The Cultural Context of Infant Caregiving.
This article written by Navaz Peshotan and Janet Gonzalez-Mena is strongly suggesting we change our methods of childrearing to accommodate the increased number of immigrants coming to the United States. In the last 30 years or so, the immigrants to the United States are from Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. In the past, they were primarily European. The caregiving practices therefore are quite different than those of the American and Euro-Americans. .
The second point brought up in this article to suggest we need to look at our current methods of childcare is the fact that over 50% of mothers are working now. This means that those children are often being brought up in day cares from the early months of life. Not only are these children exposed to various ethnic groups in the children but the staff that care for them as well. "It would be best for these multiple caregivers to work in unison, thereby promoting families resiliency" (Lynch, Fulcher and Ayala, 1996).
It is questioned if their developmental theories and research done in the past is a fair selection of groups studied. Most data for universal determinations are based from the Western World. This only represents a small fraction of the world's database. It is hard to determine what is "normal behavior" if the study groups did not include cross cultures.
To make this point, the author asks the reader/student to reflect on how we were raised and perhaps how we raise our own children keeping in mind the sleep routine. In the United States it is not common practice for children to sleep in the same bed as the parents. American Pediatricians discourage the act and feel the child will not develop his individuality and becoming an independent person. There are some strong arguments that this is incorrect. Other arguments are brought up that suggests SIDS is less prevalent in countries where the mother and child sleep together.