Summary
Contents
Subject index
This major new textbook by Jaan Valsiner focuses on the interface between cultural psychology and developmental psychology. Intended for students from undergraduate level upwards, the book provides a wide-ranging overview of the cultural perspective on human development, with illustrations from pre-natal development to adulthood. A key feature is the broad coverage of theoretical and methodological issues which have relevance to this truly interdisciplinary field of enquiry encompassing developmental psychology, cultural anthropology and comparative sociology. The text is organized into five coherent parts: Part 1: Developmental theory and methodology; Part 2: Analysis of environments for human development Part 3:
Early Childhood Development
Once the child has survived the most vulnerable first year of life, the collective-cultural system slowly guides him or her in the direction of a gender-appropriate self-development trajectory. Aside from the usually assumed two trajectories - male and female - there are numerous intermediate versions of gendered self-constructions at the personal-cultural level of parents. This multiplicity is reduced by the collective-cultural two-part (male < >female) or three-part (male < > uncertain < >female) classifications. The social world of adults is oriented towards guidance of individuals into the two (or three) channels of self-development. The individuals nevertheless create their own personal developmental trajectory, precisely with the help of the propensity towards persistent imitation (see Baldwin, in Chapter 3). It is through ...
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