Joiner Flourishing Principles

JFP Blog 1 Introduction 

What if science could tell us how to best to nurture our infants, but we were not taking notice? The effect is probably that we are not nurturing to the best of our abilities, nor making the best decisions when it comes to who undertakes the caring of our babies. Infant neuroscience can help us understand the importance of the first two to three years, what infants need from us, and provide childcare research data useful to our caring decisions.

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Outcome: JFP Principle 1

What needs to be investigated, is why we are not provided with support and information that will better enable us to understand how best to nurture. And why we have chosen childcare as the support mechanism which enables families to survive, and whether it is appropriate for infants, women, and men.

JFP Blog 2 Nurturing

In this blog I investigate and report on nurturing and neuroscientific infant research which detail positive nurturing practices.

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Outcome: JFP Principle 2

The ways in which infants are nurtured have profound effects on their brain development and whether they establish long-term positive or negative social and emotional pathways.

JFP Blog 3 Mothers & Fathers

In this blog I build on neuroscientific data outlined in JFP Blog 2 including further research investigating both mother’s and father’s nurturing capacities; adding another dimension to the dilemma for women who are looking to return to the workforce soon after the birth of their babies.

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Outcome: JFP Principle 3

There are good reasons for mothers to spend a larger proportion of their time with their young infants, as they have greater sensitivity to infant cues and thus can deliver more attuned early nurturing than fathers. This does not diminish the importance of the father’s/partner’s role, however. 

JFP Blog 4 Childcare

Investigating research on infants in childcare and amalgamating it with nurturing and parental research builds a picture of concern.

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Outcome: JFP Principle 4

Childcare is not the cure-all we thought it was for young infants, as research suggests it may have long-term negative impacts.

JFP Blog 5 Obligations to Children

In the previous four blogs I outlined research which presents ethical challenges to our increasing use of childcare for young infants and the societal pressure to utilise childcare at ever earlier ages. Thus, I turn to ethics to help us dissect and investigate the issues which relate to, and can explain, how we came to accept our current ideas about infancy. In this blog, I will look specifically at what our obligations are to infants.

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Outcome - JFP Principle 5

We do have significant obligations to care for children and infants in particular, in view of the evidence presented in JFP Blogs 2, 3, & 4.

JFP Blog 6 Obligations to Ourselves

To continue with our ethical investigations we need to also ask what obligations we have to ourselves?

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Outcome - JFP Principle 6

While we do have obligations to ourselves, in that we do matter and need to construct a life where our wellbeing is important, such obligations ought never be at the expense of our children’s wellbeing.

JFP Blog 7 Love

So far in my investigations in attachment theory, infant neuroscience, and ethics, I have rarely come across the word love. However, in this blog I turn to this arguably underused word in the literature and research that pertains to our infants. I ask why and what love has got to do with this investigation and why it really matters?

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Outcome:  JFP Principle 7

Love is both the fire that ignites a parent’s will to care, and the essential ingredient for infants to feel and know, in order for them to thrive throughout their infancy period. Thus we really need to know how to deliver love as we often fail to convey it. 

JFP Blog 8 Flourishing

If, what we really want through the raising of our infants is that they become flourishing individuals, we need to investigate what the markers of flourishing are, and how they relate to infants.

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Outcome: JFP Principle 8

To flourish is to have the personal attributes which enable us to have a fulfilling life. Because the attributes of flourishing people so readily align with having had a secure attachment experience during infancy, it is essential that this link is highlighted.

JFP Blog 9 Liberalism

In this blog, I turn to the first of two foundational societal influences. Here I dissect our liberalist society, as it has heavily influenced societal expectations and decision making about what we prioritise in life. This, in turn, provides insight as to why childcare has been chosen to facilitate women’s autonomy. So, what are, and how have, the principles of liberalism affected us?

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Outcome – JFP Principle 9

Liberalism is a political philosophy that has focused on individualism and self-sufficiency, influencing us to adopt such principles and move further away from parenting in supportive collaborative environments , such as nuclear or extended families, and communities.  

JFP Blog 10 Capitalism

While not viewed by philosophers as an aspect of liberalism, capitalism has expanded and developed unchecked with the greater acceptance of liberalist ideals.

