investigated children’s ability to modify their speech in different situations. This research was in part a response to Jean Piaget’s claim that, before 7 years, children are egocentric and unable to take their listeners’ perspectives. In fact, preschoolers have the capacity to speak differently to adults, peers, and toddlers and to refer differently to objects when speaking to sighted as contrasted with blindfolded listeners, for example. Whether children actually do modify their speech according to context depends in large part on their motivation and the cognitive, linguistic, and social demands of the task. Even adolescents and adults may sometimes speak egocentrically, but they have a greater capacity for sociocentered speech. Preschoolers also are becoming adept at understanding and producing requests. Some of the hardest forms to understand are indirect requests like “It’s too noisy” as a request to be quieter. Toddlers and preschoolers respond to such forms as requests for action, and preschoolers’ refusals indicate that they also comprehend their intended meanings. With respect to requests they produce, preschoolers are able to vary their requests as a function of their power relative to that of their listener. All other factors being equal, they tend to use more indirect, semantically softened requests (e.g., “Please do you mind handing me that book?”) with more powerful listeners and more direct, semantically aggravated requests (e.g., “Give me that book or else!”) with less powerful listeners. Th e Grow th of P r agm at ic S k i l ls Conversational skills show a great deal of growth over childhood and into adolescence. Infants have rudimentary turn-taking skills, demonstrating earlier competence with cooperative adults than with peers, and preschoolers rarely overlap turns. The challenge, however, is simultaneously taking turns while maintaining the topic and monitoring the conversation. Older children develop more precise timing of turns, become more responsive to subtle cues that speakers are done, and better anticipate upcoming conversational boundaries. There are fewer long pauses in their conversations. As they get older, children also become more skilled at holding the floor by employing fillers such as “y’know” and sentence-initial “and.” They also acquire the ability to interrupt by offering excuses, and skilled interrupting develops at least through adolescence. With age, children get better at initiating and sustaining coherent conversations. Where toddlers and younger preschoolers rely more on strategies like imitation, simple recasts, and sound play, older children elaborate topically by adding new but relevant information to the previous speaker’s turn. They can eventually contribute by responding to their listeners’ stated or implicit motives, feelings, and beliefs. Adolescents’ conversational skills improve fur-

ther. Teens can contribute novel ideas, transition elegantly among topics, include jokes and anecdotes, and employ dramatic gestures and facial expressions. They also become more adept at multiparty talk involving adults and peers. Various other devices for maintaining cohesive conversations are honed during childhood. During the preschool years, children begin to use words such as “then,” “so,” and “because” that connect sentences. From the age of 2 or 3, they also link their talk to earlier parts of a conversation in a kind of shorthand. They start to use pronouns (e.g., “she”) to refer to nouns that were explicitly stated earlier (e.g., “my mother”) and produce sentences that delete information that may be assumed given the prior talk (e.g., “I did” in response to the question “Did you feed the cat?”). Such forms, called anaphora and ellipsis, require that both participants attend to the conversation at hand. Children use anaphora more frequently and less egocentrically with age but do not appear to understand it fully until the middle school years. And more complex forms such as “for example,” “though,” and “perhaps” that mark relationships between utterances are seldom produced until later adolescence. This developmental progression applies to English; development depends in part on the complexity of forms used in a particular language. Longer, coherent conversations are also made possible by an increasing ability to convey understanding (or the lack thereof ) and to repair conversations when they break down. Young children are generally quite poor at indicating that they do not understand and acknowledging that they do (i.e., they tend not to nod or say “OK” or “uh-huh”). When they receive explicit feedback in a familiar and natural situation, 2-year-olds are capable of simply repeating or verifying what they said. Although preschoolers can selfcorrect to some degree, it is not until they are about 6 that they mark correction with phrases such as “I mean.” Older preschoolers can sometimes request from listeners specific information they lack and provide clarification contingent on the feedback they receive. However, they are inconsistent in doing so. During middle childhood and adolescence, children provide more feedback to listeners, with constructive interruptions such as “I know what you mean” promoting conversation. Older children can also respond appropriately even to subtle feedback such as listeners’ quizzical expressions. As children move into adolescence, their expanding social worlds both enable and pressure them to display more sophisticated pragmatic skills. Experience with a greater variety of teachers and peers and participation in extracurricular activities such as sports teams and work motivate adolescents to take others’ perspectives and use language strategically. Furthermore, pragmatic behavior reflects normal advances in identity development and increasing autonomy from parents. The social contexts in which adolescents display pragmatic behavior also expand to in-

c o m m u n ic a t io n , d e v e l o p m e n t o f

clude such technologies as cellular phones and the Internet. Therefore, it is not surprising that new pragmatic skills emerge in this developmental period. During adolescence, language assumes an especially significant role in marking identity. Appropriate use of current slang expressions and gestures unique to the peer group is critical. These behaviors mark solidarity with members of the groups to which teens belong and assert teens’ separateness from other groups and from younger children and adults. Knowing the current labels for the groups themselves (e.g., “jocks,” “emos”) and knowing ways of teasing and arguing gain importance in the teen years. Shifting among various registers and language varieties enables adolescents to align themselves with particular age, social class, racial, and ethnic groups. The technology available to adolescents affords new opportunities for social interaction. Pragmatic skill is required to shift adeptly among different styles of communicating depending on with whom one is communicating and whether one is speaking on the phone, text messaging, or using the Internet to communicate through instant messaging, chat rooms, e-mail, social networking sites, or blogs. Different terminology is appropriate to different modalities, and the anonymous modalities allow teens to construct identities by means of e-mail addresses, screen names, and selective sharing of information. Especially for younger adolescents who have a limited ability to meet peers outside of school, technology provides a mechanism for one-on-one communication that promotes friendship and for simultaneous communication with many others that promotes group identity formation. Communication using technology is also structured differently from face-to-face communication and offers greater privacy and control. Adolescents can keep multiple channels of communication open and (to some degree) monitor and participate in all of them simultaneously. Another difference is that, with chat rooms, related utterances are often separated by several turns of other conversations. Cellular phones and the Internet enable teens to defer conversations, communicate from almost anywhere at any time, and save messages. Sou rc e s o f Var i at ion There are many influences on the acquisition of pragmatic competence. Children’s natural sociability drives them to interact with others and to do so effectively. Cognitive abilities such as perspective taking and theory of mind (an understanding of the mind and mental operations) appear to be prerequisites to pragmatics because appropriate communication requires children to recognize that other people have different ideas that need to be accommodated. Scripts, general knowledge about familiar, everyday events, also help children communicate effectively by establishing expectations about interactions and freeing cognitive

• 18 5

resources. When children share knowledge of scripts, they are better able to maintain conversational interactions because they already know what they are talking about. Of course, children must have basic language skills and a repertoire of pragmatic terms and routines in order to display pragmatic competence. Much of this repertoire is learned through interactions with family members. Societies and cultures vary with respect to the pragmatic behaviors they value and the means by which they socialize pragmatic behavior. Middle-class American parents socialize pragmatic behavior more than other aspects of language. They prompt both explicitly (e.g., “Say ‘thank you,’ ” “Don’t talk with your mouth full”) and indirectly (e.g., “What’s the magic word?” “What did you say?”) when young children make pragmatic errors, and they anticipate potential errors (e.g., “Don’t forget to say ‘trick or treat’ ”). They model and praise appropriate behavior. Occasionally, parents pose hypothetical pragmatic situations, evaluate behavior retroactively, and address children’s questions and comments about pragmatics. Much of this discourse occurs at the dinner table. Such multiparty interactions are especially useful contexts for acquiring conversational and narrative skills. In non-American cultures such as the Basotho of Lesotho, explicit parental prompting of appropriate language is also common. However, not all parents explicitly socialize young children’s pragmatic behavior in this way. The Kaluli of Papua New Guinea do not speak to prelinguistic infants but rather speak for them like ventriloquists. It is not until children are older that mothers employ pragmatic prompts. Canadian Inuit parents do not believe children can reason until they are 5, so they do not typically converse with infants and young children. Insofar as those children ultimately acquire pragmatic competence, it is clear that monitoring the conversations of speakers around them can also help children. Older siblings and fathers are thought to contribute to the development of pragmatic competence differently from mothers. Because they tend to be less tuned in to the communication of young children and assume less responsibility for maintaining conversations than do mothers, siblings and fathers may pressure the youngsters to communicate more effectively. On the other hand, older siblings often act as cultural socializing agents, introducing younger children to communication norms. In addition, younger siblings are motivated to learn to enter family conversations. Laterborn children exhibit more advanced conversational skills than do firstborn children. Peers, as relatively uncooperative conversational partners, appear to exert communicative pressure similarly to fathers and siblings during the preschool years. Across development, peer interaction is relatively unconstrained, symmetrical, collaborative, and emotionally engaging, and children and adolescents spend a great deal of time with peers. By its nature, peer interaction provides a unique con-

186 •

commun icat ion , dev el o pmen t o f

text for observing and practicing narrative skills, role-related language, humor, and confl ict management. As noted previously, as children move into adolescence, communication with peers is a mechanism for acquiring identity-related communication skills. Schools also influence pragmatic development in many ways. Games, cooperative learning, storytelling, and informal conversations encourage different forms of discourse. Teachers explicitly provide some rules governing classroom communication (e.g., raise your hand if you wish to speak, no screaming indoors), whereas other rules (e.g., teachers initiate topics) must be inferred from ongoing interaction. Teachers also have the opportunity to remediate communication deficits by training specific pragmatic skills and reinforcing pragmatic competence. Children themselves contribute actively to the acquisition of pragmatic competence. Just as they ask questions about definitions and pronunciations, they sometimes inquire about pragmatic conventions (e.g., whether one says “trick or treat” on Christmas) and check whether they are speaking appropriately. Research with atypical populations provides evidence that theory of mind, social orientation, and general linguistic ability are indeed important for the acquisition of pragmatic competence. Pragmatic deficits are the most central diagnostic criteria for children with autism, who have significant impairments in theory of mind. Their lack of understanding of others’ intentions, motivations, and beliefs impairs their ability to take listeners’ needs into account. They have difficulty initiating conversations, responding reciprocally and adding new information to sustain conversation, taking turns, and responding appropriately to requests for clarification. They also tend to use scripted or idiosyncratic speech that is irrelevant to conversations. Not surprisingly, they tend not to produce many of the basic social functions of language, such as requests for information and acknowledgement of others’ talk. The greater the degree of symptomatology, the greater the conversational impairment, regardless of children’s overall language skill. In contrast, children with Down syndrome have better theory of mind and are more sociable. They are more effective conversationalists than are children with autism. They use various devices to converse appropriately, including maintaining the topic and revising their utterances (though not always successfully) in dealing with misunderstandings. Relative to their phonological and expressive language, pragmatics is an area of strength. Deaf children of deaf parents acquire sign language (e.g., American Sign Language) as easily and naturally as hearing children acquire spoken language. However, the situation for deaf children of hearing parents is different. Although such children receive loving interaction, their hearing parents may not provide the rich communication environment that would foster typical linguistic skills. Similarly to hear-

ing children, young deaf children can initiate conversations but have difficulty commenting, asking questions, maintaining the conversational topic, and making conversational repairs. They also express communicative functions more ambiguously, rely more on imitation, and communicate less frequently. Deaf children of hearing parents tend to use more nonlinguistic devices than do hearing children, but these are insufficient for complex communicative interactions. Semantic and syntactic improvements are associated with greater pragmatic skills. C o n s equenc e s o f Var i atio n i n P r agm at ic C om p et enc e There are a number of consequences for individual and group variation in pragmatic behavior. One area for which pragmatics may have significance is literacy. Some pragmatic behaviors in preschoolers predict literacy skills. Pragmatic awareness may facilitate early reading by helping children understand implicit meaning in text. The ability to take multiple perspectives in multiparty conversation may also aid in text comprehension. Narrative skills may promote pleasure in literature and help children learn about the structure and conventions of stories. More specifically, skill at structuring narratives and elaborating plots is associated with subsequent reading and writing abilities. Second, children who are pragmatically skilled function better in school and other evaluative contexts than do children who are not. Teachers form impressions of children’s abilities and motivations on the basis of pragmatic behavior, and pragmatic behavior appears to influence children’s opportunities for educational interactions with others throughout the life span. The relevance of pragmatic behavior in schools is particularly salient when the conventions of the classroom confl ict with those of the home. Cultures vary in how and when children may converse with adults, ask questions, display knowledge, make eye contact, wait for others’ responses, and use volume. However, teachers usually evaluate children using the communicative patterns of the culture with which they are most familiar, commonly the majority culture. For example, relative to middle-class non-Inuits, young Canadian Inuit children are inexperienced at speaking with adults and accustomed to speaking simultaneously. Teachers make their students uncomfortable when they assess understanding by asking many questions, and they view calling out simultaneously as rude. In contrast, when the communicative practices of home and school are more compatible, children are more comfortable and display their communicative competencies more fully. Similar consequences can be found in other contexts in which adults evaluate children. Speech pathologists, medical staff, and other professionals can obtain more comprehensive and valid samples of language when they appreciate cultural practices and modify their practices accordingly. Finally, children with pragmatic competence are more

c o m m u n it y s e r v ic e a n d s e r v ic e -l e a r n in g

socially effective than less-competent children. Throughout development, peers prefer those who are adept at entering peer groups using such strategies as greeting, suggesting, and asking to join in. In contrast, peers tend to dislike children who nag, disrupt, or disagree without explaining. Well-liked children and youth tend to be able to engage peers in conversation and show responsiveness both verbally and nonverbally through gaze and expressivity. Accepted children maintain cohesive discourse. In adolescence, those who convey allegiance to the group by using more inclusive pronouns and asking questions are viewed as better peer leaders than those teens who simply talk more. Not surprisingly, teens and young adults skilled in negotiation and persuasion are more successful professionally. Insofar as having friends and being held in peer regard are predictive of physical health and psychological adjustment, pragmatic skills are quite important in children’s lives. Judith Becker Bryant see also: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Bilingualism; Gestures; Language; Language Disorders and Delay; Narrative; Sign Language; Sociolinguistic Diversity further reading: Jean Berko Gleason and Sandra Weintraub, “The Acquisition of Routines in Child Language,” Language in Society 5 (1976), pp. 129–36. • Catherine Garvey, Children’s Talk, 1984. • Judith Becker, “Bossy and Nice Requests: Children’s Production and Interpretation,” Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 32 (1986), pp. 393–413. • Susan Hoyle and Carolyn Temple Adger, eds., Kids Talk: Strategic Language Use in Later Childhood, 1998. • Shoshana Blum-Kulka and Catherine Snow, eds., “Special Issue: Peer Talk and Pragmatic Development,” Discourse Studies 6, no. 3 (2004). • Robert Kraut, Malcolm Brynin, and Sara Kiesler, eds., Computers, Phones, and the Internet, 2006.

community service and service-learning. Community service is the voluntary contribution of one’s time and energies to the betterment of others in a formal context for a given period of time. Community service can take place on a neighborhood, local, state, national, international, or global level. In 2004, 30.4% of all U.S. teenagers, age 16 to 19, served as volunteers. This represented an estimated 15.5 million American teens who provided 1.3 billion hours of service, with an average of 35 mean annual hours of service, typically to a single organization. Females were more apt to volunteer than males, and those from more affluent homes were more likely to volunteer than others; white youth volunteered more often than Hispanic youth, who volunteered more often than African American youth. Most young people volunteered to work with a single organization, though a small percentage worked with as many as five. Schools and youth development organizations play the largest role in connecting young people with volunteer opportunities, followed by those who are connected through faith-based institutions. The rest get involved through civic

• 18 7

or political organizations, health organizations, sports, public safety organizations, and a range of other social institutions such as social clubs. Most youth get involved in tutoring or mentoring other young people; raising funds; and/or collecting, preparing, and distributing food. Other volunteer activities popular with girls include providing transportation or general labor; making crafts or distributing clothing; performing music or helping with art; coaching or refereeing for sports teams; and performing other activities, such as ushering, counseling, or serving on committees. Helping with civic protection and disasters are more often boys’ specialties. Individuals who provide community service as young people tend to volunteer more often than young people who did not volunteer. A study in 2003 found that 54% of American young people who earlier had volunteered were still providing community service two years after being graduated from high school, and 42% volunteered eight years after being graduated. This compares to the 26% of those who did not provide community service. Those who had engaged in mandatory service in high school had a rate of later volunteerism barely higher than the 26% of those who did not volunteer at all. Young people are motivated to serve for two broad reasons: feeling a moral or religious obligation to help solve a problem and/or as a benefit to oneself. Most young people who perform community service report that they serve for both reasons. Youth who serve over a long period of time also report that they volunteered to gain additional perspectives on life, seeing service as a means to connect to people like themselves or to belong to a community and/or as a way to confront and act to address a social problem. Community service has a long history and has been institutionalized in at least 57 other nations throughout the world. For example, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has supported youth volunteerism since 1947 and made it a priority in 1998, describing service as a powerful tool to achieve youth empowerment and participation. UNESCO sponsored youth service opportunities in China, Mozambique, Mexico, and other countries to preserve the cultural heritage and encouraged a large range of other service opportunities. Community service is also institutionalized in at least 57 other nations and is recognized as a way to give young people a sense of belonging and efficacy. UNESCO noted that while the cost of service is relatively low, there are support costs that should be provided, such as transportation, housing, and food for crossnational projects, and other logistical supports. Estimates of costs range from $20 to $50 per month in the United States to $2,000 per month in Asia. Governments tend to provide the largest percentage of the funding, followed by private enterprise, private sponsors, and others. The United States has a long tradition of community ser-

188 •

commun it y serv i ce a n d s erv i ce- l ea rn in g

vice. In the early 1800s, Alexis de Tocqueville commented on the apparent norm for helping others as a part of American life. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s relied in part upon the spirit of community service. In the 1960s, the Peace Corps and the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) were created during the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations. In the 1990s, President George H. W. Bush and President Bill Clinton established the Commission (later the Corporation) for National and Community Service. In each case, the federal government recognized the benefit of the provision of service to the community both for the server and for those being served. About half of all U.S. public high schools and a third of all public K–12 schools currently offer a particular form of community service called service-learning. Servicelearning is an instructional approach that promotes mastery of content standards in nearly every topic addressed in schools through service preparation, provision, and reflection. Service-learning can take multiple forms, including environmental study and preservation, helping the homeless and elderly, building homes for the homeless or ramps for the disabled, helping citizens register to vote, engaging in fund-raising, and nearly any other form of service that meets a community need. Studies show that in high-quality service-learning approaches, the young people help choose the service in which they will partake, and they have direct contact with those being served. Service-learning that has the highest impact also is of sufficient duration, at least a semester; is tied directly into learning standards; and features cognitively challenging reflection activities. Personal benefits of engaging in service-learning have been found in four areas: academic engagement, civic engagement, personal and social development, and career aspirations and pathways. Students who have high-quality service-learning experiences have been found to become more engaged in school, both in terms of attendance and paying attention in class. They are more motivated to learn and are more likely to see the value of schooling. Several of these studies demonstrate that students who participated in service-learning had higher scores on tests of academic achievement, were more likely to attend school, and were less likely to drop out. Participation in service-learning is also related to helping students acquire civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Compared to students who do not participate, youth who engage in service-learning are more likely to follow the news; take action on a social problem; intend to vote; and feel more attached to their schools, communities, and society at large. Theorists believe that these experiences help shape a young person’s sense of civic identity and citizenship and that service connects youth with positive adult role models and social networks, leading to a stronger disposition to help others, vote, and engage in civic and

political life. High-quality service-learning experiences also promote reduction in risky behaviors, development of respect for diversity, development of altruism and selfefficacy, and taking more responsibility for self and others. For example, quasi-experimental studies have shown that students who engage in service-learning activities are less likely than their matched comparison group peers to become pregnant or to drink excessive amounts of alcohol. In dozens of studies, relative to their nonparticipating peers, young people who participated in service-learning were more likely to feel that they could make a difference in their communities, that they would help others in need, and that they had the responsibility to take care of their schools and communities. Service-learning has also been found to be an effective way of introducing young people to a variety of professions and careers. By encountering community agencies for the first time, youth learn about specific occupations and career pathways. When college applicants were asked in a survey why they participated in service or service-learning, their number one response was that it helps prepare them for employment or acceptance at a postsecondary institution. Schools and communities also tend to benefit from service-learning implementation. School faculties that adopt service-learning schoolwide were found to change their prevailing culture to become more student centered. Communities derive direct benefits in having their needs met, and community members who partner with schools in service-learning activities tend to change their view of youth, seeing them as resources and contributors rather than as a drain on community resources. For example, in one study, students who worked with senior citizens on health-care issues and on helping to monitor the cleanup of a nearby river convinced the voters, who were disproportionately elderly, to pass a tax bond to support the schools, the first time this happened within the community in 40 years. In another study, young people who canvassed the community found that residents were disturbed by graffiti and addressed this by painting murals all over the neighborhood were thrown a party by the community members who then asked the students to join them in other beautification projects. Critics of service-learning and community service question its appropriateness to public schools. To some, it seems a draft of unpaid labor. Others are troubled by the opportunity it offers for the development of stereotypes. Others are troubled by how close it may be to methods of promoting and mobilizing political action for youth—especially where young people are taught to identify and investigate social issues and move them toward the current agenda—seeing this as inherently inappropriate to community-supported schools. Some worry that service in the international sphere conveys overtones of imperialism. As of now, however, supporters of community service are in the ascendant in the

computers

United Kingdom, the United States (the more so in view of the well-remembered work of youthful volunteers in the disastrous hurricanes of 2005), and elsewhere. Such work seems to many to promote social cohesion, along with the developmental and educational advantages community service advocates proclaim. Shelley H. Billig see also: Civic Education; Political Activism, Children and; Work, Children’s Gainful further reading: S. H. Billig, “Research on K–12 School Based Service-Learning: The Evidence Builds,” Phi Delta Kappan 81, no. 9 (May 2000), pp. 658–64. • A. M. McBride, C. Benitez, and M. Sherraden, The Forms and Nature of Civic Service: A Global Assessment, 2003. • Bureau of Labor Statistics, Volunteering in the United States, 2005. • Corporation for National and Community Service, Building Active Citizens: The Role of Social Institutions in Teen Volunteering, Youth Helping America Series, Brief 1, 2005. • Kate Thomsen, Service-Learning in Grades K–8: Experiential Learning That Builds Character and Motivation, 2005.

computers Computers as Learning Tools Computer Games The Internet

computers as learning tools. The Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky has suggested that cultural tools enable children to use their basic mental functions adaptively. The computer has become such a cultural tool through the applications it offers. Computer applications include programming and word-processing software, games (instructional games; entertainment games; “edutainment,” or entertainment with educational content; or serious games as they are variously called), and applications offering access to the Internet. Youth use the Internet for instrumental purposes (schoolwork, news, downloading music) and for socialcommunication purposes (communicating with friends and meeting new people). Scholars frequently distinguish between computer use in the more formal context of schools (K–12 settings) and the informal context of the home as well as that of after-school and early-childhood settings.

