This textbook offers a unique insight into the theoretical and applied aspects of human development in relation to the cultural traditions of non-Western countries. Presented in a modular form, this comprehensive and thematic approach to lifespan development will help students develop an understanding of human development in varied Indian social contexts. Covering all stages of development including the development of self and personality, social understanding, human strengths, sustainable development, lifelong learning, and many more, the book highlights current research in these areas as well as provides learning objectives, points for reflection, web links, and a glossary. This book is an essential reading for undergraduate students of psychology, human development, and allied fields, as well as for postgraduates with an interest in studying human development in a non-Western context.

The final volume in this significant series, this publication mirrors the broad scientific attention given to ideas and issues associated with the life-span perspective: constancy and change in human development; opportunities for and constraints on plasticity in structure and function across life; the potential for intervention across the entire life course (and thus for the creation of an applied developmental science); individual differences (diversity) in life paths, in contexts (or the ecology) of human development, and in changing relations between people and contexts; interconnections and discontinuities across age levels and developmental periods; and the importance of integrating biological, psychological, social, cultural, and historical levels of organization in order to understand human development.

Here is a book that challenges the very basis of the way psychologists have studied child development. According to Urie Bronfenbrenner, one of the world's foremost developmental psychologists, laboratory studies of the child's behavior sacrifice too much in order to gain experimental control and analytic rigor. Laboratory observations, he argues, too often lead to "the science of the strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible periods of time." To understand the way children actually develop, Bronfenbrenner believes that it will be necessary to observe their behavior in natural settings, while they are interacting with familiar adults over prolonged periods of time. This book offers an important blueprint for constructing such a new and ecologically valid psychology of development. The blueprint includes a complete conceptual framework for analysing the layers of the environment that have a formative influence on the child. This framework is applied to a variety of settings in which children commonly develop, ranging from the pediatric ward to daycare, school, and various family configurations. The result is a rich set of hypotheses about the developmental consequences of various types of environments. Where current research bears on these hypotheses, Bronfenbrenner marshals the data to show how an ecological theory can be tested. Where no relevant data exist, he suggests new and interesting ecological experiments that might be undertaken to resolve current unknowns. Bronfenbrenner's groundbreaking program for reform in developmental psychology is certain to be controversial. His argument flies in the face of standard psychological procedures and challenges psychology to become more relevant to the ways in which children actually develop. It is a challenge psychology can ill-afford to ignore.

This book address fundamental questions of human development, revisiting old questions and applying original empirical findings.

Pathways of Human Development uses theoretical perspectives from developmental, social, and behavioral sciences to examine the many ways that individuals, families, and communities intersect and interface. Focusing on the impact of change on human development, including its antecedents, processes, and consequences, the chapters examine a range of topics such as health and adaptation; social anxiety disorder; protective factors and risk behaviors; parent-child relationships; adolescent sexuality; intergenerational relationships; family stress and adaptation; and community resilience. By extending human development theorizing across these pivotal life-changing issues, this volume offers a comprehensive map of the trajectories of development among individuals, families, and communities.

A comprehensive, systematic account of human development which is sensitive to the needs, interests and ecologies of nonwestern cultures and individuals is provided in this unique volume. The importance and value of the sociocultural milieu in shaping the growth and development of children is emphasized, and the author asserts throughout that children do not grow and develop according to the same patterns regardless of culture. The author describes developmental psychology from the perspective of West Africa, demonstrating how the local ecology and the resulting cultural ideology lead to differing ways in which children are conceptualized and socialized, and in turn how they develop. While much of his case material is from

The Encyclopedia of Adolescence breaks new ground as an important central resource for the study of adolescence. Comprehensive in breath and textbook in depth, the Encyclopedia of Adolescence – with entries presented in easy-to-access A to Z format – serves as a reference repository of knowledge in the field as well as a frequently updated conduit of new knowledge long before such information trickles down from research to standard textbooks. By making full use of Springer’s print and online flexibility, the Encyclopedia is at the forefront of efforts to advance the field by pushing and creating new boundaries and areas of study that further our understanding of adolescents and their place in society. Substantively, the Encyclopedia draws from four major areas of research relating to adolescence. The first broad area includes research relating to "Self, Identity and Development in Adolescence". This area covers research relating to identity, from early adolescence through emerging adulthood; basic aspects of development (e.g., biological, cognitive, social); and foundational developmental theories. In addition, this area focuses on various types of identity: gender, sexual, civic, moral, political, racial, spiritual, religious, and so forth. The second broad area centers on "Adolescents’ Social and Personal Relationships". This area of research examines the nature and influence of a variety of important relationships, including family, peer, friends, sexual and romantic as well as significant nonparental adults. The third area examines "Adolescents in Social Institutions". This area of research centers on the influence and nature of important institutions that serve as the socializing contexts for adolescents. These major institutions include schools, religious groups, justice systems, medical fields, cultural contexts, media, legal systems, economic structures, and youth organizations. "Adolescent Mental Health" constitutes the last major area of research. This broad area of research focuses on the wide variety of human thoughts, actions, and behaviors relating to mental health, from psychopathology to thriving. Major topic examples include deviance, violence, crime, pathology (DSM), normalcy, risk, victimization, disabilities, flow, and positive youth development.