PEDIATRICS Vol. 83 No. 6 June 1989, pp. A66
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REVIEWS OF LAY LITERATURE ON CHILD CARE: WHAT PARENTS ARE READING

Frances P. Glascoe PhD, William R. Moore MD, James Henderson MD, and Elaine D. Martin MD

York P, York D, Wachtel T. Toughlove Solutions. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Bantam; 1985; list price $3.95 (#15 on the 1988 bestseller list of books on child care of the Ingram Book Co, distributors of trade books).

Toughlove Solutions is written exclusively for parents of adolescents and young adults who are in crisis. It relies on a multivariate theory of child development and considers the effects of nature, nurture and social forces on parents' and children's behavior. Designed to help parents gain control over the difficult if not unmanageable behavior of their offspring, the authors encourage parents to recognize that they, too, have rights. Parents' roles, identical for each, concern arranging realistic consequences for misbehavior in order to teach children responsibility for their actions. Parents are led to a range of resources including community coordination. However, parents may find a conflict between their values and such consequences as withdrawing family support, allowing a child to drop out of school or remaining in jail without bail. Toughlove offers little guidance to help parents clarify, prioritize or reconcile conflicting values and beliefs. It offers neither prevention nor insight into a child's behavior. Often critical of more traditional methods of child-rearing, the authors do not help parents distinguish between a delinquent youth and one whose mental health is in question. Nevertheless, for parents who have exhausted other alternatives, the text and support groups which are often locally available may be helpful. The text is well-organized and the reading level rated as easy.