C om pu t er U s e i n Fo r m a l S ett i ng s Classroom computer applications fall into two main categories: programs to provide drill and practice (e.g., for spelling, multiplication) and programs that present subject content (e.g., social studies, geography) through games. Drill and practice software may be used by teachers to provide students with repeated opportunities to learn facts such as multiplication tables and to enhance instruction, such as during spelling drills. With instructional games, the premise is that students will be more engaged in learning-based activities if it is presented in a gamelike context. Despite the proliferation of educational computer games, in the classroom there is little hard evidence of

• 18 9

specifically academic benefits from educational computer games. In 2006, Yasmin Kafai wrote that a survey of the educational publications of 20 years revealed very little hard academic benefits of playing educational games. Another recent review of 20 studies on this topic concluded that children do learn from computer games but that the overall value of such learning remains in question. In particular, it is still unclear how educational software compares to other teaching methods as well as the particular features of games that may promote learning. One recent well-designed longitudinal study using a national sample compared classrooms that used reading and mathematics software with classrooms that did not. The study found that there were no statistically significant differences between the test scores of students in the classrooms that used the software products with those in classrooms that did not. However, there is some evidence that the computer may serve as a good motivator, particularly for drill-based activities that children may consider boring. In fact, the benefit of software/computer games to education may lie more in their motivational and social advantages. However, one promising use of computers as learning tools in schools is providing students with opportunities to construct their own games. For instance, in one case study four students were given the opportunity to create their own games with their own worlds, characters, and story lines to teach fractions to a group of younger students in their school. This study showed that the students enjoyed making games for learning and were able to develop their programming skills; based on an analysis of the games designed, the authors concluded that the context of designing games helped the students develop more sophisticated and complex representations of fractions. In contrast to the traditional method of playing games for learning, making games for learning allows learners to develop new understandings of content knowledge. Worth mentioning here is a longitudinal case study of six students through four years of high school described in Computer Acquisition: A Longitudinal Study of the Influence of High Computer Access on Students’ Thinking, Learning, and Interactions, published in 1992 by Apple Computer, Inc. Observations of these students suggested that high computer access contributed to the ability to represent and explore information dynamically as well as to increases in experimentation and problem solving, social awareness, confidence, effective communication, independence, and collaboration. Together these findings help make sense of the mixed nature of the research regarding computers as tools of learning. They suggest that computers are motivating to students and if used intensively may be most effective in developing new forms of thinking, problem solving, and representation but are less likely to show effects on traditional measures of academic learning. Another use of the computer as a learning tool is in the

190 •

comp ut ers

context of teaching writing. Word-processing software is routinely used by children as early as elementary school to create written reports and oral presentations; at a very basic level, the software is believed to help with the spelling and the other mechanical aspects of writing. A bigger advantage of using the computer for writing is that it readily enables the process of revising, editing, and creating multiple drafts—all essential to developing good writing skills. One review of evaluation studies conducted in the 1980s and 1990s concluded that compared to students who wrote compositions using paper and pencil, those who wrote compositions on word processors produced higher-quality and longer compositions. Finally, online synchronous chat rooms are also being used in the context of writing instruction. Although the research is ambiguous for the most part, one recent study with high school students suggested that students who wrote journal entries on the computer wrote more words than those who used paper and pencil. Within the formal settings of schools, the Internet is used most often as an information source when doing research for reports, projects, and the like. It is not clear the extent to which students are provided instruction on search strategies. An even bigger issue is whether youth are taught about credibility issues surrounding online information; a related concern is the practice of cutting and pasting information from the Web into written documents. It is imperative that children and adolescents be taught that they should pay attention to the source of the information on the Web and that they have to paraphrase into their own words information that they obtain from the Web. I nfor m a l C om pu t er U s e Similar to schools, computer use within the home includes educational and entertainment games; the latter are played either on computers or on game systems. Computer use during the preschool years has been found to enhance school-readiness skills such as alphabet recognition, counting and premathematical knowledge, concept learning, and language scores. Well-controlled studies have found that computer use in after-school contexts has positive effects on reading and mathematics, computer knowledge, following directions, grammar, and school achievement tests. Importantly, there is a small but significant body of research that has found positive effect of playing video games on specific cognitive skills such as eye-hand coordination and spatial skills. Even less is known about the effects of the Internet on learning. One area of concern with regard to Internet use is that of multitasking, which is the practice of having multiple applications open on the computer at the same time. Research suggests that youth, particularly adolescents, often engage in multiple instant-messaging conversations with friends while at the same time working on homework (e.g., working on a report). Research is needed to better un-

derstand the effects of young people’s multitasking on their learning. Another consideration is gender differences in computer use. Early studies of both formal and informal computer use suggested that girls did not gravitate toward computers to the extent that boys did. Concerns were raised that this would put females at a disadvantage with regard to computer literacy skills and subsequently with regard to careers in technology. With the introduction of the Internet and in particular the communication applications, however, gender gap in access and time use of computers has narrowed. Kaveri Subrahmanyam see also: Curriculum further reading: Kaveri Subrahmanyam, Patricia M. Greenﬁeld, Robert E. Kraut, and Elisheva Gross, “The Impact of Computer Use on Children’s and Adolescents’ Development,” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 22, no. 1 (2001), pp. 7–30. • Yasmin B. Kafai, “Playing and Making Games for Learning: Instructionist and Constructionist Perspectives for Game Studies,” Games and Culture 1, no. 1 (January 2006), pp. 36–40. • U.S. Department of Education, Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort, March 2007. • Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, “Third Generation Educational Use of Computer Games,” Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia 16, no. 3 (July 2007), pp. 263–81.

computer games. Computer and video games have be-

come an integral part in the lives of children living in the United States today. Although the former are played on a computer and the latter on stand-alone game systems either at home or in arcades, both are similar in structure (active and interactive) and content, and so the terms computer games and video games are used synonymously. Since their arrival, computer games have always been popular among school-age children. Children are using these media at younger and younger ages; a Kaiser Foundation survey conducted in 2003 using a nationally representative sample of 1,065 parents of children 6 months to 6 years old reported that children younger than 6 spent the same amount of time (approximately two hours) playing outside as watching television and playing computer and video games and, ironically, much less time having people read to them. Moreover, 25% of the 4- to 6-year-olds that they sampled played computer games several times a week or more. It should be kept in mind that computer games are just one part of the digital media consumed by children these days, which also include television, the Internet, music, movies, and more. In response to the media-saturated environment that children are growing up in today, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends one to two hours of quality screen time for older children and no screen time for children younger than 2 years of age. One concern regarding the effects of game playing is that time spent playing games is time spent away from other

computers

“more productive” activities, such as reading and physical activities; the reduction in the latter raises health concerns such as obesity. Because of the difficulties involved in obtaining accurate estimates of young people’s media use, the exact nature of the relation between computer game playing and other activities such as television watching, reading, and physical activities is not clear. Research has found that electronic game use is associated with childhood obesity. In one study of 922 Swiss elementary school children, researchers found a twofold increase in the risk of obesity for every hour per day that was spent playing electronic games. However, another study, which analyzed data from a national sample of 2,800 children younger than 12 years, found a U-shaped relationship between obesity and time spent playing electronic games: Children with higher weights reported spending moderate amounts of time playing games, whereas children with lower weights played either a lot or very little. Thus, the relation between computer games and obesity is not entirely straightforward. Game playing has also been linked on occasion to epileptic seizures and to a kind of tendinitis, sometimes called “Nintendinitis” (a reference to the Nintendo gaming platform), in which there is severe pain in the extensor tendon of the right thumb due to repeated pressing of the buttons on the game controller. One positive effect of playing computer games is the enhancement of cognitive skills. Research on this question was motivated by the idea that because computer games entail specific cognitive skills, repeated game playing may have an effect on those skills. Some features of video games include rapid movement, visual imagery, simultaneous action at different locations on the screen, and judging of speeds and distances. Studies have shown that with training on such games, children and adolescents do improve their attentional, spatial, and iconic representational skills. Furthermore, Patricia Greenfield has suggested that at least within the United States, the documented increases in performance IQ in the general population is related to the increased exposure to electronic games. Two things about this body of work should be kept in mind. First, game playing can enhance a particular skill only if the game utilizes that skill. Second, only the short-term consequences of game playing have been studied, and research is needed to study long-term effects of computer game playing on cognitive skills. Perhaps the area of greatest concern is with regard to the effect of playing violent games. Fueled by incidents such as the Columbine school shooting in the United States and the report that the shooters had been obsessed with the violent video game Doom, these concerns have taken on urgency given the increasingly violent content of games and the realistic nature of this violence. A meta-analysis (a statistical analysis of other studies’ statistical effects) by Craig Anderson in 2004 revealed that playing violent video games was associated with increases in “aggressive behavior, aggres-

• 19 1

sive cognition, aggressive affect, and physiological arousal” as well as decreases in “helping behavior.” Stronger effects were obtained from methodologically stronger studies compared to methodologically weaker studies. Anderson points out that the size of the effect of violent video game exposure on aggressive behavior is larger than that of condom use on HIV risk or passive workplace smoke exposure on lung cancer. With regard to long-term effects, another review examined two longitudinal surveys (one over a twoyear period and one over a four- to five-month period); the authors concluded that the evidence was strongly suggestive of a link between repeated playing of violent video games and aggressive and violent behavior. Despite these findings, research suggests that parents have little knowledge and control over their children’s playing of video games. In a study of 607 eighth- and ninth-grade students, fewer than half of the respondents (31%) thought that their parents understood the video game ratings put out by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), and only 15% reported that their parents consistently monitored the ratings when purchasing or renting video games. In fact, 10% of the participants reported having games whose content would not be approved by their parents. One persistent finding in computer game playing has been that not only do more boys play games than girls, they also typically play for more time than girls. Researchers have suggested that this gender difference may stem from girls’ dislike for the violent content, fast pace, and other content of most computer games. They have theorized that girls may prefer games based more on reality, with familiar themes, characters, and realistic game worlds. The Girls’ Games movement, which was started in response to concerns about the gender gap in game playing, has largely floundered. Scholars are divided as to whether girls ought to have separate games. Regardless, gender differences in game playing have persisted and remain even for the newer generation of online games. Kaveri Subrahmanyam see also: Toys and Games further reading: Kaveri Subrahmanyam, Robert E. Kraut, Patricia Greenﬁeld, and Elisheva Gross, “The Impact of Home Computer Use on Children’s Activities and Development,” The Future of Children: Children and Computer Technology 10 (Spring 2000), pp. 123–44. • Craig A. Anderson, “An Update on the Effects of Playing Violent Video Games,” Journal of Adolescence 27 (2004), pp. 113–22. • Nicolas Stettler, Theo Singer, and Paolo Sutter, “Electronic Games and Environmental Factors Associated with Childhood Obesity in Switzerland,” Obesity Research 12 (2004), pp. 896–903. • Elizabeth A. Vandewater, M. Shim, and Alison G. Caplovitz, “Linking Obesity and Activity Level with Children’s Television and Video Game Use,” Journal of Adolescence 27 (2004), pp. 71–85.

the internet. The Internet, a decentralized, global communications network resulting from the conjunction of

192 •

comp ut ers

computers and telecommunications, has been available to children, in developed countries at least, since the mid1990s, when it first entered the mass market. Children have begun to use the Internet at home, in school, and in their community. While each new medium in children’s lives has been accompanied by public debate over benefits and harms, this debate has been pronounced for the Internet, partly because of its comparative rapidity of diffusion and partly because it has consequences across the range of children’s lives—entertainment, education, employment, civic participation, identity, relationships, and so forth. A primary concern has been that of socioeconomic inequalities. The so-called digital divide debate examines the possibility that those who lack access—for reasons of income, knowledge, or interest—may miss out on social benefits compared to those with access. Research consistently shows that households that are advantaged in income, education, location (e.g., urban vs. rural), and other ways gain domestic Internet access earlier, and even when poorer households do gain access, the better off maintain their advantage by acquiring more computers, updated software, faster connections, and so forth. Researchers are increasingly investigating less tangible sources of inequality than access or costs, focusing on digital literacies as a source of digital exclusion. It should also be noted that, perhaps surprisingly, the benefits of Internet access—educational and otherwise—remain to be demonstrated clearly in empirical terms. However, it is widely believed that Internet access provides a route to social inclusion and educational success as well as revitalizes the supposed civic apathy of youth. To redress the balance for poorer households, governmental, nongovernmental, and charitable organizations worldwide have initiated some often creative programs to introduce the Internet into ethnically, geographically, or economically disadvantaged communities. Yet, evaluations do not consistently demonstrate the success of these initiatives, instead showing that access alone is insufficient without guidance, skills, and motivation. The role of the Internet in children’s lives from birth through adolescence changes as younger children gain access and as online communication becomes embedded in adolescent peer culture. At home, children are often the acknowledged “experts” on the Internet, according them status in the family. As for other media, parents seek to regulate children’s Internet use, particularly as it comes to rival television in terms of time spent with it. Interviews show that parents claim more regulation than children recognize, partly because parents may not monitor children’s Internet use as effectively as they claim and partly because children regard the Internet as a new opportunity for private or peerto-peer activity and evade parental scrutiny. In schools, the Internet has become a staple feature of the curriculum in developed nations, though access and type of use vary widely. How the Internet can and should be incor-

porated into teaching is not yet settled: For some, it offers a convenient means of curriculum delivery; for others, it opens up a route to new modes of learning, transforming educational literacy (e.g., permitting child-centered learning, individual unstructured exploration, a shift from “learning that” to “learning how,” or from rote learning to learning by doing). For teachers, the Internet poses the challenge of identifying materials, learning new skills, changing forms of assessment, and developing in children the tools they need for critical evaluation of online content. Children have been among the most enthusiastic adopters of the Internet. Statistics show households with children lead in access. While informational and educational uses come high in children’s preferences, their favorite activities online are generally peer related: communication, game playing (including participation in the fast-growing array of online multiplayer fantasy games), music file sharing, and so forth. Initial expectations were that the Internet would facilitate children’s communication with other children around the world—a glorified system of pen pals; this has not come about significantly. Nor has the early fear been supported that the Internet would encourage social isolation, displacing face-to-face with online communication, with the possible exception of already-lonely children. Most children, especially teenagers, use the Internet for frequent but routine communication with friends; in other words, to stay in constant contact. Like the cell phone, the Internet has also enabled some expansion in peer networks to include “friends of friends.” Debate persists over whether the online friendships are as strong or significant as faceto-face friendships, though for some it seems that the anonymity and privacy afforded online permits expression that is otherwise difficult: sharing personal experiences, gaining health information, discussing embarrassing topics, and exploring niche interests. Even a casual glance at the variety of Web sites and other online activities engaged in by children reveals a dizzying variety of creative, constructive, sometimes esoteric, sometimes naughty activities, including the small minority who use the Internet for such “adult” activities as political campaigning, economic entrepreneurship, pornography, and even criminal activities. As social scientists begin to conduct longitudinal research over several years, findings have begun to clarify ways in which the Internet both aids and hinders children’s development. A crucial part of the picture are the risks, actual and potential, that the Internet introduces into children’s lives. These have attracted even more controversy and regulatory interventions than the debate over potential benefits. The range of risks is sizable, including threats to the technology itself (e.g., viruses, hacking), financial risks (scams), legal risks (illegal music downloading), privacy risks (cookies, spyware), and moral risks (spam, pornography). Contact risks arise through off-line meetings resulting from communication begun online (and, increasingly,

c o n c e p t s , c h il d r e n ’s

through forms of purely online exploitation or abuse). Surveys show a significant minority of children younger than 18 meet strangers off-line whom they first met online (e.g., in chat rooms). For a small minority, this results in physical or, more often, sexual abuse and may come to the attention of psychologists or law enforcement. Attention has focused on the pedophiles who instigate and track young people online, with speculation increasing that the Internet has facilitated a marked increase in the ease and incidence of criminal activity. But there is also a rise in sexual abuse, bullying, and privacy invasion initiated or perpetrated online by same-age or older teens. Considerable efforts by governments, educators, and the industry have sought to raise awareness among young people and their parents, with some success. Content risks largely focus on pornography. There is general agreement that the Internet enables the ready availability, and possible increase, in sexual and pornographic content, ranging from that already available to young people through movies and magazines to that hitherto restricted or even illegal. Concerted international collaboration has sought to prevent the circulation of illegal child-abuse images, especially those used to create a demand for the further criminal abuse of children so as to profit from further images circulated online. More generally, regulatory interventions receive ambivalent support, partly because of national or cultural differences in relation to pornography and partly because such intervention confl icts with legal protections for freedom of expression. Less attention has been paid to other content risks, though the notable rise in race hate on the Internet has attracted legal intervention in some jurisdictions. Commercial content is also regarded with ambivalence, though targeting the child and youth market online is profitable, and many businesses provide entertaining or educational content for children. Critics are concerned that this content is often stereotyped, invasive of children’s privacy, and offering little participation for youth while providing considerable advertising and sponsorship opportunities at children’s expense. Other risks, which are increasingly being framed as “conduct risks,” arise from user-generated (i.e., child-produced) content; for example, teenagers’ circulating fl irtatious, revealing, or indecent images of themselves without realizing the hazards of this reaching unintended recipients immediately or in the future. Other child-originated risks include online stalking and harassment, though it is unknown whether this represents a shift online of once off-line activities or an increase in the overall incidence. As the Internet is accessed from devices other than a desktop computer, notably the cell phone, new content and contact risks are emerging, often led by the ingenuity and inventiveness of young people themselves and often faster than those responsible for young people’s safety can anticipate.

