The Law and Child Development by Mavis Maclean Emily Buss

Author:Mavis Maclean, Emily Buss [Mavis Maclean, Emily Buss]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781351887038
Goodreads: 34476262
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

A. SCHULTZ, COLLECTED PAPERS II: STUDIES IN SOCIAL THEORY, 9-10 (1964). Phenomenologists realize that categorization is inevitable, but argue that if categories are used, the mere process of formulating and applying them will itself determine what the subsequent observations will be. Acceptance of this position would mean that social science observations cannot independently check the validity of the categories or classifications of a theory. The scientific model, which is based on the natural sciences and therefore presumes extended testing of a hypothesis, cannot apply to information gathered in this manner. Linguistic theory also addresses the issue of subjectivity and concludes that it is inherent in all intellectual endeavors. Beginning with Wittgenstein and ending with deconstruction, linguists have focused on the nature of language, not only as a method of expressing some “thing,” but as the “thing” or reality itself.

66. J. HABERMAS, REASON AND THE RATIONALIZATION OF SOCIETY (1981).

67. See, e.g., id. See also D. Trubek, supra note 49; H. MARCUSE, ONE-DIMENSIONAL MAN (1964).

68. As one observer notes regarding the difficulty feminist authors have in getting their work into print in professions which are largely male dominated: “What gets published can influence those who read and those who write … there can be little question that the ‘literature’ is instrumental in establishing the issues in a discipline. It constitutes the parameters in which discussion occurs and defines the terms of the debate” (emphasis in original). Spender, Gatekeepers, in FEMINISM AND SOCIAL POLICY 190 (H. Robers ed. 1981). This happens in law as well as social science. Feminists have been relatively silent in legal policy debates, and feminism has not been recognized as a form of legitimate criticism in law as it has in many other disciplines, including political science and sociology. Law, of course, at the academic level, is heavily male dominated. A recent survey of 103 American law schools revealed that only 15.7% of traditional classroom teachers (as opposed to clinical or legal writing instructors) are female. Chused, Faculty Parenthood: Law School Treatment of Pregnancy and Child Care, 35 J. LEGAL EDUC. 568, 572 (1985).

69. See Melton, Developmental Psychology and the Law: State of the Art, 22 J. FAM. L. 445,454-56 (1983), where the author candidly admits that theories in psychology are “constructs” which contain “normative notions.” Melton distinguishes between the clinical and scientific uses of psychology. Id. at 452. In conclusion, he approves of clinical uses, with some reservations, but strongly argues that the “state of the art” does not warrant uses for broad policy conclusions. Id. at 472.

70. Again we are indebted to my colleague Stewart Macaulay, who expressed this point thus:

These various studies talk about men and women doing certain things the investigator wants to call good, bad or indifferent parenting. Think about what an adequate positivist study would require … [first, my male parenting involves inputs X, Y and Z (and nothing else that might have an impact). Second, nothing else happens to my children that might affect their personalities that the experimentor cannot control for. Third, the study follows my children at ages 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and so on.

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