7 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Austrian-American psychologist and Dachau/Buchenwald survivor who wrote influentially on children's psychology, fairy tales, and autism — though his work and personal character have been substantially revised since his death.
Erica Komisar's 2023 book arguing that parental anxiety is being transmitted to children — and that well-meaning protective parenting is producing the anxiety epidemic in children — with a framework for raising resilient rather than anxious children.
British pediatrician and psychoanalyst who developed object relations theory — introducing the concepts of the transitional object (a child's blanket or stuffed animal), the good-enough mother, and the true vs. false self — making him the most practical and humane of the post-Freudian psychoanalysts.
American clinical psychologist whose Good Inside parenting philosophy — based on the premise that all children are fundamentally good and that misbehavior is a signal of unmet need rather than bad character — became one of the most influential parenting frameworks of the 2020s through Instagram and a bestselling book.
Rousseau's 1762 treatise on education — following the fictional Emile from birth to adulthood under the guidance of a tutor — arguing that natural education (developing the child's innate faculties before introducing social conventions) produces a virtuous and free adult.
American psychoanalyst and author whose Being There argues that maternal presence in the first three years of life is the single most important factor in child emotional development — advocating for extended maternity leave and against early daycare based on neuroscience and attachment theory.
Fred Rogers's PBS children's television program — one of the most culturally significant American television shows, built on developmental psychology and a theology of radical acceptance.