My Nonprofit Reviews

In their book,The Evolved Nest, Narvaez and Bradshaw compassionately remind us of our evolutionary and contemporary connection with the diverse social systems of nonhuman species that populate the earth. We are reminded that other species, especially mammals and birds, share our instinctive quest for safety, trust, and connection that serve as a resource to care for their young. But, more importantly they provide insights into how disruptions in appropriate parenting not only destabilize the culture of humans but have similar consequences on the socio-behavioral cultures of nonhuman social species. This parallel between humans and other social species provides insights into the profound impact of disruptions in the predictability of safety and trust within social cultures, which predictively increases the prevalence of aggression and behavioral parallels in several species of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Narvaez and Bradshaw succinctly articulate the naturally evolved features of both animal and human cultures as the “evolved nest.’ They remind us that to optimize the development of our young, we need to look for commonalities with our phylogenetic ancestors (mammals) and cousins (birds) to learn the powerful lessons of evolution that have been encoded in the ‘evolved’ nest.
Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D
Distinguished University Scientist
Kinsey Institute Indiana University

Professor of Psychiatry
University of North Carolina