Child Rearing, Personality Development and Deviant Behavior

Elizabeth Levin is a psychology professor at Laurentian University.

The basic premise of this book is that the manner in which parents raise
a child strongly influences how the child’s personality develops. The
book begins with a review of how children, parents, and families have
been conceptualized throughout history. Following this, troubled
families and alternatives to the traditional nuclear family are briefly
discussed. The remainder of the book looks at the factors that influence
child rearing and attempts to show how models of child rearing influence
personality formation; this section culminates in a discussion of how
certain deviant behaviors may develop as a consequence of inappropriate
child rearing. The family is considered the paramount social agent for
raising children; regardless of the type of family, the parents are seen
as the key influence.

If one has an interest in child rearing and parenting, the text both
excites and disappoints. There isn’t enough here for either the parent
or the scholar. Very little attention is given to the nontraditional
family, and not adequately explored are such issues as gay parenthood,
adoption, divorce, working moms and stay-at-home dads, and sibling
differences in personality and behavior. None of the references provided
at the end of the text for each chapter are dated later than 1989.
Further, many assertions implying general agreement in the literature
are undocumented. However, the book does succeed as an overview and
nontechnical introduction to child rearing and personality development.