Deconstructing Developmental Psychology

by Burman, Erica

• ISBN13: 9780415064385
• ISBN10: 0415064384
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-05-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Deconstructing Developmental Psychologycritically examines the theories, methods and political preoccupations that underpin developmental psychology. Erica Burman argues that the selection of ''the child' as the unit of development removes the process of development from historical and socio-political conditions. Analyzing the context of the work of Piaget, Bowlby, behaviorism and the child-centered approach, the book shows how developmental psychology pathologizes those individuals and groups which do not meet its idealized models and illustrates the gender and cultural assumptions built into much work on the subject.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction	p. 1
Origins	p. 9
Constructing the subject
Researching infancy	p. 23
Attributing sociality	p. 35
Discourses of the child	p. 48
Social development and the structure of caring
Familiar assumptions	p. 65
Bonds of love - dilemmas of attachment	p. 77
The rise of 'fathering'	p. 94
Developing communication
Language talk	p. 107
Discourses of caregiving talk	p. 124
Language and power in developmental research	p. 138
Cognitive development: the making of rationality
The production of Piagetian psychology	p. 151
Piaget and child-centred education	p. 163
Morality and the goals of development	p. 177
References	p. 190
Name index	p. 207
Subject index	p. 212
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