Reports data on the extent of abuse and neglect (both physical and emotional) in a population of middle-class families. Argues that child abuse and neglect have been studied almost exclusively in working-class communities, particularly socially marginal families. Found emotional neglect predominated over physical aggression because of middle-class…

A factual account of a 10-minute conversation between a husband and wife about their daughter's application to college depicts marital problems. Closer examination reveals the tensions facing the middle class family and the significance to them of academic competition, higher education, comparative generational success, and social acceptance.…

Reports of parenting styles were assessed in 100 mostly white, middle-class, 6th, 8th, and 10th graders and their parents. Adolescents viewed their parents as more permissive and more authoritarian than parents viewed themselves, whereas parents viewed themselves as more authoritative than did adolescents. Differences were primarily over the…

This paper explores the hypothesis that parents consider preschool education to be more important for boys than for girls. To test this hypothesis, the following questions were examined: (1) Are boys disproportionately enrolled in nursery school? and (2) Do parents emphasize different reasons for enrolling boys and girls? The effect of social…

Examines ways in which current United Kingdom school-choice policies interact with parental pressures on their children to achieve excellence and how these pressures affect the emotional health of their middle- and working-class children as they make the transition from primary to secondary school. Finds serious emotional consequences (exam…

Personal narratives of 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, half of them 4 years old and half 5 years old, and their mothers were analyzed using stanza analysis and high point analysis. The patterning in stanzas yielded the following: (1) with regard to the proportion of three-verse stanzas, there were no differences between the groups of…

Interviews with low-income parents revealed that they were aware of the class character of local schools and believed that high-income schools were superior. Ninety-four percent favored social class school desegregation, believing that their children would thereby obtain a better education and better preparation for social interaction in adult…

This report presents the results of a study examining the effects of rapidly rising tuitions at the nation's "elite" private colleges and universities, and the impact on the enrollment of middle-income students. The paper traces the income background of Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) schools and shows how students from…

Do sampling biases introduced in studies requiring a large amount of time make those samples less representative than the samples in studies requiring less subject involvement? This question was explored in the context of mother-infant interaction studies by comparing maternal attitudes of two groups of primiparous mothers: 20 mothers who…

Based on data from questionnaires concerning 600 parents' reasons for enrolling their children in nursery school, it is suggested that lower-class parents consider preschool education to be more important for boys than for girls. (Author/GC)

A study explored changing family patterns among married middle and upper middle class women students over thirty with family intact. Eighty-seven homemaker-students enrolled at the Universlty of Maryland, College Park campus, during the spring semester, 1975, responded to a written questionnaire regarding their family patterns of decision making…

Normal, first-born children of two-parent, self-supporting families (N=60) were divided into three groups at birth: control, mothers receiving a specific language stimulation program, and both parents receiving the program simultaneously. Infants whose parents received simultaneous training exhibited the greatest gain over 4 1/2 months in Bayley…

Examines the provider role among middle-income Black fathers. Respondents are moving toward more developmental patterns of fathering with increases in their ability to provide. The provider role is an interface phenomenon making execution of other familial roles possible. Economic provision is essential to all paternal modalities and styles.…

A prospective study in the area of developmental psychopathology and depression was conducted to determine whether an additive pathological effect upon offspring existed when psychosocial disadvantage and maternal depression were combined. Differences in psychiatric epidemiology and psychological outcome were investigated in 27 children of latency…

To better understand the role of wives in families in which fathers raise the children, data were analyzed from a previously conducted study of partial role reversals in two-parent families. The sample consisted almost exclusively of 59 white, middle-class families with a child 3 to 6 years of age. Data gathered in separate interviews with mothers…