Raising America (Paperback)

Ann Hulbert

ISBN 10: 0375701222 / ISBN 13: 9780375701221

Published by Random House USA Inc, New York, 2004

About this Item

Paperback. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, millions of anxious parents have turned to child-rearing manuals for reassurance. Instead, however, they have often found yet more cause for worry. In this rich social history, Ann Hulbert analyzes one hundred years of shifting trends in advice and discovers an ongoing battle between two main approaches: a child-centered focus on warmly encouraging development versus a sterner parent-centered emphasis on instilling discipline. She examines how pediatrics, psychology, and neuroscience have fueled the debates but failed to offer definitive answers. And she delves into the highly relevant and often turbulent personal lives of the popular advice-givers, from L. Emmett Holt and Arnold Gesell to Bruno Bettelheim and Benjamin Spock to the prominent (and ever conflicting) experts of today. A provocative examination of twentieth-century child rearing practices considers the personal ambitions and scientific claims of popular advisors, contending that the theories of top authorities reflect popular trends, but fail to ease modern child-rearing anxieties. Reprint. 15,000 first printing. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780375701221

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Raising America (Paperback)
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc, New York
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375701222
• ISBN 13: 9780375701221
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, millions of anxious parents have turned to child-rearing manuals for reassurance. Instead, however, they have often found yet more cause for worry. In this rich social history, Ann Hulbert analyzes one hundred years of shifting trends in advice and discovers an ongoing battle between two main approaches: a “child-centered” focus on warmly encouraging development versus a sterner “parent-centered” emphasis on instilling discipline. She examines how pediatrics, psychology, and neuroscience have fueled the debates but failed to offer definitive answers. And she delves into the highly relevant and often turbulent personal lives of the popular advice-givers, from L. Emmett Holt and Arnold Gesell to Bruno Bettelheim and Benjamin Spock to the prominent (and ever conflicting) experts of today.

About the Author

Ann Hulbert is the author of The Interior Castle: The Art and Life of Jean Stafford. Her articles and reviews have appeared in many places, including the New York Times Book Review, the New York Review of Books, and The New Republic, where she worked for many years as a senior editor. She graduated from Harvard and spent a year at Cambridge University. She lives with her husband and two children in Washington, D.C.