Parenting Culture Studies

Why have the minutiae of how parents raise their children become routine sources of public debate and policy making? This book provides in-depth answers to these features drawing on a wide range of sources from sociology, history, anthropology and psychology, covering developments in both Europe and North America.

Research stems from the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, University of Kent, UK a major, interdisciplinary Centre with global networks and leading thinkers in the field of parenting studies and associates such as Zoe Williams from The Guardian Centre is prolific in its media output with the authors appearing on Channel 4 News, BBC Newsnight , Woman's Hour , Thinking Allowed and The Jeremy Vine show and writing for The Guardian , Telegraph, The Australian , The Independent , Huffington Post , The Chronicle , The Times , Boston Globe , The New York Times and various other websites and blogs regarding parenting (see below) Parenting is a continually hot and contentious issue and ever present in public debates on an international level there have been recent discussions about 'triple DNA parents' and Julie Bindel was writing in the Guardian last week on gay parenting: theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/30/same-sex-parenting-good-gay-community Accessibly written with undergraduates and lay audiences in mind setting out a comprehensive overview of parenting culture studies and in-depth case studies on parent blaming such as the 'teenage parent,' 'bottle-feeding mother', 'the parent who smacks', 'the helicopter parent' and 'the depressed parent' Sets out to be the Bible of 'Parenting Culture Studies' and establish parenting cultures as an intellectual, flourishing and important discipline and of interest to those beyond academia

Introduction; Ellie Lee PART I: PARENTING CULTURE 1. Intensive Parenting and the Expansion of Parenting; Charlotte Faircloth 2. Experts and Parenting Culture; Ellie Lee 3. The Politics of Parenting; Jan Macvarish 4. Who Cares for Children? The Problem of Intergenerational Contact; Jennie Bristow PART II: ESSAYS ON PARENTAL DETERMINISM 1. Policing Pregnancy: The Pregnant Woman who Drinks; Ellie Lee 2. The Problem of 'Attachment': The 'Detached' Parent; Charlotte Faircloth 3. Babies' Brains and Parenting Policy: The 'Insensitive' Mother; Jan Macvarish 4. Intensive Fatherhood? The (Un)involved Dad; Charlotte Faircloth 5. The Double Bind of Parenting Culture: Helicopter Parents and Cotton Wool Kids; Jennie Bristow Conclusion; Ellie Lee

Why have the minutiae of how parents raise their children become routine sources of public debate and policy making? This book provides in-depth answers to these features drawing on a wide range of sources from sociology, history, anthropology and psychology, covering developments in both Europe and North America.