ABSTRACT
Grandparenthood is an important part of the life cycle for most people. It is important both as a personal experience and for its impact on others. The neglect of grandparents by researchers in child development, prior to the 1980s, was commented on by Tinsley and Parke. By and large, the research on grandparenthood reports on it in a predominantly, if not quite uniformly, positive light. A. Gesell and F. L. Ilg call attention to the numerous hazards of grandparent interference with parental control. According to Thompson grandparents and parents frequently have sufficiently differing views on what constitutes desirable child behavior to create conflicts for the children. The image of the spoiling or too lenient grandparent also has a long history to it. Even by the 1950s and 1960s it appears that only a small minority of grandparents saw their role in this way, as studies such as R. Albrecht and B. L. Neugarten and Weinstein indicate.