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Outcome – JFP Principle 10

We have been seduced into thinking consuming and wealth creation will bring happiness, yet evidence shows focusing on wealth creation fosters greed and alienates us from each other, depleting wellbeing, and happiness. Further, unchecked production and consumption is leading us toward an environmental tragedy.

JFP Blog 11 Feminism

In what way has feminism influenced how women see themselves; particularly mothers of pre-school children?

Outcome - JFP Principle 11

While feminism has effected many positive changes to women’s lives, it has failed to consider how such changes have impacted infants or women wanting to spend time with their young babies, or demand status and respect for the motherhood roles women want to undertake.

JFP Blog 12 Motherhood

How has motherhood been viewed in the past and what are our current expectations when entering motherhood?

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Outcome - JFP Principle 12

Motherhood in the last 70 years has been painted in a negative light leaving women with mixed feelings and many oppositional ideas and carrying no or little status. Thus, mothering itself leaves women wondering what the right path is for themselves, their infants and their partnerships.

JFP Blog 13 Impediments to Motherhood

Career, Money, Education - While I have presented the theory and ideas that can better support and structure the way we look after our families, there are many practical problems I have not yet addressed.

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Outcome - JFP Principle 13

There remain significant structural barriers to carrying out maternal work and until understood and acknowledged by governments and fundamental supports provided, such as wages, superannuation, and educational support, then we will continue to make maternal work difficult to undertake, undermining the wellbeing of families.

JFP Blog 14 Impediments to Motherhood -
Psychological

When moving from a place of work with comradery, respect, and status to a place of isolation with none of these, is it any wonder many women experience shock and uncertain periods when taking on maternal work.

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Outcome - JFP Principle 14

Families and mothers in the first instance, not only need financial and educational supports, but need society to understand the immense value of nurturing infants, and to be provided companionship, care, and support within their communities.

JFP Blog 15 Moral Theory

Can a review of moral theory along with pieces of research covered so far lead us to a less perplexed position on maternal work?

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Outcome - JFP Principle 15

A fusion of the research I've previously outlined, along with society’s ideological influences we’ve explored so far, have enabled a reworking of 'the ethics of care' into an 'ethic of social, emotional and moral wellbeing'. This reworked theory enables us to take a holistic look at ourselves and our families through an interdependent lens.

JFP Blog 16 Family

How can an ethic of social, emotional, and moral wellbeing support a family to get the balance right?

Outcome - JFP Principle 16

An ethic of social, emotional and moral wellbeing provides a framework for re-evaluating the dilemma at hand. Using such a framework enables us to see that the best arrangements for our families is the health and wellbeing of each of its members, and a clearer picture of how to get there.

JFP Blog 17 Government & Community

An exploration of the previous JFP Blogs have shown that families require greater community and government supports to effectively parent. Thus, governments need to not only support families but also adequately provide and fund community houses.

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Outcome - JFP Principle 17

Children are our future society’s citizens, therefore we need to ensure they receive the supports they need to become flourishing persons. For this to happen, their parents need governments to provide educational, financial, and community support so they have the resources they need to nurture their children to the best of their ability.

JFP Blog 18 Where to from here...

We have seen there is a fundamental problem with where governments place emphasis – has it been a matter of wealth creation over wellbeing? We have also shown that women’s roles and their biological make up have been underrated, undervalued, and dismissed. In addition we have discussed the problems that surround childcare.

Outcome - JFP Principle 18

Governments and citizens need to take stock, read the science, and re-evaluate what is fundamentally important to all of us, to ensure the wellbeing of the next generation. This starts by elevating the role of nurturer to a higher societal status, as well as honouring, and valuing  women's bodies unique ability to produce the next generation. Secondly, appreciating the short timeframe most women have to undertake infant maternal work during their lifetime, and to deeply support and value the processes which enable women to fulfil this task. And thirdly, to fully support women to undertake maternal work, by providing emotional, financial, and educational support to them and their families in community. When parents feel supported and gain a sense of belonging in their communities, they in turn will be available to adequately nurture their infants.