The Editor, Sir:

While I can find hardly anything to take issue with in Peter Espeut's views on the role of nature and nurture, in his article of the same name in The Gleaner of July 17, I thought that he failed in his conclusion to acknowledge that society is evolving away from the nuclear family structure.

The nuclear family (like religion) has served mankind very well up to this point, but the mode of production today requires a different sort of relationship between the genders. Both men and women are engaged in the same kinds of productive activity, which requires more mobility. Parents often work in different parts of the same country, or in entirely different countries altogether. The sedentary lifestyle in which one parent remained home to look after the children while the other went out to earn their living is a thing of the past.

The fact is that single parenthood is fast becoming the norm in the developed societies, as it has been for a long time in societies like our own. In fact, in many countries governments find it necessary to give material incentive to people to have children at all.

Sexuality and procreation

Whether we like it or not the human species has been moving into a stage of its evolution in which there is a growing disconnection between sexuality and procreation. Medical science has already allowed women to choose the sperm donor, be artificially impregnated, and very likely will relieve them of the inconvenience associated with full-term pregnancies by having the job done in artificial wombs or incubators. It was reported some time ago that Janet Jackson had her ovaries frozen. It probably won't be too long before the technology becomes affordable for the average woman.

I believe that the growth of pornography and widespread acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle in the more developed countries are a reflection of the growing disconnection between sex and procreation. Just as the popularity of quiz shows has increased with the growth of the computer industry, to exercise faculties of the human mind such as the ability to calculate and memorise, which have been made less important if not redundant by technology, sex will very likely become a spectator sport. It is already quite a spectacle in many a nightclub and at many a stage show.

Social responsibility

If it no longer serves procreation, then its only purpose is to give pleasure. Physical prowess in sports has served, in a similar way, to provide an outlet for the talents that were once required in the hunt and the early modes of production in the agricultural and industrial revolutions.

What all this means is that we'll have to find other structures to replace the nuclear family. Nurturing the young will more and more become a social responsibility and depend on professional caregivers rather than on parents. Boarding schools may well make a comeback for this reason. Our children will still need to be supervised and we must develop institutions that facilitate this process. The wisdom of that much-quoted African proverb still resonates: 'It takes a village to raise a child'.

I am, etc.,

R. HOWARD THOMPSON

roi_anne@hotmal.com

Munro P.O.

St Elizabeth