• 19 3

There is, therefore, in the policy realm something of a race between technological and market developments, research informing policy regarding children’s and parents’ everyday activities, and regulatory responses. Legislation represents a slow but effective form of regulation, implemented on a nation-by-nation basis. Considerable efforts also go into cross-national collaboration to raise awareness of risks and increase media or Internet literacy for children, parents, and teachers. Sonia Livingstone see also: Pornography, Child further reading: S. Livingstone, Young People and New Media: Childhood and the Changing Media Environment, 2002. • M. Bakardjieva, Internet Society: The Internet in Everyday Life, 2005. • E. Seiter, The Internet Playground: Children’s Access, Entertainment, and MisEducation, 2005. • Pew Internet and American Life Project, http:// www.pewinternet.org

conception. see Embryology and Fetal Development; Pregnancy

concepts, children’s Overview Concepts of the Physical World Concepts of the Psychological World Concepts of the Social World

overview. Current views of children’s concepts (or concep-

tions) of the physical, social, and psychological worlds can be described by comparing them with the Piagetian view that dominated the research area through the 1960s and early 1970s. Although there were some minor variations, traditional Piagetian theory of concept development was based on two main ideas: constructivism and stage theory. Constructivism holds that children actively build their own concepts as they adapt to their environment through interaction with it. Stage theory holds that the extent of cognitive maturity of the concepts depends on the qualitative level or “stage” the child has attained in the development of logical thinking in general. Stages were conceived of as logical structures, applicable across situations and domains of knowledge, and found universally across cultures. As children pass through these stages, their concepts become more coherent and more abstract at about the same time across all domains (such as reasoning about mathematics, spatial relations, or social relations). Although Jean Piaget’s notion of constructivism has found widespread acceptance among researchers and theorists in conceptual development, his stage theory has not fared so well. Current models of conceptual development differ with stage theory in three main ways. Current views, first of all, emphasize domain specificity instead of domaingeneral stages. Instead of one big shift to a new stage, contemporary theories describe concepts as constructed sepa-

194 •

con cept s, chil dren ’ s

rately, domain by domain, at differing rates. For instance, the concept of conservation of number (e.g., the concept that the number of items in a set does not change when the items are rearranged) is acquired one to two years earlier than conservation of substance (e.g., the amount of material, such as clay, does not change when its shape changes). Thus, logically equivalent concepts are acquired at different rates in the mathematical and physical domain of knowledge. Within individuals, variations in problem solving, comprehension, and learning are now explained in terms of domain-specific prior knowledge and understanding. Children as well as adults reveal higher levels of competence in those domains in which they have accumulated many experiences and possess richer and better-structured bodies of knowledge. For example, children in certain potterymaking cultures, who handle clay routinely, acquire conservation of substance sooner than children in neighboring non-pottery-making cultures. Second, contemporary investigators agree that the process of knowledge construction is “constrained” both by innate tendencies as well as by prior acquired knowledge, leading to differences in the acquisition process across domains. However, the exact nature of the innate constraints is yet to be specified and has been the target of heated debate. Many researchers believe that there are “core” or “privileged” domains that display characteristic domain boundaries and task specificity. The acquisition of concepts in these domains is easy, early, and universal across cultures. Widely accepted candidates for such core domains include naive physics, naive psychology (theory of mind), naive biology, and numerosity. In these privileged domains, humans seem to be genetically prepared to acquire knowledge systems that deal with relevant essential features of the world in much the same way that they are genetically prepared to learn language. For example, some theorists believe that infants possess innate concepts of numerosity, the ability to recognize the numerical differences between small groups of objects, giving them a head start on the concept of number, which could explain why concepts of number are acquired before logically equivalent concepts of substance. Third, many current researchers assign much more significant roles than the Piagetians did to sociocultural practices and contexts (sociocultural constraints) in the acquisition and revision of concepts. For example, in Europeanderived cultures, the concept of classification is based on objects’ physical similarities, as when forks are stored with forks, spoons with spoons, and so forth. In other cultures, such as the Kpelle tribe of Liberia and Guinea, the concept of classification is based not on physical similarity but functional similarity, putting a spoon, for example, with the bowl it will be used with instead of with other utensils. Sociocultural practices and contexts not only provide children with materials that support concept construction but also influence the conceptual development by constraining

the construction process interactively. Thus, mothers participate with children in problem solving, structuring the interaction in a culturally specific way, and then gradually relinquishing control to the child, who must conceive of the task in the culturally specific way the mother does in order to solve the problem correctly. Sociocultural constraints include usable artifacts that are shared by a majority of people in a community, including physical facilities and tools, social institutions and organizations, documented pieces of knowledge, and common sense and beliefs. In spite of these distinctive differences from the classic Piagetian view, there are important continuities with the Piagetians in the current views of concepts. First, concepts are acquired by construction, not by transmission alone. That knowledge is constructed was an idea inspired by Piaget, but it constitutes the Zeitgeist shared by current researchers. Humans interact with the environment, find regularities, and construct understandings, starting with concepts of simple events that follow condition-action rules; then, by integrating these simple conceptions with one another, they construct more elaborate conceptualizations. That concepts are constructed is seen in the fact that humans acquire concepts richer than the knowledge they are presented with and even invent concepts that have never been presented, often as a by-product of their problem solving or attempts to comprehend aspects of the world that they do not understand. Knowledge can be directly transmitted to some extent, but, as Piaget pointed out, one must have first have constructed a sufficient conceptual structure to absorb the ideas presented. Moreover, transmitted knowledge becomes applicable to a variety of situations only after it is reconstructed by being interpreted and connected to the prior knowledge of children. Second, the development of concepts involves restructuring; that is, not only does the amount of knowledge increase but also one’s body of knowledge is reorganized as more and more interrelations among ideas are understood. This process of reorganization is now often called conceptual change or theory change, which, although domain specific, was described as a qualitative change in structures or as a shift from one stage to another in the Piagetian terminology. As the third commonality, contemporary researchers also assume powerful general learning or developmental mechanisms specific to the human species akin to Piaget’s model of the construction of logicomathematical structures. Even infants possess the ability to identify sequential dependencies in the speech stream or in the mechanical movement that occurs when one object collides with another. Moreover, humans are conceptual learners from early on. To mention just a few such processes, they are able to build concepts into a coherent larger system; understand a set of antecedent-consequent pairs in terms of unobservable, mediating forces; and “bootstrap,” that is, create a new system of representation that is more powerful than those present.

c o n c e p t s , c h il d r e n ’s

Instead of seeing these developments in terms of the construction of logicomathematical structures, contemporary theorists usually attribute these mechanisms to growth in working memory capacity or related planning and monitoring ability consistent with uniquely human frontal cortex development. Some neo-Piagetian theorists, however, continue to see conceptual development as the construction of structures of mental skills but restricted within specific domains and channeled by social support and constraints. Giyoo Hatano see also: Development, Theories of; Logical Thinking; Piaget, Jean; Research on Child Development further reading: L. A. Hirschfeld and S. A. Gelman, eds., Mapping the Mind: Domain Speciﬁcity in Cognition and Culture, 1994. • R. A. Shweder, J. Goodnow, G. Hatano, R. A. LeVine, H. Markus, and P. Miller, “The Cultural Psychology of Development: One Mind, Many Mentalities,” in W. Damon and R. M. Lerner, eds., Handbook of Child Psychology, 5th ed., vol. 1, 1998, pp. 865–937. • H. M. Wellman and S. A. Gelman, “Knowledge Acquisition in Foundational Domains,” in D. Kuhn and R. S. Siegler, eds., Handbook of Child Psychology, 5th ed., vol. 2, 1998, pp. 523–73. • G. Hatano and K. Inagaki, “Domain-Speciﬁc Constraints of Conceptual Development,” International Journal of Behavioral Development 24 (2000), pp. 267–75.

concepts of the physical world. Children have con-

cepts of the physical world long before they enter school, and in the course of further development these rudimentary concepts typically change in everyday settings, even without formal instruction. This kind of knowledge is often termed intuitive physics. Understanding children’s concepts about the physical world is valuable for both practical and theoretical reasons. Practically, adequate physical concepts have a high survival value. This becomes evident if one imagines what would happen if a child did not have at least rudimentary knowledge about, for example, the relations that exist between time, speed, and distance in space. Moreover, it is of practical interest if and how these implicit or intuitive forms of knowledge can serve as a basis to build upon in educational endeavors. As to the theoretical side, studying children’s intuitive physics has been regarded as the via regia, or main route, to studying children’s way of thinking and their knowledge structures in general. This conviction goes back to the seminal work of Jean Piaget, whose vision was to delineate the development of children’s concepts about the physical world from the cradle to adulthood, identifying developmental laws valid across different domains. In recent years, the picture has become more differentiated. First, two main camps of researchers can be identified: those interested in infants and those interested in children from preschool age onward. The main reason for this split is a pragmatic one: Quite different methods of research are required for the different ages. Second, it is now widely rec-

• 19 5

ognized that the search for domain-general developmental laws is futile and that looking at the elementary physical domains separately, together with the corresponding concepts, is interesting in its own right. Some concepts seem to be relevant only in infancy, other domains are of overarching interest from infancy through childhood, and still others get into focus only from preschool age. I n itial Conc epts ab ou t Ob jects For a long time, children’s physical concepts in the first year of life were seen as highly deficient, if not nonexistent. Early researchers held the belief that infants lack the most basic concepts about objects in the physical world, above all the concept of object permanence. The assumption was that in the infant’s mind objects do not continue to physically exist if they get out of view. This fundamental cognitive deficiency, if true, would of course severely hinder the formation of any adequate physical knowledge in infancy. Research in the past decades has accumulated a wealth of findings suggesting that the picture of the incompetent infant has to be strongly modified. Using infants’ looking times (instead of their actions, such as reaching) as main data, these experiments have shown that infants as young as 3 months have an understanding or at least an appreciation of basal physical principles such as continuity (objects exist continuously in space and time), solidity (two objects cannot exist in the same space at the same time), rules of gravity and inertia, and phenomena of support (one object is supported by another or not; e.g., a box placed on a table or falling from its edge) and collision. For some scientists, these recent findings point to the possibility that these principles are constituents of an innate core domain of naive or intuitive physics. Associated with this view is the assumption that the data show that infants have a conceptual understanding of the physical laws and principles in question. This rich interpretation of the data, however, is not without criticism. There is now some evidence favoring a lean interpretation: Infants’ looking preferences may not always be driven by their conceptual understanding of the shown events, but by relatively trivial perceptual factors that specify them. Regardless of how this debate will be settled, infants’ early sensitivity to basic physical principles of objects and object motion remains impressive. I nanim ate v er sus Anim ate Ob jects In the world outside, there are animate and inanimate objects. When do children first make the distinction between living and nonliving things, which biological properties do they take as a basis for the distinction, and how does their knowledge about biological systems develop? These questions have been intriguing ones in the past few decades of research. Behavioral reactions like looking times and smiling indicate that infants as young as 2 months can make a basic dis-

196 •

con cept s, chil dren ’ s

tinction between living individuals and nonliving objects (even if the latter are toy animals). However, within the animate category this early distinction seems to be limited to human people as privileged exemplars, with features of the face playing an important role. Beyond that, infants seem to have an appreciation of self-generated motion as a characteristic of living things. Whether there is already a more general category for animate entities and where exactly the boundaries are are issues difficult to assess with the nonverbal methods available for these very young children. The animate-inanimate distinction is far from complete by the end of infancy. This has been found using methods designed for children with a sufficient understanding of language. By early preschool age, children know a lot about similarities among different exemplars within the animate category and also about dissimilarities between them and inanimate objects. However, children of this age are still hesitant to view the human person as belonging to the broader category of animals or to think of plants as animate entities. The core distinction that seems to be there by preschool age undergoes considerable refinement in the years thereafter, largely due to children’s better understanding of biological processes such as growth, reproduction, inheritance, contagion, illness, and healing—processes that are specific for living systems. What and when children learn about these biological properties and, hence, how fast the distinction gets refined differ between cultures. Ph ysical Causalit y Children’s knowledge about the animate-inanimate distinction is, among other things, also relevant to their understanding of physical causation. While living organisms have the ability of self-generated motion, this is not the case for nonliving objects: When they begin to move, some external force or agent must be the cause. Accordingly, young children’s reasoning about physical causation has been studied via the “launching event”: On a computer screen, a moving object bumps into a second, which begins to move immediately—a movement interpreted by adults as caused by the first object. In other conditions, the second object moves with a delay or before the first one touched it, suggesting an absence of causation. The data from several variants of this task indicate that infants as young as 6 months are sensitive to causal connections. Findings like these have led some researchers to speculate that there is, in accordance with the Kantian idea, an inborn module of causality. Other researchers are not convinced: They interpret the data as evidencing that infants learn to infer causality and that causal reasoning is an empirical rather than a formal activity in the first years of a child’s life. Beyond infancy, children become interested in causal connections even when no cause is readily apparent. They

try to find the mediating mechanisms in causal situations and the causal connections in mechanical devices, including toys. It deserves mention that only around the age of 5 years children’s tendency to search for (invisible) causes is strong enough for an appreciation of magic tricks; younger children generally fail to see the point of them. The findings reported in the previous two sections lead to the conclusion that at least two traditional Piagetian ideas relevant in this context are no longer tenable: Neither do children up to about 6 years generally attribute lifelike properties to inanimate objects (animism), nor do they believe that all naturally occurring events are caused by people (artificialism). Spac e , Time , and Speed Space is omnipresent and inescapable. The question of how children mentally represent space in the course of their development has inspired many researchers, beginning with Piaget. The issue is a multifaceted one, as are the findings. In the present context, one facet that is of particular importance is the ecological space: the space in which people move about in their daily lives. The empirical data from an extensive body of literature can be summarized as follows: Infants have an appreciation of space from early on. In the first months of life, this remains restricted to the perceptual and reaching space. Beginning in the second half of the first year, the developing ability of self-locomotion noticeably enhances infants’ sense of space, with ecological space now being accessible to them. However, they still have difficulties in overcoming their body-centered perspective. Only gradually do children come to reliably use external landmarks for spatial orientation, a development that is often not finished by the age of 7 years depending on the complexity of the spatial layout and also on culture. Children growing up in lessdeveloped cultures who move around a lot from their early years appear to have considerable advantages in developing representations of space. It is also noteworthy that visual stimulation is, although certainly facilitating, not necessary for the development of spatial understanding. Children who are blind from birth can develop an impressive sense of space. In contrast to space, time is not perceivable. Time must be inferred from perceivable events or from the speed of objects moving over distances in space. It is probably for the latter reason that Piaget attempted to assess children’s concepts of time via their ability to integrate starting and stopping times of moving objects or, in particular, to infer time from the speed of objects and the distance covered in space. The problem with the Piagetian approach, adopted in many follow-up experiments, is that the tasks used could be solved without any reference to speed and space. Therefore, the claims about the emergence of time and speed concepts and their order in development that

c o n c e p t s , c h il d r e n ’s

came out of this research are obsolete, as are the former claims that children up to the school age cannot distinguish time from speed. More recent research done within the framework of information integration theory has shown that if the tasks are designed appropriately, children as young as 4 years of age exhibit a virtually perfect knowledge about the functional relations that exist between time, speed, and distance. The data from these experiments also imply that, in contrast to earlier claims, children at latest from preschool age on do not confound time, speed, and space but conceptualize them as separate entities. However, children—like adults—cannot apply this knowledge in all contexts. If particulars of the situation change, with the basic formal structure or the task remaining unchanged, children fall back on incorrect rules to integrate the information. This has been demonstrated for judgments of time savings or time gains caused by changes of speed as well as for estimates of speed changes that would be necessary on a final section of a route to compensate for time losses on an earlier section. Interestingly, children’s responses were closer to the normative laws when they could act on the moving objects; that is, they were allowed to actually produce the required speeds (of toy cars) rather than to communicate the estimations on a speedometer scale. M atter , Weight, Forc e , and Emb odi ed K nowled ge For seemingly less complex concepts than time and speed, children appear to have more problems up to the early school years. They have been found to confuse matter, weight, and density of static objects. Similarly, children’s concepts of force have been found to vary a great deal depending on the context in which they are assessed. This has been investigated in tasks in which children had to predict the trajectory of objects, one example being the straight throw. Here, two important forces have to be integrated: the force originally exerted on the moving object and the force of gravity. In several variants of the task, children as young as 5 years provided data in nearly perfect agreement with the physical laws, but only if they could exert the necessary initial force by themselves by acting on the object. When the same children judged the forces on rating scales, the responses of many of them exhibited a pattern contrary of the one they had produced with their own actions. Findings like these suggest that it is not only infants whose knowledge is embodied in sensorimotor patterns. Children and even adults often understand physical concepts better if they act them out themselves. It is often much harder to articulate this implicit embodied knowledge in an explicit formal task or test. Friedrich Wilkening see also: Animism; Death, Children’s Experience of; Piaget, Jean; Universe of the Child

• 19 7

further reading: Alison Gopnik, Andrew N. Meltzoff, and Patricia K. Kuhl, The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains, and How Children Learn, 1999. • Friedrich Wilkening and Susanne Huber, “Children’s Intuitive Physics,” in Usha Goswami, ed., Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development, 2002, pp. 349–70. • Susan A. Gelman, The Essential Child: Origins of Essentialism in Everyday Thought, 2003.

concepts of the psychological world. Children in-

habit a social community. They are raised in families, play with other children, and learn from teachers. To successfully interact with others, it is crucial for children to learn about the social world, namely people and their behaviors. This naive psychology, or a commonsense understanding of others, is necessary for normal human functioning. Three concepts are considered to be the core of this naive psychology: desires, beliefs, and actions. These concepts—invisible, causally linked, and developing early in life—culminate in a theory of mind. Theory of mind refers to an understanding of how the mind works and how it influences individuals’ behaviors. Further, it organizes the understanding of various psychological processes, such as perceptions, intentions, and emotions, into a coherent structure. Theory of mind skills develop through childhood and have implications for both social and cognitive success in adolescence and beyond. I n fanc y From birth, infants find other people very interesting and appealing. Very young infants prefer to look at human faces as compared to other objects and human bodies as compared to other moving images. By 6 months of age, infants can follow another person’s eye gaze to a visible object, and 18-month-olds can use the direction of an adult’s eye gaze to determine the location of an object not in plain view. Sociocultural theorists suggest that the foundation of human cognitive development is the ability to establish intersubjectivity, or a mutual understanding shared between communicative partners. Because effective communication requires that the participants focus on the same object or topic as well as each other’s reactions, infants’ ability to follow gaze direction is an important first step. Gaze following becomes more important during the socalled 9-month revolution. Around this age, infants first acquire joint attention, defined as when infants and their social partners intentionally focus on a common referent in the environment. Infants are now able to monitor changes in their partners’ attention and actively direct their partners’ attention toward objects of interest. Joint attention increases infants’ ability to learn from other people. They engage in social referencing, looking to adults for information on how to respond to an unfamiliar event. For example, when they encounter a stranger, infants often look to how the parent responds to that stranger as a guide to their own

