ABSTRACT
The last ten years or so have seen an explosion of research on the damage parents can do to their children. This probably relates to a change in cultural attitudes and perceptions of the importance of childhood (Kagan 1984). I think this change has come about for many reasons, but probably the early analytical insights of Freud through to Bowlby, objects-relations theory and beyond are important. What these theorists did was to focus on childhood experiences as important forerunners to adult mental health.
