Child Effects on Adults

It is usual to consider the effects parents have on children; this title, originally published in 1977, reverses the focus and reveals a subject every bit as important and interesting. The authors, both professional psychologists, present their findings under three major headings - &quote;History&quote;, &quote;Theories and Research Approaches&quote; and &quote;Concepts and Findings&quote; - that discuss the social, psychological, and biological influences children exert on parents. Bell and Harper oppose the &quote;intellectual apartheid&quote; that prevents behavioural scientists from investigating &quote;the continuity of interaction processes from other animals to man&quote; and include substantial research findings in mammalian biology to show more precisely the reciprocal relations between parents and their offspring. Their &quote;bidirectional approach&quote; to the study of child-rearing is meant to offset empirical prejudices that had so far dominated child-care sciences at the time.