198 •

con cept s, chil dren ’ s

response. When an adult labels an object with an unfamiliar word, infants are more likely to learn the new word if they are looking at the same object as the adult. In fact, the younger the age at which a child first shows joint attention, the faster she acquires new vocabulary as a toddler. To learn about the social world, it is also important for children to learn about other people’s goals. One key aspect of human behavior is that it is purposeful and goal directed. Six-month-olds interpret a human reaching toward a toy as an intentional action, but they do not interpret a mechanical claw in the same way. Some researchers suggest that children learn about others’ goals through their own experiences. An infant will feel certain emotions when he or she intends to produce a particular outcome. The infant can then use his or her own experiences to interpret others’ emotions when they produce intentional behaviors. Infants also appear to have an early understanding of other people’s knowledge states. For example, researchers have shown that 2-year-olds behave differently based upon their parents’ knowledge of a situation. In one study, children watched an experimenter place a very desirable toy on an out-of-reach shelf, either while the parent was watching or absent from the room. Although all of the children later sought their parents’ assistance to retrieve the toy, they named and pointed to the toy more frequently if the parent had been absent and had no knowledge of where the toy was hidden. Pr esc hool and Ear ly C h i ldhood Infants’ interest in other people and their understanding of intentions provide the foundation upon which they build a theory of mind during the preschool years. During this period, children demonstrate a more complete knowledge of desires and beliefs, two of the key concepts underlying naive psychology. Researchers have shown that children understand others’ desires prior to understanding beliefs. In one study, 18-month-olds expressed a preference for one of two snacks: broccoli and goldfish crackers. An experimenter then tasted each, saying “Mm” and smiling at one, “Ew” and frowning at the other. Half of the children saw a match; if the child liked the crackers, the experimenter also liked the crackers. The other half of the children saw a mismatch, where the experimenter disliked the crackers but liked the broccoli. When the experimenter asked, “Can you give me some more?” the children overwhelmingly gave the experimenter what she had liked, regardless of the children’s own preferences. This demonstrates that even toddlers have some understanding that other people may not share their own preferences. Two-year-olds can predict that storybook characters will act in accord with their desires, thereby demonstrating a knowledge that desires influence behavior. However, 2-year-olds do not yet understand that beliefs are also influential. This is evident in false belief problems, in which

another person believes something the child knows to be false. In one classic false belief problem, children are shown a Band-Aid box. When asked what is inside the box, children say “Band-Aids.” The experimenter then opens the box, revealing that it actually contains crayons. Most children express their surprise, but when the experimenter asks what another child would say if shown the closed box, most 3-year-olds incorrectly respond “Crayons!” In fact, most children do not respond correctly until age 4 or 5. False belief problems indicate that preschoolers have difficulty understanding that other people act on their own beliefs, whether those beliefs are accurate. This is a culturally robust finding. One group of experimenters gave a variety of false belief problems to preschoolers in Canada, India, Peru, Samoa, and Thailand. In all five countries, children’s performance improved dramatically between ages 3 and 5. Although there is some cultural variation in the age at which children successfully pass false belief problems, the overall trajectory remains the same. Performance also improves for children with Down syndrome between these ages. Children’s understanding desires before beliefs is also reflected in their language. English-speaking children use desire words, such as want, as early as 24 months of age. However, they typically do not use belief words, such as know, until age 3 or older, similar to when they begin succeeding at false belief problems. This pattern has also been demonstrated for Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking children raised in Beijing and Hong Kong. As children are learning to successfully navigate the social world, they also actively engage in fantasy worlds. During the second year, children begin to pretend, creating symbolic relationships between objects, such as using a banana to represent a telephone. Following the second birthday, they start to engage in sociodramatic play with other children or adults. The socially oriented Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky suggested that pretend play may help children learn about the world by considering how various situations could make them or others feel. Research supports this claim. For instance, the amount of time a child engages in pretend and fantasy play is positively related to his or her accurate interpretation of others’ thoughts and emotions. M i d d l e C h i l d ho o d a n d A d o l e s c enc e Although preschoolers show an understanding that desires and beliefs influence behavior, they do not yet fully understand the nature of others’ thoughts. It is not until between 6 and 8 years of age that children consistently judge that people are thinking when engaged in tasks such reading, listening, or talking. Slightly older children describe the mind as an active constructor of knowledge. By middle childhood, children understand not only that beliefs can be false, but also that a single event can legitimately be inter-

c o n c e p t s , c h il d r e n ’s

preted in multiple ways. Around age 6 to 7, children begin to understand that someone can convey an emotional state that is at variance with their true underlying state. Understanding that beliefs are “interpretive” can be helpful in school performance. Preteens with good theory of mind skills outperform peers with poor theory of mind skills in scientific reasoning tasks. They are better at systematic problem solving, showing greater proficiency at generating and accurately evaluating new strategies. They are also better at monitoring their own states of knowledge and ignorance. Education may also be helpful for theory of mind performance. In a study of rural African children, those children with formal elementary school educations performed better on theory of mind tasks, likely because formal schooling is structured to highlight mental processes. Children’s understanding of others’ desires and beliefs may also influence their relationships in adolescence. Theory of mind skills are positively correlated with prosocial behavior as well as relational aggression. In fact, relationally aggressive bullies show advanced theories of mind, whereas overtly aggressive bullies show poor theory of mind skills. Regardless of whether a child wants to influence others in a positive (i.e., prosocial) or negative (i.e., relationally aggressive) manner, it is important to accurately assess others’ thoughts. Au tism Whereas most children find other people inherently interesting, this appeal appears to be lacking in individuals with autism. Children with autism often engage in solitary repetitive behaviors and tend to be more interested in objects than people. They rarely form close relationships with other people. Researchers suggest that autistic children’s lack of involvement in the social world is related to an overall failure to understand other people. Many of the previously discussed abilities are absent in autistic children’s development. Children with autism do not establish joint attention with other people, nor do they engage in pretend play. They tend to have poor language skills and demonstrate less concern than normally developing children when others appear distressed. When viewing videotaped footage of conversations, individuals with autism focus their attention more on the characters’ environment than the speakers’ faces. Perhaps most informative is their difficulty in passing false belief tasks. In a study of 6- to 14-year-olds with autism, fewer than half of all participants successfully solved the false belief problems that are easy for typical preschoolers. Ashley M. Pinkham, Jennifer Van Reet, and Angeline S. Lillard see also: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Cognitive Development; Universe of the Child

• 19 9

further reading: S. Baron-Cohen, H. Tager-Flusberg, and D. J. Cohen, Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from Autism, 1993. • J. H. Flavell, “Cognitive Development: Children’s Knowledge about the Mind,” Annual Review of Psychology 50 (1999), pp. 21–45. • H. M. Wellman, “Understanding the Psychological World: Developing a Theory of Mind,” in U. Goswami, ed., Handbook of Cognitive Development (2002), pp. 167–87. • M. Tomasello, M. Carpenter, J. Call, T. Behne, and H. Moll, “Understanding and Sharing Intentions: The Origins of Cultural Cognition,” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28, no. 5 (2005), pp. 675–735.

concepts of the social world. Children’s social world is multifaceted and encompasses a diverse array of social “objects.” Depending on factors such as age and experience, children may construct ideas about specific social institutions such as government, politics, and religion, along with concepts pertaining to broader features of social interactions, such as morality or how people ought to treat one another. Perspectives on how children think and reason about these aspects of social life are equally diverse, ranging from approaches that seek to find general commonalities in the development of children’s thinking across diverse areas, to those that argue that children’s thinking is bounded within distinct domains, to those that emphasize the important role played by culture in organizing views of social life. Some perspectives on children’s thinking about the social world have been influenced by the stage theory of Jean Piaget. These cognitive developmental theories tend to emphasize how children’s social thinking develops from an initial focus on the immediate or concrete aspects of experience to a consideration of more abstract features of social life as they grow older. In the realm of morality, this approach is represented by the theory of Lawrence Kohlberg. Young children’s thinking about right and wrong, according to this view, moves from a focus on punishment and explicit social rules early in childhood to a consideration of social institutions such as law or social customs or conventions in middle childhood. Only in late adolescence or adulthood do individuals consider the more abstract purposes behind social rules and institutions, such as principles of justice, due process, or rights. One of the areas that has been explored in research inspired by cognitive developmental theory is children’s conceptions of government or politics. In this research, the political conceptions of young children have been characterized as based on affect and highly personalized. Young children first develop an attachment to political authorities and symbols, but with little understanding of how political institutions themselves function. For example, the mayor of a town may be seen as an ultimate authority who passes laws and who ensures, through the vigilance of the police, that his or her directives are enforced. Some very young children may even confuse religious authorities, such as

200 •

con cept s, chil dren ’ s

God or Jesus, with political authorities and believe that laws or rules have their source in divine authority. Later on, beginning around middle childhood, children’s conceptions of politics transcend the purely personal and begin to embrace the principles that underlie various political institutions. Older children have a better understanding of how the various functions of government in a democratic society are differentiated and relate to one another. For example, older children and adolescents recognize the necessity of separating the function of law enforcement (policing) from that of law making (legislation), and they also show an appreciation of the role played by the courts (the judicial function) within democratic societies. In addition, the purpose of many democratic political institutions, such as elections or political rights such as freedom of speech, begins to be understood during middle childhood. In general, research from this perspective has characterized children’s views of government as moving from an initial conception in which power and control are invested in authorities, who use social institutions and police power to serve their own interests, to one in which power is seen as shared and invested in the people themselves—a situation that may be secured and maintained through wellfunctioning democratic institutions (e.g., an elected legislature, due process, and the rule of law). Again drawing inspiration from the stage theories of Piaget and Kohlberg, some researchers have charted similar developmental sequences in people’s understandings of religion. Fritz Oser has explored the development of religious conceptions throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, using a variety of religious dilemmas, or situations that involve personal confl icts of faith (such as when people confront issues of mortality or unjust suffering in their lives). “Religion” here is understood broadly as the perspective that one holds on ultimate reality, and thus is meant to embrace a variety of construals of this dimension of human experience that may include both deistic and nondeistic worldviews. Religious conceptions have been found to move from a focus on concrete issues such as punishment or tit-for-tat exchange early on, to a concern with more abstract meaning systems and philosophical dimensions of religious experience in adolescence and beyond. For example, young children have a heteronomous perspective on religion in which fear of punishment and obedience to God’s authority and power are emphasized. At this level, divine beings are represented anthropomorphically and believed to intervene directly in the world and in the fate of persons. People are believed to have little ability to influence the will of any Supreme Being and must follow his commands or face punishment. This perspective gives way in development to a more reciprocal understanding of the individual’s relationship with God. After the initial heteronomous level comes a way

of thinking in which it is believed that individuals may influence God’s actions through prayer or good deeds. People are no longer conceived as mere passive subjects to divine forces but can engage with and enter into transactions with a Supreme Being who is viewed as responsive to human concerns. This stage is unstable, however, as it ultimately cannot address experiences in which good behavior is unrewarded or the just person suffers greatly in life despite having a good relationship with God. Subsequent constructions of religious experience emphasize the ways in which each person is responsible for his or her own life and destiny. This new perspective is typically constructed in mid- to late adolescence. Here, it is recognized that although a divine plan may exist, this plan must leave an important place for individual will and freedom. At the highest levels of religious understanding (not always reached), individuals attempt to reconcile their understandings of an ultimate reality or order that gives meaning to life with respect for individual will, autonomy, and choice. There is a deepening appreciation of the unity of opposites; human autonomy is conceived as being expressed through and within a connection or partnership with the supernatural. This general progression in religious thinking—although sometimes with delayed age trends—has been found across a variety of cultures and religious worldviews, including among European Christians; among Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists from different parts of India; and among a traditional group practicing ancestor worship in Rwanda. In contrast to these cognitive developmental approaches emphasizing the age-related succession of broad stages of reasoning, researchers working within a perspective developed by Elliot Turiel and colleagues, known as social domain theory, have stressed the types of distinctions that children make when reasoning about different types of social interactions and social rules. For example, research has shown that young children distinguish between moral issues, or those that implicate harmful consequences to others or issues of fairness, and social conventions, or arbitrary behavioral uniformities or customs, such as forms of address (e.g., titles) or etiquette. Moral acts, such as one child pushing another child off a swing, are judged as wrong, whether an authority says so or not, and wrong even if they are not prohibited by a rule. Moral acts are also judged as wrong across situations, including even in other countries where they may be common practice. However, social conventions, such as a social norm about not eating with your fingers, are judged as wrong only if prohibited by an authority or an explicit social rule, and the rightness or wrongness of these acts is seen as potentially variable across different social contexts (e.g., it might be OK to eat with your fingers when with close friends or in another country where it is common practice). Children not only make these discriminations but also

c o n c e p t s , c h il d r e n ’s

justify their judgments with different types of reasons. For instance, moral issues are justified by appeals to the consequences of these acts for others, such as harm or unfairness. In contrast, when reasoning about social conventions, children appeal to explicit rules, social sanctions (punishment), or the dictates of authorities. These types of distinctions in children’s social reasoning have been found as young as 3 years of age, becoming more reliable and stable in the kindergarten years. Moreover, the distinction between moral and social conventional issues has been found not only in Europe and North America but also in a variety of other cultural settings, such as China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Korea, and Colombia. This perspective has been applied to study children’s and adults’ understandings of a variety of areas of social life, including concepts of authority, religious rules and prescriptions, and political issues such as civil liberties and democracy. Across all of these areas, children have been found to distinguish between authority or existing rules and regulations and issues of fairness or justice. For example, even young children do not believe that it would be appropriate for authorities such as teachers to issue commands that could lead to harm or unfairness, nor do they believe that such commands should be followed. In the religious sphere, American children and adults from a variety of religious backgrounds, including those from fundamentalist Mennonite and Amish communities, Conservative and Orthodox Jews, and Roman Catholics, have been found to distinguish between religious conventions (religious rules about issues such as dietary restrictions or observance of religious rituals) and moral issues such as commandments against killing or harming others. Religious conventions are seen as alterable by religious authorities (e.g., the Church or God) and not binding on others who do not share the faith, whereas moral commandments are seen as unalterable, even by God, and binding on people everywhere. In the area of political reasoning, beginning in the elementary school years, children develop notions of political rights such as freedom of religion and speech. These rights are seen as universal rights that apply to all people across cultures and are not contingent on existing laws and rules. Moreover, elementary school age children in European and North American cultures have been found to perceive democratic systems of government that give the people a voice in governance as more fair than exclusionary or nondemocratic systems. Similar findings also have been obtained in studies of rights and democracy conducted in other kinds of cultures, such as mainland China. Research conducted by Larry Nucci and colleagues has found that even young children also distinguish a domain of “personal issues,” or those that are seen as part of an individual’s personal choice or discretion, such as keeping a private diary or choosing one’s own friends or recreational activities. Children do not view it as appropriate for au-

• 20 1

thorities to regulate or restrict these types of behaviors, and they appeal to reasons such as privacy, individual rights, and personal choice to justify these judgments. Some theorists have argued that the construction of a personal domain is related to universal psychological needs for autonomy and a unique personal identity. Others, however, have claimed that the personal domain is a product of an “individualistic” cultural orientation, found in North American or Western European cultures, emphasizing freedom, individual rights, and personal choice. The individualism of the West, it is claimed by some, contrasts with a collectivistic cultural orientation found throughout most of the rest of the world that emphasizes the subordination of the individual to authority or the social group. However, recent research has indicated that the personal domain is found in children and adults from a variety of cultures that are often labeled as “collectivistic,” including China, Japan, Hong Kong, Colombia, and Brazil and among traditional Muslim cultures such as the Druze of Israel. Social domain theorists have argued that these types of distinctions in understandings of social obligations and interactions emerge out of children’s reflections on diverse aspects of their social experience. As noted, the personal domain is associated with universal human needs for identity and autonomy found across cultures. Moral concepts are believed to emerge in the context of events that children experience having features of harm or unfairness, whereas social conventions are constructed out of children’s experiences with explicit rule systems and authority. Studies of children’s own communications regarding actual events that they observe or experience in these domains have shown that children themselves differentially appeal to these distinct features of social events when making judgments about and responding to social interactions. In contrast to social domain theory’s focus on the sources of social and moral concepts in features of events that children directly experience, researchers who subscribe to a position known as “cultural psychology” have stressed the ways in which these conceptions are influenced or determined by specific cultural belief systems. For example, Richard Shweder has identified a “morality of Divinity” that is prominent in cultures such as India in which religious conceptions more fully permeate social life. Traditional Hindus have been found to treat some issues that North Americans see as matters of personal choice, such as choices about certain forms of dress or dietary practices, as having spiritual significance and thus as universally binding. Other psychologists have noted how moral norms may vary in application across cultures. For example, Joan Miller has explored the reasoning of persons from India and the United States about interpersonal obligations to kin and strangers. People from India are more likely to see helping behavior in certain situations as matters of duty, whereas individuals from the United States are more likely to view

202 •

con cept s, chil dren ’ s

helping in these situations as a personal choice. In a set of studies investigating beliefs about lying, Kang Lee found that Chinese children, unlike Canadian children, tended with increasing age to judge it as praiseworthy for individuals to deny prosocial acts that they had in fact committed. It is argued that these endorsements of “lying” by Chinese children reflect their socialization into modesty norms that proscribe against calling undue attention to the good behavior of the self. Cultural influences on the development of social and moral understandings are important areas of ongoing investigation whose interpretation continues to generate lively debates and controversy in the field. Charles C. Helwig see also: Death, Children’s Experience of; Kohlberg, Lawrence; Moral Development; Piaget, Jean; Social Development; Spirituality; Universe of the Child further reading: F. Oser and P. Gmunder, Religious Judgment: A Developmental Approach, 1991. • Richard Shweder, Thinking through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology, 1991. • Larry Nucci, Education in the Moral Domain, 2001.

conduct, legal regulation of children’s. The law limits children’s freedom in a variety of ways, prohibiting some activities, such as smoking and drinking, and requiring other conduct, such as attending school. In one of its earliest decisions about children’s constitutional rights, Ginsberg v. New York (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a state may prohibit the sale of sexually oriented materials to minors even though the materials are not obscene for adults. The Court observed that the law was justified to advance two goals: protecting children so that they grow into healthy, productive adult citizens and protecting parents’ interests in raising their children. However, a state does not have carte blanche to define material as obscene for minors. In Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975), the Supreme Court held that an ordinance banning the showing of films containing nudity at drive-in movie theaters was unconstitutional because not all nudity is obscene for minors. While regulating children’s conduct for the reasons given in Ginsberg is common across cultures and times, specific rules vary greatly, reflecting differences in social circumstances. For example, the laws of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1648) provided that a rebellious son age 16 or older who refused to obey his parents should be put to death. Today, while children are still legally obligated to obey their parents, sanctions for violating this rule have softened considerably. Statutes in all states authorize juvenile courts to assert authority over children who are beyond the control of their parents or who have run away from home. Some states label such minors as juvenile delinquents and others as dependent children. However, it has become common

wisdom that the legal system is ill-equipped to deal with confl icts between parents and adolescents, and in all states informal efforts to resolve the problem are preferred. In most states, as a practical matter, referral to juvenile court is available only as a last resort, if at all. Most of the special rules of childhood end at the age of majority, though that age has changed over time. At common law the age of majority was 21, but in the early 1970s during the Vietnam War most states lowered the age to 18, when the minimum voting age was also reduced to 18. People younger than the age of majority can own but not manage property, cannot enter into legally enforceable contracts, and cannot sue or be sued in court in their own name, although they may participate in litigation with the assistance of adults appointed to protect their interests. In most states, a person must be at least 18 to possess tobacco or to gamble legally, and in almost three-fourths of U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more, curfew laws prohibit people younger than 18 from being on the streets late at night without a parent or guardian unless they are on the way to or from school or work. A principal rationale for all these rules is protecting young people from the consequences of their own immature judgment. Because the capacity for sound decision making does not magically arise when a person attains the age of majority, the minimum age for some activities is more than 18 and less than 18 for others. For example, federal law requires that states set the minimum age for purchasing and possessing alcohol at 21 as a condition of receiving federal highway funds. Mothers Against Drunk Driving led the lobbying campaign that resulted in the federal alcohol law. Before then, the minimum age for possession of alcohol was 18 in most states, and even those laws date only to the mid-1930s. The federal law is intimately connected to another set of laws regulating teen conduct: state driving rules that allow people as young as 15, 16, or 17 to obtain drivers’ licenses with parental permission, which have been enacted in all but seven states. During the 1990s, concerns about high rates of teenage automobile accidents led most states to enact graduated licensing laws for minors. Such laws prohibit young drivers from driving late at night, and many limit the number and age of passengers that young drivers may carry. The Supreme Court’s decision in Bellotti v. Baird (1979), concerning minors’ access to abortion, is widely understood as recognizing minors’ gradually emerging capacity for autonomy. The Court said that three state interests may justify limitations on minors’ right to an abortion: protecting minors because of their vulnerability to pressures from others, protecting them from the consequences of their own immaturity, and protecting parents’ interests in raising their children as they see fit. The Court wrote that these interests would justify a law that conditioned a minor’s access

c o n d u c t d is o r d e r s

to abortion on obtaining parental consent or a judicial ruling that either the minor was mature enough to make the decision about the abortion for herself or the abortion was in the minor’s best interests. As of 2008, two states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow minors to consent to abortion. Another six states have no law addressing minors and abortion. Of the remaining states, two require both parental notification and consent, 22 require consent of at least one parent, and 11 require that at least one parent be notified. All the states requiring parental involvement have a judicial bypass procedure, and six also allow a grandparent or other relative to participate instead of a parent. Most of the states have exceptions to consent or notice requirements for medical emergencies, in cases of abuse, assault, incest or neglect, or both. In Carey v. Population Services International (1977), the Supreme Court held that laws preventing 16-year-olds from acquiring nonprescription contraceptive devices are also unconstitutional. In 2008, the laws in 21 states and the District of Columbia explicitly allowed minors to have access to prescription contraceptive services without parental permission, 4 states had no legislation, and the remaining 25 states allowed minors to consent to such services only in limited circumstances. These laws regarding reproductive health are exceptions to the general rule that a minor cannot consent to medical treatment. Parental consent is generally required before a minor can undergo medical procedures. Statutes in many states exempt other categories of care, such as counseling and treatment for venereal disease, from the parental consent requirement. The exceptions recognize that a parental consent requirement in certain circumstances operates as a barrier to health care since many minors would choose to forgo care rather than tell their parents. Other laws allow teens to engage in certain types of restricted conduct, but only with parental permission, allowing parents to act on their own judgments about how best to raise children and to make individualized decisions about their children’s readiness to take on responsibility. For example, in most states the minimum age for marriage is 18, but in most states parents can give their consent for children 16 and older to marry. Similarly, teens younger than 18 can enlist in the military and obtain drivers’ licenses only with parental consent. One of the most significant limitations on children’s conduct is that they attend school, a limitation from which parents cannot exempt a child. Most states require that attendance begin at age 6 or 7, or even as young as 5 in some states. The minimum age for quitting school in most states is 16, though some states require attendance through age 17 or 18. The Supreme Court held in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) that school children have free expression rights in school. However, in

