What makes us the parents of our children? Is it the genes that we have passed on to them? But then what about adoptive parents, who, while not the biological parents, have provided all the care for their adopted children that one would expect from a parent? Researchers such as Robin Nelson (2014) suggest that what really determines parenthood is investment. Investment in a child is not only financial, but also (and perhaps more importantly) social, spiritual, and psychological.
Investment includes non-biological caregivers. People other than the child’s biological parents who carry out significant parenting duties for a child are called alloparents. In hunter-gatherer societies alloparenting is the norm. In studies, half the time alloparents are caring for a baby (Ivey, 2000; Morelli et al., 2014). Importantly, children are seen as children of the community rather than just as children of their parents. Elders and experienced parents are invaluable teaching and alloparenting resources for the new parents, who may return the favor by caring for the elders and serving as alloparents for the community’s future children.
[For more of this story, written by Mathew Fallon and Darcia Narvaez, go to http://www.psychologytoday.com...nvest-daily-in-child]
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