The Firstborn

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In the fields of sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, there is abundant material on the subject of family and child, but its relevance to actual persons and real situations is often obscure. Seldom are narrative descriptions written of the dynamics of everyday family living. This volume is the outgrowth of a study initiated in 1951 by the Yale University Child Study Center. It describes and interprets, as fully as possible, the experiences of eight representative American families with their firstborn children. The case studies were begun during the mother’s early pregnancy and continued through the child’s first two years. Discussion concentrates on parental expectations, the behavior of family members, the sociocultural factors that influence the family, the distinct personalities of the infants and how parents react to them, and, finally, what sort of family pattern emerges. This book will prove most helpful not only to all those professionally concerned with child behavior and development but to many lay readers as well.