• 20 3

other cases it has held that schools may restrict students’ expression in ways that would not be permissible for adults because of schools’ special interests in controlling students and carrying out their educational functions. For the same reason, in a series of cases beginning with New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985), the Court has held that schools may search students without observing all the constitutional safeguards required in other settings. Children’s employment opportunities are limited in ways that support the school attendance laws. All children younger than 18 are prohibited from working in certain hazardous industries, and the number of hours that teens may work is also limited. Children older than 14 may work up to 18 hours per week when school is in session; beginning at age 16 children may work up to 44 hours per week. However, all children younger than 18 are prohibited from working as coal miners, loggers, roofers, and in other occupations posing similar hazards. Federal minimum wage law does not apply to minors, but some states extend minimum wage protection to minors. Federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment, as well as laws regulating overtime, paydays, paychecks, and deductions from wages, apply to minors. Labor laws do not cover minors delivering newspapers or performing domestic work, and children who work for their parents are exempt from most labor laws. Leslie Joan Harris see also: Abortion; Adolescent Decision Making, Legal Perspectives on; Contraception; Drug Testing; Emancipation; Juvenile Delinquency; Procreate, Right to; Rights, Children’s; Status Offenses; Work, Children’s Gainful further reading: Donald Kramer, Legal Rights of Children, 2nd ed., 3 vols., 1994. • Leslie J. Harris and Lee E. Teitelbaum, Children and the Law, 2002.

conduct disorders. Conduct disorder (CD) is a psychiatric diagnosis defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision (2000; DSM-IV-TR) as repetitive disregarding, or violating, of rules or the rights of others—including people, animals, or property—that affects the social, emotional, or interpersonal functioning of the individual. As a diagnosis, CD is a condition that can be reliably identified, for which studies demonstrate its genetic basis and prognosis, and for which there are some directions in terms of treatment. While CD is one of the most common forms of psychopathology in children and adolescents referred to clinical attention, its diagnosis requires careful consideration. CD is not an equivalent of “delinquency,” which is determined by a judicial authority. Nor are all delinquent, rule-breaking, or dangerous children diagnosed with CD. The diagnosis can be applied only when the antisocial behavior is repeated in multiple settings or realms, as long as the behavior is not

204 •

con duc t disorders

better accounted for by other diagnoses and as long as the behavior negatively impacts the individual. And, according to the DSM-IV-TR, CD can be diagnosed if three such behaviors have occurred within 12 months, with at least one of them in the prior 6 months. The behaviors must be among the 15 criteria listed in the DSM-IV criteria set. These rules were calibrated to increase the reliability of the diagnosis, and they constrain the potential for inappropriate diagnosis of CD. There are many additional features of CD: The DSM-IV criteria set provides four overall groups, and 15 examples, of antisocial behaviors, including aggression to people or animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, or serious violations of rules. As opposed to adolescents, children with CD usually make little attempt to conceal their antisocial behavior. Sexual behavior and regular misuse of substances of abuse begin early for such children and adolescents. Some children with aggressive behavioral patterns have impaired social attachments, and poor self-esteem is common (despite an image of toughness). Aggression is not universal, and in girls it is unusual; girls use indirect, verbal, and relational aggression, including alienation, ostracism, and character defamation. While there is no minimum age for diagnosis of CD, considerations include normal developmental expectations for an individual. The maximum age of diagnosis for CD is 18 (unless the individual meets the criteria for CD but not for antisocial personality disorder [APD]). CD has been divided into a childhood-onset subtype, in which at least one symptom has emerged before age 10 years, and adolescentonset type. In general, a lower age of onset is associated with greater severity. In the United States, the prevalence of CD is estimated to be 1.5% to 3.4% of the general population, although some studies have documented rates up to 10%. Boys most commonly meet the diagnostic criteria by 10 to 12 years of age, whereas girls often reach 14 to 16 years of age before the criteria are met. There is a 5:1 ratio of boys to girls, although this gap reduces with age. The condition, one of the most frequently diagnosed in clinical settings, is more often made in urban settings. Comor bi dit y and Di ffer en tial Diagno sis Consideration of any psychiatric disorder addresses other disorders with which it frequently co-occurs (comorbidity) and other conditions with which it should not be confused (differential diagnosis). For CD, there are a number of conditions that exist in both groups, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and learning disorders. Along with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and ADHD, CD is one of the “externalizing” disorders, so named because it is the behavior external to the patient, which is a problem. Each of these may cause unwanted or

“disruptive” behavior, but they differ in that in ADHD it is due to inattention, impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity, and in ODD it is due to oppositionality, defiance, and associated behaviors. CD and ODD are, by definition, mutually exclusive. There is ongoing controversy as to whether ODD is a forerunner of CD, but under DSM-IV they are constructs of different behaviors. ADHD and CD are not mutually exclusive, and their co-occurrence is not uncommon. Other commonly comorbid conditions include substance use disorders, learning disorders, and mood disorders (including depressive disorders or bipolar disorder). And there should be a consideration as to the role of any sort of brain injury or neurological pathology such as trauma or seizures in the production or violence, impulsivity, or poor judgment. Pro gno s i s The main question for the long term is whether the CD will lead to an antisocial personality disorder (APD); around 40% of those with CD develop APD. A good prognosis is predicted for mild CD in the absence of coexisting psychopathology and the presence of normal intellectual functioning. Cau s e s The causes of CD are unknown, but one usable perspective is that CD is a “final common pathway” of biological, social, or psychological influences. Risks that impact the condition include poor family functioning, family substance use, family psychiatric illness, and poor parenting. Maltreatment is a “highly specific risk factor” for CD. There are protective factors as well: high intelligence, easy temperament, good relatedness, areas of competence, and at least one positive adult in the child’s life. Although there is a great deal of information about the neurobiology of aggression and impulsivity, no specific neurological pathology makes the diagnosis of CD. There is good evidence that, like APD, CD has some genetic basis. Genetic factors, independent of familial influence, have been found to be much more important for transmission among boys than girls. CD is also associated with several psychosocial factors such as low socioeconomic level. Socioeconomically deprived children are at higher risk for the development of CD, as are those raised in urban environments. Unemployed parents, lack of a supportive social network, and lack of positive participation in community activities predict CD. The modeling provided by one’s parents affects the potential for CD. Parental divorce and harsh parenting have been seen as risks independent of parental externalizing or genetic liability. Children brought up in chaotic, negligent conditions often express poor emotional modulation of emotions, including anger, frustration, and sadness. Poor modeling of

c o n f u c ia n is m a n d t a o is m

impulse control and the chronic lack of having their own needs met lead to a less well-developed sense of empathy. Tr e atm en t Clinical approaches to CD must be individualized and are best when they take into account, and ideally address, all of the child’s problems (as well as strengths). Approaches that “wrap around” the child’s life, such as multimodal systemic therapy (MST), are most effective. The pieces of MST, including family therapy, individual therapy, medication therapy, and others as needed, may be helpful as parts, but they are best when coordinated as a whole in a wraparound plan such as MST. Medications are used to treat for symptoms or signs that may accompany CD. These include antipsychotics (e.g., risperidone), mood stabilizers (e.g. valproate), or clonidine to help control aggressive and assaultive behaviors. Various selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been used to diminish impulsivity, irritability, and lability of mood. Some forms of treatment have been found to be deleterious, including programs such as “boot camps” or “scared straight” exposure to correctional facilities. Other studies have demonstrated the failures of low-intensity case management; psychoanalytically oriented group therapies have led to episodes of aggression or agitation during the sessions. Ultimately, prevention is essential: Identification of children who are at high risk may benefit from various private or public programs. Avram H. Mack see also: Aggression; Authority and Obedience; Bullying; Crime, Juvenile; Juvenile Delinquency; Mental Health Care; Mental Illness; Oppositional Deﬁant Disorder further reading: S. W. Henggeler and A. J. Sheidow, “Conduct Disorder and Delinquency,” Journal of Marital Family Therapy 29 (2003), pp. 505–22. • T. E. Mofﬁtt, “Life-Course Persistent and Adolescence-Limited Antisocial Behavior: A 10-Year Research Review and a Research Agenda,” in B. Lahey, T. E. Mofﬁtt, and A. Caspi, eds., The Causes of Conduct Disorder and Serious Juvenile Delinquency, 2003, pp. 49–75.

confucianism and taoism. Confucianism was founded by Confucius (551–479 BC) in ancient China. Confucius wanted to restore the feudal social order of the early Zhou dynasty by advocating an ethical system centered on the concept of benevolence (ren). His doctrine was enriched by Mencius (372–289 BC) and Shiun-tze (315–226 BC), who added the concepts of righteousness (yi) and propriety (li), respectively. Benevolence (ren) in the Confucian tradition is not kindness or goodness directed to all of humanity including strangers but is defined as favoring people with whom one has a close relationship, righteousness (yi) refers to respect for those whom respect is required by the relationship, and propriety (li) is defined as acting according to previously established rites or social norms. Confucians advocated five cardinal ethics for the five

• 20 5

major dyadic relationships in Chinese society. The obligations that accompany the roles of each of these five relationships are fulfilled by practicing different core values: What are the things that humans consider righteous (yi)? Kindness on the part of the father, and filial duty of the son; gentleness on the part of the elder brother, and obedience of the younger; righteousness on the part of the husband, and submission by the wife; kindness on the part of the elders, and deference by juniors; benevolence on the part of the ruler, and loyalty of ministers. These are the ten things that humans consider being righteous. (Li Chi, Chapter 9: Li Yun)

This passage, which does not include a reference to relationships between friends, promotes the idea that social interaction should follow the principle of respecting the superior, particularly in interactions between parents and children and between a king and his loyal subordinates. When Confucians were contemplating the ontology of the universe, they did not conceive a transcendent creator as did the Christians. Instead, they recognized a simple fact that each individual’s life is a continuation of his or her parents’ physical lives and the lives of one’s descendants are the derivatives of one’s own. Therefore, Confucians proposed the core value of filial piety and advocated for the ideal of “kind father and filial son,” which was a prototype for arranging the relationship between “benevolent king and loyal minister.” A father should run a family like a feudal ruler reins a state. Parents are obligated to show their kindness by taking good care of their children, while children are expected to fulfill their filial duties by working hard to pursue goals that are highly valued by the whole society. Children in Confucian society are generally educated to value self-cultivation and to become upright by following rules of proper conduct (li) and working hard to strive for social performance from early childhood. Once a child attains a particular worthy goal such as passing an examination with a brilliant grade, winning an award, or acquiring a good job, all family members should share his glory with a feeling of “having face.” Conversely, if a child fails in striving for such a goal, other members of his family may suffer from a feeling of losing face for his failure. Assuming one’s proper role in life implies enduring the psychological burdens caused by social restraint, interpersonal confl ict, emotional disturbance, or frustration. As a direct opposition to Confucianism, Taoism advocates a life philosophy of emancipating oneself from the ethical bounds of this world by following the way of Nature and returning to the state of authentic self just like a newborn baby. Taoism was first proposed by Lao tze, who is thought to have been a librarian serving the kingdom of Zhou when it was in decline. His main work, Tao-de-jing, a work of 5,000 words, was left with a gatekeeper as Lao tze escaped the

206 •

con fucian ism an d t a o i s m

kingdom to become a hermit. Another famous contributor to Taoist philosophy, Zhuang tze, was a contemporary of Mencius and a gardener who lived in poverty. Tao is the way of Nature. De refers to morality or the Way to be followed by human beings. Lao tze’s Tao-de-jing suggests that all things are constituted by the yin and the yang that keep acting upon each other to maintain a state of equilibrium that is a manifestation of the dynamic force of qi ( ) or energy. Every element in every system in the universe is composed of the two opposing components, yin and yang. They are kept in balance by the operation of qi. During the period of the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), the cosmology of Taoism was transformed into a philosophy about the polar opposition and combination of yin and yang as well as the Five Evolutionary Phases. All systems in the universe are said to be composed of Five Transformative Phases, namely, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, which are metaphoric names for different parts of the system. The fundamental operating rule for any system in the world is supported to keep a state of balance and harmony between yin and yang within each of the Five Transformative Phases. Based on such philosophy, Taoists of China developed geomancy (or feng-shui), divination practices to predict the future, a system of Chinese medicine, and therapeutic techniques concerned with life, death, and so forth. The Taoist cosmology provides an interpretative system of meaning for Chinese to explain an individual’s misfortune in terms of one’s birth date (destiny), the specific arrangement of one’s forefathers’ graves or one’s own living place (geomancy), the ancestors (belief in soul), or the internal balance within one’s own body (concept of body). An individual may obtain instruction from a fortuneteller, a geomancer, a Taoist priest, or a Chinese medical doctor who has been trained with a specific doctrine of the Taoist tradition. However, in contrast to Western concepts of viewing knowledge as an objective system for an individual to recognize or to learn, Taoists are advocates of learning by doing or by bodily experiencing. Analects, a book of Confucian sayings recorded and collected by his disciples, has been used as material for teaching children for more than 1,000 years in China. But classics of Taoist doctrine have seldom been used as teaching material for children. Any youth who decides to learn a specific system of knowledge derived from Taoism has to formally become an apprentice to a master in a solemn ceremony, to follow instructions from the master step-by-step, to practice it in daily experience, and he may become a master himself after several years of practice. Otherwise, he can only consult a master at times when he encounters difficulty in life. Confucius is respected as the greatest sage and teacher of Chinese society. Since Buddhism was introduced to China during the East Han dynasty (AD 58–74), Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism have been coexisting as folk reli-

gions there. For instance, it is not unusual to find a statue of Confucius being worshipped in a Taoist temple. Although during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) Red Guards denounced Confucian doctrine as a feudal ethical system for maintaining the hierarchical social order of traditional China, it still has a profound influence on East Asian societies, including China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Kwang-kuo Hwang see also: Buddhism; Child: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives; Confucius; Religious Instruction further reading: J. J. M. De Groot, Religion in China: Universalism, a Key to the Study of Taoism and Confucianism, 1912. • M. Weber, The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, 1964. • D. Bell and C. Ham, Confucianism for the Modern World, 2003.

confucius (b. 551 BC; d. 479 BC), the most respected educator in Chinese history. Confucius was born in the State of Lu (now Shandong province) during the tumultuous so-called Spring and Autumn Period (772–484 BC) in ancient China. His father, a midrank official, died when he was 3 years old. Confucius worked as a shepherd and as an accountant for a noble family. He was very interested in the rites and institutions that prevailed in a much earlier period of Chinese history during the Zhou dynasty (1122–256 BC) and devoted himself to study of the traditional culture of Zhou. During Confucius’s lifetime, feudal princes were frequently trying to usurp the throne. He hoped to restore social order by advocating a return to a morality of loyalty and the ethical system of filial piety. Confucius began his career as a public teacher at the age of 22. His fame gradually increased, and it is said that he attracted 72 disciples and more than 3,000 students, which earned him a good reputation and made him famous. In the year 517 BC, Duke Chao of Liu came into open quarrel with three hereditary ministerial families in the state, who were continually encroaching on the authority of their feudal ruler. Confucius fled into Chi, the state adjoining Lu, to avoid the prevailing disorder of his native state. After the rebellion was suppressed, he returned to the State of Lu and obtained a position in the government. He was forced to resign the post after three months as he failed to persuade the king to accept his suggestion to destroy three castles constructed by feudal princes without the permission of the king. In his old age, he toured with some of his disciples around various states hoping that his political advocacy might be accepted by other feudal kings. Confucius identified himself as an educator whose mandate was to rectify the world by teaching virtues. In attempting to restore the feudal social order of the early Zhou dynasty, he spent a lot of time researching and recording rites and music for ceremonies and other occasions express-

c o n ge n it a l a n o m a l ie s a n d d e f o r m a t io n s

ing one’s dedication to family, country, and state. He also edited poems and classics collected from various states, including Lu, Zhou, Sung, and Chi. He wrote a history of Lu entitled Spring and Autumn and annotated 10 supplements to the oracular text I-ching, which is thought to be the most ancient Chinese book of philosophy and cosmology. All of these were used as materials for teaching his students. Confucian doctrine represented an eclectic conglomeration of many ideas originating from ancient feudal Zhou culture. Confucius advocated the principles of favoring the intimate and respecting those who are superior. These were proposed as core values for ordinary people and were supposed to be helpful for a ruler to effectively reign over his state. Despite his ethical recommendations, the princes of the kingdom in this time struggled to consolidate their own power, and none of them adopted his principles or followed his lessons during the period of Warring Kingdom. After China was unified, most emperors soon realized the important function of Confucianism for maintenance of social order. His political and moral influence became so substantial that the Martial Emperor (157–87 BC) of the Han dynasty designated Confucian doctrine as the official orthodoxy for subordinates to learn. Confucian classics were the main content of civil-service examinations from AD 690 of the Tang dynasty (AD 618–904) until the exam was abolished in 1905. For more than 1,000 years, Analects, a collection of Confucian sayings, has been used as material for teaching probity to Chinese children in school in the expectation of educating them to become morally upright persons. For example, Confucius said: “A youth should be filial at home, respectful to his elders when going out. He should be earnest and trustful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate friendship with the good. When he has time and opportunity after performing all there things, he should employ himself in literary studies” (Analects, Book 1: Hsio R, chapter 6). Tze-Gong asked: “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” Confucius answered: “It must be Reciprocity. What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others” (Analects, Book 15: Wei-ling Gong, chapter 23). Confucian theory was denounced as a feudal moral system by the Chinese communists during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). Now it is recognized that Confucian doctrine has a profound influence on Chinese culture and society and is therefore a suitable topic of study for social science. Kwang-kuo Hwang see also: Child: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives; Confucianism and Taoism further reading: R. Wilhelm, Confucius and Confucianism, 2005.

• 20 7

congenital anomalies and deformations. Congenital anomalies are structural defects present from birth, whether apparent then or not. They generally fall into one of four categories—malformation, disruption, deformation, and dysplasia/dystrophy—though some do not fall neatly into a single category. A primary anomaly in one category can produce secondary defects in one or more categories, known collectively as a sequence. This article covers select examples of defects in each category, with an emphasis on common anomalies. M al fo r m atio n s Malformations are primary defects in physical development that may be isolated or be part of a multiple congenital anomaly syndrome. Isolated primary defects usually have a multifactorial etiology: one or more genes interacting with presumed or known environmental factors. Isolated malformations include cardiac defects, craniofacial anomalies (e.g., cleft lip, cleft palate, microtia or underdeveloped ears), genitourinary malformations (e.g., horseshoe kidney, multicystic dysplastic kidney, hydronephrosis, hypospadias, cryptorchidism), digestive system anomalies (e.g., esophageal atresia, duodenal atresia, pyloric stenosis, imperforate anus, gastroschisis), limb defects (e.g., absent radius, syndactyly, polydactyly, clubfoot), and central nervous system anomalies (e.g., hydrocephaly, holoprosencephaly, septooptic dysplasia, neural tube defects). Cleft Lip. Cleft lip is due to failure of the medial nasal embryonic tissue to fuse with upper jaw tissue at 35 days after conception. Cleft lip occurs in approximately 1 in every 1,000 Caucasian births; prevalence is lower in those of African ancestry, higher in Asians, and higher in males. Half of clefts are left-sided, 25% occur on the right, and 25% are bilateral. Failure of lip fusion may impede fusion of the palate, which should occur at nine weeks following conception. When the palate is also cleft, chronic otitis media (middle ear inflammation), conductive hearing loss, and speech and swallowing disorders can result. Maternal smoking and high maternal homocysteine level are risk factors for cleft lip. Studies on folic acid’s ability to prevent cleft lip have been inconclusive. Treatment consists of surgery to repair the lip (and palate), special feeding practices if needed, correction of nasal deformity, bone grafting if the gum ridge or hard palate is cleft, middle ear ventilation, orthodontia, speech therapy, and psychological support as needed. Cleft lip is part of a syndrome, or a multifaceted malformation condition, in 10% to 30% of cases. More than 300 malformation syndromes have associated cleft lip. Nonsyndromic cleft lip carries an excellent prognosis when coordinated care is provided.

