ABSTRACT

As our world becomes increasingly permeable, and as human populations are rapidly converging and transitioning within a global interconnectedness, it is vital that we look to, and learn from, those most adept at the adaptation, creation, and contesting of culture: adolescents. This text is designed to bridge critical gaps in the understanding of the daily lives, identity development, and experiences of adolescents in diverse cultures around the world. Cultural context is predictive of developmental uniqueness; comparisons provide insights into how social structures and relationships influence the manifestation of individual patterns of development and experience. In quantitative and qualitative detail, the contributors relate the nature of adolescent life to cultural, biological, ecological, demographic, and social variables. The findings of this book will be relevant not only to other social anthropologists, but also to sociologists and developmental/educational psychologists.

chapter 1|20 pages

Introduction

Adolescent Identity, Risk, and Change

part I|81 pages

Evolution history and hunter-gatherers

chapter 2|17 pages

Childhood, adolescence, and longevity

A Chapter on Human Evolutionary Life History

chapter 3|33 pages

Risky adolescent behavior

An Evolutionary Perspective

part II|98 pages

Culture and development

chapter 5|30 pages

Identity development, crises, and continuity

Death-Defying Leaps in the Lives of Indigenous and Nonindigenous Youth

chapter 8|15 pages

“The Bullet is Certain”

Armed Children and Gunplay on the Streets of Haiti

part III|118 pages

Globalization

chapter 9|19 pages

Multiple identifications of multicultural adolescents

Dialogues between Tradition and Postmodernity in a Global Context

chapter 10|23 pages

Traditional dress in kuwaiti adolescents' drawings

Relations to Social Attitudes

chapter 12|24 pages

China's emergent youth

Gender, Work, Dating, and Life Orientation