Variability in the Social Construction of the Child New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 87

Responding to the need for more research into sociocultural influences on ideas about children, this volume analyzes data from America, Japan, Columbia, Israel and the Netherlands to explore variations within and between cultures in how parents, teachers and others think about children. With a particular focus on the dichotomy between individualism and collectivism , the contributors examine such questions as: Can variability in ideas about children best be conceptualized in terms of universal categories, or is each socially constructed concept of the child unique? At what social level can these variations best be identified on a global, West vs. East level, or between classes and cultural groups within individual societies, or between social groups at the community level? And how are these varying socially constructed images of the child expressed?This is the 87th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development.

SARA HARKNESS is professor in the Schoolof Family Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Health, and Human Development at the University of Connecticut.