更新日:2013/06/13
The context of early childhood: Family, culture, and policy – family decision making
Marguerite (Peg) Barratt, Dean and Professor of Psychology, Fulbright Research Scholar
The George Washington University & Kyoto University
Abstract:
The multiple influences on children, as conceptualized by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model (1979), provide a useful framework for understanding early childhood in various cultures. With a focus on the family (microsystem), institutions (mesosystem), policies (exosystem), and culture (macrosystem), this project will examine the context of early childhood in Japan, and make cross-cultural comparisons with the United States. The proposed research will use my earlier work in the US (Barratt & Fener, 2010) as the empirical foundation for a careful and systematic consideration of policy and practice related to early childhood in Japan.
This policy framework will serve as the foundation for the second part of this research, an empirical study that focuses on the factors that influences parent choices for their young children. A Japan/US/France comparative study on breastfeeding that I have been involved with provides an additional foundation (Negayama, Norimatsu, Barratt & Bouville, 2012). Conversations with families, and those who work with them, may lead to a questionnaire study will assess the influences on parental decision-making. Areas of interest include, for example, breastfeeding, weaning, sleep practices, inoculations, and reading to children.
Why is it important? Understanding the factors that influence parent choices to follow recommendations can inform efforts to optimize children’s development. Deeper understanding of cross-cultural influences will emerge.