208 •

con gen it al an o ma l i es a n d d efo rma t io n s

Cardiac Anomalies. One child in 125 is born with an anomaly of the heart or great vessels. By far, ventricular septal defect is the most common congenital heart anomaly, accounting for approximately one-third of all congenital heart defects. Other common defects are patent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect, atrioventricular canal defect, pulmonary stenosis, coarctation of the aorta, tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great vessels, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and aortic stenosis. While some defects can be diagnosed prenatally, the majority are diagnosed based on detection of a heart murmur in the infant. Some teratogens that increase the risk for congenital heart defects are alcohol, retinoic acid, and lithium. Maternal diabetes and certain prenatal infections also carry a risk of these malformations. The BaltimoreWashington Infant Study Group found some racial and socioeconomic differences in the prevalence of specific cardiac malformations (increased prevalence of Ebstein’s anomaly, aortic stenosis, and aortic coarctation in whites; increased prevalence of pulmonary stenosis and heterotaxy in blacks; increased prevalence of aortic stenosis with increasing socioeconomic status). Recurrence of most defects is 1% to 3%, but left-sided flow-related defects have a higher recurrence risk. Outcome depends upon the type of cardiac defect and whether there is an underlying syndrome (3% to 4%) or associated anomalies (up to 30%). Hydrocephaly. Hydrocephaly results when there is impairment of cerebrospinal fluid reabsorption resulting in a large head due to fluid accumulation inside and around the brain. The diagnosis is suspected on physical examination when the head circumference is large and there is evidence of increased intracranial pressure (e.g., split skull sutures, bulging fontanel). Imaging confirms the clinical suspicion and can identify other central nervous system abnormalities that might be present. Congenital hydrocephaly occurs in approximately 1 in every 1,000 live births. No sex or racial predilections are reported. Risk factors include prenatal infection and (probably) maternal diabetes. The recurrence risk for congenital hydrocephaly alone is 1% to 2%. However, other congenital anomalies (cardiac defects, oral clefts) are associated in 70% to 80%. Outcome is variable depending on the underlying cause and on what other anomalies are present. Clubfoot. Clubfoot includes any alteration in the position of the foot that is not due to position alone. The most common variation is talipes equinovarus, where the foot points down and inward. The incidence of clubfoot may be as high as 1 in every 300 births if it is secondary to an underlying disorder (neuromuscular, spina bifida, chromosomal). For isolated, idiopathic clubfoot, the incidence is 1 per 1,000 births, with twice as many boys as girls affected. No racial or ethnic predilections have been noted.

Traditionally, clubfoot treatment has involved a combination of casting and surgery. Traditional casting methods have success rates of less than 60%, and tendon transfer surgeries are employed for those who fail casting. Newer techniques may improve nonoperative success. Generally outcome is good, although corrected adults report sore feet. Recurrence risk of nonsyndromic clubfoot is 2%. Neural Tube Defects. Neural tube defects (NTDs) are due to failure of the neural folds to fuse between three and four weeks after conception. This failure can occur anywhere along the neural axis (brain to tip of the spinal cord) and can result in anencephaly, encephalocele, or spina bifida/meningomyelocele. NTDs can be isolated or a feature of a malformation syndrome. For isolated NTDs, sibling recurrence risk is 2% to 3%. Risk can be reduced by daily consumption of folic acid. Prenatal diagnosis is aided by measuring serum alpha-fetoprotein and ultrasound, which together detect more than 95% of NTDs prior to birth. The incidence of NTDs in the United States is 1 in every 1,000 live births. Worldwide, this varies widely; socioeconomic, nutritional, and genetic factors probably account for this variation. The highest incidence of NTDs is in northern China. Those of Celtic origin have a higher rate of spina bifida, and those of African and Asian ancestry have lower rates overall. Females outnumber males. There has been a worldwide decline in living newborns with NTDs in the last 30 years, probably due to a combination of increased prenatal detection followed by pregnancy termination and public health service intervention including fortification of grains with folic acid and recommendation of folic acid consumption by all women of reproductive age. Maternal diabetes and some antiseizure medicines are also risk factors for NTDs. At least 85% of children with spina bifida have urinary incontinence, although bowel control can usually be managed. The care of most patients is managed by a multidisciplinary team of orthopedic, urological, neurosurgical, and rehabilitation specialists. Anencephaly (failure of all upper brain development) is uniformly fatal, though not necessarily immediately so, and it may be part of a genetic syndrome with other anomalies. Encephalocele, an abnormal brain development in one or more areas, carries a variable prognosis, depending on the location, amount of extruded brain tissue, and other abnormalities of brain development. Forty percent of children with spina bifida will require special education. Cognitive outcome depends on presence of hydrocephalus, associated brain abnormalities, and occurrence of central nervous system infection posttreatment. Cesarean delivery is usually recommended after prenatal diagnosis. Fetal surgery to cover the defect spinal or brain defect offers the possibility of improved outcome

c o n ge n it a l a n o m a l ie s a n d d e f o r m a t io n s

by preventing secondary damage to the neural tissue exposed to amniotic fluid and perhaps a lowered incidence of hydrocephalus. M alfo r m at ion S y n d rom es Malformation syndromes, which represent a cluster of more than one abnormality, can be caused by chromosomal errors (Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome), single gene defects (fragile X syndrome), teratogenic exposures, or unknown causes. Down Syndrome. Described by J. Langdon H. Down in 1866, Down syndrome occurs in approximately 1 in every 800 live births. It is easily recognized and the most common chromosomal syndrome producing intellectual disability. The features are low muscle tone; small, upslanting eyes with inner eye skin folds; flat midface; flat occiput; small ears; tongue thrusting; excess skin at the back of the neck; single transverse palmar crease; short incurved fifth fingers; and widely spaced first and second toes. The facial features are similar across all ethnic groups; similarity to the facial profile of Asians or Pacific Islanders can make diagnosis more difficult in these groups. The term mongolism refers to the similarity in facial features of people with Down syndrome to those coming from Mongolia. Down considered this group an inferior race, so “mongolism” has a racist and pejorative connotation and is no longer used. The majority (more than 95%) of individuals with Down syndrome have an additional 21st chromosome in all cells (trisomy 21). This genetic accident occurs with increased frequency as maternal age advances. Approximately 2% to 3% of cases are due to translocation of chromosome 21 material onto another chromosome; these cases require parental chromosome studies to determine recurrence risk. A small percentage of cases are individuals with a mosaic profile; that is, they have both normal cells and trisomy 21 cells. Although on average these individuals perform at a higher level than nonmosaic patients, karyotype cannot be used to predict performance on an individual level. Prenatal diagnosis of this disorder and other chromosomal abnormalities is made by genetic analysis of a specimen acquired by amniocentesis (drawing a sample of amniotic fluid around the fetus) or chorionic villus (placental tissue sampling). Screening using maternal serum in the second trimester detects 60% to 75% of Down syndrome cases. Ultrasound measurement of the posterior neck skin fold in combination with serum studies in the first trimester detects 90% of Down syndrome cases. Postnatal diagnosis is usually made with clinical examination. Prognosis is for moderate intellectual disability (IQ 40– 55). Muscle tone improves with age and physical therapy. Twenty-five to 40% of individuals will have a cardiac defect; other major congenital anomalies occur in 1% or less and include gastrointestinal maldevelopment, annular pan-

• 20 9

creas, cataracts, Hirschsprung disease, polydactyly, limb deficiency, cleft palate, and cleft lip/palate. Leukemia occurs in 1%; there is increased sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Instability of the top two spine bones in the neck can be demonstrated radiographically in approximately 15% of individuals, but symptomatic spinal cord compression resulting from this is rare and usually occurs before age 10. Vision problems (myopia, strabismus, nystagmus, cataract) and auditory impairment are additional concerns. Individuals with Down syndrome require lifelong surveillance for thyroid disorders, diabetes, malignancies, and premature aging. Moderate short stature and delayed sexual development are common. Fertility is usually normal in females; males are infertile. Turner Syndrome. Turner syndrome is due to the absence of a second X chromosome. Most individuals have a 45,X karyotype, but individuals with mosaicism (45,X/46,XX and 45,X/46,XY) and individuals with a structurally abnormal second X chromosome can have a similar phenotype (appearance). The original description by H. H. Turner in 1938 was seven females with short stature, webbed neck, increased carrying angle at the elbows, and sexual infantilism. 45,X is thought to be the most common chromosomal abnormality at conception, but because of extreme fetal loss (more than 99%), only 1 in 2,500 females is born with Turner syndrome. Prenatal lymphedema, blockage of lymph drainage, accounts for many of the features of Turner syndrome, including protruding ears, broad or webbed neck, low posterior scalp hairline, widely spaced nipples, and abnormal nails. Edema can persist postnatally in the hands and feet, gradually resolving. Cardiac defects occur in 20% of cases. Kidney anomalies are common but are usually not functionally important. There is an increased incidence of hypertension and thyroid dysfunction. Due to abnormal ovarian development, most girls with Turner syndrome fail to achieve secondary sexual characteristics. A minority will show evidence of estrogen production in adolescence, but it is usually inadequate and transient. The appropriate time to begin estrogen replacement therapy in adolescence depends on psychological maturity. Fertility has been reported in a few individuals with mosaic karyotypes, but infertility is the rule. Women with Turner syndrome have successfully borne children conceived via in vitro techniques. Intelligence is normal, but there are specific learning disabilities in visual-spatial processing that can make some school subjects challenging. Short stature can be treated with growth hormone. Klinefelter Syndrome. Described by H. F. Klinefelter and his colleagues in 1942, Klinefelter syndrome occurs in 1 in 500 males. Most affected newborn males look normal but may have genital abnormalities. In childhood, these boys are

210 •

con gen it al an o ma l i es a n d d efo rma t io n s

generally tall with slender builds and long limbs. Many experience delayed expressive language and speech problems. IQ is 10 to 15 points below that of siblings. Immature, shy, and insecure behavior often poses more difficulty than the cognitive impairment. Testicles remain small during childhood and adolescence. Many boys will enter puberty but will have inadequate testosterone production for complete virilization. Breast enlargement and a tendency toward obesity are prevented by testosterone administration, which sometimes improves behavior. Klinefelter syndrome is one of the most common causes of male infertility. Although nearly all men with Klinefelter syndrome are infertile, assisted reproductive techniques have allowed some to father children. Fragile X Syndrome. Fragile X is a notable single-gene disorder. Other examples (not discussed in this article) include neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, and Marfan and Noonan syndromes. J. P. Martin and J. Bell described an X-linked mental retardation syndrome that later became known as fragile X syndrome due to the “broken” appearance of the X chromosome in cell culture. This defect affects approximately 1 in 4,000 males and 1 in 6,000 females. Children with fragile X syndrome have delayed expressive language and usually global developmental delays. Boys with fragile X syndrome may appear physically normal in infancy and early childhood but develop a characteristic appearance in older childhood, with large ears, prominent lower jaw, and long face. Macroorchidism (large testes) develops with puberty. Many have an autistic behavioral profile or autistic-like behaviors. Performance in males with full mutations ranges from mild impairment to severe intellectual disability. Girls with full mutations have normal physical appearance, and 60% will have cognitive impairment. Fragile X syndrome is due to a mutation in the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome. A repeating CGG trinucleotide, which is found in 6 to 55 copies in the normal population, is expanded to more than 200 copies (full mutation) in affected individuals. Individuals with 60 to 200 repeats are premutation carriers and are usually asymptomatic in childhood but can have neurological and behavioral symptoms in adulthood. Early ovarian failure and a Parkinsonian-like dementia are seen in female and male carriers, respectively. Premutations are prone to expansion to full mutations when transmitted from the mother. Teratogens. Teratogens are environmental agents capable of producing human malformation. Human teratogens include thalidomide, warfarin, aminopterin, methotrexate, retinoids, anticonvulsants, lithium, and alcohol. These may cause structural or functional abnormalities due to their influence on fetal development. The type, dose, and timing of

exposure during prenatal life, as well as other maternal and fetal factors, determine what abnormalities result. The best-known retinoid (synthetic derivative of vitamin A), isotretinoin, is used to treat severe cystic acne. When used during a critical period of embryo formation, it can produce a pattern of mental and physical defects in the fetus known as isotretinoin embryopathy. Abnormalities include growth delays both before and after birth, heart and brain defects, and abnormalities in the formation of the ears, face, and skull. The severity of the mental and physical impairments is variable. Disruptions A disruption occurs when the normally developing fetus is subject to a destructive extrinsic process—such as a vascular accident, an intrauterine infection, or a mechanical force—that damages or distorts existing structures or destroys the developmental process. An example of a disruption is the amnion rupture sequence, which occurs when the early rupture of the amnion (the innermost membrane of the fetal sac) disrupts normal organ development by attachment of sheets or strands of amnion to developing fetal structures. Chronic leakage of amniotic fluid can produce deformations. Bands of amnion may disrupt facial development (causing atypical clefts), cranial development (causing anencephaly-like defects), abdominal wall development, or limb development. Fetal entanglement in strands of amnion can produce constriction rings or amputation of digits or limbs. Examination of the placenta shows evidence of this intrauterine process. A minimum prevalence of 1 in 2,000 live births is estimated; the occurrence is undoubtedly much higher in miscarried pregnancies. Usually no traumatic event can be identified as the cause. Plastic surgical approaches may be needed. D efo r m atio n s Deformations are alterations of normally developed structures that arise due to mechanical pressure. Deformations may resolve once the mechanical force is relieved if the tissues are still malleable. Examples of deformations include clubbed feet, torticollis (head tilting due to neck muscle shortening), oligohydramnios sequence, and the cranial deformations intentionally produced postnatally with boards or other apparatuses in some cultures. In the oligohydramnios sequence, for example, the lack of amniotic fluid, whether by insufficient production or loss, creates deformations by direct pressure of the uterus on the fetus. Loose skin, large ears, nasal compression, clubbed feet, and cryptorchidism are the main results. Prognosis is poor when there is complete lack of amniotic fluid, because lung development is insufficient to support life. Recurrence risk depends on the cause of the oligohydramnios; amnion rupture has a negligible recurrence risk. Renal abnormali-

c o n s u m e r s , c h il d r e n a s

ties in the fetus can be the source of reduced amniotic fluid, and these recur in 10%. Dysp l asias/ Dyst rop h i es Many different muscular dystrophies and skeletal dysplasias (generalized atypical bone development) can produce an evolving pattern of malformation. The most common of these are achondroplasia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and myotonic dystrophy. The most common of all short-limbed dwarfing conditions, achondroplasia, occurs in 1 in 10,000 children. Achondroplasia is readily recognized by limb shortening, which is maximal in the proximal segments; shortening of the trunk, which is less severe than shortening of the extremities, producing disproportion; and large head with forehead prominence and midface hypoplasia. Achondroplasia is often not recognized immediately, but slow growth and atypical proportions usually lead to diagnosis in early infancy. Diagnosis is secured radiographically by specific spine and pelvis abnormalities. Accentuated lumbar lordosis and waddling gait are characteristic. Fluid retention in the middle ear can result in impaired hearing, delayed emergence of language, and disordered speech. The opening for the spine at the base of the skull is smaller than normal and can lead to the development of hydrocephalus or spinal cord compression, which can present with severe hypotonia or low muscle tone, sleep apnea, or sudden death in infancy. Adult complications include progressive spinal disorders and obesity. Intelligence is normal. Adult height is approximately 4 feet. Achondroplasia is caused by fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene mutations. Eighty percent of cases are the result of new mutations, and 20% are inherited from a parent with achondroplasia. With some adaptations to the environment, full independence is the rule. Limb-lengthening procedures have been undertaken in a minority. A strong support network of “little people” provides mutual support and advocacy. Lynne M. Bird see also: Embryology and Fetal Development; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; Genetics; Heart Disorders and Diseases further reading: John M. Graham Jr., Smith’s Recognizable Patterns of Human Deformation, 2nd ed., 1988. • Kenneth Lyons Jones, Smith’s Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation, 6th edition, 2006. • Roger E. Stevenson and Judith G. Hall, Human Malformations and Related Anomalies, 2nd ed., 2006.

consumers, children as. Since the early 20th century, merchants, advertisers, and marketers have conceptualized, addressed, and treated children as consumers in varying degrees and intensities. Prior to the 1910s, industries specializing in manufacturing children’s goods were sparse, as most were made as a sideline to other products.

• 21 1

Retail stores did not cater to children as customers to any significant degree, aside from candy counters or a single toy shelf in a dry goods store. By the 1920s, industries had arisen that produced specially made and designed products for children, such as toys, clothing, furniture, and nursery ware. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, children’s goods in department stores steadily acquired their own spaces decorated with child-oriented iconography and staffed by personnel who specialized in selling to children and their mothers. Many stores eventually dedicated entire floors to juvenile merchandise. More than simply housing children’s goods, the overall layout, the height of the fixtures and mirrors, and the color schemes of these departments and floors were designed to appeal to the child’s point of view, rather than that of the mother. In the same period, media began to address children and youth as an audience. Advertisements appeared in children’s magazines for BB guns, toys, clothing, and breakfast cereals. Beginning in the late 1920s, children’s radio shows regularly occupied the airwaves. Radio and magazine companies cultivated child audiences through club memberships that were often tied to product purchases like breakfast cereals. Child film stars like Shirley Temple and animated characters like Mickey Mouse increased their appeal and reach through product endorsements and licensed merchandise such as watches, dolls, and dresses. The early efforts to speak to the child’s perspective through specialized commercial goods, spaces, and media helped institutionalize a children’s consumer culture by recognizing children as consumers who have their own desires and preferences. In the ensuing decades, garnering and appeasing the child’s view became inseparable components of children’s marketing, merchandising, and advertising. The rise of an adolescent youth culture in the 1950s and beyond, for instance, depended in large part on music and clothing that displayed a recognizable “youth” identity over and against anything that might be seen tainted as “adult.” In the late 1980s, the cross-promotion of “kid brands” between films, food, clothing, television, toys, and video games continued to mark out an increasingly specific sphere of children’s goods and media. Children need not personally purchase items in order to be considered, and to consider themselves, consumers. Cultivating children’s desires invariably involves parents, especially mothers, who figure directly into the identities and practices of children as consumers. Advertisers and merchandisers have long recognized that mothers act as arbiters of children’s purchases by wielding the veto power of the purse. Marketers also understand that mothers wish to please their children while at the same time ensuring their health and development. Virtually all commercial messages regarding children— from advertisements to commercials to packaging to film

