REWARING PARENTHOOD/REWARDING CHILDHOOD

Another behaviorist's guide to parenting which relies on regular reward schedules, shaping techniques, and a sprinkling of spontaneity. Mawhinney's methods differ little from others of this sort: in effect, he recommends the same general principles for everything from initiating eye contact with the newborn to encouraging independent thinking and particular moral values in the first grader. Although he sounds less rote and mechanical than some, he tends to scant individual differences, underestimate human complexity, and make parenting sound like uninspired teaching. Endorsing toilet training in a day (aided by extra liquid intake), the ""Wee Alert"" system for bedwetters, and money rewards to reinforce desired behavior, this avoids the soullessness of books like Graubard's Positive Parenthood (1977) but fails to convey the exuberant give-and-take of early childhood exchanges.