Joiner Flourishing Pathway Blog One - Introduction

Welcome to the Joiner Flourishing Blogs

What if science could tell us how best to flourish? And what if nurturing our infants was the most efficient pathway to facilitating a flourishing state in humans, but this knowledge was not readily available remaining largely within inaccessible university and research domains? The consequence is that parents are left wondering how best to nurture their infants and, without the information they need to make uninformed decisions about their infant’s care.

My goal has been to share with the public the critical knowledge about infants and infancy that I have encountered through my university studies. This science can help us understand the critical importance of the first three years, what infants need from us, and what childcare research can tell us about making educated decisions about how best to care for them. It can also direct us to require governments to make better funding decisions, for the sake of future generations.

Based on my PhD entitled The Foundations of Flourishing and Our Responsibility to Infants: An ethical and evidence-based case to challenge the societal acceptance of childcare, I have formulated a blog and principle take away from each chapter. If you are interested in further reading and research behind the blogs please refer to the book  https://ethicspress.com/products/the-foundations-of-flourishing-and-our-responsibility-to-infants

Outcome: JFP Principle 1

There appear to be two major challenges facing parents and infants in the West. First, although parents are children’s first and most influential teachers, they are not routinely provided with the knowledge and support they need to understand and respond to infants’ developmental and relational needs. Second, parents are spending less time with their infants as participation in long-day childcare increases. This raises important questions about the implications for infants who spend increasing amounts of time away from their primary attachment figures, and what these changing patterns of care may mean for the next generation and for society more broadly.

We also need to examine why childcare has become a primary mechanism for supporting women’s autonomy and family economic security, and to consider whether current approaches adequately address the needs of infants, women, and men.

A Personal and Professional Journey

I come to this topic as a researcher, a social worker, a parent—and now a grandparent. This blog is the culmination of many years of lived and work experience, study, and deep ethical reflection.

At the heart of my cross-disciplinary doctorate—combining infant neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and ethics—was a troubling insight:

Infants under three, spending long days in childcare, consistently show high stress levels.

We know that sustained high stress is damaging to the adult brain. The implications for the developing brain are even more serious. And yet, while researchers were sounding the alarm, this evidence wasn't reaching parents or appearing in the media.

The Silence and the Societal Dilemma

Instead, the media focused on economic participation. Women were being encouraged—often expected—to return to work quickly. Meanwhile, parents were leaving hospital with their newborns having received little to no guidance about nurturing in those critical early years.

The more I researched infant neuroscience the more troubling data was revealed, which could shed light onto why mental health statistics of young people are declining:

·       One in four young people aged 16–24 in Australia has a mental disorder (Australian Government, 2007).

·       Up to 20% of children and adolescents globally suffer from a disabling mental illness (Belfer, 2008).

·       Around one in four five-year-olds in Australia is developmentally vulnerable or at risk, particularly in emotional and social domains (AEDC, 2015).

These figures raise a vital question: What is driving these outcomes—and what can we do to change them?

Asking the Hard Questions

My research took me into some of the foundational ideas shaping our modern parenting culture. Ideas from liberalism, autonomy, feminism, the history of motherhood, and dominant economic ideologies all intersect with how we make decisions about infant care.

I also began asking these four critical questions:

1. Are we ignoring the evidence about long-term harms associated with early childcare?

2. Why aren’t parents given nurturing guidance before their child is even born—guidance that could positively shape two decades of parenting?

3. Why don’t we honour the deep desire many women have to spend extended time nurturing their infants during these once-in-a-lifetime early years?

4. Why are governments offering so little support to families, when today’s infants will shape tomorrow’s society?

These questions don’t have simple answers. But they are essential if we are serious about supporting children’s wellbeing—and that of their families.

What to Expect in This Blog Series

Each of the next 17 posts will cover a key insight or principle from my research. Topics will include:

• Infant brain development and stress

• The neuroscience of attachment

• Ethical dilemmas around care

• Influential historical views of motherhood and wellbeing

• How modern ideologies influence parenting decisions

• What flourishing looks like for babies—and for parents

• What governments need to do to better support families and their wellbeing

I’ll also include references and resources for those who want to go deeper, and I welcome your feedback and reflections along the way.

Join Me on the Pathway to Flourishing

Whether you're a parent, grandparent, educator, policymaker, or simply someone who cares about the wellbeing of children—thank you for being here. Thank you for your curiosity and courage to ask deeper questions.

I believe nurturing and wellbeing research belongs in the mainstream, not just in academic journals. And this blog is my small way of bridging that gap.

I’m so glad you’re joining me at the start of this journey.

Bibliography

Australian Government 2007, Australian social trends, Australian Bureau of Statistics, <http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/0485BB5550FE5799CA25732C00207C77?opendocument>.

Belfer, ML 2008, 'Child and adolescent mental disorders: the magnitude of the problem across the globe', The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 226-236.

Commonwealth of Australia. National Report 2015, Australian Early Development Census, <http://www.aedc.gov.au/communities/findings-from-the-aedc>.