212 •

con sum ers, chi l d ren as

and television shows—encode a “dual appeal,” addressing the child’s enjoyment and the mother’s concerns and wishes. Marketers realize that the emotional value of children to their parents can be used as a bulwark against parental resistance when children’s desires gain a foothold in family consumer decision making. Children in this way can serve as an effective proxy sales force for a company or brand when they nag or beg their parents for things they want. James McNeal, a pioneer of research on children as consumers, estimates that children and teens spend out of pocket more than $200 billion annually on things for themselves. They are, in addition, thought to influence parental purchases of such things as the family vacation destination, the family vehicle(s), and dining out locations from anywhere between $130 billion and $500 billion annually. Criticism and controversy have always accompanied efforts to address children as consumers, but it was not until the late 1960s that children’s consumption and media drew the attention of social activists and academic researchers. The issues that have preoccupied activists and academics center on questions of children’s knowledge and ability to process information, about the age at which a child can understand the distinction between a program and a commercial, and when children can understand the selling intent of a commercial. In 1968, a group of Massachusetts housewives and mothers concerned about the quality of children’s television founded Action for Children’s Television (ACT), a child advocacy group. ACT addressed both the programming content of children’s television and larger concerns about advertising and the commercialization of children’s television entertainment. In 1974, the advertising industry, under pressure from ACT and other groups, set up the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Better Business Bureau as a way for the industry to regulate itself and avoid government intervention. The controversy over children’s television continued to rage throughout the 1980s and culminated in the Children’s Television Act of 1990, which set a few limits on the amount of advertising that could be aired during a “children’s” program and called for more educational programming for children. Critics have been unsatisfied with the bill, which then U.S. President George H. W. Bush refused to sign, seeing it as a compromise that did little to stop the incursion of market interests into children’s lives through television. Many in the media and advertising industries have counterargued that children are much more knowledgeable and savvy about commercials and program content than parents and regulators give them credit, and that market forces, like children’s and parents’ desires, should determine programs and advertisements, not government regulation. Other controversies related to children and their consumer activities include the violent and sexual content of television, film, and video games. Researchers have linked

the viewing of violent media content with subsequent violent or aggressive behavior, but the research has failed to have a significant effect on public policy or commercial sales. Parents and watchdog groups also have voiced concerns about what they see as the increasing sexualization of young girls through provocative clothing styles and the use of cosmetics, all of which they claim are encouraged by unfavorable images of girls through media and toys, such as Barbie, the famous doll made and owned by the Mattel Corporation. Since 2000, there have been growing concerns about whether increasing childhood obesity in the United States is linked to the marketing of children’s food and the cross-promotions between food, television, film, and toy companies. More generally, academic social critics like sociologist Juliet Schor argue that it is the overall materialistic values promoted by advertisers and marketers that have a negative effect on children’s self-image, their physical health, and their relationship to peers and family. The felt need for teens and tweens to “have it all” has spurred a good deal of public discussion regarding the increasingly central role of commerce and advertising in the lives of young people. Images of conspicuously consuming youth continue to circulate in public media that often belie the fact that many families in difficult economic circumstances are too poor to provide for their children’s basic needs, let alone to be in a position to purchase things to help them maintain social standing among their peers. Children’s commercial involvement tends to vary in intensity and in the particular practices actually engaged in across socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic groups but remains a ubiquitous presence exerting subtle pressure in nearly every corner of a child’s life. The pressure to help their children “fit in” at school by having certain brands of clothing or electronic devices can prove to be too much for single mothers struggling to make ends meet. In the context of an ever-present and growing consumer and media culture, denying children access to certain goods can have the effect of limiting their participation in a social world increasingly defined by branded possessions. No longer confined to the Anglo nations of North America, Europe, and Australia, the phenomenon of a children’s consumer market and culture can be found in numerous countries across the globe in the early 21st century. Enabled by the spread and adoption of electronic media and a favorable climate for global corporate investment, markets for children’s goods arise and exist wherever a moneyed middle class claims a presence, such as in Israel, Dubai, Cairo, in parts of Beijing and Shanghai, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In these places, goods and media like Barbie dolls, the Sesame Street show, and McDonald’s Happy Meals as well as locally made products are available to children and families who want them and can afford them. Daniel Thomas Cook

c o n t r a c e p t io n see also: Advertising; Marketplace, Children and the; Media, Children and the; Popular Culture further reading: James U. McNeal, The Kids’ Market: Myths and Realities, 1999. • Elizabeth Chin, Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture, 2001. • Daniel Thomas Cook, The Commodiﬁcation of Childhood: The Children’s Clothing Industry and the Rise of the Child as Consumer, 2004. • Gary Cross, The Cute and the Cool: Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children’s Culture, 2004. • Juliet B. Schor, Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture, 2004.

contraception. Practices of and attitudes toward contraception continue to be a topic of public and private concern because of their association with pregnancy, childbearing, and the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In the United States, rates of having an unintended pregnancy and acquiring an STD are more elevated among adolescents than older age groups in the population. Furthermore, U.S. adolescents have higher unintended pregnancy and STD rates than adolescents in other developed countries. These patterns have led scholars, policy makers, and practitioners to ask several questions. What, exactly, are the patterns of adolescent contraception in the United States, and how have they changed over time? What explains variation in adolescent contraception across different societies and within them? Finally, what are the consequences of contraceptive beliefs and practices during adolescence? The term contraception refers to a variety of practices used to prevent a conception. The different contraceptive practices fall into four general categories that represent the means by which they prevent a conception: barrier methods (e.g., condom and diaphragm), chemical methods (e.g., the pill and emergency contraceptive pills), natural methods (e.g., withdrawal or fertility awareness), and surgical methods (e.g., vasectomy and tubal ligation). Contraceptive methods can also be categorized according to whether they involve a male (e.g., condom), female (e.g., pill), or couple (e.g., abstinence). Generally speaking, hormonal and surgical methods are found to be most effective in preventing conception and natural methods the least effective (with the exception of abstinence). Practices of contraception have been measured in a variety of ways. Surveys concerning practices typically ask respondents about their contraceptive use at first sex or most recent sex, assuming that use during these particular events is easier to recall. As an indicator of consistency, they ask about the frequency of use over an interval of time (e.g., the last 12 months or last month). Additionally, they ask respondents about their use of different types of contraception since methods differ considerably in their effectiveness in preventing pregnancy. To obtain information on attitudes toward contraception, some surveys ask adolescents about their agreement with statements such as “birth control is too much of a hassle to use” or “using birth control

• 21 3

is morally wrong.” Many surveys addressing contraception practices and beliefs include several questions on condom use due to its additional role in preventing the contraction of STDs. Data from the National Survey of Family Growth, a periodic survey on topics related to families, fertility, and health, allow researchers to document recent patterns of contraceptive use for men and women ages 15 to 44 and to track use among women of this age group at different points in historical time. Results from the 2002 survey reveal that among never-married women ages 15 to 19 who had ever had vaginal intercourse, 22.0% of non-Hispanic whites, 28.8% of non-Hispanic blacks, and 28.6% of Hispanics failed to use any contraception at first intercourse. Among sexually experienced men ages 15 to 19 who were never married in 2002, 14.6% of non-Hispanic whites, 13.9% of nonHispanic blacks, and 27.3% of Hispanics reported that they were unprotected during first intercourse. Considering the method of use, 67.5% of women used a condom, 16.6% used the pill, and 13.8% used a dual method (i.e., a condom and a hormonal method together); 71.1% of the men used a condom, 15.1% used the pill, and 10.6% used a dual method. Among the subset of youth who reported having sexual intercourse in the three months prior to the interview, contraceptive use was much higher. For instance, while 75.2% of never-married women ages 15 to 19 used contraception at first intercourse, 83.2% of the sexually active women in this group used contraception at most recent intercourse. Fewer than half of the never-married teens who had sex in the past month reported that they consistently (i.e., always) used a condom. While teens generally displayed favorable attitudes toward condom use, only a minority of them (14.9% of the men and 3.0% of the women) reported “no chance” that a condom would reduce physical pleasure. Contraceptive use among U.S. adolescents is associated with factors at the individual, couple, and community level. While youth are more likely to use contraception during first sex if they are older at the time, they are less likely to protect themselves if their partner is older than they are. Adolescents with higher levels of parental education, self-esteem, cognitive ability, and academic achievement/orientation report greater contraceptive use. In contrast, youth who report more “self-silencing,” anxiety about sex, sex guilt, sex partners, negative contraceptive views, and ambivalent attitudes about pregnancy report less contraceptive use. Couples who communicate more about sex in general and contraception in particular report greater contraceptive use. Couples are more likely to use contraception if they wait longer before having sex or if they are serious (e.g., romantic or going steady), as opposed to casual (e.g., just friends or acquaintances). These patterns partly reflect the fact that couples in longer and more committed relationships are more likely to discuss contraception before having sex for the first time. There is

214 •

con tra cept ion

also evidence that adolescent contraceptive use increases as the number of family planning clinics in a community increases, and it decreases as the economic status of a community decreases. The association between contraception and factors such as academic achievement and economic disadvantage is thought to reflect the motivation of youth to avoid a pregnancy. Adolescents who lack conventional means to attain adult status (i.e., a career or marriage) view unwed parenthood as less costly and perhaps even rewarding. Still, social psychological factors (e.g., self-silencing) and dyadic factors (e.g., limited bargaining power) may limit the ability of adolescents to use contraception even if they are motivated to avoid a pregnancy. Some studies suggest that factors that lead individuals to delay sexual activity also decrease their chances of using contraception when they do begin having sex. To offer a few examples, adolescents who are fundamentalist Protestant or who have taken a pledge of virginity begin having sex at a later age than their counterparts, but they are less likely to use contraception at first sex. Presumably, the joint determination of contraceptive use and sexual activity in adolescence reflects the fact that sex education programs and public discourse tend to promote either safe sex or abstinence. Studies following youth over time find that adolescents who use contraception during first sexual intercourse are more likely to use contraception during subsequent intercourse events, even after taking into account characteristics that predispose them toward risky behavior. This suggests that contraceptive use is “habit forming.” Girls who use contraception are considerably less likely to become pregnant, especially if they use contraception consistently. Contraceptive use among men and women ages 15 to 19 increased considerably between 1995 and 2002 and is said to explain much of the decline in pregnancy rates during this period. In spite of this increase in contraceptive use, U.S. teens continue to use contraception (including more effective hormonal methods) less than their counterparts in other developed countries. Presumably, the lower use of contraception among teens in the United States is due to more negative discourse about teen sex, more restricted access to affordable health services, less positive attitudes toward contraception, and less motivation to avoid pregnancy. Levels of unmet need for contraception are even higher in developing countries due to several factors, including misconceptions of pregnancy risk, limited knowledge about contraception, restricted access to family planning services, and concerns about the inconvenience or health consequences of specific contraceptive methods. Kara Joyner see also: Abortion; Childbearing, Adolescent; Health and Sex Education; Sexual Development; Sexually Transmitted Diseases

further reading: John R. Weeks, Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, 2005. • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss.htm • Child Trends, http://www.childtrends.org • Guttmacher Institute, http://www .guttmacher.org

contract, children’s right to. see Property and Contract, Children’s Rights to

corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child’s behavior. Examples include slapping a child’s hand or buttocks (called “spanking” in the United States and “smacking” in the United Kingdom), squeezing a child’s arm, and hitting the child on the buttocks with a belt or paddle. Provided the child is not physically injured in a way that leaves lasting marks or bruises, parental use of corporal punishment is legal in every state in the United States and until recently was legal in all other countries. Studies in the United States and England have found that more than a third of parents infl ict corporal punishment on infants at least once and more than 90% of parents spank toddlers. From age 6 onward, the rate decreases rapidly, but a 1995 U.S. national survey found that a third of parents of 13-year-old children were still using physical force to control the children’s behavior. Until recently, corporal punishment by teachers was equally prevalent. In 1979, all but 4 of the 50 United States, and almost all other countries, permitted teachers to hit children. Since then, there has been a worldwide movement to end corporal punishment in the schools. In the United States, about half the states now prohibit corporal punishment by teachers, and most of the large cities in the remaining half have prohibited the practice even though it is permitted by state law. The modern movement to end parental use of corporal punishment began in 1979 with a Swedish antispanking law and has since spread to 13 other countries. The educational effort to implement these laws has varied. Sweden has done the most to inform children and parents that corporal punishment is not permitted, although some Swedish parents continue to spank. The commission charged with implementing the United Nations charter on children’s rights has ruled that corporal punishment by parents as well as teachers is a violation of the charter. The European Union also requires its member states to end corporal punishment of children. Although the movement to end corporal punishment is strong and worldwide, it is not without controversy. Most parents in the United States and most other countries believe that corporal punishment is an essential tool when

c o r p o r a l p u n is h m e n t

other methods of correction and control fail. Fundamentalist Christians believe they have a religious obligation to follow the Old Testament injunctions to use the “rod” to correct misbehavior, although liberal Christians believe “rod” refers to the staff used by shepherds to guide the flock. Psychologists and pediatricians have generally avoided taking a stand on corporal punishment. After years of controversy, in 1998 the American Academy of Pediatrics passed guidelines that advised avoiding the practice but did not include spanking in the list of corporal punishments that “are unacceptable” and “should never be used.” However, a small but growing minority of professionals explicitly tell parents to never spank. Short- and Long-Ter m Effects One of the reasons parent educators, pediatricians, and psychologists are starting to be more vocal in opposing corporal punishment is the publication of more definitive research showing two key points. First, although corporal punishment “works,” it does not work any better than other methods of correction and control. Second, corporal punishment has harmful side effects that other methods do not, such as an increased probability of physically aggressive behavior by the child, a reduction in the child-to-parent bond, and depression. Given these harmful side effects, standard medical practice requires advising parents to switch from corporal punishment to practices that have the same effectiveness but not the harmful side effects. This is a difficult message for parents and professionals working with parents to accept because the belief that corporal punishment works when other methods do not is so firmly embedded in most cultures. It is also hard to accept because it seems to be contradicted by the day-to-day experience of parents who have told a child “no,” reasoned or explained, or used time-out, only to have the child repeat the misbehavior. What parents and professionals advising parents do not take into account is that when the behavior of a 2-year-old is corrected by any method, including spanking, 50% will repeat the misbehavior within two hours and 80% in the same day. This is because, although 2-year-olds can understand what is expected, they do not have sufficient control over their behavior to act consistently on that knowledge. An important difference between spanking and other noncorporal modes of correction is that parents who spank are typically prepared to repeat spanking until the child ceases the misbehavior. But when parents use noncorporal discipline and the child repeats the misbehavior, they are likely to turn to corporal punishment out of frustration or confusion because other methods seem to have failed. Parents who spank and repeat the spanking until the child learns are actually doing the right thing, but with the wrong method. If parents learned to be persistent with noncor-

• 21 5

poral methods, they would likely achieve the desired results without putting their children at risk of harmful side effects. Tr en d s There is data on trends in corporal punishment by parents for only a few countries, but in every case it reveals substantial decreases. Perhaps the most dramatic example is Sweden. A study of all children born in a district of Stockholm in 1955 found that at age 3, 94% of the parents were using corporal punishment, and a third of them did it at least daily. By 1994, the percentage of parents who spank had dropped to 31%. The most complete data is for the United States. The trends here are more mixed. About two-thirds of a national sample of parents of 13-year-old children reported using corporal punishment in 1975. By 1995, that rate had decreased to one-third. However, for toddlers, there was no decrease from the more than 90% of parents who spanked in 1975, probably because, as explained previously, when a toddler repeats a misbehavior after being repeatedly corrected, parents incorrectly conclude that spanking is necessary, whereas it is consistent forms of discipline that are shown to be most effective. The decreasing use of corporal punishment is an acceleration of a long historical trend away from state-sanctioned forms of violence, including physical abuse of children and violence between parents. Violence, even for socially desirable ends, is becoming less and less acceptable. The courts rather than duels are used to settle questions of honor. State laws allowing corporal punishment of misbehaving wives and military servicemen ended in the last quarter of the 19th century. The death penalty has been eliminated in all countries of the European Union and most other countries. Interwoven with the decrease in state-sanctioned forms of violence is an expansion in human rights, as manifested in the elimination of slavery, voting rights for women, the right to a free public education, and the United Nations charter on human rights. Most recently, the United Nations charter on the rights of children, which has been signed by all nations except Somalia and the United States, has extended additional human rights to children, including the right not to be physically attacked for misbehavior. The banning of corporal punishment by teachers in half the United States, in all European Union countries, and in countries as diverse as South Africa and the states of Hyderabad (India) is part of this centuries-long process of expanding human rights. Ending corporal punishment in the schools began in Europe in the 1920s, long before there was empirical evidence of harmful side effects. The worldwide decrease in corporal punishment in schools and families reflects a fundamental change in moral standards regarding children’s rights to physical autonomy and safety. In Europe, ending corporal punishment in schools was the

216 •

corp or al pun is hmen t

first step in a process that resulted in the prohibition of corporal punishment by parents, first in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, and is now the policy goal for all nations in the European Union. Since 2000, there has been a rapid increase in the number of developing nations that ban corporal punishment in schools, including Fiji, Kenya, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and several states in India. If developing nations follow the pattern experienced in Europe, it may be the start of a process that will eventually end in prohibiting parents from hitting children in most of the world. Concerns that the decline in corporal punishment will bring about an increase in behavioral problems in children are not supported by the evidence. The data for Sweden shows that, contrary to warnings that Sweden would become a country with out-of-control children, the opposite has happened. There have been substantial decreases in crime, drug use, and suicide by Swedish children and youth. There are many possible reasons for these decreases, and it is therefore not possible to conclude they show the benefits of ending corporal punishment. However, fears that the decline in corporal punishment will result in uncontrollable children have not been borne out by the change in Sweden to a less violent and more humane mode of child rearing. Murray A. Straus see also: Abuse and Neglect; Authority and Obedience; Discipline and Punishment; Punishment, Legal further reading: Philip Greven, Spare the Child: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse, 1990. • Irwin A. Hyman, Reading, Writing, and the Hickory Stick: The Appalling Story of Physical and Psychological Abuse in American Schools, 1990. • Murray A. Straus, Beating the Devil out of Them: Corporal Punishment in American Families and Its Effects on Children, 2nd ed., 2001.

cosleeping. see Sleep: Sleeping Arrangements cosmetics. see Body Image and Modiﬁcation crawling. see Motor Development creativity. It was in 1950 that psychologists were first challenged to pay attention to a neglected topic: creativity. In that year, in an American Psychological Association presidential address, J. P. Guilford focused on modes of thought that were divergent, moving outward to consider multiple dimensions of a problem or situation and thus supporting the capacity to innovate, inform, and transform human circumstances. Although creativity is typically thought of as novelty of ideas or products, most definitions also emphasize the appropriateness of the novelty to some domain of knowledge or human activity and social recognition that the product is, indeed, creative. A distinction is often made between

“big C” and “little c” creativity. The former refers to creative products, which are included in the cultural resources of a community and at times transform the understandings and conventions of a domain of knowledge or human activity. The latter consists of activities that people engage in every day, their innovations and dreams, such as a child’s powerful drawing in the sand, or journal entries. In some of the most successful environments developed for young children, such as the Reggio Emilia School in Italy, creativity is viewed as part of everyone’s way of thinking, knowing, and making choices. Most research in creativity takes either a psychometric or a case-study approach. The psychometric approach consists of the construction of tests to measure personality characteristics and “traits” of creative individuals. For instance, a frequently identified component of creativity, divergent thinking, is measured by tests that include fluency, flexibility, and originality of ideas. One of the most widely used measures is the Wallach-Kogan test, in which ideational fluency is elicited through verbal and visual patterns. This test has been translated into many languages and used among Chinese, British, U.S., and Israeli children. Creativity research that relies heavily on tests has been criticized by many scholars who see limited connection between children’s test performance and creative contributions in adulthood. In the case-study approach, the early beginnings of gifted and creative individuals are examined in detail to highlight personal, social, intellectual, and artistic qualities that may have contributed to later achievement. Studies of this kind have shown, for instance, that family members of eminent creators frequently participated in the same domain or a closely related one. Some, noting Mozart’s family’s rich musical background, have called this phenomenon “the Mozart Effect,” the opportunity for young children to immerse themselves in the domain of their choice in their family environment. The fluency with which Mozart composed seems to be partly the outcome of his intensive apprenticeship and of his opportunities to internalize, while very young, the musical possibilities of his times. Most theorists agree that the beginnings of creative imagination are found in children’s play. Both the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and the Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky have characterized imagination as internalized play. According to this view, activities ranging from early games of peekaboo, to pretend play with mothers, siblings, and caregivers, to fantasy narratives, and to roleplaying “mommy” or “baby” later appear internally as generalized imagination. However, while Piaget considered this internalization to be an individual phenomenon, Vygotsky viewed it as a between-person phenomenon, noting the play activities begin as social interactions and only later in development become solitary endeavors. Such play first starts with social interaction with adults and older siblings.

c r im e , j u v e n il e

Children later play to re-create these social interactions, exploring their relationships and social roles. Gradually, children develop the ability to carry out play activities mentally. By late childhood and adolescence, Vygotsky argued, imagination is play without action. In strongly individualistic cultures of Europe and North America, creativity is typically equated with personal growth and experimentation. But in many more traditional, collectively organized cultures, art and creativity serve communal functions including ritual and socialization. In such communities, children playfully imitate their parents’ activities. Pueblo children in the American Southwest make simple pottery and jewelry based on their observations of their elders. In their cross-cultural studies, Barbara Rogoff and her collaborators documented many examples of guided participation, or the way in which adults include their young children in weaving, farming, and animal herding. Together with such participation, children both practice and elaborate on these joint activities through their play. Because of the focus on personal growth in Europe and North America, creativity is closely associated with giftedness (significantly higher than average intellectual or artistic ability) and prodigy (unusually early appearance of intellectual or artistic ability). For this reason, a great deal of research has been directed at the study of gifted children and prodigies. Research on prodigies conducted by David Feldman and Ellen Winner, among others, highlights the speed with which gifted young individuals move through the levels of their chosen domain once they become committed to it. Additional characteristics of gifted children are that they read voraciously, they are open to experience, they engage in fantasy, and they delight in challenges. While they search for and appreciate mentors and teachers, they also possess the ability to teach themselves. They focus sharply, and when in a state of “flow” they lose a sense of the outside world. Part of the creative trajectory of gifted children includes what Howard Gardner has referred to as “crystallizing experience,” the time and place where a child first discovers the powerful attraction of a domain (such as dance or mathematics), experiencing the intensity and passion when engaging in certain activities. In case studies, the path from first attraction to a subject to socially recognized performances or products takes 10 years of immersion, commitment, and practice. In schooled societies, children gifted in science and mathematics tend to be given more support in educational settings, but even they can become lonely and isolated. Until recently, young girls interested in mathematics were discouraged from pursuing this profession. Development of exceptional talent requires nurturance, family support, mentoring, and special opportunities for exploring the young person’s interests and commitment. These include after-school programs, children’s museums, drama clubs,

