Perry, a child psychiatrist and Szalavitz, a New York freelance, argue in their book that empathy is a crucial human quality that underlies much more than love, friendship, and parenting. The authors explore how empathy affects everything from emotional depression to the Great Recession, from physical health to mental health, from our ability to love to criminal behavior, and even the rise and fall of societies. The authors explain how empathy develops, or fails to develop, and how in the last 50 years changes in technology, child-rearing practices, education, and lifestyles have robbed many children of necessary human contact and deep relationships — the essential foundation for empathy.