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"Motherless" baby boys may end up adulterers
Could mothers who leave the care of their baby boys to caregivers such as nannies be creating future adulterers?
That's what one British doctor claims in a book that has caused quite a stir in Britain.
In an article published in Time, Dr. Dennis Friedman argues that men stray because their mothers left them to nannies when they were boys. According to him, having two women care for a baby boy may cause his little brain to internalize the idea that there are multiple females to meet his needs. "It introduces him to the concept of the other woman," he said in London's Daily Telegraph.
Girls who are left in the care of nannies are affected too, as not having her mother around creates a "vacuum of need" in the baby girl.
But it is his theory concerning baby boys that have been highlighted, as it implies that a man is more tempted to womanise when he is used to having two women in his life as a child - one for family, and one for catering his needs.
Dr Freidman suggests that mothers should not work, but stay at home to care for their children, or at least wait until they are one year old before returning to the workforce.
However, his theory does not offer statistics, nor does his proposal seem practical, as naysayers point out. There are a lot of mothers who cannot afford to stop work, or if they do, they will have to stop feeding their children.
Dr Jean Mercer, professor emerita of Psychology at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey, says that it does not make developmental sense. Babies do not just form attachments to their mothers - they also become attached to fathers, grandparents, siblings and just about anyone who interacts with them often and cares for them.
- The Straits Times/ANN
Published April 7 2010
Could mothers who leave the care of their baby boys to caregivers such as nannies be creating future adulterers?
That's what one British doctor claims in a book that has caused quite a stir in Britain.
In an article published in Time, Dr. Dennis Friedman argues that men stray because their mothers left them to nannies when they were boys. According to him, having two women care for a baby boy may cause his little brain to internalize the idea that there are multiple females to meet his needs. "It introduces him to the concept of the other woman," he said in London's Daily Telegraph.
Girls who are left in the care of nannies are affected too, as not having her mother around creates a "vacuum of need" in the baby girl.
But it is his theory concerning baby boys that have been highlighted, as it implies that a man is more tempted to womanise when he is used to having two women in his life as a child - one for family, and one for catering his needs.
Dr Freidman suggests that mothers should not work, but stay at home to care for their children, or at least wait until they are one year old before returning to the workforce.
However, his theory does not offer statistics, nor does his proposal seem practical, as naysayers point out. There are a lot of mothers who cannot afford to stop work, or if they do, they will have to stop feeding their children.
Dr Jean Mercer, professor emerita of Psychology at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey, says that it does not make developmental sense. Babies do not just form attachments to their mothers - they also become attached to fathers, grandparents, siblings and just about anyone who interacts with them often and cares for them.
- The Straits Times/ANN
Published April 7 2010
