Anthropology and Child Development
A Cross-Cultural Reader
Blackwell Anthologies in Social and Cultural Anthropology
1. Edition January 2008
336 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-0-631-22975-9
John Wiley & Sons
This unprecedented collection of articles is an introduction to the
study of cultural variations in childhood across the world and to
the theoretical frameworks for investigating and interpreting
them.
* Presents a history of cross-cultural approaches to
child-development
* Recent articles examine diverse contexts of childhood in
ecological, semiotic, and sociolinguistic terms
* Includes ethnographic studies of childhood in the Pacific,
Africa, Latin America, East Asia, Europe and North America
* Illuminates the process through which people become the bearers
of culturally/historically specific identities
* Serves as an ideal text for anthropology courses focusing on
childhood, as well as classes on development psychology
Acknowledgments.
Introduction: Robert A. LeVine and Rebecca S. New.
Part I: Discovering Diversity in Childhood: Early Works:.
Introduction.
1. Plasticity in Child Development: Franz Boas.
2. The Ethnography of Childhood: Margaret Mead.
3. Childhood in the Trobriand Islands, Melanesia: Bronislaw Malinowski.
4. Tallensi Childhood in Ghana: Meyer Fortes.
5. Continuities & Discontinuities in Cultural Conditioning: Ruth Benedict.
Part II: Infant Care: Cultural Variation in Parental Goals and Practices:.
Introduction.
6. The Comparative Study: Robert A. LeVine, Suzanne Dixon, Sarah E. LeVine, Amy Richman, Constance Keefer, P. Herbert Liederman and T. Berry Brazelton.
7. Infant Care in the Kalahari Desert: Melvin J. Konner.
8. Multiple Caretaking in the Ituri Forest: Edward Z. Tronick, Gilda A. Morelli and Steve Winn.
9. Fathers and Infants among Aka Pygmies: Barry S. Hewlett.
10. Swaddling, Cradleboards and the Development of Children: James S. Chisholm.
11. Talking and Playing with Babies: Ideologies of Child-Rearing: Catherine Snow, Akke de Blauw and Ghislaine Van Roosmalen.
12. Attachment in Anthropological Perspective: R. LeVine and Karin Norman.
13. An Experiment in Infant Care: Children of the Kibbutz: Melford E. Spiro with the assistance of Audrey G. Spiro.
Part III: Early Childhood: Language Acquisition, Socialization and Enculturation:.
Introduction.
14. The Acquisition of Communicative Style in Japanese: Patricia M. Clancy.
15. Why African Children Are So Hard to Test: Sara Harkness and Charles M. Super.
16. Autonomy and Aggression in the Three-Year-Old: the Utku Eskimo Case: Jean L. Briggs.
17. Narrating Transgressions in U.S. and Taiwan: Peggy J. Miller, Todd L. Sandel, Chung-Hui Liang and Heidi Fung.
18. Child's Play in Italian Perspective: Rebecca S. New.
19. Discussione and Friendship in Italian Peer Culture: William A. Corsaro and Thomas A. Rizzo.
Part IV: Middle and Later Childhood: Work, Play, Participation, Learning:.
Introduction.
20. Age and Responsibility: Barbara Rogoff, Martha Julia Sellers, Sergio Pirrotta, Nathan Fox, and Sheldon H. White.
21. Child and Sibling Caregiving: Thomas Sl Weisner and Ronald Gallimore.
22. Altruistic and Egoistic Behavior of Children in Six Cultures: John W. M. Whiting and Beatrice Blyth Whiting.
23. Children's Daily Lives among the Yucatec Maya: Suzanne Gaskins.
24. Children's Work, Play, and Relationships among the Giriama of Kenya: Martha Wenger.
Epilogue.
Index
Introduction: Robert A. LeVine and Rebecca S. New.
Part I: Discovering Diversity in Childhood: Early Works:.
Introduction.
1. Plasticity in Child Development: Franz Boas.
2. The Ethnography of Childhood: Margaret Mead.
3. Childhood in the Trobriand Islands, Melanesia: Bronislaw Malinowski.
4. Tallensi Childhood in Ghana: Meyer Fortes.
5. Continuities & Discontinuities in Cultural Conditioning: Ruth Benedict.
Part II: Infant Care: Cultural Variation in Parental Goals and Practices:.
Introduction.
6. The Comparative Study: Robert A. LeVine, Suzanne Dixon, Sarah E. LeVine, Amy Richman, Constance Keefer, P. Herbert Liederman and T. Berry Brazelton.
7. Infant Care in the Kalahari Desert: Melvin J. Konner.
8. Multiple Caretaking in the Ituri Forest: Edward Z. Tronick, Gilda A. Morelli and Steve Winn.
9. Fathers and Infants among Aka Pygmies: Barry S. Hewlett.
10. Swaddling, Cradleboards and the Development of Children: James S. Chisholm.
11. Talking and Playing with Babies: Ideologies of Child-Rearing: Catherine Snow, Akke de Blauw and Ghislaine Van Roosmalen.
