Socialization [antikvár]

Editorial Foreword This book forms part of the Penguin Modem Psychology series. Each of these books is written by an active research worker and provides an up-to-date and rigorous account of part of the subject. Socialization is a central area of psychology, a meeting point of social learning, psychoanalysis and ethology, in particular. It is also of course a field of the greatest practical importance to parents and educators. There is a large 'classical' literature on socialization, but recent developments in research methods and theory have totally transformed this field. Kurt Danziger has produced a very thoughtful and interesting account of the present state of knowledge. He is rightly critical of earlier work which depended on correlations between parent behaviour and child behaviour; these did not separate the influence of parents on children from the influence of children on parents. Much of this work has failed to be replicated, and it is now known that 'dependence' and 'aggressiveness' are not unitary traits; furthermore, mothers have been found to be very unreliable reporters of what happens in families. Kiirt Danziger places more emphasis on studies which avoid these fallacies, such as experimental studies of modelling, and the effects of separation. The book also reflects recent important developments in the conceptual analysis of socialization. In place of psychoanalytic explanations and simple forms of learning theory, he makes use of theories of imitation and attachment, of two-way relationships in the family, and of the processes involved in the development of cognitive styles, morals, and sex roles. The book also places socialization in a wider setting by considering the effect of factors outside the family such as peer groups, differences between social classes, and variations between different cultures and historical periods. M. A. . ¦'y'^'w-1' . * : Î i