One of the myths about families in inner-city neighborhoods is that they are characterized by poor parenting. Sociologist Frank Furstenberg and his colleagues explode this and other misconceptions about success, parenting, and socioeconomic advantage in "Managing to Make It." This unique study the first in the MacArthur Foundation Studies on Successful Adolescent Development series focuses on how and why youth are able to overcome social disadvantages.
Based on nearly 500 interviews and case studies of families in inner-city Philadelphia, "Managing to Make It" lays out in detail the...

Each generation of American children across the tumultuous twentieth century has come of age in a very different world and under the influence of different major historical events such as war or the depression. Now in paperback, Children in Time and Place brings together social historians and developmentalists to explore the implications of a changing society for children's growth and life chances. Transitions provide a central theme, from historical transitions to the social transitions of children and their developmental experiences. Children in Time and Place begins with studies that link...

Developmental Science provides an account of the basic principles of the new developmental synthesis, as formulated by the Carolina Consortium on Human Development. Based on a collaborative statement, individual chapters outline implications of the orientation for method and theory in traditional disciplines. The chapters address specific developmental issues, varying across time frames, methodologies, disciplines, cultures and even species. They provide an inside look at the issues that confront modern social and behavioral study, including its strengths and problems.

Developmental Science provides an account of the basic principles of the new developmental synthesis, as formulated by the Carolina Consortium on Human Development. Based on a collaborative statement, individual chapters outline implications of the orientation for method and theory in traditional disciplines. The chapters address specific developmental issues, varying across time frames, methodologies, disciplines, cultures and even species. They provide an inside look at the issues that confront modern social and behavioral study, including its strengths and problems.

What are the most effective methods for doing life-course research? In this volume, the field's founders and leaders answer this question, giving readers tips on: the art and method of the appropriate research design; the collection of life-history data; and the search for meaningful patterns to be found in the results.

Although the growth of longitudinal data archives is one of the most dramatic developments in the behavioural sciences, there has been a barrier to the effective use of these files due to a lack of understanding of the relation between research questions and archival data - until now. The authors of this volume illustrate how to use the model-fitting process to select and fit the right data set to a particular research problem. Beginning with an introduction to the general issues in working with archival data, the book takes the reader through steps in the recasting of data and question,...

In this highly acclaimed work first published in 1974, Glen H. Elder Jr. presents the first longitudinal study of a Depression cohort. He follows 167 individuals born in 19201921 from their elementary school days in Oakland, California, through the 1960s. Using a combined historical, social, and psychological approach, Elder assesses the influence of the economic crisis on the life course of his subjects over two generations. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this classic study includes a new chapter on the war years entitled, Beyond Children of the Great Depression. "

A century ago, most Americans had ties to the land. Now only one in fifty is engaged in farming and little more than a fourth live in rural communities. Though not new, this exodus from the land represents one of the great social movements of our age and is also symptomatic of an unparalleled transformation of our society.
In "Children of the Land," the authors ask whether traditional observations about farm families-strong intergenerational ties, productive roles for youth in work and social leadership, dedicated parents and a network of positive engagement in church, school, and...