Indirect Parenting Interventions, Neuroscience and the Parent-Child Relationship: Second-Order Parenting

This volume explores indirect parenting behavior that changes the structure of the parent-child relationship, examining the ecological dimension of parenting in addition to nurturance and control.

Drawing on neuroscientific research in parenting, it provides a model for how children learn implicitly and how parents can relate to children through indirect means. Roberts argues that first-order parenting techniques, teaching specific behaviors to reduce unwanted child behaviors, are overused. He examines and offers guidance on how indirect interventions that place emphasis on the interactional components of the parent/child relationship, such as modelling, storytelling, reframing, humor, and paradox, can support parents and children in developing positive relationships.
- Addresses the latest brain research and its application to parent/child interactions
- Introduces the student to aspects of the parent/child relationship that are not covered in most courses
- Useful to clinicians who work directly with parents
- Offers a perspective on parenting that differs from most parenting models
- Facilitates awareness of how unconscious and nonverbal communication affects parenting
- Serves to deepen the relationship with the child and curb unwanted behavior

Indirect Parenting Interventions, Neuroscience and the Parent-Child Relationship will be thought-provoking reading for students and scholars of parenting and family systems, as well as clinicians who work directly with parents giving them a broader perspective in dealing with parent/child interactions.

Thomas W. Roberts received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Georgia in Child and Family Development. He came to San Diego State University in 1999 as Chair of the Department of Child and Family Development and was chair for nine years. He taught courses in family relationships and public policy and ethics. His research interests include divorce and remarriage, parenting, and applying neuroscience to family relationships. His current projects include how the unconscious plays the pivotal role in intimate family relationships. He has written grants on single-parenting, childhood obesity, early literacy, professional development for early childhood educators, and childhood safety.