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2 - From Measurement to Meaning in Caregiving and Culture: Current Challenges and Future Prospects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2010

By
Marc H. Bornstein
Edited by
Carol M. Worthman ,
Paul M. Plotsky ,
Daniel S. Schechter  and
Constance A. Cummings
Carol M. Worthman
Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta
Paul M. Plotsky
Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta
Daniel S. Schechter
Affiliation:
Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève
Constance A. Cummings
Affiliation:
Foundation for Psychocultural Research, California
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Summary

It has been observed that the most significant single determiner of the future course of development may be where a child is born (Weisner, 2002); important differences in environments, emotions, and interactions characterize how different cultures shape human development. Comparisons consistently show that virtually all aspects of caregiving and human development are informed by their cultural context (Bornstein, 1980, 2009). This chapter is about the role of culture in caregiving and human development from a cross-cultural developmental science perspective. I discuss issues of both perennial and current relevance revolving around three themes: First, notions of similarity and difference across cultures; specifically, how they can be understood, measured for comparative analysis, and interpreted through the mediating role of meaning. Second, how culture can be studied; specifically, the problems of employing variables versus persons as units, the over-emphasis on cross-cultural versus cultural studies, and the abundance of cross-sectional over longitudinal studies. Third, the issue of cultural transmission; specifically, using the contextual ecological model to integrate culture into transmission, looking at the intergenerational transmission of culture, and accounting for the impact of diachronic change on cultural developmental studies. These are by no means the only topics that culture and development scholars view as important, nor are these topics always discretely different from one another. Finally, I wrap up with a discussion on current problems and future directions for the study of caregiving and human development in cultural context.

Type
Chapter
Information
Formative Experiences
The Interaction of Caregiving, Culture, and Developmental Psychobiology
 , pp. 36 - 50
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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