Abstract
The central issue addressed in this study is that of control over the pre-school field, which is seen as an "arena" between family and state within which competing claims are resolved. An analysis of documents and literature relating to the emergence of a separately defined pre-school period, demonstrates that in Britain pre-school policy has developed in four clearly defined phases. Each shift of the boundary between family and state has been influenced by changes in theories and commonly-held views of the young child in the family. A "biologistic" phase gave way to a period which was influenced by psychoanalytic theory, which in turn was superseded by a developmental phase. In recent years a "new maternalism" has emerged which has influenced policy, stressing co-ordination and co-operation. These two key policies are then examined in a detailed study of the network of 215 workers, in Battersea, involving interviews, questionnaires, observations and the analysis of policy documents. The network acts to co-ordinate services only at a formal level in terms of links between professional pre-school workers. Links with more informal, community-based provision are limited. An analysis of attitudes and practices in relation to co-operation gives support to these observations. Attitudes, in particular "voluntarism" and "professionalism" relate to location within the network. In the light of the nature of the network observed, it is useful to analyse the range of provision in Battersea in terms of a typology, ranging from "closed" forms of provision to more "open" ones. Movements from the former to the latter have been supported by the "new maternalism" but because of the failure to address the issue of control, these moves are seen as an attempt more effectively to police the pre-school.