Abstract
The myth that we are a child-oriented society continues to exist in this country. Yet the condition of our nation’s children is poor and getting worse. This condition is substantiated by a host of disturbing social indicators documented in several sources, such as the Carnegie council report, All Our Children (Keniston, 1977), and the 1976 report of the Advisory Committee on Child Development of the National Academy of Sciences (note 1). Problems faced by parents and children in four areas—health, child abuse, child care, and out-of-home child placements—will be described to highlight the invalidity of the myth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Reference Notes
Advisory Committee on Child Development. Toward a national policy for children and families. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1976.
Furrow, D., Gruendel, J., and Zigler, E. Protecting America’s children from accidental injury and death. An overview of the problem and an agenda for action. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, 1979.
Children’s Defense Fund. Children without homes. Washington, D.C.: Author, 1978.
Weiss, C. H. Improving the linkage between social research and public policy. In Study Project on Social Research and Development (Eds.). Knowledge and policy: The uncertain connection. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1978.
Study Project on Social Research and Development. The federal investment in knowledge of social problems (Vol. 1). Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1978.
Rich, R. F., and Çaplan, N. Instrumental and conceptual uses of social science knowledge in policy-making at the national level: Means/ends matching versus understanding. Unpublished manuscript, University of Michigan, 1976.
Çaplan, N., and Rich, R. F. Open and closed knowledge inquiry systems: The process and consequences of bureaucratization of information policy at the national level. Unpublished manuscript, 1977.
Adnopoz, J. Parent aides: Effective supports for families. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, 1979.
Bell, R. Q. A reinterpretation of the direction of effects in studies of socialization. Psychological Review, 1968, 75, 81–95.
Blatt, B. The pariah industry. A diary from purgatory and other places.
In G. Gerbner, C. J. Ross, and E. Zigler (Eds.), Child abuse reconsidered. New York: Oxford University Press, in press.
Blatt, B., and Kaplan, F. Christmas in purgatory. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1966.
Caplan, N. S. The use of social science information by federal executives. In G. Lyons (Ed.), Social research and public policies. Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College, 1975.
Çaplan, N., and Nelson, S. On being useful: The nature and consequences of psychological research on social problems. American Psychologist, 1973, 28, 199–211.
Cohen, D. K., and Garet, M. S. Reforming education policy with applied social research. Harvard Education Review, 1975, 45, 17–43.
Cohen, D. K., and Weiss, J. A. Social science and social policy. Schools and race. In C. H. Weiss (Ed.), Using social research in public policy making. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1977.
Congressional Record, January 15, 1979, pp. S76–S77.
Datta, L. The impact of the Westinghouse/Ohio evaluation of the development of Project Head Start: An examination of the immediate and longer term effects and how they came about. In C. C. Abt (Ed.), The evaluation of social programs. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1976.
Datta, L. What has the impact of Head Start been: Some findings from national evaluations of Head Start. In E. Zigler and B. Valentine (Eds.), Project Head Start: A legacy of the war on poverty. New York: MacMillan: Free Press, 1979.
Edelman, M. W. Children instead of ships. New York Times, May 14, 1979, p. A19.
Fanshel, D., and Shinn, E. B. Children in foster care: A longitudinal investigation. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978.
Gelles, R. J. Violence toward children in the United States. In R. Bourne and E. H. Newberger (Eds.), Critical perspectives on child abuse. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1979.
Gil, D. Violence against children: Physical child abuse in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970.
Kamerman, S. B., and Kahn, A. The day-care debate: A wider view. Public Interest, 1979, 54, 76–93.
Keniston, K. All our children. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1977.
Keyserling, M. D. Windows on day care. New York: National Council of Jewish Women, 1972.
Knowles, J. H. (Ed.), Doing better and feeling worse. Health in the United States. New York: W. W. Norton, 1977.
Lein, L. Parental evaluation of child care alternatives. Urban and Social Change Review, 1979, 12, 11–16.
Light, R. Abused and neglected children in America: A study of alternative policies. Harvard Educational Review, 1974, 43, 556–598.
Mayntz, R. Sociology, value freedom, and the problems of political counseling. In C. H. Weiss (Ed.), Using social research in public policy making. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1977.
Newberger, E. H., and Bourne, R. The medicalization and legalization of child abuse. In R. Bourne and E. H. Newberger (Eds.), Critical perspectives on child abuse. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1979.
New York Times. New findings on teen pregnancy, April 29, 1979, p. E7.
Parke, R., and Collmer, C. Child abuse: Interdisciplinary review. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), Review of child development research, (Vol. 5). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975.
Piaget, A. Childcare and preschool: Options for federal support. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978.
Rubin, V., and Medrich, E. A. Child care, recreation and the fiscal crisis. Urban and Social Change Review, 1979, 12, 22–28.
Unco, Inc. National child care consumer study: 1975. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975.
Weiss, C. H. Introduction. In C. H. Weiss (Ed.), Using social research in public policy making. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1977.
Weiss, C. H., and Bucuvalas, M. J. The challenge of social research to decision making. In C. H. Weiss (Ed.), Using social research in public policy making. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1977.
Wooden, K. Weeping in the playtime of others. New York: McGraw Hill, 1976.
Yankelovich, Skelly, White, Inc. The General Mills American family report1974–75. Minneapolis: General Mills, 1975.
Zigler, E., and Anderson, K. An idea whose time had come: The intellectual and political climate for Head Start. In E. Zigler and B. Valentine (Ed.), Project Head Start: A legacy of the war on poverty. New York: MacMillan: Free Press, 1979.
Zigler, E., and Trickett, P. K. IQ, social competence and evaluation of early childhood intervention programs. American Psychologist, 1978, 33, 789–798.
Footnote
This chapter is drawn from Dr. Edward Zigler’s keynote address “Child Nurturance: A System’s Perspective for the 1980s” presented on January 29, 1980 as part of the Michigan State University’s International Year of the Child “To Rear a Child” lecture series.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1984 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zigler, E., Heller, K.A. (1984). Strengthening Social Policies in Behalf of Children and Families(1). In: Boger, R.P., Blom, G.E., Lezotte, L.E. (eds) Child Nurturing in the 1980s. Child Nurturance, vol 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4763-8_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4763-8_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4765-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4763-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive