Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword by Robert Sapolsky
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- SECTION ONE HISTORICAL, CROSS-CULTURAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES
- 1 Plasticity and Variation: Cultural Influences on Parenting and Early Child Development Within and Across Populations
- 2 From Measurement to Meaning in Caregiving and Culture: Current Challenges and Future Prospects
- SECTION TWO HOW EXPERIENCE INTERACTS WITH BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
- SECTION THREE FORMATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN AND ACROSS GENERATIONS
- SECTION FOUR SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT – NORMATIVE SETTINGS, PRACTICES, AND CONSEQUENCES
- SECTION FIVE FEAR, FUN, AND THE BOUNDARIES OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
- SECTION SIX PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
- Index
- References
2 - From Measurement to Meaning in Caregiving and Culture: Current Challenges and Future Prospects
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword by Robert Sapolsky
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- SECTION ONE HISTORICAL, CROSS-CULTURAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES
- 1 Plasticity and Variation: Cultural Influences on Parenting and Early Child Development Within and Across Populations
- 2 From Measurement to Meaning in Caregiving and Culture: Current Challenges and Future Prospects
- SECTION TWO HOW EXPERIENCE INTERACTS WITH BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
- SECTION THREE FORMATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN AND ACROSS GENERATIONS
- SECTION FOUR SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT – NORMATIVE SETTINGS, PRACTICES, AND CONSEQUENCES
- SECTION FIVE FEAR, FUN, AND THE BOUNDARIES OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
- SECTION SIX PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
- Index
- References
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 ExperiencesThe Interaction of Caregiving, Culture, and Developmental Psychobiology, pp. 36 - 50Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
- 4
- Cited by