San Jose State University

CD 162: Childhood and Adolescence in a Mulitcultural Society.
Spring 2000: Tuesdays/Thursdays 1:30-2:45 SH 311

Instructor:	Maureen Smith

Office: Sweeney Hall: Room 321
Office Phone: 408-924-3774
e-mail: msmith18@email.sjsu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday: 3:00-4:15; Wednesday: 10:30-12:00 & by appointment

Required Reading: 		
Berk, L. E (Ed.) (1999). Landscapes of Development: An anthology of readings. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Taylor, R. W., & Wang, M. C. (Eds.) (1997). 

Social and emotional adjustment and family relations in ethnic minority families. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Reserve Reading: SJSU Library. There are additional reading assignments (book chapters and journal articles) that are on reserve at the library that will supplement your textbook readings. These readings are required. (Full references for these chapters and articles are listed on the last page of the syllabus).
 
Course Objectives:
   This course focuses on the interaction between development and culture. Knowledge about child development "universals" will be studied as well as their manifestations in specific ethnic contexts to understand how children and adolescents develop within a multicultural society. 

Students completing the course should be able to:
	1.	understand how the cultural values of differing ethnic groups (particularly in California) influence development. 
	2.	understand the interactive nature of development and experience 
	3.	examine how distinct cultural orientations might affect inter-group interactions
	4.	explore the processes of socialization and how cultural values and customs are passed to subsequent generations.
	5.	explore one's own cultural heritage, values, customs, and beliefs and evaluate how one's own cultural background may influence interaction with others.

This course operates on the honor system. However, in the unfortunate event that cheating on a test or plagiarism on the paper(s) is observed the consequences (in accordance with university and departmental policy) will be strictly enforced. Please see the last page of this handout for details; further information also may be obtained in your student handbook. 

Late policy/Make-up exams:
     Make-up exams will be given only under truly extraordinary circumstances. Advanced notice regarding these extraordinary circumstances will permit me to be more flexible. If you are too ill to take an exam on the scheduled day, please leave me a message (or have someone phone for you) regarding your illness on voice mail prior to class time.
     Papers are due in class on their scheduled due dates. Late papers are subject to penalty (half a grade for each day the paper is late). Please note that assignments left with the department secretary, slipped under my office door, faxed, or e-mailed may not be received before class and may be subject to a late penalty. 
     Class presentations must be made on the assigned day. 

Course Requirements:

1. 	The course has three exams; two midterms and one final. These in-class exams 
will be comprised of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. Questions are based on lecture and assigned readings. Each exam is worth 15% of your grade. 

2.	Students will complete four written (and typed) assignments worth 20% of the grade. 

*Assignment 1: Infancy
          (a)	Ask the people who raised you how they put you to sleep when you were a baby. (Or if you are a parent describe how you put your children to sleep when they were babies).
          (b)	Ask an older person, the oldest you can find (e.g., grandparent, great-aunt) how they put their babies to sleep at night. 

For both (a) and (b) please describe where the baby sleeps, bedtime rituals (e.g., songs, glass of water, special toys, stories), what was done if the baby cried and/or refused to sleep (e.g., pick up the baby, let the baby cry, etc.). 

*Assignment 2: Early Childhood
          (a)	Ask the people who raised you what they did when you would not eat a certain food? How did they handle it? (Or describe what you do with your child in this situation). 
          (b)	Ask an older person, the oldest you can find (e.g., grandparent, great-aunt) what they did when their children would not eat a certain food.

For both (a) and (b) please describe dinner time rituals (who sets the table, who eats where and what, etc.).
 
*Assignment 3: Middle Childhood

Christmas is a federal holiday although not celebrated by everyone in the US.

          (a)	If you celebrate Christmas, please describe your family traditions (e.g., do you hang stockings, attend church, when do you open presents, what kind of food do you traditionally eat). 
          (b)	If you do not celebrate Christmas, please describe what your family typically does on December 25th and then describe your family traditions for a holiday that is of significance for your family. 

*Assignment 4: Adolescence

As Americans, we come from a diverse set of cultural backgrounds. A major part of adolescence involves forming a self-concept or identity. One major component of that identity is a sense of ethnic identity. Describe your experiences as a teenager as you dealt with discovering and delineating your sense of ethnic identity. (You do not need to be an ethnic minority to have a sense of ethnic identity.) If you did not grapple with this issue as teenager, describe why you did not deal with the issue or describe when and how you did finally deal with the issue of ethnic identity. 

3.	You will write an 8-10-page paper dealing with one of the following topics:
          discrimination
          stereotypes
          prejudice
          children's understanding of in-group and out-group distinctions

(You will receive a hand-out later in the semester which will provide details about the paper requirements). The paper must use APA style references. The paper is worth 20% of your grade. To help you prepare for the paper, you will complete an assignment that involves submitting your paper topic (major thesis), a brief outline or sketch of what you cover in the paper, and at least 5 references (empirical articles from peer-reviewed journals). This is worth 5% of your grade.  

4.	Class Presentation: Students will find an empirical research article from peer-reviewed journals on a non-Caucasian and/or non-American sample (birth through adolescence). In no more than 5 minutes, describe to the class: the subjects, the major questions addressed, the major results, and note what was universal and/or what was context-specific to these results. The class presentation is worth 10% of your grade.  You must hand-in the full APA style reference for the article, although no other written material needs to be submitted. 

Examples of APA Style References
journal article: Altshuler, J. L., & Ruble, D. N. (1989). Developmental changes in children's awareness of strategies for coping with uncontrollable stress. Child Development, 60, 1337-1349.

