Product Description: This is a fully updated and revised edition of a book that bridges the gap between research and practice in the field of child and family psychology. Making Decisions About Children summarises our knowledge of the sorts of issues that are of concern of those working with children including the effects of maternal employment and of divorce, the implications of different family types and the comparative fitness of men and women as parents...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

This textbook provides an up-to-date account of our knowledge of social development. It is addressed to students of psychology and other social sciences with no or only limited knowledge of child development, and covers an age range up to and including adolescence. The content is organized according to themes, but these themes follow an approximate developmental progression. The central theme of Social Development is that of socialization - how an essentially biological being becomes transformed into a highly sophisticated social being. Whilst giving full attention to the older and well-established aspects of our knowledge of social development but also to more recent topics such as research on behavior genetics, children's theory of mind, post-infancy attachment development, and family dynamics. Throughout Professor Schaffer sets the findings within the context of the general aims and theoretical concerns that underpin the studies carried out, as well as of the methods used to obtain the knowledge gained. Due recognition is also given to the many practical implications of social development research for aspects such as day care, the development of anti-social behavior and family conflict. (view table of contents)

Product Description: 'This volume by one of the leading social and developmental psychologists in the field today is a tour de force. Always sound as well as critically astute, Professor Schaffer provides us with a very thoughtful and well-researched set of answers, gleaned from the scientific literature on child development and shaped for understanding by researchers and practitioners alike...read more