Authoritative Communities (eBook)

Kathleen Kovner Kline, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and an adjunct faculty member at Dartmouth Medical School. She serves on the Medical Staff of Children’s Hospital in Denver. She is the principal investigator for the Commission on Children at Risk’s Report to the Nation, Hardwired to Connect: the New Scientific Case for Authoritative Communities. She received her M.D. from Yale Medical School, and her Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School. She completed her psychiatric training at the Institute of Living/University of Connecticut Psychiatry Program, and her Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Dartmouth Medical School. At the University of Colorado and at Dartmouth, she has taught child and adolescent development and psychopathology to medical students, pediatricians, family practitioners, psychiatrists, child and adolescent psychiatry fellows, and trainees in psychology and social work. Her clinical practice has included treating child and adult patients in acute hospital and outpatient settings, directing diagnostic and psychopharmacology clinics, and consultation to treatment centers for delinquent and severely emotionally impaired youth. She has a history of involvement with grass roots, community service, and religious institutions, and a particular interest in the role of character-shaping institutions in the prevention of psychosocial maladjustment.

Series Preface 6
Preface 8
Foreword: The Crisis in American Childhood 13
Acknowledgments 16
Contents 18
Contributors 21
A Report to the Nation 25
Hardwired to Connect: The New Scientific Case for Authoritative Communities 26
Primal Connections 92
The Biochemistry of Family Commitment and Youth Competence: Lessons from Animal Models 93
How Mother Nurture Helps Mother Nature: Scientific Evidence for the Protective Effect of Good Nurturing on Genetic Propensity Toward Anxiety and Alcohol Abuse 108
Investing in Children and Society: What We Have Learned from Seven Decades of Attachment Research 124
Meaning and Morality 142
The Consolidation of Conscience in Adolescence 143
Best Bets for Improving the Odds for Optimum Youth Development 156
Moral and Spiritual Dimensions of the Healthy Person: Notes from the Founders of Modern Psychology and Psychiatry 170
Connecting to the Transcendent 182
Hardwired for God: A Neuropsychological Model for Developmental Spirituality 183
A Tale of Two Religious Effects: Evidence for the Protective and Prosocial Impact of Organic Religion 205
Focused on Their Families: Religion, Parenting, and Child Well- Being 244
Minding the Children with Mindfulness: A Buddhist Approach to Promoting Well- Being in Children 262
The Changing Connections of Adolescence 278
The Psychobiology of Adolescence 279
Elders and Sons 297
Spirituality and Resilience in Adolescent Girls 311
Connecting to Community 319
Promoting Well-Being Among At- Risk Children: Restoring a Sense of Community and Support for Development 320
Sex, Guns, and Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Influence of Media in Children’s Lives 337
The Civil Society Model: The Organic Approach to Building Character, Competence, and Conscience in Our Young People 353
Commentaries 366
Caring and Character: How Close Parental Bonds Foster Character Development in Children 367
Gather Around the Children 381
Index 387