ABSTRACT
While acknowledging the positivist tradition of developmental psychology and its western roots, one can also deliberately embedded theoretical thinking in the context of history, culture and philosophy. In contextualizing theory in this manner one can believe that it provides a richer account and understanding of the influential theories in this postmodern era. Psychology is a relatively young discipline, which has wholeheartedly embraced a positivist philosophy and the scientific method. The role that environment plays in shaping the person is a major issue not only in the psychology, but also in education, sociology, politics and related disciplines. Everyday observations reveal similarities and the dissimilarities between people, such as in their physical appearance, mental capacity or emotional make-up. Critiques of traditional schools of thought in developmental psychology appear especially in our considerations of cultural and Indigenous psychologies, feminism, children's voices and implications of theory for practice.
