CHILD DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES Within recent years great interest in the scientific study of children has arisen in the United States. A number of institutes which co-operate with and co-ordinate the work of various depart ments such as anatomy, pediatrics, psychology, home economics, education, sociology, etc.. have been established in universities. In some, similar work is carried forward by a co-ordinating com mittee.
The work in child development covers three main purposes, fundamental and practical research on the development of the child, training future workers, and the conduct of programs for educating parents in child care and training.
In function, such organizations are to be differentiated from clinics and children's hospitals in that they are concerned much more with the development of typical or normal children than with the treatment of ill, handicapped or diseased children. They dif fer, also, from child guidance clinics in that they emphasize the research and educational function rather than the consultation and clinical function. Nor are the institutes to be looked upon as charitable or philanthropic organizations, since they are not con cerned so much with alleviation as with prevention. Emphasis throughout is placed upon the scientific approach and a long time view of the child problems. The institutes as organized emphasize what has come to be called the "whole child," that is, the physical, mental, educational and social welfare of the child as a unit, rather than one aspect of the child's life.
Historically, the first approach was made by studying infants and pre-school children. However, work has since been extended to school children and adolescents. At present, studies cover a wide age range. Through their facilities the institutes make longitudinal studies, i.e., follow the same children year after year and thus secure developmental data of much more significance than that obtained from the traditional cross-section study. At present educators are much interested in the implications of de velopmental research for educational theory and practice and emphasize both the needs of the child and factors such as home and community influences and agencies such as the motion picture and the radio. From the beginning home economics workers have shown great interest in child development in all its phases but particularly in its application to programs of preparental and parental education.
Various devices have been developed for securing children for study. Of these, the most common is the nursery school for children between the ages of two and five. Institute nursery schools are experimental schools rather than schools for the chil dren of working mothers or play schools. In some instances, an attempt is made to secure a cross-section of the children in the community rather than a selection from a particular social or economic class. In order to study infants, some institutes have developed facilities for their 24-hour-a-day care; others have set up investigations in private homes. Through co-operation with schools, data are obtained on older children.
The leading institutes are: the Iowa child welfare research station at Iowa City, Ia., founded in 1917; the Institute of child welfare research at Teachers college, Columbia University, New York City, founded in 1924; the Institute of child welfare at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., founded in 1925, and the Institute of child welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, Calif., founded in 1927. Organizations doing similar work are: the Yale Psycho-Clinic, the Merrill-Palmer school of home-making at Detroit, Mich., the St. George's school for child study at the University of Toronto, and the Committee on Child Development at the University of Chicago. (J. E. A.)