ABSTRACT
In 1956, Khrushchev introduced a nationwide program aimed at "the creation of the new Soviet man". To accomplish this objective, a major portion of the responsibility for child rearing was deliberately shifted from the family to the children's collectives, the U.S.S.R. day nursery. The prescribed methods for the rearing of children in both full- and part-time institutional settings are determined by researchers and the administration in power. Their recommendations frequently become required practices throughout the Soviet Union. Accompanying the description of every task of the nurse or nyanya is the instruction to be happy, tender, gentle, and encouraging. Nowhere is there mention of stern measures to be taken, no negative responses, no punishment. The role of the worker in the child-care facility is to set an example for the behavior of her charges, to take a positive approach to the learning of appropriate skills at each stage of development.
