How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

Updated and expanded to 124 entries, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development remains the authoritative reference in the field.

This book examines the role of peer relationships in child and adolescent development by tracking research findings from the early 1900s to the present. Dividing the research into three generations, the book describes what has been learned about children's peer relations and how children's participation in peer relationships contributes to their health, adjustment, and achievement. Gary W. Ladd reviews and interprets the investigative focus and findings of distinct research eras to highlight theoretical or empirical breakthroughs in the study of children's peer relations and social competence over the last century. He also discusses how this information is relevant to understanding and promoting children's health and development. In a final chapter, the author appraises the major discoveries that have emerged during the three research generations and analyzes recent scientific agendas and discoveries in the peer relations discipline.

Scientists, educators, and parents of teens have long recognized the potency of peer influences on children and youth, but until recently, questions of how and why adolescents emulate their peers were largely overlooked. This book presents a comprehensive framework for understanding the processes by which peers shape each other's attitudes and behavior, and explores implications for intervention and prevention. Leading authorities share compelling findings on such topics as how drug use, risky sexual behavior, and other deviant behaviors "catch on" among certain peer groups or cliques; the social, cognitive, developmental, and contextual factors that strengthen or weaken the power of peer influence; and the nature of positive peer influences and how to support them.

Peer Groups and Children’s Development considers theexperiences of school-aged children with their peer groups and itsimplications for their social, personal and intellectualdevelopment Focuses on the peer group experiences of children attendingschool in Western societies, from five years of age through toadolescence Considers peer groups in classrooms, friendships made withinand outside of school, and the groups that children participate infor extra-curricular activities Includes a final summary which brings together the significantimplications for theory, policy and practice Unique in that no other volume reviews and integratesliterature relating to peer groups in both classroom andout-of-class settings Addresses the research interests of psychologists andeducationalists, as well as the practical concerns of teachers,parents, counsellors, and policy makers

A psychologist with a reputation for penetrating to the heart of complex parenting issues joins forces with a physician and bestselling author to tackle one of the most disturbing and misunderstood trends of our time -- peers replacing parents in the lives of our children. Dr. Neufeld has dubbed this phenomenon peer orientation, which refers to the tendency of children and youth to look to their peers for direction: for a sense of right and wrong, for values, identity and codes of behaviour. But peer orientation undermines family cohesion, poisons the school atmosphere, and fosters an aggressively hostile and sexualized youth culture. It provides a powerful explanation for schoolyard bullying and youth violence; its effects are painfully evident in the context of teenage gangs and criminal activity, in tragedies such as in Littleton, Colorado; Tabor, Alberta and Victoria, B.C. It is an escalating trend that has never been adequately described or contested until Hold On to Your Kids. Once understood, it becomes self-evident -- as do the solutions. Hold On to Your Kids will restore parenting to its natural intuitive basis and the parent-child relationship to its rightful preeminence. The concepts, principles and practical advice contained in Hold On to Your Kids will empower parents to satisfy their children’s inborn need to find direction by turning towards a source of authority, contact and warmth. Something has changed. One can sense it, one can feel it, just not find the words for it. Children are not quite the same as we remember being. They seem less likely to take their cues from adults, less inclined to please those in charge, less afraid of getting into trouble. Parenting, too, seems to have changed. Our parents seemed more confident, more certain of themselves and had more impact on us, for better or for worse. For many, parenting does not feel natural. Adults through the ages have complained about children being less respectful of their elders and more difficult to manage than preceding generations, but could it be that this time it is for real? -- from Hold On to Your Kids

This comprehensive, authoritative handbook covers the breadth of theories, methods, and empirically based findings on the ways in which children and adolescents contribute to one another's development. Leading researchers review what is known about the dynamics of peer interactions and relationships from infancy through adolescence. Topics include methods of assessing friendship and peer networks; early romantic relationships; individual differences and contextual factors in children's social and emotional competencies and behaviors; group dynamics; and the impact of peer relations on achievement, social adaptation, and mental health. Salient issues in intervention and prevention are also addressed.

"I enjoyed the book, learned a LOT, and LOVE her creativity in discussing different examples that help group constructs some to life. It represents the breadth of the new Group Communication Division in NCA better than any book I have seen." —David Seibold, University of California, Santa Barbara "I can unequivocally state that the proposed text is LONG overdue! Over the years I have reviewed several text proposals. SunWolf′s proposal ranks in the 99th percentile. . . . This is one of the most innovative, heuristic, pragmatic, and engaging proposals I have ever perused." —Jim L. Query, Jr., University of Houston "Peer Groups is different from the run-of-the-mill group text book. I can see that my students will learn so much more from Dr. SunWolf′s orientation than they have from the other books I′ve used. The benefits are that the topics related to [students′] practical world and that there is so much to foster in-class discussion. Although many students are familiar with the ′work world,′ they are not yet there. Dr. SunWolf provides them with what is relevant in their lives now!" —Audrey E. Kali, Framingham State College Clans, cliques, clubs, or classmates: Students of group communication should be encouraged to think critically about concepts to the groups that matter to them most—peers. Peer Groups is the first textbook to explore group communication dynamics with this vital group. Drawing on a combination of traditional and new theories, Dr. SunWolf uses an inviting writing style, shares the words and provocative thinking of real world group members, and draws on research from social psychology, communication, and group dynamics. This innovative book offers suggestions for critical thinking and new behaviors in students′ own peer groups and will inspire further exploration of small group dynamics. Features and Benefits Introduces students and researchers to cutting-edge cross-disciplinary thinking with new theories that explain group dynamics and member behaviors: Symbolic-Interpretive Perspective, Group Dialectics, Decisional Regret Theory, Social Comparison Theory, and the Bona Fide Group Perspective Examines the dynamics of real world peer groups: children′s play groups, adolescence cliques, street gangs, elite hot task groups, and decision-making juries Generates readers′ interest in studying group behaviors by drawing upon students′ personal experiences with groups Brings marginalized groups and ethnicities to the stage, from African American cowboys to multi-ethnic street gangs, including the painful issue of those left out of peer groups Offers a student-friendly reference guide with an extensive and easy-to-read table that summarizes group concepts and theories Guides classroom discussion, triggers critical thinking, and suggests useful written assignments and tools for break-out discussions with end-of-chapter sections Intended Audience This accessible and innovative text is designed for undergraduate students of Communication, Social Psychology, and Sociology. It is designed to supplement and partner with any current group textbook, as well as act as a stand-alone text. Dr. SunWolf is a scholar of unusual breadth and depth. She is a cross-disciplinary scholar in the fields of legal communication, persuasion, multicultural storytelling, social exclusion, and group decision making. Her national award-winning productivity in the past five years has been astonishing: the publication of five books, 22 journal articles or book chapters, a published educational DVD, and serving on the editorial board of five journals. Dr. SunWolf broke new ground by publishing in a top journal a new theory of communication (Decisional Regret Theory), expanding the field of small group communication to include the study of childhood group processes, gathering data from 680 adolescents in the Bay Area, as well as being the first author in trial advocacy to devote sustained attention to jurors′ religious beliefs and the role of empathy and compassion in jury deliberations.

An interdisciplinary group of researchers from developmental, clinical and educational backgrounds identify issues and present major findings on the effects of peer relationships in childhood and adolescence. They examine social behaviour, emotional development, school performance and other issues.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.