Culture and Human Development

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.

Introduction How Do We Create Knowledge of Cultural Human DevelopmentPART ONE: DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY AND METHODOLOGYStability and Flow in Human Experience Philosophical PreliminariesThe Developmental ApproachTheoretical Bases of Developmental and Cultural PsychologyCulture and DevelopmentDevelopmental Methodology in Cultural Development PsychologyPART TWO: ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTS FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENTStructure and Dynamics of Family/Kinship Groups and Marriage FormsCultural Organization of Human Life EnvironmentsPART THREE: CULTURAL ORGANIZATION OF PREGNANCY AND INFANCYCultural Nature of Parent-Offspring Differentiation during PregnancyNewborn and Infant Development The Cultural-Ecological NichePART FOUR: EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENTThe Second Year of Life and beyondSelf Regulation and Participation in Early ChildhoodPART FIVE: ENTERING THE WORLD OF ACTIVITIES - CULTURALLY RULEDPersonal Participation and Its Social-Institutional GuidanceAdolescence Moving through into Adulthood