The essential reference for human development theory, updated and reconceptualized The Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, a four-volume reference, is the field-defining work to which all others are compared. First published in 1946, and now in its Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been considered the definitive guide to the field of developmental science. Volume 4: Ecological Settings and Processes in Developmental Systems is centrally concerned with the people, conditions, and events outside individuals that affect children and their development. To understand children's development it is both necessary and desirable to embrace all of these social and physical contexts. Guided by the relational developmental systems metatheory, the chapters in the volume are ordered them in a manner that begins with the near proximal contexts in which children find themselves and moving through to distal contexts that influence children in equally compelling, if less immediately manifest, ways. The volume emphasizes that the child's environment is complex, multi-dimensional, and structurally organized into interlinked contexts; children actively contribute to their development; the child and the environment are inextricably linked, and contributions of both child and environment are essential to explain or understand development. Understand the role of parents, other family members, peers, and other adults (teachers, coaches, mentors) in a child's development Discover the key neighborhood/community and institutional settings of human development Examine the role of activities, work, and media in child and adolescent development Learn about the role of medicine, law, government, war and disaster, culture, and history in contributing to the processes of human development The scholarship within this volume and, as well, across the four volumes of this edition, illustrate that developmental science is in the midst of a very exciting period. There is a paradigm shift that involves increasingly greater understanding of how to describe, explain, and optimize the course of human life for diverse individuals living within diverse contexts. This Handbook is the definitive reference for educators, policy-makers, researchers, students, and practitioners in human development, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and neuroscience.

The essential reference for human development theory, updatedand reconceptualizedThe Handbook of Child Psychology and DevelopmentalScience, a four-volume reference, is the field-defining work towhich all others are compared. First published in 1946, and now inits Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been consideredthe definitive guide to the field of developmental science.Volume 4: Ecological Settings and Processes in DevelopmentalSystems is centrally concerned with the people, conditions, andevents outside individuals that affect children and theirdevelopment. To understand children's development it is bothnecessary and desirable to embrace all of these social and physicalcontexts. Guided by the relational developmental systemsmetatheory, the chapters in the volume are ordered them in a mannerthat begins with the near proximal contexts in which children findthemselves and moving through to distal contexts that influencechildren in equally compelling, if less immediately manifest, ways.The volume emphasizes that the child's environment is complexmulti-dimensional, and structurally organized into interlinkedcontexts; children actively contribute to their development; thechild and the environment are inextricably linked, andcontributions of both child and environment are essential toexplain or understand development.* Understand the role of parents, other family members, peersand other adults (teachers, coaches, mentors) in a child'sdevelopment* Discover the key neighborhood/community and institutionalsettings of human development* Examine the role of activities, work, and media in child andadolescent development* Learn about the role of medicine, law, government, war anddisaster, culture, and history in contributing to the processes ofhuman developmentThe scholarship within this volume and, as well, across the fourvolumes of this edition, illustrate that developmental science isin the midst of a very exciting period. There is a paradigm shiftthat involves increasingly greater understanding of how todescribe, explain, and optimize the course of human life fordiverse individuals living within diverse contexts. ThisHandbook is the definitive reference for educatorspolicy-makers, researchers, students, and practitioners in humandevelopment, psychology, sociology, anthropology, andneuroscience.

Foreword to the Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, Seventh Edition viiPreface xvVolume 4 Preface xxiiiContributors xxv1 CHILDREN IN BIOECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES OF DEVELOPMENT 1Marc H. Bornstein and Tama Leventhal2 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN TIME AND PLACE 6Glen H. Elder Jr., Michael J. Shanahan, and Julia A. Jennings3 CHILDREN'S PARENTS 55Marc H. Bornstein4 CHILDREN IN DIVERSE FAMILIES 133Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman, and Luke T. Russell5 CHILDREN IN PEER GROUPS 175Kenneth H. Rubin, William M. Bukowski, and Julie C. Bowker6 EARLY CHILDCARE AND EDUCATION 223Margaret Burchinal, Katherine Magnuson, Douglas Powell, and Sandra Soliday Hong7 CHILDREN AT SCHOOL 268Robert Crosnoe and Aprile D. Benner8 CHILDREN'S ORGANIZED ACTIVITIES 305Deborah Lowe Vandell, Reed W. Larson, Joseph L. Mahoney, and Tyler W. Watts9 CHILDREN AT WORK 345Jeremy Staff, Arnaldo Mont'Alvao, and Jeylan T. Mortimer10 CHILDREN AND DIGITAL MEDIA 375Sandra L. Calvert11 CHILDREN IN DIVERSE SOCIAL CONTEXTS 416Velma McBride Murry, Nancy E. Hill, Dawn Witherspoon, Cady Berkel, and Deborah Bartz12 CHILDREN'S HOUSING AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS 455Robert H. Bradley13 CHILDREN IN NEIGHBORHOODS 493Tama Leventhal, Véronique Dupéré, and Elizabeth A. Shuey14 CHILDREN AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS 534Greg J. Duncan, Katherine Magnuson, and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal15 CHILDREN IN MEDICAL SETTINGS 574Barry Zuckerman and Robert D. Keder16 CHILDREN AND THE LAW 616Elizabeth Cauffman, Elizabeth Shulman, Jordan Bechtold, and Laurence Steinberg17 CHILDREN AND GOVERNMENT 654Kenneth A. Dodge and Ron Haskins18 CHILDREN INWAR AND DISASTER 704Ann S. Masten, Angela J. Narayan, Wendy K. Silverman, and Joy D. Osofsky19 CHILDREN AND CULTURAL CONTEXT 746Jacqueline J. Goodnow and Jeanette A. Lawrence20 CHILDREN IN HISTORY 787Peter N. Stearns21 ASSESSING BIOECOLOGICAL INFLUENCES 811Theodore D. WachsAuthor Index 847Subject Index 887