The child as project and the child as being: parents' ideas as frames of reference

Abstract

SUMMARY: This article discusses the implicit psychological theories of parents, viewed as being related to the culture and analysable in term of ideology and world view. In a study in Sweden, parents of four year old children were interviewed concerning their ideas of child development Contrasting images of the child could be seen, sometimes co‐existing in one and the same person. It is argued that parents adopt contrasting ideas of child as a means of dealing with conflicting demands of parenthood ‐ creating a free zone for individuality while helping one's child adapt to the environment.