Argues that children's toys and games contribute to representing and reinforcing dominant conceptions of appropriate social identities. Invites students to play a number of children's games in order to experience the "hidden agendas" concerning race, class, gender, and political socialization conveyed to them while they are playing. (DSK)

Examined intergroup and intragroup variations in Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers' beliefs regarding long-term socialization goals and in their organization of feeding, social play, teaching, and free play interactions. Found evidence of heterogeneity in cultural groups. In sub-communities defined by social class, cultural values were transformed in…

Examined role of social class in shaping contours of U.S. white and African American childhoods. Found that middle-class 7- to 10-year-old boys spent time in adult-organized activities stressing public performance and skill development, similar to their school activities, and paralleling the nature of their parents' work. Found working-class…

Described experiences of 84 German toddlers enrolled or not enrolled in child care. Found total amount of care per weekday did not differ by child-care status; child-care toddlers received lower care levels from center providers; their mothers engaged in more social interactions during nonworking hours than did mothers of home-only toddlers; and…

Posits that racial socialization and racial identity protect urban African American adolescents against some of the harmful effects of a discriminatory environment. These factors are hypothesized to influence academic achievement - an indicator of resiliency that has been used in many studies. Provides a theoretical framework that combines…

Argues that children and society as a whole have an inherent need for a cosmic story whose purpose is to provide insight into people's place in the universe. Describes the importance, role, and place for a cosmic storyteller in modern society. (SD)

Investigated ideas of 50 first-grade children from two different Nepali cultures (Tamang and Chhetri-Brahmin) regarding how they would feel and act in six emotionally challenging situations. Found significant cultural differences. Chhetri-Brahmin children were more likely to endorse negative emotions and to report masking negative emotion. These…

Observed toddlers' imitation and responses to maternal control. Found that girls imitated more than boys. Responsive imitation measures were coherent and longitudinally stable, and correlated significantly with responsiveness to maternal control. Suggested that a young child's willingness to imitate parent in a teaching context and to comply in a…

Presents the findings from two studies that demonstrate that parents' interactions, ego functioning, and moral reasoning are predictive of children's moral development. Illustrates the role of affective factors in moral socialization and the relevance of using real-life moral dilemmas in contrast to hypothetical ones. (CMK)

This article presents a conceptual model of the cognitive social bases of language derived from the philosophical view of constructionism and theoretical perspectives of speech act theory and relevance theory. The centrality of intent, modality and core issues of language, lack of construct validity in assessment, and heterogeneity are discussed.…

Investigates the relationship between family socialization processes, focusing on adaptability, cohesion, and parent-child communication, and adolescent moral thought. Used a sample of 271 Australian adolescents and their parents. Presents the findings. The results suggest that there is a relationship between family-socialization processes and…

Examined the effects of socialization and participation in community activism on female social work students' development of skills in leadership, influence, power use, and collaboration. Surveys and focus groups indicated that women had few opportunities to develop leadership skills until college and were uncomfortable with their power and…

This case study reports the effects of musical interaction therapy (MIT) on the social and symbolic development of a young autistic girl. MIT fosters interpersonal contact and joint attention by synchronizing live music to adult-child interactions. Results offer preliminary evidence that MIT facilitates playful joint action formats that generalize…

Reports on an interview with the new chair of NCLIS (National Commission on Library and Information Science), Jeanne Hurley Simon. Topics discussed include politicalization; relations with the American Library Association (ALA); White House Conferences on Libraries and Information Services; school libraries; advising the President and Congress;…

A parent deplores the overemphasis on socialization and collaboration in his son's seventh-grade classroom. He believes cooperative learning limits his son's educational opportunity, intellectual growth, and motivation to achieve. In the wake of corporate downsizing, there's even greater need for individual initiative and expertise. Social…