Lisa Marasco writes, about the Ezzo's:

 ie. dad spends time with mom FIRST
>when he comes home, and they are not to disturb them until mom and dad are
>done (this is known as "couch time"), so that they understand their place
>in the family.

What a concept.  Do you beat them off with a stick when they are trying to
fling their arms around Dad and are jumping up and down shouting "Daddy's
home, Daddy's home?"  Does this also apply to when MOM comes home?

Along the same lines, toddlers are not to snack, but eat 3
>regular meals a day "like the rest of the world" (!!!)

Geeze Louise.

>
>Probably the most disturbing element for me is their belief that a truly
>"secure" baby can go to other people and not cry. Babies should be able
>to be left in nurseries, should greet other family members happily, etc.,
>regardless of age. A child who does not do so is considered "insecure"
>and "unsocial". The Ezzo's reject most of psychology as "humanistic", and
>do not recognized accepted principles of child development such as
>development of primary attachments before secondary, or of the separation
>anxiety stage that occurs in the second half year of life.

NOT to defend the Ezzo's in any way shape or form, but much of modern
psychology and the "recognized accepted principles of child development" are
based only on studies of white middle-class Americans, and have little or no
relevance to much of the world.  In Mali (and in other similar cultures)
where babies are breastfed on demand, sleep with parents, AND held/played
with/handled by lots of different relatives since their first days of life,
they do not show the same intense attachment just to mom, but rather have an
extended circle of "primary attachments" to those in their extended family.
They will willingly go to siblings, cousins, co-wives, grandparents, aunts,
and uncles, and even nurse from co-wvies, grandmothers, and aunts without
complaint, and do not show the supposedly "typical" separation anxiety stage
in the second half year of life.  They will scream and cry at the sight of a
white woman, however!  Also in Mali, children do not crawl.  They go
directly from sitting, with maybe a little scotting around, to walking,
without a stage of crawling on hands and knees.  This has also been reported
for several groups in New Guinea.

Just my usual .02.
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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email: [log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352