Where is early intervention going ?

"Dr Jan Macvarish, associate lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, University of Kent, delivers a short lecture followed by responses from Sue White, professor of social work, University of Sheffield; and Tim Loughton MP (Conservative), chair of the All Party Group for Conception to Age 2. The chair is Ellie Lee, director, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies."

See Youtube  Can neuroparenting save the family?

In the last twenty years, Macvarish believes we have moved from seeing the family as being under attack from outside sources to the idea that no family can be relied upon to raise children safely. Risks to children now take place within the family.

Even David Cameron, former British prime minister, made a speech on life chances in which he stated that what parents needed to do to improve their children`s life chances was to engage in `baby talk` and make `silly faces`. This extraordinary statement, and others like it in recent policy domains, are made because parents are believed to be the architects of their babies` brains and the impact of what parents do in the early years lasts forever.

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This is in complete contrast to what neuroscientists have to say about brains which is that brains are plastic and that plasticity remains throughout the lifecourse.

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At 48 minutes into the video, Dr Stuart Waiton, well known campaigner against the Named Person scheme in Scotland, is seen to make a request from the audience: "I wonder if you could elaborate more on this thing called early intervention."

Another member of the audience says that there is a growing industry in mental health with the idea that `We are all mentally ill in some way and we need state intervention`.

Indeed, that is where all this seems to be going: psychologising everything. Lots of little private industries are popping up and getting paid for by the state to intervene in everything about us and our emotional lives. It`s localism, Big Society, the third way.

It`s surveillance and control.