Human Development

First Published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

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.

Offering a study of biological, biomedical and biocultural approaches, this book is suitable for researchers, professors and graduate students across the interdisciplinary area of human development. It is presented in the form of lectures to facilitate student programming.

A new edition of a classic text This new edition of Human Development has been thoroughly revised and updated to incorporate recent developments in the field. New material is introduced on the development of a sense of self, the social self and moral development. Beginning with a discussion of birth and childhood, the reader is lead through each of the crucial stages in human development. The authors reveal the intricate interplay between physical, emotional and psychological factors that contribute to the individual patterns of development that make each of us unique. All of the major milestones of life are covered, including adolescence, work, parenthood and old age. Employing psychoanalytic theories of development, this book reveals the richness that these ideas bring to well-known everyday phenomena. This highly accessible and jargon-free introduction to human development combines scientific objectivity with a sensitive and sympathetic approach to the subject. It will prove invaluable to anyone involved in the helping professions.

This is an examination of the link between human development and behavior in a context, leisure, that has been described as encompassing one third of people's time. This text examines human development as it affects and is affected by leisure -- what people do when they are relatively free to choose their behaviors. Douglas Kleiber and Francis McGuire, two highly respected academics, developed this book around age-based periods of life. The authors assert that leisure relates to human development in three fundamental ways: human development influences leisure behaviour, leisure behaviors influence development, leisure plays a role in moderating the effects of life events. In developing these themes, the authors have invited highly qualified academics to draw on their expertise in fleshing them out, not only by age and life stage but also by activity themes that carry across the life cycle. The book approaches the topic of leisure across the lifespan from a developmental perspective: the orderly, patterned, enduring trajectory of life. A central idea of this book is that both theories for developmental psychology and research findings can lead to practical application -- the so what question is addressed throughout the book. Thus, even though it is a book bounded by developmental theory, it is immediately useful for the student (or anyone else) seeking to understand leisure in everyday life across the lifespan. The authors of these chapters imply, both directly and indirectly, that leisure can be and is identity producing. This is an important book, edited and written by leading authors in the field. It will find a lasting readership among all those interested in understanding and improving human development.

This Second Edition is a bestselling introduction to emotional, psychological, intellectual and social development throughout the lifespan. Written for students training in fields such as social work, healthcare and education, the book covers topics which are central to understanding people whether they are clients, service users, patients, or pupils. For this Second Edition, a new chapter has been added (Chapter 10: It Takes a Village: the Sociological Perspective) exploring the wider social factors which influence human growth and development. Activities are provided within each chapter to help student test theoretical concepts against their own experience and intuitions.