EXCERPTS
Marcus Bachmann, the husband of the Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, focused his graduate studies on the contentious question of whether day care was harmful to young children, and argued in his Ph.D. dissertation that "parents who can do so should delay full-time day care until into the fourth year of a child's life.''
Dr. Bachmann, who runs two Christian counseling centers in the Twin Cities area, has been the subject of recent controversy, with some critics questioning his academic credentials. He has two advanced degrees, both aimed at preparing him for a career in counseling.
In 1988, he received a master of arts in community counseling from what was then CBN University - now Regent University - in Virginia Beach, Va., according to Mindy Hughes, a spokeswoman there. The school, established by Pat Robertson, the founder of the Christian Broadcast Network, describes itself as "founded on faith and charged with a unique mission: to equip the Christian leaders of tomorrow to fulfill their calling."
In 1995, he received a doctorate in clinical psychology from what was then the Union Institute in Ohio (now known as Union Institute and University), which employs what Nicole Hamilton, a spokeswoman, described as "a hybrid model of face-to-face residencies and distance learning." While Union currently offers a doctor of psychology degree, Ms. Hamilton said Dr. Bachmann's degree is doctor of philosophy, or Ph.D., with "a concentration in clinical psychology."
At both schools, Dr. Bachmann investigated the effects of day care on young children. As a parent himself - he was the father of five by the time he completed his graduate work, and his children were home-schooled when they were young - he had a vested interest in the question.
His thesis at CBN University was titled "Child Care Dilemma,'' and concluded that full-time, nonparental day care "may increase the insecurity" of children younger than 18 months. It incorporated a biblical perspective and included quotations from Scripture.
"The biblical view of who is responsible for the care and training of children is clear,'' Dr. Bachmann wrote. "God gives an imperative that parents have the job of shaping their children's values. Parents are the persons responsible for the training and care of children. In Proverbs 22:6 the Bible speaks of ‘training up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.' "
The Ph.D. dissertation was titled "Security Attachment of Children 48 to 60 Months of Age Enrolled in Institutionalized Day Care for the First Time From Home Care.''
After reviewing the literature, Dr. Bachmann conducted his own study to test the hypothesis that a child's "security attachment'' to his parents is affected when he is enrolled in day care for the first time at age 4 or 5. But Dr. Bachmann wrote that he found limitations in his ability to conduct the research; his sampling was limited to day care centers "that appeared well-managed,'' he wrote, because directors of poorly run centers declined to cooperate.
His conclusions were not clear; he noticed changes in some individual children, and suggested that future studies focus on variables that might account for those changes. For instance, he said, future researchers might develop a way to measure the effects of the home - including sibling dynamics, single- versus two-parent homes and the "spiritual environment" -- on a child's sense of security.
"We have an obligation as a society to make high-quality day care available to all families,'' Dr. Bachmann wrote, adding that government should pursue policies, including tax breaks, that would make it easier for parents to keep children at home.
"I personally believe that parents who can do so should delay full-time day care until into the fourth year of a child's life,'' he wrote. "There are no easy answers.''
-reprinted from the New York Times