Child Development in Cultural Context

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.