Leonore Loeb Adler

Adler and Gielen developed this volume to add the voices of a prominent international group of cross-culturally oriented psychologists to the worldwide debate on migration. Contributors to the book analyze worldwide configurations of migration, fundamental psychosocial factors involved in immigration and emigration, and patterns of migration from and to 16 nations and regions around the globe.The richly varied contributions focus on immigration to the United States from areas as varied as Mexico, the Caribbean, and Ireland, migrations in Colombia, immigrant families in Germany, Poland, and Norway, and migration from and into Japan, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Australia, and the Phillippines. Of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with migration, ethnic groups, and international psychology.

This is a unique presentation of systems of traditional healing from around the world. It provides information about the concept of healing from many different cultural perspectives and explores the application of these cultural perspectives to modern psychotherapeutic and health care settings. The last decade has seen a literal explosion of data that support the idea that states of mind have consistent and demonstrable effects on physical health. With examples that examine traditional and modern healing systems in many different cultures around the world, this work demonstrates that most cultures perceive illness as a dislocation of the individual from his or her communal context. The healing process is effected through contextualizing the individual in community by ritual, ceremony, trance, pilgrimage, and family practices. Traditional healing systems are shown to have particular importance relating to modern medical responses to mental illness.

Under the aegis of the two grandes dames of international studies in psychology, 23 experts examine violence in all of its multivarious forms around the world. They find that it is present in practically every society, at every socioeconomic level, and in every age group. The first group of essays look at violence as a societal phenomenon—its motivational aspects as related to, for example, terrorism or machismo. The second group of essays discuss violence involving children—incest, trauma, delinquency, school violence, and the death penalty for youths. The last section looks at adult violence, particularly within the family. Marital violence, domestic violence, substance abuse, women and crime, and maltreatment of elders are all presented. The consensus of the study is that the eradication of violence is essential to a better world and is possible. Proof of its possibility is given in the concluding description of life in Ladakh, a peaceable society of Tibetans in northwestern India.

This valuable and unique reference surveys and synthesizes information on gender roles in more than thirty countries from around the world. Each chapter is devoted to a single country, and the chapters are arranged in alphabetical order for ease of use. All of the chapters are written from the perspective of experts who have lived and worked in the countries profiled. To foster cross-national comparisons, each chapter follows the same format, including an introduction and contextual overview; gender roles in infancy and childhood, school years, young adulthood, adulthood, and old age; and a summary and conclusions. The design of the chapters traces the development of gender roles across the life-cycle and affords an additional opportunity for comparing data. This reference will be of interest to anyone concerned with gender issues, psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

This unique collection contains original chapters covering seventeen different countries and cultures from every area of the inhabited world. Each chapter examines the role of women in the society under study and is written by a contributor who provides an insider's point of view on women's experience in that culture. Taken together, these essays provide an important opportunity to compare and contrast how women around the globe function and live. The profiles range from detailed descriptions of women in traditional communities through in-depth examinations of women's rapidly evolving roles in advanced industrial societies. By identifying the diversities and commonalities of the female experience and taking into account the different cultures, climates, customs, manners, lifestyles, and stages of economic development, these chapters provide new ways of understanding how the relationship between gender and culture affects the human experience. Following an introduction by the editor, each chapter addresses women's experience in a particular country or region. Most include a short historical background sketch, followed by an extended life-span exposition of women in a chronological sequence from infancy and school years through marriage and childbirth, adulthood, and aging. Among the issues addressed by the contributors are the impact of greater educational opportunities for women, a comparison of the role of education among Muslim and Hindu women, as well as female circumcision, the achievement of dominance by women in Tharu households in India, the progress toward gender equality in various parts of the world, the effect of cultural belief systems on women's roles, and more. The countries and regions studied range from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Great Britain, Poland, the Soviet Union, and Israel to Egypt, Nigeria, India, China, Japan, the insular Pacific, and Australia. Invaluable as a set of readings for courses in women's and ethnic studies, this volume provides significant new insights into the evolving cultural perceptions of women's role in society.

In this thought provoking book, Leonare Loeb Adler threads together 26 empirical studies that originated in diverse geographical areas. These studies present a comparison and greater understanding of the behavior of people living in a variety of different cultures. The focus on the book is well expressed in Dr. Adler's introduction in which she states that cross-cultural research recognizes that while the discovery of differences may be significant, the findings of similarities provide even more meaningful information. This book focuses on a variety of current cross-cultural and cross-ethic issues, which are pertinent to specific ages and stages in a life-span perspective. The broad interests and common concerns discussed are shared by people everywhere. Students and scholars in all the political and social science disciplines will find Cross-Cultural Studies in Human Development a source of stimulating ideas.The book begins with a focus on childhood issues, including a Piagetian cognitive study in a Third World country. A report on a new test which assesses early and late stages of development in young school children of different cultures is followed by a chapter discussing applied behavior analysis in dealing with children in the classroom. In addition, there is a chapter on social concerns in childhood development. The second part of this book studies normal as well as handicapped adolescents in different cultures and presents detailed discussions on current issues such as therapeutic management of drug addiction as well as moral development. Part Three focuses on adulthood. The contributors address a wide range of topics including gender issues, attitudes toward extended family members, filial obligations to the elderly, and coming to terms with the death of a parent. Studies of topics important to the elderly complete this book's life-span perspective. The final section examines friendship and social support among old people in cross-cultural and cross-ethnic comparisons. Other chapters deal with disabilities and depression among the elderly, as well as a study of caregivers and counselors.