History of child-rearing Practices

The history of child-rearing practices was characterized by radical vacillations between a positive and nurturing concept and a negative and suppressive perspective of children. Its evolution was inextricably interwoven with the society's cultural concept of childhood. For example, according to Aries (1962), children were initially considered to be miniature versions of adults in medieval society; thus, they were initiated into the world of adult functions once they turned six. However, in the later eras, children were regarded as beings that were distinguished from adults. While the end of the Renaissance began with the brutal oppression of children, the 1970s celebrated and cultivated the natural child. This paper documents the changes in perspectives and practices of child rearing from 1600 to 1970s.

By the end of the Renaissance with the dominance of Puritanism, children were regarded as evil and ignorant beings that needed to be taught the correct path and restrained from their natural tendencies to commit sinful acts. This negative perception of children justified parents' harsh and brutal treatment of children. Thomas Hobbes' belief that all human beings are born with a self-serving character further promoted the negative conception of children. According to Hobbes, without the law and order imposed by a government, human beings are liable to destroy one another in pursuit of their own selfish desires (cited in Hinnant, 1977). In this Hobbesian world, chil

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dren in bourgeois families were expected to be seen, not heard (cited in Rieff, 1963). The oppressive practices of bourgeois parents would persist into the 20th century in the behaviorist perspectives of child rearing as proposed by Dr. John Watson. At the same time, these ideas were also challenged by the nurturing perspectives of child rearing advocated by Dr. Benjamin Spock and Margaret Mead. Mead, who studied adolescence and sexual behavior of a variety of cultures in primitive societies and published Coming of Age in Samoa in 1928, believed that the nurturing influence of parents determined the behavioral outcomes of their children (Winningstad, 2001, p. 6). By emphasizing certain aspects of human behavior, adults of various cultures pass on the specific components to children and ensure that they conform to the cultural expectations (Library of Congress, 2002). Her theory of imprinting, a method of teaching children how to learn, has inspired the work of many researchers. Through environmental imprinting, infants (ranging from birds to human beings) are able to survive by forging a social bond with their immediate caregivers and responding to their first experiences. Essentially, the brains of these infants can be

Category: Psychology - H