after delivery in Rh-negative women. Although 99
percent effective in preventing Rh disease, reports
from the 1990s indicate that 1 to 6 infants per 1,000
live births have evidence of the effects of Rh disease.
Pregnant women with an antibody concentration of
greater than 1:16 are monitored with serial ultra-
sounds and amniocenteses to measure possible de-
struction of fetal blood. In some cases, the fetus can
be given red blood cells while still in the womb; this
is done through an intrauterine transfusion.
See also: INFANT MORTALITY; PREMATURE INFANTS;
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
Bibliography
Chavez, Gilberto, Joseph Mulinare, and Larry Edmonds. ‘‘Epide-
miology of Rh Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn in the Unit-
ed States.’’ Journal of the American Medical Association 265
(1991):3270–3274.
‘‘Prevention of RhD Alloimmunization.’’ American College of Obsetri-
cians and Gynecologists Practice Bulletin 4 (1999).
Ventura, Stephanie, Joyce Martin, Sally Curtin, and T. J. Mathews.
‘‘Births: Final Data for 1997.’’ National Vital Statistics Reports
47 (1999):1–96.
Kenneth J. Moise Jr.
ROUSSEAU, JEAN-JACQUES
(1712–1778)Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Genevan by birth, was a
major contributor to modern political and education-
al theory and practice; he also set in motion what is
known as the romantic movement in art, music, and
literature. Shortly after Rousseau’s birth on June 28,
1712, his mother died, leaving the child-rearing du-
ties to the father, who shared his enthusiasm for
books with his son but who otherwise provided little
support. At the age of ten Rousseau was apprenticed
to an engraver, but before the terms of the contract
were fulfilled, he fled. At sixteen, abandoned by his
father, he found himself in the home of the twenty-
nine-year-old Madame de Warens, ostensibly to re-
ceive religious instruction. They became intimate
friends and lovers. In 1745 Rousseau met Thérèse Le-
vasseur, an uneducated washerwoman, who became
his mistress and eventually his wife, but not before
giving birth to five children, each of which was placed
in a foundling home.
Rousseau was variously employed as tutor, secre-
tary, and music copyist, but he valued his indepen-
dence too much to be harnessed to a conventional
career. In 1750 Rousseau found his true calling as a
writer with his prize-winning essay, ‘‘A Discourse on
the Arts and Sciences.’’ His opera, The Village Soothsay-
er (1752), added to his reputation. There followed a
series of original works for which Rousseau is best
Acording to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, childhood is a distinct and
precious period of life, functioning according to its own laws and
developmental stages. (AP/Wide World Photos)known today: A Discourse on the Origins of Inequality
(1755); Julie, or the New Eloise (1761); Émile, or On Edu-
cation and The Social Contract (1762); and Confessions
(1771). His last work, Reveries of a Solitary Walker, was
completed shortly before his death on July 2, 1778.
Three key ideas are central to Rousseau’s view of
children and their development. First, to an age
known as the Age of Reason, which put its faith in sci-
ence and technology, Rousseau preached instead the
primacy of feeling and sensation and the centrality of
matters of the heart. Second, against the prevailing
doctrine of original sin, Rousseau proclaimed the
basic goodness of human nature and the innocence
of childhood. Third, Rousseau took issue with the no-
tion that children were but imperfect adults. In Rous-
seau’s view, depicted in Émile, childhood is a distinct
and precious period of life, functioning according to
its own laws and developmental stages. The persua-
siveness of Rousseau’s ideas has significantly influ-
enced contemporary approaches to children and
their development.Bibliography
Cranston, Maurice. Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-
Jacques Rousseau, 1712–1754. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1991.ROUSSEAU, JEAN-JACQUES 349