O UR B ABIES, O URSELVES Meredith Small in Applying Anthropology (2012: )

P ARENTING P RACTICES & E THNOCENTRISM Gusii “The Gusii mothers were appalled.... These American women, the Gusii concluded are clearly incompetent mothers” (215; Levine:216). Dutch – The “three Rs” (Harkness and Super:217) Differences not just in far-away others Against ethnocentric child- rearing ©2013 Jason Antrosio,

F ROM ETHNOCENTRISM TO ETHNOPEDIATRICS : M AJOR ISSUES FOR PARENTS Holding, attention to crying versus scheduling (Barr:219) Feeding How, when to wean (Dettwyler:220) Sleep Co-sleeping: regulator of breathing (McKenna:221) Childrearing expresses & inculcates values ©2013 Jason Antrosio,

Importance of cultural sensitivity. But also consider issues of power and choice. “I know I have helped residents broaden their views when their lectures on good mothering are replaced by such comments as ‘What a gorgeous baby! I can’t imagine how you manage both work and three others at home!” (Tronick:218) ©2013 Jason Antrosio,

HOLISM AND BIOCULTURAL Humans born “neurologically unfinished” (218) Heart rates and breathing are social from the beginning Natural brain development during intense nurture Anthropological holism questions nature/nurture dichotomy No human nature outside of particular history and nurture No baseline parenting pattern – long histories in diverse environments ©2013 Jason Antrosio,

B IOCULTURAL O RGANISMS Most anthropologists reject explanations of human behavior that force them to choose either biology or culture as the unique cause. Instead, they emphasize that human beings are biocultural organisms.... Human biology makes culture possible; human culture makes human biological survival possible. Lavenda and Schultz, Anthropology: What Does It Mean to be Human? 2012:6-7 ©2013 Jason Antrosio,

I MPORTANT C LARIFICATIONS Parenting as a social process, not just individual variation Could a parent in the U.S. implement the Dutch “three Rs”? “Many aspects of Dutch society support the three Rs throughout infancy and childhood” (Harkness and Super:217) Will still and always be variation within pattern (and a lot of co-sleeping goes on in the U.S.) Babies are active co-participants, not just passive recipients ©2013 Jason Antrosio,