Showing papers by "Jaan Valsiner published in 1989"

Child development in cultural context

Abstract: The study of child development has emerged in the context of Western society, with the practical needs and social norms of this culture dominating the field. Consequently, the development of children within Western culture has come to be considered the norm for all children, regardless of how different their economic and cultural environments might be. Such a viewpoint often leads to narrow or possibly misleading conclusions about what is "natural". This volume combines approaches from anthropology and cross-cultural psychology to explore means of making developmental psychology much more culture-inclusive: that is, considering the reciprocal, ongoing relationship between culture and individual development.

Dependent-Independence in Adult-Child Relationships

Abstract: Investigation of children’s participation in and understanding of their world presumes that the developing child acts within a structured social context—his or her environment. This environment, and the social others that are a part of it, organize the set of possible psychological actions available to the child at a given time.1 However, children’s actions themselves change this environment and in so doing create opportunities for actions that were not previously available.