12. Attachment in Anthropological Perspective: R. LeVine and Karin Norman.
13. An Experiment in Infant Care: Children of the Kibbutz: Melford E. Spiro with the assistance of Audrey G. Spiro.
Part III: Early Childhood: Language Acquisition, Socialization and Enculturation:.
Introduction.
14. The Acquisition of Communicative Style in Japanese: Patricia M. Clancy.
15. Why African Children Are So Hard to Test: Sara Harkness and Charles M. Super.
16. Autonomy and Aggression in the Three-Year-Old: the Utku Eskimo Case: Jean L. Briggs.
17. Narrating Transgressions in U.S. and Taiwan: Peggy J. Miller, Todd L. Sandel, Chung-Hui Liang and Heidi Fung.
18. Child's Play in Italian Perspective: Rebecca S. New.
19. Discussione and Friendship in Italian Peer Culture: William A. Corsaro and Thomas A. Rizzo.
Part IV: Middle and Later Childhood: Work, Play, Participation, Learning:.
Introduction.
20. Age and Responsibility: Barbara Rogoff, Martha Julia Sellers, Sergio Pirrotta, Nathan Fox, and Sheldon H. White.
21. Child and Sibling Caregiving: Thomas Sl Weisner and Ronald Gallimore.
22. Altruistic and Egoistic Behavior of Children in Six Cultures: John W. M. Whiting and Beatrice Blyth Whiting.
23. Children's Daily Lives among the Yucatec Maya: Suzanne Gaskins.
24. Children's Work, Play, and Relationships among the Giriama of Kenya: Martha Wenger.
Epilogue.
Index
"I recommend this book as a good introduction to the study of child
development that draws upon anthropology's unique ability to hone
in on both the extraordinary complex phenomenon of individual
childhood agency and the social constructions ilia1 lend 1.0 bind
and limit our notions of children as social actors." (Journal of
Anthropological Research, 2010)
"Not unexpectedly, LeVine and New - true scholars
- have rendered a reader, a reference, and a stunningly
prescient volume that should be savored and studied, not merely
read. Of sweeping breadth across time and place and of unparalleled
depth regarding the nature of children and childhood, Anthropology
and Child Development challenges deeply held conventions while
provoking invigorating ways of thinking and acting - an
indispensable, intellectual compass for globalists, futurists, and
all who care about children."
Sharon Lynn Kagan, Columbia University
"The cutting-edge scholarship presented in this important
and timely book richly documents that the nuances of cultural
context constitute a fundamental basis for significant variation in
the development of diverse children and adolescents."
Richard Lerner, Tufts University"This is an artfully
organized collection of seminal papers, a collection that pulls
together research across stages of childhood; domains (of the
development of emotion, thought, and language); theories; methods;
and, of course, cultures. The collection also provides a sense of
the historical development of the field, as a chronological reading
of the papers, from a Boas essay published in 1911 to several
papers published in the new millennium, reveals the changing
concerns, concepts, and theories that have characterized work on
culture and child development over the past 100 years."
Joseph Tobin, Arizona State University
development that draws upon anthropology's unique ability to hone
in on both the extraordinary complex phenomenon of individual
childhood agency and the social constructions ilia1 lend 1.0 bind
and limit our notions of children as social actors." (Journal of
Anthropological Research, 2010)
"Not unexpectedly, LeVine and New - true scholars
- have rendered a reader, a reference, and a stunningly
prescient volume that should be savored and studied, not merely
read. Of sweeping breadth across time and place and of unparalleled
depth regarding the nature of children and childhood, Anthropology
and Child Development challenges deeply held conventions while
provoking invigorating ways of thinking and acting - an
indispensable, intellectual compass for globalists, futurists, and
all who care about children."
Sharon Lynn Kagan, Columbia University
"The cutting-edge scholarship presented in this important
and timely book richly documents that the nuances of cultural
context constitute a fundamental basis for significant variation in
the development of diverse children and adolescents."
Richard Lerner, Tufts University"This is an artfully
organized collection of seminal papers, a collection that pulls
together research across stages of childhood; domains (of the
development of emotion, thought, and language); theories; methods;
and, of course, cultures. The collection also provides a sense of
the historical development of the field, as a chronological reading
of the papers, from a Boas essay published in 1911 to several
papers published in the new millennium, reveals the changing
concerns, concepts, and theories that have characterized work on
culture and child development over the past 100 years."
Joseph Tobin, Arizona State University
Robert A. LeVine is a professor emeritus of education and anthropology at Harvard University. He has been investigating child rearing and development for more than 50 years, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. His recent books include Childhood Socialization: Comparative Studies of Parents, Learning and Educational Change (2003), Japanese Frames of Mind: Cultural Perspectives on Human Development (2001), and Child Care and Culture: Lessons from Africa (1994).
Rebecca S. New is associate professor of education and research fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has spent three decades studying the cultural nature of child development and early education, most often in Italy and recently in Head Start programs serving immigrant populations. Publications include the four-volume Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia (2007).
Rebecca S. New is associate professor of education and research fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has spent three decades studying the cultural nature of child development and early education, most often in Italy and recently in Head Start programs serving immigrant populations. Publications include the four-volume Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia (2007).