Some examples of acceptable journals:
Adolescence
Cognitive Development
Child Development
Developmental Psychology
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Journal of Educational Psychology
Journal of Experimental Psychology (all four fields)
Infant Behavior and Development
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly

1.	This is only a partial list of acceptable journals. There are many other acceptable journals available to you in the University Library system. An acceptable journal uses some form of a peer review system before it publishes any article. If you have doubts about a journal, see me and I can tell if it is acceptable.

2.	Unacceptable Sources and References:
     (a) Personal Communication: e.g., "Dr. Jones told me all kids like candy".
     (b) Your text book.
     (c) Magazines like Psychology Today, Parents, Self, Time, Newsweek, etc. 

3.	HINT: You often can get good sources from the reference section of the journal article you are reading.

Course Schedule
Date	Topic	Readings
1/27	Course overview
2/1	Introduction	What is Developmental Psychology
2/3	Introduction continued	What is Culture/Theories to look at cultural influence
2/8	Persuasion and Culture	Berk Chapter 22
		Library: Han and Shavitt
2/10	Biculturalism	Berk: Chapter 20
		Library: Lafromboise, Coleman, & Gertman
2/15	Education and Culture	Berk: Chapters 15 and 16
		Library: Begin Brislin Chapter 5
2/17	Bi-Lingual Education	Continue Brislin Chapter 5
		Library: Winsler, Diaz, Epinosa, & Rodriquez	
2/22	Child-care	Berk: Chapter 10
		Assignment #1 due in class
2/24	Child-care	Berk: Chapters 9 and 11
2/29	Midterm 1	
3/2	Infancy	Berk Chapters 3 and 4
3/7	Early Childhood	Berk: Chapters 5 and 6
		Assignment #2 due in class
3/9	Early Childhood	Berk: Chapters 7 and 8
3/14	Middle Childhood	Berk: Chapters 12 and 19
		Library: Lin and Fu	
3/16	Play	Berk: Chapter 14
		Library: Haight, Wang, Fung, Williams, & Mintz
		Assignment #3 due in class
3/21	Adolescence	Library: Phinney
		Library	: Ethier & Deaux
3/23	Adolescence	Taylor and Wang: Chapter 8
		Library: Dube and Savin-Williams
3/27-3/31	Spring Break
4/4	Adolescence	Berk Chapter 25
		Taylor and Wang Chapter 9
		Assignment #4 due in class
4/6	Midterm 2	
4/11	Suicide	Berk Chapter 26
		* Library - optional reading - Brislin Chapter 6
4/13	Gender	Berk Chapter 18
		Library: Dion and Dion
4/18	Poverty	Taylor and Wang: Chapters 2, 4, & 5
4/20	Education	Taylor and Wang: Chapter 7
		Berk: Chapter 23
4/25	Education	Berk: Chapters 17 and 21
		Paper topic and reference due in class
4/27	Education	Taylor and Wang: Chapters 10 and 12
5/2	Behavioral Problems	Berk: Chapter 24
		Taylor and Wang: Chapter 6
5/4	Exposure to Violence	Berk: Chapter 27
5/9	Risk and Resilience	Berk: Chapter 28
		Taylor and Wang: Chapter 1
		Paper due in class
5/11	Class Presentations	
5/16	Class Presentations
5/24	Wednesday Final Exam: 12:15-2:30.

References for Articles and Chapters on Reserve at the Library

2/8	Han, S. P., & Shavitt, S. (1997). Persuasion and culture: Appeals in individualistic and collectivist societies. In L. A. Peplau and S. E. Taylor (Eds.) Sociocultural perspectives in social psychology. (pp. 217-240). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

2/10	LaFromboise, T., Coleman, H. L. K., & Gerton, J. (1997). Psychological impact of biculturalism: Evidence and theory. In L. A. Peplau and S. E. Taylor (Eds.) Sociocultural perspectives in social psychology. (pp. 241-275). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

2/15	Brislin, R. (1993). Formal Educational Experiences (chapter 5). In R. Brislin (Ed.) Understanding culture's influence on behavior (pp. 131-167). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.

2/17	Winsler, A., Diaz, R., Epinosa, L., & Rodriguez, J. L. (1999). When learning a second language does not mean losing the first: Bilingual language development in low-income, Spanish-speaking children attending bi-lingual preschool. Child Development, 70, 349-362. 

3/14	Lin, C.Y. C., & Fu, V. R. (1990). A comparison of child-rearing practices among Chinese, immigrant Chinese, and Caucasian-American parents. Child Development, 61, 429-433.

3/16	Haight, W., Wang, X, Fung, H., Williams, K., & Mintz, J. (1999). Universal, developmental, and variable aspects of young children's play: A cross-cultural comparison of pretending at home. Child Development, 70, 1477-1488. 

3/21	Phinney, J. S. (1989). Stages of ethnic minority development in minority group adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 9, 34-49.

3/21	Ethier, K. A., & Deaux, K. (1997). Negotiating identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat. In L. A. Peplau and S. E. Taylor (Eds.) Sociocultural perspectives in social psychology. (pp. 277-294). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

3/23	Dube, E. M., & Savin-Williams, R. (1999). Sexual identity development among ethnic sexual minority male youths. Developmental Psychology, 35, 1389-1398. 

4/11	Brislin, R. (1993). Inter-group relations: Cultures in contact (Chapter 6). In R. Brislin (Ed.) Understanding culture's influence on behavior (pp. 169-205). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace. (Optional reading to assist you in writing your paper). 

4/13	Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. (1997). Individualistic and collectivist perspectives on gender and the cultural context of love and intimacy. In L. A. Peplau and S. E. Taylor (Eds.) Sociocultural perspectives in social psychology. (pp. 314-329). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall