Boundaries of Touch: Parenting and Adult-Child Intimacy [Paperback]

Jean Halley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2008

Discussing issues of parent-child contact ranging from breastfeeding and sleeping arrangements to sexual abuse, Jean O'Malley Halley traces the evolution of mainstream ideas about touching between adults and children over the course of the twentieth century in the United States. Boundaries of Touch shows how arguments about adult-child touch have been politicized, simplified, and bifurcated into "naturalist" and "behaviorist" viewpoints, thereby sharpening certain binary constructions such as mind/body and male/female. In addition to contemporary periodicals and self-help books on child rearing, Halley uses information gathered from interviews she conducted with mothers ranging in age from twenty-eight to seventy-three. Throughout, she reveals how the parent-child relationship, far from being a private or benign subject, continues as a highly contested, politicized affair of keen public interest.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Raising children is such daunting work. Medical experts, parents, peers, mass media outlets, and activists engage in the production of the boundaries of what is appropriate when raising children. Halley's Boundaries of Touch is a groundbreaking and exhaustively researched analysis of human adult-child touch. With great attention to historical and cultural detail, Halley interprets how multiple, often conflicting, groups claim expertise in adult-child relationships." Lisa Jean Moore, coordinator of gender studies, Purchase College,State University of New York "Brilliantly conceived, clearly executed, Boundaries of Touch offers readers a rare opportunity to rethink their 'common knowledge' about child rearing through the revealing lens of history. This is a fascinating and important book." Stuart Ewen, Distinguished Professor of History, Sociology and Media Studies, City University of New York "Perhaps it is because touching and being touched is fundamental to what infants will become that touch is a hot topic among child care experts. Jean Halley's Boundaries of Touch serves well in revealing the prison house of childrearing advice. Whether taking up debates around breastfeeding, children's sleep patterns, or child sexual abuse, Halley cuts through the expertise to give us a deeper insight into children and those who care for them. Everyone--child caretakers, child care experts, academics and their students--should read this well researched and beautifully written book." Patricia Ticineto Clough, author of Autoaffection: Unconscious Thought in the Age of Teletechnology "This is a fascinating, can't-put-it-down exploration of the way mother-child touch is understood as both dangerous and absolutely necessary. Jean O'Malley Halley unpacks the dominant belief that touching children can suggest inappropriate sexuality and therefore must be controlled. This book is an essential intervention into a ubiquitous mindset that we must overcome if we want to raise healthy children who feel loved and who will, in turn, connect with others." Leora Tanenbaum, author of Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation and Catfight: Rivalries Among Women--from Diets to Dating, from the Boardroom to the Delivery Room

Book Description

Discussing issues of parent-child contact ranging from breastfeeding and sleeping arrangements to sexual abuse, Jean O'Malley Halley traces the evolution of mainstream ideas about touching between adults and children over the course of the twentieth century in the United States. Boundaries of Touch shows how arguments about adult-child touch have been politicized, simplified, and bifurcated into "naturalist" and "behaviorist" viewpoints, thereby sharpening certain binary constructions such as mind/body and male/female. In addition to contemporary periodicals and self-help books on child rearing, Halley uses information gathered from interviews she conducted with mothers ranging in age from twenty-eight to seventy-three. Throughout, she reveals how the parent-child relationship, far from being a private or benign subject, continues as a highly contested, politicized affair of keen public interest.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; 1st Edition edition (December 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252075811
• ISBN-13: 978-0252075810
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #820,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, thoughtful, but flawed, September 7, 2008

By 

Norm der Ploume (wichita, KS usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boundaries of Touch: Parenting and Adult-Child Intimacy (Paperback)

