Mark Daims reviews The Epidemic: The Rot of American Culture, Absentee and Permissive Parenting, and the Resultant Plague of Joyless, Selfish Children: “Robert Shaw, a child and family psychiatrist, feels that today’s parents have been misled by parenting gurus into doubting their own instincts – instincts which he feels are their best guide. He is so alarmed by current parenting practices and the effects they will have on the coming generation that he describes his book as less of a parenting ‘How to’ book and more of a call to action. Children raised without discipline and moral leadership become selfish or worse. An ‘endless parade of childrearing experts’ confuse parents with contradictory and often counterproductive advise. This overabundance of advice can leave parents stressed and unsure about how to act. By not acting, the author cautions, parents also affect the child; as one paragraph heading states, ‘We determine our children’s future.’ Parents are ultimately responsible for their children, parents instinctively know best and they have an often overlooked parenting expert always at hand. ‘You have a live-in parenting expert who shows you every day the effects of what you are doing: your child. Anything that is not going well with your child is a sign that your parenting practices are not working.'” —Human Nature Reviews