Other Books by the Authors
By Wendy Grolnick, Ph.D.
The Psychology of Parental Control: How Well-Meant Parenting Backfires (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003).
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What is parental control? Is it positive or negative for children? What
makes parents controlling with their children, even when they value supporting
children's autonomy? Are there alternatives to control and how might we apply them
in important domains of children's lives, such as school and sports?
This book addresses these and other questions about the meaning and predictors of
parental control, as well as its consequences for children's adjustment and well-being.
With controversy in the literature about parental control and attention in the media
on the ways in which parents step over the control line (e.g., screaming on the soccer sidelines, pressuring children in academics), this book is especially
timely. It provides an empathic view of how easily parents can become trapped in controlling styles by emphasizing performance and hooking their own
self-esteem on their children's performance.
The author provides evidence that parental control can be subtle and can lurk within many "positive"
parenting approaches. Examples of how this can happen in academic, sporting, and peer situations with their emphasis on competition and hierarchy are provided, as
are strategies for parenting in highly involved and autonomy-supportive ways.
Editorial Reviews
Grolnick demonstrates incredible skill in explaining the results of scientific studies of parenting in a manner that will be relevant to all readers, be they students, scholars, clinicians, or parents. Highly recommended.
—CHOICE
The book examines the concept of parental control and discusses what research has found about the effects of control on children's development. The book also discusses specific ways parents exert control, examines the effects of control on various goals parents have for their children, examines autonomy support, and explores how parents can implement autonomy-supportive parenting in the realms of school, sports, and social activities.
—ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education
It is a clear, well-written and practical text that would be useful for academic courses in psychology and teacher education and to parents as well....there is much in this book to recommend. The discussion of cultural and ethnic differences in the perceptions of parental behavior....the discussion of parental ego involvement, particularly as it relates to the child's intelligence and school success, could be enlarged into a book unto itself....the discussion of informational vs. controlling praise is as interesting as it is counter-intuitive. This book is recommended with the hope that it gets a wide reading.
—Metapsychology
Retrospect and Prospect in the Psychological Study of Families (Hardcover)
by James P. McHale (Editor), Wendy S. Grolnick (Editor)
This book assembles 11 of the leading thinkers and researchers in the field of family psychology to create a compendium summarizing both what psychology researchers have learned about the family and where the field should be going next. It evolved after the volume's contributors met with other distinguished family scholars to discuss family influences on child development and to ponder how this knowledge could be used to benefit families and children.
This volume includes approaches to the family that feature multiple levels and topics of focal interest to benefit anyone interested in the family. Central topics include mothering, fathering, marriages, family group processes, sibling relations, and families as systems. In addition, three senior authors offer road maps to detect, and suggest (a) challenges in research on parenting, (b) marital and family dynamics, and (c) family systems in the years ahead.
In keeping with the theme of how research affects the lives of families outside the university lab settings, this volume includes a chapter on the interface between family research and law. This book closes with a "big picture" analysis and critique of what is known and not known. Psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and public policymakers interested in the family should especially find this volume of interest.
Social science theory and research weigh in on...politically loaded questions in Retrospect and Prospect in the Psychological Study of Families. Presenting chapters by eleven leading thinkers and researchers in the field of family psychology, this volume offers exciting new directions for future research.
—Family Therapy
Presenting chapters by eleven leading thinkers and researchers in the field of family psychology, this volume offers exciting new directions for future research. Topics include mothering, fathering, marriages, family group processes, sibling relations, and families as systems. In addition, the book explores family influences on child development and discusses how this knowledge could be used to benefit families and children. A particularly innovative chapter covers the interface of family research and law, and a final chapter sets an agenda for research over the next decade.
—Adolescence
Retrospect and Prospect in the Psychological Study of Families is a must-read for anyone who works with children and adolescents in the research or clinical setting....this book provides a compelling Preface and Foreward, thorough section introductions, and a compelling summary and commentary. It is obvious that the authors were well informed of each other's work. There is frequent citation between chapters, and authors have attempted to integrate their own work with that of the other authors. Given that this book was the result of a conference in honor of John Elderkin Bell (the father of family therapy), the synthesis and integration of topics is much appreciated. There are clear points that both family researchers and family therapists can take from this book to improve their work with families.
—Contemporary Psychology APA REVIEW OF BOOKS
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By Kathy Seal
Motivated Minds: Raising Children to Love Learning (Holt, 2001) with Deborah Stipek, dean of the Stanford School of Education.
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Spanish language edition:
All Bookstores.com: Mentes motivadas/Motivated minds : Como educar a tus hijos para que disfruten aprendiendo/How to educate your children to enjoy learning (Paidos Iberica Ediciones S.A.) with Deborah Stipek, dean of the Stanford School of Education.
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