Child management in middle-class families in the early twentieth century

Abstract

In the beginning of the twentieth century, the role of the father in middle-class families was in a period of transition. In the nineteenth century, fathers were expected to concentrate their energies on earning sufficient income to maintain the class status of their families. The father as the head of the household was responsible for making major decisions regarding his family's welfare and for punishing the serious misdeeds of his children. My research shows that as the nineteenth century came to an end, however, this construction of fatherhood began to change. This paper examines child-rearing advice literature between approximately 1900 and 1920, which increasingly called for fathers to take an active role in the everyday decisions of child management. Many experts expressed concern about the priority given to breadwinning and business success by fathers, discussing the need for involved fathers who gave serious consideration to the development of their children. In order to encourage warm relations between fathers and children, experts contended that the father's role should not be limited to that of disciplinarian, arguing that fathers should not be left responsible for doling out all punishment, nor should their role be limited to punishing misdeeds. Although fathers were still considered the heads of their households, child-rearing advice literature encouraged them to accept the guidance of the nascent group of child-rearing experts and the advice of the more experienced parents closer to home, their wives.