What has always bothered me about "psychology" as it is taught/practiced in
the US is the almost total lack of knowledge or understanding of human
beings as animals/mammals/primates, and the almost total lack of knowledge
or understanding of human being other than white, middle-class Americans.

I have had countless numbers of conversations over the years with college
psychology professors who, for example, didn't know that anyone anywhere
breastfed longer than one year, and didn't know that anyone anywhere slept
with their children, and didn't know that anyone anywhere carried their
children on their bodies during their first year of life, and who didn't
know that the nonhuman primates also rely very much on learned behavior for
sexual and parenting skills.

I've had a psychologist tell me that parents should never get any emotional
comfort from their children -- that any emotional comforting should always
go from parent to child, but not TOO much emotional comforting even in this
direction.

I've had a psychologist tell me that the way white middle-class people in
the US do things is the only right/natural way to do things, as evidenced by
our cultural superiority over all other cultures.  I told him he needed to
take Anthropology 101 and learn to be less ethnocentric.  Of course, he had
no idea what that word meant.

There is no dearth of ignorance in the world.

Kathy Dettwyler

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html