Human Behavior and Social Environments

Preface Introduction Philosophical principles Conceptual frameworks Integrative themes Paradigms, postmodernism, and possibilities M & M dialogue Meaning-making Self Culture Story, connection, ritual and myth M & M dialogue Strengths and Resilience Strengths and resilience: images of altruism and humanity Power in the people: Strengths and hope M & M dialogue Biopsychosocial Understanding Human nature and the human condition Genes and experience: The case of temperament The brain and behavior: The biopsychosocial view M & M dialogue Nature and Nurture; Neurons and Narratives Nature and nurture: How necessary are parents? Nature Nurture Neurons and narratives: A biopsychosocial understanding of mental illness M & M dialogues Theories: Part I The elements of theory Part/whole analysis Psychodynamic theory Critique of psychodynamic theory M & M dialogues Theories: Part II Ecological theory Critique of ecological theory Cognitive theory Cognitive theories and the environment Critique of cognitive approaches Radical/critical theory The terms and conditions of radical/critical theory Critique of radical/critical theory Conclusion M & M dialogues Families: The Variety of Us The family and society today: What's up? The family and community What are families for? The care and feeding of infants Socialization What is a family? Nuclear family A note on social class and family Single-parent families Extended families Dual earner families Remarried families Couples Gay and lesbian families Family resilience Conclusion M & M Dialogue Growing Up in the Community and World: Part I A contextual model of family transition and adaptation Becoming partners and being a couple I love your genes A new human being joins the family Culture: Africentric childrearing The early processes that make us human Culture, again Where's dad? When things go awry Being homeless Conclusion M & M dialogue Growing up in the Family and Community: Part II Middle childhood: The forgotten years Moral development Peers and groups Siblings School and family; play and work Meaning and community A note on ADHD Conclusion M & M dialogue Growing Up in the Family and Community: Part III Sturm and drang or "the romance of risk" Identity formation: Gender and culture Gender and identity Sexuality Risks and resiliency: The family and community Violence and the neighborhood Adolescents and community Adolescents and family Family and community and understanding and intervening Conclusion M & M dialogue Coming of Age and Old Age in Family and Community Maturity: Love, work, connection, and closure Theories of the adult development of maturity Borysenko Levinson Contextual/constructionist view Generational differences Some important moments in adult life Leaving home Boomerang babies Love and work together Love and mating: the coming together of body, mind and culture Work Becoming a citizen: family and community Coming of (older) age in America Successful aging Dying and death Conclusion M & M dialogue Reprise, Vision and the Final Conversation Reprise Spirituality The ordinariness of everyday life Multiculturalism Technology The global village Organizations: Culture and behavior Context So what is the good life, anyway? The heroic and the common Some elements of a life worth living Conclusion The final M & M dialogue