Culture and class influences on Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers' beliefs regarding long-term socialization goals and child behavior.

These 2 studies examine culture and socioeconomic status as simultaneous possible sources for group differences in mothers' beliefs regarding desirable and undesirable long-term socialization goals and child behavior. In Study 1, 100 mothers of young toddlers aged 12-24 months from 5 sociocultural groups participated: middle- and lower-class Anglo, middle- and lower-class island Puerto Rican, and lower-class migrant Puerto Rican. Results indicate that culture and socioeconomic status contribute independently to group differences, but that cultural effects appear to be stronger. Study 2 examined cultural differences in perceptions of behaviors using middle-class Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers only. The findings support those of Study 1, suggesting that Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers place differential value on the constructs of Self-Maximization and Proper Demeanor, even when socioeconomic status is controlled for. The findings of these studies have important implications for the culturally sensitive study of the relation between parental beliefs and behaviors.

Culture and child behavior and psychosocial development.

This paper provides an overview of the relationship between cultural beliefs, values, practices, behavior, and psychosocial development. A framework for analyzing this relationship is presented, illustrated with studies from the cross-cultural literature. We then present a review of the literature concerning the cultural influences on one specific behavioral issue, temperament. We conclude with a critical discussion of the unique methodological issues encountered in the study of child behavior and psychosocial development in a cross-cultural and/or culturally diverse perspective.

The influence of culturally derived values on Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers' perceptions of attachment behavior.

This 2-part investigation examined indigenous concepts of desirable and undesirable attachment behavior among middle- and lower-class Anglo and lower-class Puerto Rican mothers in order to formulate culturally sensitive criteria of normative attachment behavior. Study 1 elicited indigenous concepts of desirable and undesirable attachment behavior using open-ended probes. On the basis of mothers' responses in Study 1, culturally sensitive vignettes of desirable and undesirable attachment behavior were constructed, and culturally relevant descriptors of toddler characteristics were selected. In Study 2, mothers' perceptions of the hypothetical toddlers were compared using the selected descriptors. The findings indicate that, whereas the Anglo mothers focus more on characteristics associated with the presence or absence of individual autonomy, the Puerto Rican mothers place more emphasis on the child's ability to maintain proper demeanor in a public context. These findings were coherent across mothers': (a) open-ended conceptualizations, (b) desirability ratings, and (c) descriptor ratings of the toddlers.

A conceptual framework for context-sensitive prevention programming: A symbolic interactionist perspective.

The rate of future progress in the field of prevention is dependent, in part, on the adoption of an overarching conceptual framework which will provide a sound theoretical basis for the development of multilevel, context-sensitive prevention programming. Two broad approaches to the study of culture (cultural adaptationism and symbolic interactionism) are examined and compared regarding their ability to provide such a framework. It is argued that symbolic interactionism provides a resolution to three issues which have proven problematic for cultural adaptationism: the issues of locus, scope, and cultural integrity. The advantages of symbolic interactionism for prevention programming include an emphasis on targeting both the individual and the multiple contexts in which the individual is embedded, a distinction between the contexts of poverty and ethnic heritage, and a focus on understanding, accommodating to, and explicitly teaching the interactional norms, strategies, and styles appropriate to different sociocultural contexts.

Promoting competent young people in competence-enhancing environments: a systems-based perspective on primary prevention.

Recent studies indicate that 15-22% of American children and adolescents suffer from diagnosable mental disorders. Researchers estimate that 25-50% engage in risk behaviors for negative health and behavior outcomes, such as drug abuse, unwanted pregnancy, AIDS, delinquency, and school dropout. The prevalence of problem behaviors, as well as current social trends, demands that effective primary prevention programs be developed and disseminated. This article reviews successful family-, school-, and community-based prevention efforts aimed at reducing the incidence and severity of children's psychosocial problems. High-quality, comprehensive, competence-promotion programs that focus on both children and their socializing environments represent the state of the art in prevention. Establishing enduring, effective preventive interventions requires increased attention to program design, implementation, and institutionalization.

Perceptions of social responsibilities in India and in the United States: moral imperatives or personal decisions?

Indian and American adults' and children's (N = 400) moral reasoning about hypothetical situations in which an agent failed to help someone experiencing either life-threatening, moderately serious, or minor need was compared. For 1/3 of Ss, the agent's relationship to the needy other was portrayed as that of parent; for another 1/3, as that of best friend; for the rest, as that of stranger. Indians tended to regard the failure to aid another in moral terms in all conditions. In contrast, Americans tended to view it in moral terms only in life-threatening cases or in cases of parents responding to the moderately serious needs of their children. The results imply that Indian culture forwards a broader and more stringent view of social responsibilities than does American culture. Discussion centers on theoretical implications of the various cultural, need, role, and developmental effects observed.