Societal Impact

Day care

In the past years our national studies on quality of centre day care stirred intense nation-wide media-attention and extended debates in Dutch parliament. The popular national weekly, HP/De Tijd (November 30, 2007), listed Van IJzendoorn as one of the 20 most influential scientists/ thinkers in the Netherlands, being the only child development or family expert on this list. Internationally, the Wall Street Journal (April 12 2005, Sue Shellenbarger) cited our work on the quality of centre day care.

Adoption

Our work on the development of international adoptees and their families led to numerous publications in newspaper across the world, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post,  Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Forbes, and Los Angeles Times, and a BBC World Radio interview (May 25 2005), on international versus national adoptions. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (January 24 2010) asked me to comment on the issue of Haitian children being adopted into western countries after the earthquake.   

Child maltreatment

Several nation-wide studies on the prevalence of child abuse and neglect have been conducted, initiated by the Dutch government. The reports on the huge prevalence of child maltreatment in the Netherlands (see list of publications) attracted lots of media attention and were discussed in the parliament. The terrible situation of migrant children in detention separated from their parents at the US-Mexican border was discussed in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times in June 2018 based on interviews with me.

De-institutionalisation

I actively support NGOs working toward de-institutionalization, e..g. Better Care Network, Hope and Homes for Children; Lumos and other NGOs involved in child protection and de-institutionalisation (see Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 2020). Within the  ‘Transforming Children’s Care Global Collaborative Platform’ I co-chair the Evidence for Impact Working Group. In the past few years talks were given to governmental agencies in Greece; Belarus; Bulgaria; and The Netherlands on de-institutionalisation. I have been advocating for the abolishment of voluntourism in orphanages, briefing the Dutch Parliament.

Lolle Nauta Foundation

The main goal of the LNF (www.lollenautafoundation.eu) is to support (future) African scientists of whom it can be expected that they will contribute to the further development in the fields of child and family studies, pedagogics, education and developmental psychology in their own country after finishing their education and training in and/or through European universities or supervisors.

After retirement of the founders of the LNF at the University of Leiden, (Adriana Bus and Marinus van IJzendoorn) since 2021 LNF has become a part of the charitable activities within the Beagle Advice, Research and Development company. LNF remains a private charity for supporting African faculty and students in developmental and educational sciences with the same goals and means used from its start more than 15 years ago. Some ten students from Zambia and Kenya have been successfully supported on their way to a PhD degree.

Some miscellaneous press reports or interviews 

The Orchid and the Dandelion – Education Next

A Troubling Prognosis for Migrant Children in Detention_ – The New York Times June 18 2018
The long-lasting health effects of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border Los Angeles Times June 20, 2018
Portuguese newspaper article 06-11-017_Marinus van Iizendoorn As crianças dificeis poderão sofrer mai…
Attachment: Volkskrant July 3rd 2010, pdf file
Attachment: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sontagszeitung January 24th 2010, pdf file
Attachment: The Atlantic September 2009, pdf file
Attachment: Neue Zuercher Zeiting Decembre 2010, pdf file

Expertscape lists experts in various fields of medicine for the purpose of second opinion in medical treatment or diagnosis. Expertcape also ranked experts in the field of parenting and in the field of child development.

Parenting- Worldwide – Expertscape.com expertise in parenting

Child Development_ Van Ijzendoorn, M – Expertscape.com