• 21 7

art rooms, summer camps, and caring relationships across generations. But this kind of recognition needs to be carefully managed so that it does not interfere with the playful and passionate engagement of gifted children and adolescents with their domain. There is no clear relationship between early giftedness and later creative achievement. Many prodigies and children with very high IQs fail to make notable contributions to their culture and society. The gifted individuals who receive inspiration, support, and stimulating challenges from their family, teachers, peers, and mentors will be most likely to develop their talent into adulthood. Furthermore, not all cultures relate creativity to giftedness. More collectively oriented cultures, which do not emphasize the importance of individual achievement, often view unusual accomplishment in terms of its value to the community as a whole. In some Native American Pueblo cultures in the United States, the notion of special ability is recognized, whereas the notion of giftedness is not. A special ability may be an astute knowledge of one’s culture, language skills, or an aptitude to create with one’s hands. Unlike individualistically oriented cultures, compassion, empathy, and self-sacrifice are also seen as special and highly valued talents. All of these are valued only to the extent to which they benefit the community. As researchers address children’s play, fantasy, and creative endeavors, they are making a contribution to the understanding of innovative achievements. But perhaps more important, they highlight the importance of creative activities for children whose schooling is limited to basic cognitive skills at the expense of the fuller development of their imaginative faculties. Vera P. John-Steiner see also: Artistic Development; Cognitive Development; Giftedness; Intelligence; Learning; Musical Development; Play; Problem Solving further reading: J. Piaget, Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood, 1962. • B. Rogoff, Apprenticeship in Thinking, 1990. • V. JohnSteiner, Notebooks of the Mind: Explorations in Thinking, rev. ed., 1997. • E. Winner, Gifted Children: Myths and Realities, 1997. • L. S. Vygotsky, “Imagination and Creativity in Childhood,” Soviet Psychology 28, no.10 ([1930] 1998), pp. 84–96.

crib death. see Sudden Infant Death Syndrome crime, juvenile. The different stages of childhood in modern Western societies produce a wide range of different rates of criminal behavior. Recorded criminal acts are quite rare for children younger than 10, but crime rates increase exponentially in the early years of adolescence, and the very highest rates of arrest at any age are recorded at the border between adolescence and young adulthood. The sharp increase in crime during the teen years is so pronounced that some scholars have asserted it is an “age crime” relationship that is universal.

218 •

crime, juv en il e

figure 1. Percentage of total arrests at ages younger than 18, eight index crimes, 2000. Source: Crime in the United States, 2001.

Figure 1 uses data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports to provide a summary snapshot of the relative importance of juvenile crime by showing the percentage of all arrests for the eight FBI “index” crimes that involved persons younger than 18 in 2000 in the United States. A substantial share of all serious offenses involve persons younger than 18, but the concentration of crimes among young offenders is most pronounced in arson, where half of all arrests involve juveniles, and in property offenses such as auto theft , burglary, and larceny, where nearly one-third involve youths younger than 18. By contrast, only 10% of homicide arrests and less than 20% of rape and serious assault arrests are youths. These aggregate averages both understate the rates of crime commission for youth 15 and older and greatly overstate the rates for younger children. More than 90% of all serious arrests involve the one-third of the youth population older than age 12. And the aggregate pattern for all youth also hides large differences by gender. Rates of violent crime by males younger than age 18 are 10 times as great as female rates for robbery and homicide and 4 times as high for assault. Overall, juvenile crime is highly concentrated among older adolescent males. There are two reasons why crimes committed by children are a special concern to policy makers and the public. First, serious crimes committed by the very young are clear symptoms of social pathology. Juvenile crime is a failure of state, community, and family to socialize and supervise. Second, the concern exists that youth crime is a foreshadowing of adult criminal behavior. Although most juvenile criminals do not continue their criminal behavior into the adult years, the social costs of the few who do are high. Intervening with the goal of ending criminal careers before they begin has a long history in the United States. Th e Spec ial C har acter of Youth C r ime When children and youth commit crimes, their behavior differs from that of adult offenders in four respects. First, children usually commit crimes with other offenders, while most adult offenders commit their offenses alone. Early

20th-century studies showed that 80% of the youth in Chicago juvenile courts were charged with committing offenses with others. A study carried out in the 1970s showed that more than 70% of New York City juveniles arrested for serious crime were also charged for crimes with companions. This group pattern gives important clues about why youths commit crimes, suggesting the dominance of what sociologists would call “peer influence.” The fact that youths are arrested in groups also means that the arrest percentages reported in figure 1 overestimate the share of crimes that youths commit. If three youths are arrested for one burglary and one adult is arrested for a second, the arrest statistics will suggest that youth are responsible for 75% of the burglaries since they represent 75% of the arrests, when the true youth share is 50%. The second special feature of youth crime is that it tends to be less serious than many adult offenses in the same crime categories. The robberies are less often armed, the assaults are often less life-threatening, and the thefts are smaller. There are, to be sure, some very terrible crimes committed by young offenders; the mix of teenagers and loaded guns is particularly problematic. But the great bulk of youth crimes, including assaults, are at the less serious end of the scale of crime severity. Here again, the summary statistics on crime tend to overstate the severity of youth crime. Third, youth crime is more often recreational or expressive than designed to produce material gain. The distinguishing feature of those crimes that young offenders dominate, arson and vandalism, is the absence of financial gain associated with crimes such as robbery and theft. And even when youths commit property crimes, their preference for group offending reduces the personal gains to a fraction of what would be produced by committing the crime alone. Youth crime is most often expressive rather than instrumental, an end in itself rather than the means to an end. The final special characteristic of high rates of offending during adolescence is that many youth seem to outgrow the propensity to commit offenses as they mature into adult social roles and adult patterns of economic and family behavior. In many cases, the best cure for youth crime is growing up. When maturity can successfully end a youthful criminal career, the least costly method of dealing with youth crime is to punish with moderation and wait for the magic of maturation to take effect. When age alone cannot solve the problem, stronger interventions may be required. Although most adolescent offenders grow out of the agespecific tendencies to fight, vandalize, and steal, many serious long-term criminal careers also begin in late childhood. It is difficult to predict solely from youthful behavior which offenders will persist in their criminal activities. It does appear that a larger number of police contacts in youth and trouble at an earlier age increase the probability of arrests during adulthood. In part, this is because the youth who exhibit these patterns have a large number of other risk

c r im e v ic t im s , c h il d r e n a s

factors in their lives. But even groups with high arrest rates while young show diminishing rates of arrest as they age. T wo L arger L e s s o n s The recent history of science and policy concerning youth crime provides one cautionary tale and one important comparative perspective. The cautionary tale concerns a series of predictions of “a coming storm of juvenile violence” that were made by social scientists and politicians in the 1990s. After the youth homicide rate climbed between 1985 and 1993 in the United States, a number of analysts predicted a continuing increase in youth homicide through 2010. In 1996, a criminologist predicted “a bloodbath” by 2005, and a political scientist warned “of approximately 270,000 more juvenile super-predators” by 2010. But what happened next was the largest drop in youth homicide arrest rates ever recorded, a 65% decrease in under-18 homicide arrests in the six years after 1993. By the year 2000, The New York Times announced that the “coming storm has dried up,” and rates of arrest for homicide have been stable since then. The dire predictions of the mid-1990s could not have been further off the mark; instead of doubling, the juvenile homicide rate dropped by two-thirds. This case study in catastrophic error in predicting trends in youth crime is dramatic evidence of the difficulty in predicting future levels of youth crime. Despite these difficulties, some aspects of youth crime are easy to predict and explain. Research on youth homicide in Canada, Australia, the United States, and Britain found that about 10% of all persons arrested for homicide in each nation were younger than 18 years old. This finding does not mean that youth homicide rates were the same in the United States and Britain, because the general rate of homicide was 10 times higher in the United States than in Britain. What the general 10% finding suggests instead is that the general rate of violence in a particular nation is both the best predictor of the amount of youth violence in that nation as well as its probable cause. Crime rates of youth mirror the crime rates of their elders. In that sense, each nation gets the youth crime problem it deserves. Franklin E. Zimring see also: Adult Criminal Justice System, Children in the; Criminal Procedure, Children and; Death Penalty, Children and the; Firearms; Gangs; Juvenile Court; Juvenile Delinquency; Prisons for Youth; Punishment, Legal; Reform Institutions for Youth further reading: Marvin E. Wolfgang, Robert M. Figlio, and Thorsten Sellin, Delinquency in a Birth Cohort, 1972. • Franklin E. Zimring, American Youth Violence, 1998. • Franklin E. Zimring, American Juvenile Justice, 2005.

crime victims, children as. In the contemporary United States, children younger than age 18 constitute a vulnerable population who frequently experience victimization. While adults and children are victims of some of the

• 21 9

same types of crimes, children are at special risk for other types of victimization, such as child abuse and neglect, that do not usually apply to adults. In addition to violent crimes, children are also subject to other types of behaviors that are generally not recognized as violence either by government agencies or by law enforcement. According to Howard N. Snyder and Melissa Sickmund’s 2006 report for the U.S. Justice Department, Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report, children within the United States suffer victimization from crimes such as homicide, statutory rape, and child abuse. Statistics from 1980 through 2002 indicate that girls and boys have the same risk of being a victim of homicide from birth until age 12 and black children are killed more than white children for all ages. In 2002, homicide was the fourth leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 11 regardless of gender. The victim’s parents commit the majority of these homicides, especially for children from infancy through 6 years of age. However, after age 12, males are more likely to be killed by homicide than females, while females are murdered more often in their 1st or 20th years. The murder of teenage males occurs mostly at the hands of acquaintances, while family members kill female children more often. When violent crimes, including robbery, maltreatment, kidnapping, and all types of assault (simple, aggravated, and sexual), are disaggregated by age and gender, particular trends emerge. Males are more likely than females on average to be robbed, with the likelihood of a robbery increasing with the victim’s age. Girls have a higher victimization rate for child maltreatment than do boys, and younger children are at a significantly higher rate for child maltreatment than older children. Younger children are more likely than older children to experience all types of assault at the hands of family members, who are also more likely to perpetrate aggravated and simple assaults against female children than against male children. Females, at every age, experience sexual assault more than males, but when males are sexually assaulted, the vast majority (88%) of those assaults happen to boys when they are juveniles. Males commit the vast majority (96%) of all sexual assaults. As with other crimes, as children age, the less likely the offender is a family member and the more likely the offender is a nonrelative the victim knows. Data from the 2006 report show that both the types of victimization and the offender change with the age of the victim. The younger a person is, the more likely he or she is to suffer victimization from a family member. As the child grows older, acquaintance offending increases; victims ages 7 to 16 are more likely to suffer at the hands of a juvenile offender than children of any other age. The type of victimization that a child faces can be largely determined by gender. Males suffer more from simple assault, vandalism, aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft, larceny, and robbery than do females. However, females suffer kidnapping

220 •

crime victims, c hi l d ren as

more often than males as well as account for the vast majority of victims of sexual offences. Other recent research reports a link between juvenile victimization and violent behaviors. This cycle of victimization and offending patterns creates disproportionately high rates of juvenile violence against other juveniles. Much of this violence occurs at school. Two of the most frequent types of nonfatal crimes at school are theft and violent crimes that include rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Theft affects females more than males, but violent crimes affect males more than females. Age plays a critical role: Theft affects children ages 12 to 14 at only a slightly higher rate than children ages 14 to 17. The younger group suffers more from nonfatal violent crimes than the older group. Children also face the violence of bullying, physical fights, hate crimes, and harassment. Hate-related crimes, as a subset of violent crimes, occur at almost the same rate to males as to females and all races/ethnicities. Statistics on crimes on school grounds reveal that males fight more than females and males also carry more weapons than females. A 2005 survey of 9th to 12th graders showed that proportionately by race Pacific Islanders carried the most weapons (15.4%), followed by multiracial students (11.9%), then Hispanics (8.2%), American Indians (7.2%), whites (6.1%), blacks (5.1%), and Asians (2.8%). Whereas fighting decreased with age, weapon carrying did not. Despite these statistics, the overall data shows that serious violent crimes within schools are in decline. Student-on-student bullying is a problem that garners a lot of public attention. A 1998 survey of 15,686 students across the United States in both public and private schools (grades 6 through 10) found that boys are significantly more likely than girls to be both victim and perpetrator of bullying. Boys are more often involved in physical and verbal bullying, while girls are more often involved in verbal bullying and rumors. Hispanic students report marginally higher involvement in moderate and frequent bullying as compared to other students, and black students report being bullied with significantly less frequency overall. Bullying is more commonly found among middle-school-age students in the 6th through 8th grade and decreases in the 9th and 10th grades as students age. However, there are other types of violence within schools that are not immediately obvious from these statistics. This violence is either not criminalized or it is ignored and not adequately documented or researched. Yet, in the past several decades, peer-to-peer sexual harassment and gaybaiting/bashing behaviors in schools have been researched and documented as a component of a hostile environment that can erode a safe learning atmosphere and contribute to gender violence. Girls are more often victimized by peerto-peer sexual harassment than are boys. Both the U.S. Congress, through the passage of Title IX of the Education

Amendments of 1972, and the federal courts, including the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999), have deemed sexual harassment to be a form of sex discrimination and a violation of federal civil rights in education law. Despite the threat of financial sanctions and liability, many school officials permit harassment to continue by ignoring it once it has been brought to their attention. Gendered violence also extends beyond school yards into other aspects of children’s lives. Child trafficking and prostitution are problems recognized both nationally and internationally. The gendered nature of sex work involves violence and victimization that disproportionately affects girls. The United Nations has specific international conventions on child trafficking and prostitution. The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography provide local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with documents to advocate and pressure their governments into making changes. Without pressure and influence from organizations like the United Nations and affiliated NGOs, much of the work to establish definitions of crimes against children would not have occurred. Child prostitution and sex tourism featuring children are crimes that the UN and NGOs have identified as priorities for eradicating. Some countries that are known as sites of sex tourism are making efforts through legislation to stop both child trafficking and prostitution. For example, in Costa Rica the National Assembly has passed legislation that protects all citizens younger than age 18 from both trafficking and prostitution. According to one report, problems remain about implementation, while other NGOs continue to lobby the Costa Rican government. In the United States, efforts are slowly being taken to recognize the problem of child prostitution and trafficking. The city of Atlanta, Georgia, took measures to acknowledge and reduce child trafficking and prostitution in 2004 through special funding initiatives within the police department to track down victimized children. In addition, a shelter for children who were victims of these crimes was created. This program is one of the few in the United States that addresses the problem of child prostitution without punishing the child who is also the victim. Other NGOs such as Friends of Maiti Nepal, Polaris Project, and ECPAT USA lobby Congress about the problems of child prostitution and trafficking. The U.S. State Department also has a division in its Office for Democracy and Global Affairs that works with trafficked children and adults. While youth in the United States may become victimized by theft, bullying, or child abuse, generally they are not sold into slavery, forced to serve as child soldiers, or subjected to female genital cutting. Yet the prevailing, conventional definition of violence limits how U.S. policy makers define

c r im in a l p r o c e d u r e , c h il d r e n a n d

child victimization. While there may be agreement that homicide is a crime of violence, society only reluctantly acknowledges that gendered violence, sexual harassment, gay baiting, child trafficking, and pornography are also forms of violence. Eliminating these forms of violence from children’s lives will take vigorous enforcement of current laws, the passage of new laws, and constant and unrelenting pressure on the U.S. government to create new and different priorities. Nan D. Stein and Gabrielle D. Abousleman see also: Abuse and Neglect; Kidnapping; Pornography, Child; Rape; Sexual Abuse; Slavery, Child further reading: Nan Stein, Classrooms and Courtrooms: Facing Sexual Harassment in K–12 Schools, 1999. • Meda Chesney-Lind and Randall G. Shelden, Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice, 3rd ed., 2004. • Dorothy L. Espelage and Susan M. Swearer, eds., Bullying in American Schools: A Social-Ecological Perspective on Prevention and Intervention, 2004. • Nan Stein, “A Rising Pandemic of Sexual Violence in Elementary and Secondary Schools: Locating a Secret Problem,” Duke Journal of Gender and Law Policy 12 (Spring 2005), pp. 33–52.

criminal procedure, children and. In the United States, children, like adults, have constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable police intrusions on their liberty and privacy. The contours of those rights, however, are not the same for children and adults. For example, juveniles have lesser protections against government searches and seizures than do adults. In New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985), the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a search of a child’s purse in school by a school administrator without any suspicion that she was violating the law, based only on the belief by the administrator that she had broken a school rule. The evidence seized in that search, the Court ruled, could be used in a criminal prosecution against her because juveniles in school have a lower expectation of privacy than that enjoyed by adults. The Court used the same line of reasoning to authorize random suspicionless drug testing of public school students involved in extracurricular activities. In each case, searches that would be unconstitutional if they had occurred to adults were permitted by the Court. Similarly, juveniles are subject to being arrested and detained in circumstances that would not be constitutional for adults. Juveniles may be arrested for status offenses such as being a runaway or a truant or in violation of a curfew on minors. None of these acts could constitutionally be punished for adults. Once juveniles are arrested, courts are authorized to detain them pending trial more liberally than adults. For example, it is constitutionally permissible to jail juveniles awaiting trial if the judge concludes that they lack suitable home environments or if there is a concern they will commit additional crimes. Unlike adult defendants, juvenile arrestees are not able to win pretrial release by posting bail. In other areas, juveniles may be disadvantaged by criminal procedural rules that fail to take into account the differ-

• 22 1

ences between adults and children. For example, in Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the U.S. Supreme Court held that persons who are in police custody undergoing interrogation must be informed that they have both a right to refuse to answer questions as well as a right to the assistance of counsel during questioning. The Court reasoned that the right to refuse to answer police questions would be a hollow one if it did not also entail a right to consult with counsel for advice on how to proceed in the stressful and coercive atmosphere of custodial interrogation. However, more than a decade later, the Supreme Court rejected the argument that a child being interrogated by the police should have the right to request the assistance of a trusted adult other than a lawyer such as a parent or probation officer. The Court maintained that no special procedural protections beyond the normal Miranda warnings are needed for children questioned in police custody. In determining the appropriate standard by which to judge a child’s purported waiver of the Miranda rights during police interrogation, the Court rejected the call to craft a special rule to protect juveniles in this context and held that, for both adults and juveniles, consideration of the totality of the circumstances was adequate to decide whether a waiver was voluntary. Some states, however, have chosen to give juvenile suspects greater protections while being questioned in police custody and have accorded them the right to request the presence of their parents during such interrogation. Once charged with an offense, juvenile offenders are presumptively tried on those charges in juvenile court. Traditionally, children accused and tried in juvenile court received none of the basic procedural protections constitutionally guaranteed to adult defendants, such as the rights to be notified of the exact charges against them, to have the burden of proof be placed on the prosecution, to have the opportunity to bring forward their own witnesses, to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses, and so forth. The formal procedural trappings associated with criminal trials were considered unnecessary in juvenile court because the aim of the juvenile court was not to punish for law violations but to rehabilitate wayward youths whose criminal activities were nothing more than outward manifestations of underlying social maladjustment. Guilt or innocence of the particular allegations bringing the juvenile into court was, in a sense, beside the point. The real purpose of juvenile court proceedings was the proper diagnosis of social deviance and the prescription of appropriate curative intervention. For that reason, constitutional protections for criminal defendants designed to produce fair adjudication of guilt and innocence and to protect defendants from arbitrary abuse of governmental power had no place in juveni