Biosocial Perspectives on Children

by Catherine Panter-Brick (Editor)

Overview

Childhood is a uniquely human life-stage, and is both a biological phenomenon and a social construct. Research on children is currently of wide-ranging interest. This groundbreaking book presents reviews of childhood from four major areas of interest—human evolution, sociology/social anthropology, biomedical anthropology and developmental psychology—to form a biosocial, cross-cultural understanding of childhood. The book places a strong emphasis on how childhood varies from culture to culture, offering examples from developed and developing countries, as well as from other animal species. It will be of interest to students and scholars within the fields of human biology, anthropology, sociology, health studies, and developmental psychology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521572972
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/30/1998
Series:	Biosocial Society Symposium Series , #10
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.55(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: biosocial research on children Catherine Panter-Brick; 2. Evolutionary and biological aspects of childhood Barry Bogin; 3. From the child's point of view: issues in the social construction of childhood Allison James; 4. Biological anthropology and child health: context, process and outcome Catherine Panter-Brick; 5. Child psychology and anthropology: an environmental view Robert A. LeVine; 6. The meeting of nature and nurture and the development of children: some conclusions Martin Richards; Glossary; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Good things often come in little packages. This is a book of four 'state-of-the-art' reviews encompassing childhood as a biological phenomenon, sociocultural phenomenon, biological variation and health, and psychological development." Human Biology

From the Publisher