Abstract
The meteoric rate at which mothers have entered the work force during the past decade has generated major concerns for psychologists, social workers, pediatricians, and child advocates in general. Catapulted into the limelight of the generic category of developmental-behavioral problems are the issues concerning preschool and school-age children requiring alternative day-care arrangements. Of particular interest within this unique pediatric population are a subgroup of children, for whom adult supervision cannot be provided during varying periods of the school day. These are the children (from preschoolers to adolescents), categorized as latchkey children (i.e., children in self-care), who require special attention and consideration due to the potential psychosocial complications that may occur in their situation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Academy of Pediatrics, 1984, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health: The mother working outside the home, Pediatrics 73:874–875.
Belsky, J., and Steinberg, L., 1978, The effects of daycare: A critical review, Child Dev. 49:929–949.
Brazelton, T.B., 1986, Issues for working parents, Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 56:14–25.
Campbell, L.P., and Flake, A.E., 1985, Latchkey children—What is the answer? The Clearing House 58:381–383.
Carter, D., 1985, The crises in school-age child care: What you should know—What can you do? PTA Today 10:4–8.
Child Care Action News, 1986, Child Care Action Campaign, 3:5.
Cowan, R.W., 1987, Less work for mother? Invention and Technology 2:57–63.
Friedman, D.E., 1985, Taking care of the kids: The corporate role in providing child care, PTA Today 10:11–13.
Galambos, N.L., and Garbarino, J., 1983, Identifying the missing links in the study of latchkey children, Children Today Jul-Aug:2-4, 40-41.
Gamble, T.J., and Zigler, E., 1986, Effects of infant day care: Another look at the evidence, Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 56:26–42.
Gelman, D., Greenberg, N. F., Coppola, V., et al. , 1985, Playing both mother and father, Newsweek Jul 15:41–50.
Gold, D., and Andres, D., 1978, Developmental comparisons between ten-year-old children with employed and nonemployed mothers, Child Dev. 49:75–84.
Grollman, E. A., and Sweder, G. L., 1986, Mom and dad—Phone home, Working Woman Jan: 108.
Guerney, L., and Moore, L., 1983, PhoneFriend: A prevention-oriented service for latchkey children, Children Today Jul-Aug:5-10.
Jordan, A.F., 1986, The unresolved child care dilemma: Care for the acutely ill child, Rev. Inf. Dis. 8:626–630.
Kieffer, E., 1981, The latchkey kids—How are they doing? Family Circle Feb:28-35.
Landers, S., 1986, Latchkey kids, The American Psychological Association Monitor 17:1, 6–7.
Long, T. J., and Long, L., 1983, The Handbook for Latchkey Children and Their Parents, Arbor House, New York.
Long, T. J., and Long, L., 1982, Latchkey children: The child’s view of self care, U.S. Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 214 666.
McClellan, M. A., 1984, On their own: Latchkey children, Pediatric Nursing May/Jun:198-202.
McCurdy, J., 1985, Schools respond to latchkey children, The School Administrator Mar: 16-18.
Merrill, D., 1984, After-school orphans, Christianity Today Aug:25-29.
Merrow, J., 1985, Self care, Young Children Jul:8.
Peterson, L., 1984, The “safe at home” game. Training comprehensive prevention skills in latchkey children, Behavior Modification 8:474–495.
Rowland, B.H., Robinson, B.E., and Coleman, M., 1986, A survey of parent’s perceptions regarding latchkey children, Pediatric Nursing 12:278–283.
Scherer, M., 1982, The loneliness of the latchkey child, Instructor May:39-41.
Seligson, M., 1986, When school’s out—Where do the kids go? Child Care Action News 3:1.
Steinberg, L., 1986, Latchkey children and susceptibility to peer pressure: An ecological analysis, Dev. Psychol. 22:433–439.
Stroman, S.H., and Duff, E., 1982, The latchkey child: Whose responsibility? Childhood Education 59:76–79.
Strother, D.B., 1986, Latchkey children: The fastest-growing special interest group in the schools, J. Sch. Health 56:13–16.
Wellborn, S. N., 1981, When school kids come home to an empty house, U.S. News and Word Report Sept:42, 47.
Woods, M.B., 1972, The unsupervised child of the working mother, Dev. Psychol. 6:14–25.
Zambrana, R.E., Hurst, M., and Hite, R.L., 1979, The working mother in contemporary perspective: A review of the literature, Pediatrics 64:862–870.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Plenum Publishing Corporation
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gottlieb, M.I. (1988). The Latchkey Child. In: Gottlieb, M.I., Williams, J.E. (eds) Developmental-Behavioral Disorders. Critical Issues in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0939-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0939-0_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8255-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0939-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive