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This collection of essays is the product of a series of seminars held at the University of Cambridge in 1998 under the auspices of the newly formed Cambridge Socio-Legal Group. The book presents an interdisciplinary exploration of the nature of parenthood and its various manifestations in contemporary society. It is divided into three sections dealing respectively with defining parenthood,new issues in contemporary parenting and parenting post-divorce. Each contributor addresses the central question ''What is a Parent?'' from the perspective of his or her own discipline, thus bringing together ideas about parents derived from law, sociology, psychology, biology and criminology. Despite the familiar and apparently obvious answer to this question the notion of ''parent'' emerges from the analysis as a contested concept. Definitions are various and fluid, parenting practices are by no means fixed, and ideologies which frame who parents are and what they do are subject to disruptions from several quarters. In short, the essays in this book show the ways in which ''parent'' like ''child'' is a term with a shifting meaning and ''parenthood'' refers to a fluid set of social practices which are historically and culturally situated.Contributors: Andrew Bainham, Carol Brayne, Stuart Bridge, Rachel Cook, Shelley Day Sclater, Margaret Ely, Loraine Gelsthorpe, Susan Golombok, Jack Goody, Jonathan Herring, Felicia Huppert, Allison James, Martin Johnson, Bridget Lindley, Mavis Maclean, Juliet Mitchell, Ros Pickford, Martin Richards, Wendy Solomou, Candida Yates.>
List of contents
1. Introduction
SHELLEY DAY SCLATER, ANDREW BAINHAM AND MARTIN RICHARDS
PART I. DEFINING PARENTHOOD
2. Parentage, Parenthood and Parental Responsibility: Subtle, Elusive Yet Important Distinctions
ANDREW BAINHAM
3. A Biomedical Perspective on Parenthood
MARTIN JOHNSON
4. Assisted Reproduction and the Legal Definition of Parentage
STUART BRIDGE
5. The Welfare Principle and the Rights of Parents
JONATHAN HERRING
6. Family or Familiarity?
JULIET MITCHELL AND JACK GOODY
PART II. NEW ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY PARENTING
7. Donating Parenthood: Perspectives on Parenthood from Surrogacy and Gamete Donation
RACHEL COOK
8. Unmarried Fathers and the Law
ROS PICKFORD
9. Lesbian Mother Families
SUSAN GOLOMBOK
10. Parents: A Children's Perspective
ALLISON JAMES
11. State Intervention and Parental Autonomy in Children's Cases: Have We Got the Balance Right?
BRIDGET LINDLEY
12. Youth Crime and Parental Responsibility
LORAINE GELSTHORPE
PART III. PARENTING POST-DIVORCE
13. The Parent-Child Relationship in Later Life: the Longer-Term Effects of Parental Divorce and Remarriage
WENDY SOLOMOU, MARGARET ELY, CAROL BRAYNE AND FELICIA A. HUPPERT
14. Parents and Divorce: Changing Patterns of Public Intervention
MAVIS MACLEAN AND MARTIN RICHARDS
15. The Psycho-Politics of Post-Divorce Parenting
SHELLEY DAY SCLATER AND CANDIDA YATES
About the author
Andrew Bainham, Shelley Day Sclater and Martin Richards