Dr. Halley has written a unique, critical and thought provoking review of advice given by experts over the last 100 years to mothers about what is the best way to raise one's child. She attends primarily to breastfeeding, sleeping with one's child and touch. Dr. Halley's critique is informed by Foucault's theories of power and her assertion of a mind-body split in the theories of experts giving advice. She argues for recognition of the ambiguity and complexity in raising children rather than adopting ideological positions about what is the 'best' way to parent. This is a well written, scholarly book that is eminently readable and accessible. It is not overwhelmed with academic apparatus.
There were some distracting elements in this work. Dr. Halley is careful to assert that she is 'less interested in 'truths'' than in highlighting the power dynamics of how certain positions are regarded as true. 'p.7' This is fine and well but she repeatedly makes judgments,i.e. something is good or bad/ true or untrue without ever making clear the basis for her judgments. For instance on p.122 she declares one expert 'out of touch with reality' after she has been so careful to maintain that there is no one 'reality', and that reality is culturally constructed p. 160-62.
One distracting aspect was Dr. Halley's asserting something she calls 'Western tradition' p.151. Relying on a theorist Susan Bordo, Dr. Halley asserts that the mind/body split that child advice experts embody is the consequence of 'Western Tradition' which she conflates with 'Greco-Christian' tradition'p.9' & 'Judeo-Christian' 'p.10'. She merely asserts the existence of 'Western-Greco-Judeo-Christian' tradition as if there was such a thing- when was the last time you met a 'Western-Greco-Judeo-Christian'?- and as if it were some self-evident monolith.
The author points out religion at several points during the book. She self-identifies as being part of 'three generations of Irish Catholic women' p. 139 but never indicates what being or apparently used to be Irish Catholic has to do with her analysis or situation. She conflates protestants and Catholics together in her discussion and critique of the Le Leche league as if they were the same thing.
As I read Dr. Halley's book these techniques seemed like this was just an artifice to discredit all prior culture in the west and rely on enlightenment and post modernist western culture instead. This seems naively unnuanced to the point of stereotype and caricature and surprising from someone who asserts the need for the recognition of nuance and ambiguity in child rearing.
Lastly, Dr. Halley's analysis rightly wants to focus attention on social power and political structures that cause, maintain and perpetuate poverty for women and children. This clearly has a far greater effect on the lives of children than whether or not a child is breast fed or not. However, this concern of Dr. Halley's seems to prevent her from also emphasizing the personal in child raising. For instance on page 8, Dr. Halley tells a story of how one woman did not want to breast feed because of how it made her breasts feel/ look and that another woman stated 'That is so selfish'. Dr. Halley never addresses this other than to say there is no room for dissent with regard to breastfeeding. However, it is entirely possible that this was selfish. Maybe it wasn't. However Dr. Halley's analysis and concern for the political seems to leave no room or language for confronting selfishness or other personal deficiencies that also effect children.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read, June 29, 2007

By 

A. Maxfield "curious" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boundaries of Touch: Parenting and Adult-Child Intimacy (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating read. As a parent, its an eye-opener.

It explores the most fundamental of relationships, mother and child, and how that relationship has been shaped and reshaped by larger cultural influences and gender roles. But the implications go well beyond that to the other relationships we have in our life. Its a history of our culture, literally in the most formative of years.

I'm not an academic, or a sociologist by training, but I found the book to be accessible and very well-written. The author makes herself available in the writing and topic, which I found helpful and interesting.

Its strikes me as a critically important book. I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm certainly going to be thinking about it for a long long time.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insightful book on parent-child relationships, June 19, 2009

By 

Martine Groeneveld, Author "Mommy, Draw Stars... (Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boundaries of Touch: Parenting and Adult-Child Intimacy (Paperback)

Boundaries of touch is an insightful book on the issue of touch in parent-child relationships. She explains viewpoints of several scientists and parenting experts over the last century and looks at the position of touch in cultural and historical perspective, which is extremely interesting.

I was very drawn to the title of the book. Todays society is very sensitive to the subjects 'touching children' and 'intimacy in the parent-child relationship'. I'm a strong believer in the benefits of human touch and of nurturing touch within family's. Because of the danger people perceive in touching children, healthy and loving touch ('the good touch') is diminishing as well. O'Malley Halley gives a great and valuable analysis of this subject in her book.

Martine Groeneveld, Author Mommy, Draw Stars on My Tummy; Rhymes, Songs and Touch-Play Activities to Stay Connected