Waubonsee Community College

The nurture assumption, why children turn out the way they do, Judith Rich Harris

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 419-450) and index

index present

non fiction

The nurture assumption

bibliography

39368588

Judith Rich Harris

"How much credit do parents deserve when their children turn out well? How much blame when they turn out badly? This book explodes some of our deepest beliefs about children and parents and gives us something radically new to put in their place. With eloquence and wit, Judith Harris explains why parents have little power to determine the sort of people their children become. It is what children experience outside the home, in the company of their peers, that matters most. Parents don't socialize children: children socialize children." "Harris looks with a fresh eye at the real lives of real children and shows that the nurture assumption is nothing more than a cultural myth. Why do the children of immigrant parents end up speaking in the language and accent of their peers, not of their parents? Why are twins reared together no more alike than twins raised apart? Why does a boy who spends his first eight years with a nanny and his next ten years in boarding school nevertheless turn out just like his father? The nurture assumption cannot provide an answer to these questions. Judith Harris can." "Through no fault of their own, good parents sometimes have bad kids. Harris offers parents wise counsel on what they can and cannot do, and relief from guilt for those whose best efforts have somehow failed to produce a happy, well-behaved, self-confident child."--Jacket

why children turn out the way they do

Nurture is not the same as environment -- The nature (and nurture) of the evidence -- Nature, nurture, and none of the above -- Separate worlds -- Other times, other places -- Human nature -- Us and them -- In the company of children -- The transmission of culture -- Gender rules -- Schools of children-- Growing up -- Dysfunctional families and problem kids-- What parents can do -- The nurture assumption on trial