It's unfair to put mothers in the dock

The feature on bullies ('Show of strength', 13 December 2001) risks harming the relationship between early years practitioners and the mothers of children who display problem behaviour. The Anna Freud centre team suggests, from a theoretical perspective, that the mother as the 'primary caregiver' is invariably the dominant influence on children's early emotional development. On the contrary, it can be experimentally demonstrated that very young children can and do form a range of attachments to fathers, siblings, other family members and non-parental caregivers.