My Brother's Keeper: Child and Sibling Caretaking [and Comments and Reply]

Weisner, Thomas S.; Gallimore, Ronald; Bacon, Margaret K.; Barry, Herbert; Bell, Colin; Novaes, Sylvia Caiuby; Edwards, Carolyn Pope; Goswami, B. B.; Minturn, Leigh; Nerlove, Sara B.; Koel, Amy; Ritchie, James; Rosenblatt, Paul C.; Singh, Taniya; Sutton‐Smith, Brian; Whiting, B. J.; Wilder, William D.; Williams, Thomas R.

doi:10.1086/201883

Cited by 511 publications

(268 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…But if this is not a statistical artifact, such philanthropic behaviour on the part of step-mothers may be a form of mating effort, as has been suggested for step-parental behaviour in non-human animals (Rohwer et al, 1999). Rather few studies have investigated the effect of potential sibling 'helpers at the nest' on child survival, despite the widespread observation that the labour of older children is used by parents both for domestic work (including childcare) and productive activities (Borgerhoff Mulder & Milton, 1985;Cain, 1977;Kramer, 2002Kramer, , 2005Weisner & Gallimore, 1977). The effects of older siblings, however, are complicated by competitive relationships.…”

Section: What About Grandfathers and Other Adult Kin?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival

Sear

Mace

2008

Evolution and Human Behavior

898

856

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Children pose a problem. The extended period of childhood dependency and short inter-birth intervals mean that human mothers have to care for several dependent children simultaneously. It has long been argued that this is too much of an energetic burden for mothers to manage alone, and that they must enlist help from other relatives to share the costs of raising children. Which kin help is the subject of much debate. Here, we review the evidence for whether the presence of kin affects child survival rates, in order to infer whether mothers do receive help in raising offspring and who provides this help. These 45 studies come from a variety of (mostly) natural fertility populations, both historical and contemporary, across a wide geographical range. We find that in almost all studies, at least one relative (apart from the mother) does improve the survival rates of children, but that relatives differ in whether they are consistently beneficial to children or not. Maternal grandmothers tend to improve child survival rates, as do potential sibling helpers at the nest (though the latter observation is based on rather few studies). Paternal grandmothers show somewhat more variation in their effects on child survival. Fathers have surprisingly little effect on child survival, with only a third of studies showing any beneficial effects. Overall, this review suggests that while help from kin may be a universal feature of human childrearing, who helps is dependent on ecological conditions.

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Section: What About Grandfathers and Other Adult Kin?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival

Sear

Mace

2008

Evolution and Human Behavior

898

856

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“…First, alloparents gain inclusive fitness benefits from investing in infants. The most common form of alloparenting is from genetically related individuals (Hrdy 1976(Hrdy , 1999Ivey 1993Ivey , 2000Weisner and Gallimore 1977). The higher the degree of shared genetic relatedness, the more investment one would predict.…”

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confidence: 99%

The effects of residential locality on parental and alloparental investment among the Aka foragers of the central African Republic

Meehan

2005

Hum Nat

114

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In this paper I examine the intracultural variability of parental and alloparental caregiving among the Aka foragers of the Central African Republic. It has been suggested that maternal kin offer higher frequencies of allocare than paternal kin and that maternal investment in infants will decrease when alloparental assistance is provided. Behavioral observations were conducted on 15 eight-to twelve-monthold infants. The practice of brideservice and the flexibility of Aka residence patterns offered a means to test the effect of maternal residence on parental and alloparental investment. There was significant variation in the frequency of investment and who supplied care to infants depending on whether mothers resided with their kin or their husbands' kin. However, in spite of the variation in allocare, when all categories of caregivers were examined collectively, infants received similar overall levels of care.

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“…Studies of children's early attachments and social interactions have mainly been focussed on mother-infant relationships, even though from a global perspective it has long been recognised that multiple caregiving arrangements are widespread, and sibling care has been a very important source of security and learning for infants and young children (Weisner and Gallimore 1977). Studies have also conveyed a particular image of a 'normal' mothering style, marked by close maternal attention to infant interests, and early initiation into playful exchanges anticipating verbal communication.…”

Section: Textbook Images Of Early Care and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a global paradigm for research into early childhood education

Woodhead

1999

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal

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My Brother's Keeper: Child and Sibling Caretaking [and Comments and Reply]

Cited by 511 publications

References 17 publications

Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival

Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival

The effects of residential locality on parental and alloparental investment among the Aka foragers of the central African Republic

Towards a global paradigm for research into early childhood education

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