Jayanthi Mistry

Cultural variations in the play of toddlers

The present study examines differences in the social play of toddlers from four communities. Fourteen children, between the ages of 12 and 24 months, from four cultural communities (San Pedro, Guatemala; Kecioren, Turkey; Dhol-Ki-Patti, India; Salt Lake City, United States) participated in the study. This paper is based on an analysis of data from a larger study, which was designed to examine guided participation between caregivers and toddlers during daily routine activities (Rogoff, Mistry, Göncü, & Mosier, 1993). This study specifically examines episodes of social play which occurred during various activities. We addressed community differences in the occurrence, frequency, partners, and dynamics of social play. We also examined whether or not the kinds (i.e. pretend, object, physical, language, and games) and themes of children’s play varied as a function of the activity (i.e. exploring novel objects, dressing, free activity, and adult conversation) in which the play activities were embedded. The results indicated that social play occurred in each of the four communities, although the frequency and partners of social play presented cultural variations. Also, there were cultural variations in the numbers of children who engaged in the various kinds of play examined. Based on our results we conclude that developmental play theory should be extended to take into account cultural variation.

Navigating Cultural Worlds and Negotiating Identities: A Conceptual Model

For children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds the ability to maintain flexible identities and integrate multiple facets of self is a crucial developmental task. We present a conceptual model for the development of expertise in navigating across cultures, delineating how community characteristics interact with family and individual practices to create the conditions under which children develop expertise in navigating multiple cultural worlds and identities. Core constructs and propositions about the nature of relations are derived from a multidisciplinary review of extant scholarship. To illustrate an application of the model, we compare two waves of immigration to the US from the Indian subcontinent and derive potential hypotheses about how differences in immigration history and circumstances of settlement in the host country are associated with the processes of negotiating identities.

Memory Development in Cultural Context

This chapter describes perspectives on memory development provided by cross-cultural research and theory. We argue that the development of memory skill is closely tied to familiar tasks which children and adults practice and to the purpose for remembering the material. Furthermore, memory development is broadly situated in the social contexts and cultural institutions in which memory skills are practiced. Our perspective is that remembering serves practical goals (in memory tests and naturalistic memory activities alike) which organize, constrain, and support the individual’s performance through features of the task, its purpose, and the social and cultural contexts of remembering.

An Integrated Conceptual Framework for the Development of Asian American Children and Youth

The diversity of circumstances and developmental outcomes among Asian American children and youth poses a challenge for scholars interested in Asian American child development. This article addresses the challenge by offering an integrated conceptual framework based on three broad questions: (a) What are theory-predicated specifications of contexts that are pertinent for the development of Asian American children? (b) What are the domains of development and socialization that are particularly relevant? (c) How can culture as meaning-making processes be integrated in conceptualizations of development? The heuristic value of the conceptual model is illustrated by research on Asian American children and youth that examines the interconnected nature of specific features of context, pertinent aspects of development, and interpretive processes.

Improving Adolescent Parenting: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Home Visiting Program for Young Families

OBJECTIVES Our aim was to estimate the effects of Healthy Families Massachusetts, a statewide home visiting program serving first-time adolescent parents, on parenting, child development, educational attainment, family planning, and maternal health and well-being. METHODS We used a randomized controlled trial design to randomly assign the 704 participants to a group receiving home visiting services or a control group. Between 2008 and 2012, telephone and in-person interviews were conducted and administrative data obtained at 12 and 24 months after enrollment. Intention-to-treat analyses compared group differences across 5 outcome domains: parenting, child health and development, educational and economic achievement, family planning, and parental health and well-being. RESULTS The home visiting program had a positive influence on parenting stress, college attendance, condom use, intimate partner violence, and engagement in risky behaviors. No negative findings were observed. CONCLUSIONS A paraprofessional home visiting program specifically targeting young mothers appears effective in domains of particular salience to young parents and their infants and toddlers. Expanding participation in the program appears a worthy goal for program administrators and policymakers.

