The idea that a deficit in parenting is responsible for many persistent social and economic problems has become embedded in British policy since the mid-1990s. The argument for universal parent training (or parenting support) has grown in strength over that period through persistent and self-conscious efforts at overcoming both a residual attachment to an ideal of family autonomy and a historic reluctance to problematise all families. In a relatively short period of time, a political consensus has formed around an agenda of early intervention in the early years, usefully termed ‘the first three years movement’, with very few ‘traditional’ voices defending the earlier family model. While parents are prioritised as the primary determinate of their child’s future, the importance of this role means that they are encouraged to see help- seeking (from official sources) as the most important rule of parenting. Love and care within the family have become increasingly instrumentalised in the project of creating better citizens. In policy discourse, parental authority has been challenged by the authority of expertise (for example, neuroscience), the parental role has become professionalised and is idealised as a ‘cooled’, arms-length process of behaviour management. Family life is reinterpreted as a place of risk but also a place where the instrumental task of improving ‘outcomes’ by increasing parental ‘input’ takes place. As a case study, the paper will trace the development of the problematisation of ‘infant mental health’ in maternal and child health policy over the past 30 years.
