Anxious Parents by Peter N Stearns
The 19th and 20th centuries saw a dramatic shift in the role of children in American society. 20th-century parents exhibited a new level of anxiety concerning the welfare of their children. What caused this shift in the ways parenting and childhood were experienced and perceived?
"A strong, effective, and readable portrayal of how twentieth-century American parents have invested and over-invested in their childrenIn a fairly short compass, Stearns has demonstrated many of the things that historians have tended to belabor-the role of expertise, why despite their declining numbers, children have become so important socially, the new realm of consumption, how the anxiety about children has become a central matter in twentieth-century culture and even an identifier of American life. Stearns knows what is going on and that children are not a means to express other anxieties, but the very source of many of the anxieties we express." -- Paula S. Fass,University of California, Berkeley
"Anxiety is the hallmark of contemporary parenting. Todays parents are tormented by fears of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, child abductions, and juvenile drug and alcohol use. In perhaps his most timely and exciting book, Peter N. Stearns explains with wit and humane insight how modern mothers and fathers came to agonize incessantly about children's personality development, school performance, and psychological well-being." -- Steven Mintz,University of Houston
"In what is his trademark style, Stearns creates an artful synthesis that is both revelatory and captivating. An at times unsettling analysis of parental angst, the book is replete with worthy insights for historians and contemporary parents alike." * The Journal of American History *
"Stearns points to a number of contemporary phenomena, each of which he considers an expression of parental anxiety. Steans appears to be particularly sensitive to the upward mobility of kids grades." * The New York Review of Books *
"(Stearns) has a keen appreciation of what really mattered to 20th-century Americans, in their families and beyond. Indeed, it is his easy command of all that was going on outside the home- and his profound grasp of the connectedness of those larger developments and their consequences for childreaing - that sets his study apart from other histories of the modern American family." * Journal of Social History *
"The book is more than a synthesis of existing scholarship. It is a compendium of ideas - some personal, mostly scholarly - about the experience of parenting in the United States since the beginning of the twentieth century. The book is imaginative and thought provoking." * History of Education Quarterly *
"Anxiety is the hallmark of contemporary parenting. Todays parents are tormented by fears of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, child abductions, and juvenile drug and alcohol use. In perhaps his most timely and exciting book, Peter N. Stearns explains with wit and humane insight how modern mothers and fathers came to agonize incessantly about children's personality development, school performance, and psychological well-being." -- Steven Mintz,University of Houston
"In what is his trademark style, Stearns creates an artful synthesis that is both revelatory and captivating. An at times unsettling analysis of parental angst, the book is replete with worthy insights for historians and contemporary parents alike." * The Journal of American History *
"Stearns points to a number of contemporary phenomena, each of which he considers an expression of parental anxiety. Steans appears to be particularly sensitive to the upward mobility of kids grades." * The New York Review of Books *
"(Stearns) has a keen appreciation of what really mattered to 20th-century Americans, in their families and beyond. Indeed, it is his easy command of all that was going on outside the home- and his profound grasp of the connectedness of those larger developments and their consequences for childreaing - that sets his study apart from other histories of the modern American family." * Journal of Social History *
"The book is more than a synthesis of existing scholarship. It is a compendium of ideas - some personal, mostly scholarly - about the experience of parenting in the United States since the beginning of the twentieth century. The book is imaginative and thought provoking." * History of Education Quarterly *
Peter N. Stearns is Provost and University Professor at George Mason University. Since 1967, he has served as editor-in-chief of The Journal of Social History. His numerous books include World History in Documents; American Behavioral History; and Anxious Parents.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780814798294 |
| ISBN 10 | 0814798292 |
| Title | Anxious Parents |
| Author | Peter N Stearns |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | New York University Press |
| Year published | 2003-05-01 |
| Number of pages | 251 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |