Parenting Out of Control

Margaret K. Nelson is A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Sociology Emerita at Middlebury College. Most recently she is the author of Keeping Family Secrets: Shame and Silence in Memoirs from the 1950s and coauthor, with Emily K. Abel, of The Farm and Wilderness Summer Camps: Progressive Ideals in the Twentieth Century.

"In Parenting Out of Control, sociologist Margaret K. Nelson bemoans the social isolation of todays families and describes the disservice overanxious parents ultimately do. . . . While parents insist they want their offspring to be free thinkers, their tactics result in young adults still tethered to the home." (Fit Pregnancy) "The perfect antidote to all those hyperbolic articles about overbearing, overprotective moms who hover, helicopter, and micromanage, grounded as it is in actual social-science research, nuanced analysis, and an eagerness to look beyond cliches... The result is a fascinating and sometimes surprising portrait of modern parenting." (Bitch Magazine) "Nelson goes beyond simplistic criticisms of & helicopter parents to illuminate the complex motivations, personal histories, and practical dilemmas that affect the parenting choices of educated professionals in our changing world. Using rich interview data, she shows that their new parenting styles reflect and in turn exacerbate the growing social isolation of these mothers and fathers and even put their marriages at risk. Persuasively argued and highly readable." - Stephanie Coontz,author of Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage "Right from the first pages, and on through the book as a whole, she offers a highly engaging analysis that elegantly situates rich and intriguing examples in a broader social context, allowing us to understand those examples in new ways. The work is lively, carefully argued, and compelling in its qualititative data analysis as well as its links to multiple scholarly literatures." - Emily W. Kane (American Journal of Sociology) "Nelson tries to trace what's behind the [parenting out of control] phenomenon, looking at it from a sociological view, not a psychological one. She points at a confluence of socioeconomic factors including a reaction to sex and violence in the media, perceived danger from crime, and the feeling that today's children must work harder to prepare for going out on their own." - Gordon Dritschilo (Rutland Herald) ""Placing this phenomenon [hovercraft parenting] within a sociological context, Nelson explores the effects of this approach on both the children and the parents and why it is so persistently practiced by the professional middle class. Sociologists and academics will find much to glean here. The appendixes, outlining the technological choices of various populations, are both insightful and alarming." (Library Journal, Academic Newswire)

• Acknowledgments Introduction: No Playpen I Parenting Styles Introduction to Part I: Anxious and Engaged 1 Looking toward an Uncertain Future 2 Looking Back: Are the Good Times Gone? 3 Clear and Present Dangers 4 How They Parent: Styles, Satisfactions, and Tensions II Parenting and Technology Introduction to Part II: Do You Know Where Your Children Are? 5 Staying Connected 6 Constraining Practices 7 What They're Hiding: Spying and Surveillance 8 From Care to Control Conclusion: The Consequences of Parenting Out of Control Appendix A: Methods Appendix B: Data Analysis Notes Bibliography Index About the Author