Parenthood

Chapter 3 focuses on contemporary ideals and practices of ‘parenting’ by examining the normative constructions of parenthood articulated at parenting classes run by St John’s (conservative evangelical) and St George’s (charismatic evangelical), in which the parent–child relationship and its relationship with wider social norms was in question. The chapter explores how leaders at St John’s situated their ideals of children’s obedience to the father and understanding of children as inherently sinful as countercultural and outlines the techniques of parenting that were encouraged here. It then describes how, in contrast, ideas about parenting at St George’s drew on psychoanalytic literature and encouraged parents to learn from secular expertise on parenting, and it considers how these differing ways of understanding what it is to be a parent are shaped by processes of individualization, and open onto wider questions about the agency of the child, human agency, and the social and existential order.