Developmental psychologists have no adequate way of understanding shared care because their theories are rooted in a pedagogic concept of family upbringing with mother at home. This article shows how deeply developmental theories, concepts and research questions are anchored in the moral and social-political choices and problems of the middle class. Special attention is given to attachment theory as a pedagogic model for regulating emotions and behavior and for internalizing moral concepts. An analysis of research `waves' into day care shows the impossibility of a universal answer to questions about quality. To produce knowledge which is based on the realities of the parents and children who make use of day care, psychologists have to relinquish their claim to superiority, and they have to work out new context-bound theories. The last part of the article notes new moves in day care research towards context-bound theories of the socio-emotional development of children.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ainsley, R.C. (1990). Family and center contributions to the adjustment of infants in full-time day care. In K. McCartney (Ed.), Child care and maternal employment: A social ecology approach (pp. 39-53). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc.
2.
Ainsworth, M.D.S. , Bell, S.M., & Stayton, D.J. (1974). Infant-mother attachment and social development: Socialization as a product of reciprocal responsiveness to signals. In M.P.M. Richards (Ed.), The integration of a child into a social world (pp. 99-135). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.
Andersson, B.E. (1992). Effects of day care on cognitive and socio-emotional competence of thirteen-year-old school-children. Child Development, 63, 20-36.
4.
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 55, 83-96.
5.
Belsky, J. (1988). The `effects' of infant day care reconsidered. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 3, 235-272.
6.
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Tavistock.
7.
Bradley, B. , & Sanson, A. (1992). Promoting quality in infant day care via research: Conflicting lessons from `The day care controversy'. Australian Journal of Early Childhood.
8.
Broberg, A. , & Hwang, C.P. (1991). Day care for young children in Sweden. In E.C. Melhuish & P. Moss (Eds.), Day care for young children: International perspectives (pp. 75-101). London and New York: Tavistock/Routledge.
9.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10.
Clarke-Stewart, K.A. (1987). In search of consistencies in child care research. In D.A. Phillips (Ed.), Quality in child care: What does research tell us? (pp. 105-120). Washington, DC: NAEYC.
11.
Clarke-Stewart, A.K. (1988). 'The "effects" of infant day care reconsidered' reconsidered: Risks for parents, children, and researchers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 3, 292-318.
12.
Clarke-Stewart, K.A. (1991). Day care in the USA. In P. Moss & E. Melhuish (Eds.), Current issues: Day care for young children (pp. 35-60). London: HMSO.
13.
Clarke-Stewart, A.K. , & Fein, G.G. (1983). Early childhood programs. In H. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology. Formerly Carmichael's manual of child psychology. Vol. II: Infancy and developmental psychology (pp. 917-999). New York: Wiley.
14.
Consortium for Longitudinal Studies. (1983). As the twig is bent... Lasting effects of preschool programs. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
15.
Corsaro, W.A. , & Emiliani, S. (1992). Child care, early education, and children's peer culture in Italy. In M.E. Lamb, K.J. Sternberg, C.P. Hwang, & A.G. Broberg (Eds.), Child care in context: Cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 81-115). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
16.
Davis, M.D. (1933). Nursery schools: Their development and current practices in the United States. Washington, DC: Washington University Press.
17.
Dunn, J. , & Kendrick, C. (1982). Siblings: Love, envy and understanding. London: Grant McIntyre.
18.
Freud, A. , with Dann, S. (1969). An experiment in group upbringing. In A. Freud, Indications for child analysis and other papers (pp. 163-229). New York: Hogarth. (Original work published 1951.)
19.
Froebel, F.W.A. (1928). Froebel's opvoeding van den Mensch, vertaald door J.M. Telders. Groningen: Paedagogische bibliothek. (Original work published 1826.)
20.
Goelman, H. , & Pence, A. (1987). Effects of child care, family, and individual characteristics on children's language development: The Victoria day care research project. In D.A. Phillips (Ed.), Quality in child care: What does research tell us? (pp. 89-104). Washington, DC: NAEYC.
21.
Gray, S.W. , & Wandersman, L.P. (1980). The methodology of home-based intervention studies: Problems and promising strategies. Child Development, 51, 993-1009.
22.
Harré, R. (Ed.). (1986). The social construction of emotions. New York: Blackwell.
23.
Hochschild, A. (1989). The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at home. New York: Viking Press.
24.
Hock, E. , McBride, S., & Gnezda, M.T. (1989). Maternal separation anxiety: Mother-infant separation from the maternal perspective. Child Development, 60, 793-802.
25.
Howes, C. (1987a). Peer interaction of young children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 53 (1, Serial No. 217).
26.
Howes, C. (1987b). Quality indicators in infant and toddler child care: The Los Angeles study. In D.A. Phillips (Ed.), Quality in child care: What does research tell us? (pp. 81-88). Washington, DC: NAEYC.
