The dimensions of family in today's Western world are continually narrowing: from the extended family we arrive at the nuclear family and often to the single-parent family.

The child in the Western world is constantly a student, attending school long before reaching the age of compulsory education and for many years, without always reaping the expected benefits.

This book examines the various facets of a child's life within the family and at school in a world that is constantly changing, with particular emphasis on the psychoanalytical approach.

Specific topics discussed include among others: the intense desire or randomness at the child's birth, the new roles of the father and mother, the differences between the two genders, the handling of academic failure, the punishment of children and adolescents and its justification.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]