Cultural context in the development of children's narratives

Abstract This chapter describes a sociocultural perspective on the development of childrens narratives. childrens narrative development is considered to be broadly situated in the social contexts, cultural institutions, and practices in which narratives are created and shared with one another. More specifically, childrens narratives and their narrative skills are seen to be structured, constrained, and supported through features of the activity, its purpose, and the social and cultural contexts in which the narration occurs. The chapter begins with a section that defines narratives and presents a sociocultural perspective on the development of childrens narrative skills. This is followed by a discussion of research that examines and integrates differences in the narratives that children tell and the process by which they learn to tell these narratives

Early Childbearing and Educational Attainment Among Mainland Puerto Rican Teens

We report the results of a study about how early childbearing affected the educational trajectories of nine Puerto Rican teenage mothers living in New England. Raised largely on the mainland, participants chose to carry pregnancies to term and to participate in a parenting program for young mothers. Upon examination of shared meaning-making around childbearing, we found that, consistently, childbearing activated a family building script as the main task of motherhood. The pursuit of education as a developmental script was less consistent. We identified three approaches to reconciling the competing tasks of family building and educational attainment. “Successful jugglers” managed to do both, and even work at the same time. “Prioritizers” chose motherhood over education, either before or after childbearing. The two participants who did not follow a clear trajectory also happened to be the youngest in the study. Key factors contributing to each trajectory are presented.

Taking Stock and Moving Forward: Research on Asian American Child Development

With this Special Section, the Asian Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development seeks to promote a more inclusive, expanded, and holistic developmental science that can account for the diversity of developmental trajectories among Asian Americans. The articles elucidate, in turn, historical, conceptual, and methodological issues in studying Asian American child development. Although the articles foreground Asian Americans, the ideas should help advance theoretical and empirical work for other racial and ethnic groups, thereby contributing to a more valid understanding of child development.

Integrative Theoretical Perspectives: Nature and Processes of Development

Just as questions of developmental process are central to the study of human development, so too we might ask: What is the process of developmental change in theorizing about human development? Not many would argue with the role of the dialectic process as a critical mechanism underlying the development of theories. In this context, Raeff ’s [this issue] paper is a significant contribution and reflects the value of differentiation and integration as applied to theorizing about development. The more we are able to compare, distinguish, clarify, and synthesize constructs across varying theoretical perspectives, the better position we will be in to move towards integrative perspectives on human development. Although differentiation among developmental constructs represented in varying theoretical perspectives is a critical step in this process, I focus my comments on the promising convergence or integration among perspectives. In her paper, Raeff addressed two basic questions that must be addressed in a theory of development: the nature of and the process of development, or the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of development [Overton, 2006]. In defining the nature of development, Raeff argued that organismic-developmental theory’s orthogenetic principle of progression towards increasing differentiation and hierarchic integration [Werner, 1940/1980] offers a systematic framework for distinguishing between development and change. In addressing the second question regarding the process and mechanisms of developmental change, Raeff ’s integration of sociocultural perspectives and organismic-developmental theory is a particularly valuable synthesis for three reasons: (a) its person-in-environment conceptualization represents an integration of

Rapid Repeat Birth: Intersections Between Meaning-Making and Situational Support Among Multiparous Adolescent Mothers

This study examined interpretations of motherhood among adolescents who have experienced rapid repeat births (second births within 24 months of the primiparous birth). Analyses of participants’ descriptions of their transitions to motherhood indicate four modal narratives that vary along two axes: the adoption of a motherhood identity, and the nature (or stability) of relational support available. By using subjective perceptions of motivation, stability, and feelings of competence, this study linked intrapersonal meaning-making with situational sources of support to describe various pathways through repeat adolescent childbearing in a way that both confirms and enriches extant literature. The implications of this study instruct home visiting programs and other interventions designed to forestall repeat pregnancies by elucidating pathways of reinforcement or increased risk inherent in some maternal trajectories. Following this logic, interventions directed at improving outcomes for young mothers and their children would do well to consider the interplay between internal meaning-making, relational support, and the transformative power of adopting the mother identity.