27.
Howes, C. (1991). Caregiving environments and their consequences for children: The experience in the United States. In E.C. Melhuish & P. Moss (Eds.), Day care for young children: International perspectives (pp. 185-198). London and New York: Tavistock/Routledge.
28.
Howes, C. , Phillips, D.A., & Whitebook, M. (1992). Thresholds of quality: Implications for the social development of children in center-based child care. Child Development, 63, 449-460.
29.
Hwang, C.P. , Broberg, A., & Lamb, M.E. (1991). Swedish childcare research. In E.C. Melhuish & P. Moss (Eds.), Day care for young children: International perspectives. London: Tavistock/Routledge.
30.
Joffe, C.E. (1977). Friendly intruders: Childcare professionals and family life. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
31.
Kessen, W. (1979). The American child and other cultural inventions. American Psychologist, 34, 815-820.
32.
Klein, M. (1975). Love, guilt and reparation and other works 1921-1945. London: Hogarth.
33.
Lamb, M.E. , & Sternberg, K.J. (1990). Do we really know how day care affects children?Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 1, 351-379.
34.
Lamb, M.E. , Sternberg, C.H., Hwang, C.H., & Broberg, A.G. (Eds.). (1992). Child care in context. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
35.
LeVine, R.A. (1983). A cross-cultural perspective on parenting. In M.D. Fantini & R. Cardenas (Eds.), Parenting in a multi-cultural society. New York: Longman.
36.
Liljestrom, R. (1983). The public child, the commercial child and our child. In F.S. Kessel & A.W. Siegel (Eds.), The child and other cultural inventions (pp. 124-152) Houston Symposium No. 4). New York: Praeger.
37.
Miltenburg, R. , Singer, E., & Van Unen, L. (1992). Kwaliteitseisen aan kinderopvang: Meningen van sleutelfiguren in woord en geschrift. Amsterdam: SCO.
38.
Moore, E. (1982). Day care: A black perspective. In E.F. Zigler & E.W. Gordon (Eds.), Day care, scientific and social policy issues (pp. 413-443). Boston, MA: Auburn House.
39.
Mozere, L. , & Aubert, G. (1977). Babillage... Des creches aux multiplicites d'enfants (Recherches No. 27). Paris: Fontenay-sous-Blois.
40.
Mulder, H. (1827). Opmerkingen de wenken voor opvoeders en onderwijzers. The Hague.
41.
Ogilvy, C.M. , Boath, E., Jahoda, G., & Schaffer, H.R. (1992). Staff-child interaction styles in multi-ethnic nursery schools. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10, 85-97.
42.
Palmer, F.H. , & Anderson, L.W. (1979). Long-term gains from early intervention: Findings from longitudinal studies. In E. Zigler & J. Valentine (Eds.), Project Head Start (pp. 433-466). New York: Free Press.
43.
Pestalozzi, J.H. (1956). Brieven over de opvoeding van het jonge kind, gericht aan J.P. Greaves. Amsterdam. (Original work published 1818.)
44.
Phillips, D.A. (Ed.). (1987). Quality in child care: What does research tell us?Washington, DC: NAEYC.
45.
Scarr, S. (1992). Developmental theories for the 1990s: Development and individual differences. Child Development, 63, 1-19.
46.
Singer, E. (1991). Kijk op kinderopvang, ervaring van ouders. Utrecht: Jan van Arkel.
47.
Singer, E. (1992). Child care and the psychology of development. London and New York: Routledge.
48.
Stayton, D.J. , Hogan, R., & Ainsworth, M.D. Salter (1971). Infant obedience and maternal behavior: The origins of socialization reconsidered. Child Development42, 1057-1069.
49.
Tizard, B. , & Hughes, M. (1984). Young children learning, talking and thinking at home and at school. London: Fontana.
50.
Van Calcar, E. (1861). Onze ontwikkeling of de magt der eerste indrukken. Amsterdam.
51.
Walkerdine, V. , & Lucey, H. (1989). Democracy in the kitchen. London: Virago.
52.
Weigl, I. , & Weber, C. (1991). Research in nurseries in the German Democratic Republic. In E.C. Melhuish & P. Moss (Eds.), Day care for young children: International perspectives (pp. 56-74). London and New York: Tavistock/Routledge.
53.
Winnicott, D.W. (1981). The child, the family, and the outside world. Harmondsworth: Penguin. (Original work published 1964.)
54.
Winnicott, D.W. (1984). Deprivation and delinquency. London and New York: Tavistock.
55.
Zigler, E. , & Anderson, K. (1979). An idea whose time had come: The intellectual and political climate. In E. Zigler & J. Valentine (Eds.), Project Head Start: A legacy of the war on poverty (pp. 3-19). New York: Free Press.
