Nancy wrote:
"Who one's parents are (genetically, in their social status/financial
resources, their values, the neighborhood they settle the family in, the
schools they send the kids to, etc.) almost certainly affects the type of
friends, clique, or crowd a child chooses."
This is exactly where Harris says that parents have the strongest effect on
the development of their children. As I understand her, she is arguing that
parenting style and other "in home interactions" have little effect on
development that is not distinguishable from genetic effects. To borrow an
idea from Scarr and McCartney who borrowed the idea from Plomin, the unique
characteristics of the child elicit the parental behaviors that we see as
making the child unique.
I also want to chime in on Stephen's comment. Being a baby boomer with great
kids, I am distressed that if Harris is right, then I cannot take as much
credit for their development as I would like. Their teachers look at me like
I am nuts when I say that they contributed as much to their success as I
have. Well I guess I did give the kids some good genes :-)
For those of you who are interested, there is an exchange of views in the
November Developmental Psychology. Deborah Vandell offers the criticism and
Harris responds. I have only skimmed the two papers, but some of the ideas
that Nancy raises are addressed by both authors.
Dennis
Dennis M. Goff
Dept. of Psychology
Randolph-Macon Woman's College
Lynchburg VA
