The Children of the Dream by Bruno Bettelheim

The Children of the Dream

Communal Child-rearing and its Implications for Society

by Bruno Bettelheim

Granada Publishing, 1971, paperback

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, minor creasing and soiling, previous owners inscription on front fly-leaf (see photographs)

"The dream is the kibbutz, one of the most enduring modern attempts to create a Utopian human society.  The children of the dream are the first generation to be born and reared on kibbutzim.  Bruno Bettelheim, a pioneer in the study of children's emotional development, spent months of intensive research at kibbutz, visited others and interviewed a wide variety of people.  His object was to examine closely and at first hand the kibbutz method of child rearing - and its effects on personality formation.  The lack of privacy and of exclusive family life, the bias against individualism and the absence of the competitive spirit are all diametrically opposed to the traditional Western middle-class ideal of education.  It is these aspects of kibbutz life which lead Bettelheim to examine the Western ideal more closely.  His examination led him to pose some disturbing questions."