Child and Adolescent Development in Cultural Context

Human development doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Rather, it is deeply rooted in, and affected by, culture.

This textbook examines how culture affects several domains of development, including cognition, emotion, sociolinguistics, peer relationships, family relationships, and more. 

The chapters highlight differences between “WEIRD” cultures (Western, educated, and from industrialized, rich, and democratic countries) and non-WEIRD cultures, as well as differences with respect to gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other identity markers. 

Each chapter draws upon a large research base and highlights specific studies to engage students, illustrate key points, and convey the role of empirical research in psychology. As a result, students will learn that the development of behavior, values, social relationships, ways of seeing the world, language, and thought processes cannot be understood separate from culture.

 

Jennifer E. Lansford is a Research Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy and Faculty Fellow of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. She earned her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Michigan. Dr. Lansford leads the Parenting Across Cultures Project, a longitudinal study of mothers, fathers, and children from China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. She has consulted for UNICEF on the evaluation of parenting programs in several low- and middle-income countries and on the development of a set of international standards for parenting programs. 

Doran C. French is a Professor at the Department of Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. He earned his PhD in child psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on child and adolescent social competence with an emphasis on peer relationships (social status, popularity, friendship, social networks), conflict, developmental psychology (substance use, aggression, and loneliness), and Islam and child development. His work for the past 20 years has addressed the cultural context of social competence with continuing research in Indonesia and China. 
 
Mary Gauvain is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. She received her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Utah. Dr. Gauvain is a developmental psychologist and her research investigates social and cultural contributions to cognitive development. She has studied children’s learning inside and outside of school, children’s knowledge of water and food contamination in the United States and Africa, and child development during cultural change. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science.
 

Preface: A Note to Instructors
Chapter 1. Development and Culture: Theoretical Perspectives 
Chapter 2. Methods for Studying Development and Culture
Chapter 3. Culture and Cognitive Development
Chapter 4. Sociolinguistics
Chapter 5. Culture and Emotional Development
Chapter 6. Culture, Child Development, and Family Relationships
Chapter 7. Culture and Peer Relationships
Chapter 8. Culture and Conflict Management During Childhood and Adolescence
Chapter 9. Development in Cultural Communities and Physical Spaces
Chapter 10. Culture and Time Use: Play, Work, School, and Leisure
Chapter 11. Culture and Academic Achievement
Chapter 12. Culture and Internalizing Symptomology: Shyness, Social Withdrawal, and Depression
Chapter 13. Culture and the Development of Aggression, Delinquency, and Substance Use
Chapter 14. Prosocial Behavior, Morality, and Positive Youth Development in Cultural Context
Chapter 15. Culture and the Transition to Adulthood
References
Appendix: Resources for Further Research