NECESSARY DIRECTIONS FOR ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON CHILD-CARE IN THE UNITED-STATES

There has been little qualitative research done by anthropologists and sociologists on formal and informal American child‐care arrangements. This paper suggests directions for research in ways that are useful for theory and relevant to policy and program. Research topics should include: ascertaining informal child‐care arrangements such as babysitting and sibling care; comparative ethnographies of different types of centers; eliciting the ways in which center operations affect the experience of the child; analyzing staff‐parent mediation practices; and ascertaining the ways in which government and agency, through supervision and intervention, affect center operations. Results would help in the development of appropriate policy for each of the participants involved. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, SOCIALIZATION, UNITED STATES, POLICY AND PROGRAM RESEARCH, LOCAL POLITICS. 1979 American Anthropological Association