The acceptance of the concept of the maternal role by behavioral scientists: Its effects on women.

Behavioral scientists and clinicians, such as psychiatrists and pediatricians, encourage acceptance of the model in which the biological mother must provide the major portion of the stimulation, conditioning, and emotional satisfaction deemed essential for normal development of the child. Social scientists and clinicians have accepted as necessary and inevitable practices that are, in fact, culturally determined. It is suggested that changes in child-rearing practices might reveal other methods to be biologically or socially more optimal for mother and infant, and more beneficial for promoting social change.