| Introduction | p. 1 |
| The Eroding Quality of Life in the United States | p. 7 |
| The Decline of Education, Health, Safety, and the Economy | p. 12 |
| Why Have We Not "Drawn the Line"? | p. 23 |
| The Proximate Cause: Incompetent Parenting | p. 27 |
| Defining Competent Parenting | p. 28 |
| Defining Incompetent Parenting | p. 30 |
| The Relationship between Poverty and Incompetent Parenting | p. 34 |
| The Benefits to Society of Competent Parenting | p. 41 |
| The Role of Affectionate Attachment Bonds in Citizenship | p. 42 |
| Competent Parenting Prevents Illness | p. 45 |
| Competent Parenting Prevents Social Problems | p. 48 |
| Obstacles to Forming Affectionate Attachment Bonds | p. 50 |
| The Effects of Incompetent Parenting | p. 53 |
| Incompetent Parenting and Habitual Criminals | p. 55 |
| Incompetent Parenting and Welfare Dependency | p. 69 |
| Incompetent Parenting and Homeless Children | p. 73 |
| Incompetent Parenting and Public Health | p. 74 |
| Incompetent Parenting and National Productivity | p. 78 |
| The Costs of Incompetent Parenting | p. 83 |
| The Costs of Habitual Criminals | p. 85 |
| The Costs of Intergenerational Welfare Dependency | p. 91 |
| The Costs of Child Abuse and Neglect Services | p. 92 |
| Losses in National Productivity | p. 93 |
| The Total Cost of Incompetent Parenting | p. 95 |
| Prioritizing Risks to Our Society | p. 96 |
| The Tolerance of Incompetent Parenting | p. 99 |
| The Impact of Individualism on Social Values | p. 100 |
| The Impact of Individualism on Social Structures | p. 106 |
| The Disparagement of Parenting | p. 111 |
| Society's Fragmented Reactions to Social Problems | p. 116 |
| The Political Crisis--Recoil Response | p. 118 |
| The Elevated Threshold of Deviancy | p. 120 |
| Juvenile Ageism | p. 123 |
| The Dynamics of Prejudice and Discrimination | p. 125 |
| Elder Ageism | p. 126 |
| The Forms of Juvenile Ageism | p. 127 |
| Areas of Progress | p. 141 |
| An Antidote to Juvenile Ageism: Children's Civil Rights | p. 145 |
| Authentic Child Advocacy | p. 146 |
| A Child's Right to Competent Parenting | p. 149 |
| The Civil Rights of Children | p. 150 |
| The Legal Rights of Children | p. 153 |
| Cultural Expectations of Parents and Children | p. 159 |
| A Parent's Right to Be Competent | p. 163 |
| Parenthood as a Developmental Process | p. 165 |
| The Developmental Readiness for Parenthood | p. 166 |
| The Dilemma of Adolescent Pregnancy | p. 174 |
| The Dilemma of Adolescent Parenthood | p. 180 |
| Social Policy and Teenage Parents | p. 191 |
| Social Policy and Parenting | p. 196 |
| A New Way of Thinking about Children | p. 199 |
| "Little Picture" Thinking | p. 200 |
| "Big Picture" Thinking | p. 203 |
| Social Values versus Cultural Values | p. 206 |
| Supporting Competent Parenting as a National Policy | p. 210 |
| The Societal Goal of Competent Citizenship | p. 212 |
| A National Parenting Policy | p. 215 |
| The Concept of Parent Licensure | p. 218 |
| A Multisystem Approach to Improving Parental Competence | p. 220 |
| The Precedents for Licensing Parents | p. 228 |
| Childless and Childrearing Marriages | p. 236 |
| Procedures for Licensing Parents | p. 238 |
| Alternatives to Licensing Parents | p. 244 |
| The Rationale for Licensing Parents | p. 245 |
| Arguments against Licensing Parents | p. 249 |
| The Imposition of Majority Standards | p. 251 |
| Violating the Sacred Parent--Child Relationship | p. 252 |
| Licensing Would Foster Parent Blaming | p. 254 |
| Restricting the Right of Adults to Freedom of Action | p. 255 |
| Licensing Would Accompany Financial Child Support | p. 256 |
| Fear of According Adult Rights to Children | p. 257 |
| Enforcing Conformity in Childrearing | p. 258 |
| The Political Rejection of the Family | p. 259 |
| The Maturing Influence of Childrearing | p. 260 |
| Objectionable Prior Restraint | p. 261 |
| The Fallibility of Prediction and Education | p. 262 |
| The Unfeasibility of Administration | p. 263 |
| Licensing Would Replace Helping Parents | p. 264 |
| Insufficient Adoption Opportunities | p. 265 |
| Research Is Inconclusive | p. 267 |
| Education, Training, and Clinical Services Are Sufficient | p. 268 |
| Favored Legal Treatment Is Undesirable | p. 269 |
| Society's Need for Incompetence | p. 271 |
| Drastic Changes in Public Policy Do Not Occur | p. 272 |
| Are These Arguments Obstacles or Hurdles? | p. 273 |
| Conclusion: Will the United States Value Parenting? | p. 275 |
| The Social Costs of Incompetent Parenting | p. 276 |
| Our Society Must Value Parenting | p. 278 |
| Social Welfare Is Not Enough | p. 280 |
| Parenting Can Be Self-Fulfilling | p. 281 |
| The United States Needs a National Parenting Policy | p. 282 |
| Global Leadership in Human Rights for Children | p. 284 |
| Appendix | p. 287 |
| Notes | p. 289 |
| Index | p. 337 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
