Chaley Scott

Chaley-Ann Scott (born 1974) is an Australian author, activist, sociologist and feminist who has explored a number of topics in education, parenting, and human behavior. She is considered a leading figure in progressive education, unschooling, and parenting has also offered critiques of many traditional aspects of parenting and education, drawing in each case from social science research.

Scott's challenges to widely accepted theories and practices have made her a controversial figure, particularly with behaviourists, conservatives, and those who defend the specific practices she calls into question, such as the school system and the use of discipline methods such as time-out, rewards, consequences, and corporal punishment.

Biography
Scott was born and raised in Portsmouth, England, and is a qualified Sociologist from the University of Leeds. The mother of four children, she lives in Australia and works as an independent scholar, writer, and parenting counsellor. She coined the phrase Progressive Parenting; a parenting philosophy that is an extension of Attachment Parenting, in her book The Shepherdess: Progressive Mothering Without Control. She is also a contributing editor to The Attached Family (Attachment Parenting International magazine), and Nurture. Scott has written hundreds of articles for academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers. Among the publications to which she has contributed are The Green Parent, The Mother, The New York Times, The Child, My Child, Parenting, Otherways, and Parent & Baby.

Views on Parenting
According to the progressive theory, conventional parenting is control-based, and emotionally damaging to children and their relationships with their parents. It holds 13 principles and argues against the use of all forms of discipline or punishment including time-out, rewards, praise, shame, and smacking.

The progressive parenting theory has its roots in attachment theory, which was originally proposed by John Bowlby who stated that an infant has a tendency to seek closeness to another person and feel secure when that person is present. Bowlby had earlier proposed in his maternal deprivation hypothesis published in 1951 that maternal deprivation would not only cause depression in children but also acute conflict and hostility, decreasing their ability to form healthy relationships in adult life.

Attachment theory encourages parents to listen to their babies cues and respond. It argues that any training or controlling over a baby by following a routine (such as controlled crying or sleep training) is damaging to the child and the connection they have with their parents. Progressive parenting theory extends this philosophy past the early years, and argues that parents need to continue to follow their child's cues and unique needs, avoiding all form of discipline methods.

Childcare
Progressive parenting proponents value secure attachment between children and a primary caregivers, preferably a parent or guardian. They do not, therefore, support the use of childcare, which they argue will greatly increase the likelihood of an insecure and unstable attachment to the parent and emotionally damage the child.

Criticisms and controversies
Strenuous and Demanding on Parents. One criticism of progressive parenting is that it can be very strenuous and demanding on parents. Without a support network of helpful friends or family, the work of parenting can be difficult. Writer Judith Warner contends that a “culture of total motherhood”, which she blames in part on attachment and progressive parenting, has led to an “age of anxiety” for mothers in modern American society. Sociologist Sharon Hays argues that the "ideology of intensive mothering" imposes unrealistic obligations and perpetuates a "double shift" life for working women.

Research Another criticism is that there is no conclusive or convincing body of research that shows this labour-intensive approach to be in any way superior to what attachment parents term "mainstream parenting" in the long run.

Children Need Discipline Other criticisms by mainstream parenting experts, is that children require the conditional approval of their parents to learn right from wrong. Parenting expert Phil McGraw argues that a child's 'currency' should be determined to be used to encourage acceptable behaviour.