In this highly acclaimed work first published in 1974, Glen H. Elder Jr. presents the first longitudinal study of a Depression cohort. He follows 167 individuals born in 1920?1921 from their elementary school days in Oakland, California, through the 1960s. Using a combined historical, social, and psychological approach, Elder assesses the influence of the economic crisis on the life course of his subjects over two generations. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this classic study includes a new chapter on the war years entitled, ?Beyond Children of the Great Depression.?

History carves its imprint on human lives for generations after. When we think of the radical changes that transformed America during the twentieth century, our minds most often snap to the fifties and sixties: the Civil Rights Movement, changing gender roles, and new economic opportunities all point to a decisive turning point. But these were not the only changes that shaped our world, and in Living on the Edge, we learn that rapid social change and uncertainty also defined the lives of Americans born at the turn of the twentieth century. The changes they cultivated and witnessed affect our world as we understand it today. Drawing from the iconic longitudinal Berkeley Guidance Study, Living on the Edge reveals the hopes, struggles, and daily lives of the 1900 generation. Most surprising is how relevant and relatable the lives and experiences of this generation are today, despite the gap of a century. From the reorganization of marriage and family roles and relationships to strategies for adapting to a dramatically changing economy, the challenges faced by this earlier generation echo our own time. Living on the Edge offers an intimate glimpse into not just the history of our country, but the feelings, dreams, and fears of a generation remarkably kindred to the present day.

In this highly acclaimed work first published in 1974, Glen H. Elder Jr. presents the first longitudinal study of a Depression cohort. He follows 167 individuals born in 1920-1921 from their elementary school days in Oakland, California, through the 1960s. Using a combined historical, social, and psychological approach, Elder assesses the influence of the economic crisis on the life course of his subjects over two generations. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this classic study includes a new chapter on the war years entitled, "Beyond Children of the Great Depression."

History carves its imprint on human lives for generations after. When we think of the radical changes that transformed America during the twentieth century, our minds most often snap to the fifties and sixties: the Civil Rights Movement, changing gender roles, and new economic opportunities all point to a decisive turning point. But these were not the only changes that shaped our world, and in Living on the Edge, we learn that rapid social change and uncertainty also defined the lives of Americans born at the turn of the twentieth century. The changes they cultivated and witnessed affect our world as we understand it today. Drawing from the iconic longitudinal Berkeley Guidance Study, Living on the Edge reveals the hopes, struggles, and daily lives of the 1900 generation. Most surprising is how relevant and relatable the lives and experiences of this generation are today, despite the gap of a century. From the reorganization of marriage and family roles and relationships to strategies for adapting to a dramatically changing economy, the challenges faced by this earlier generation echo our own time. Living on the Edge offers an intimate glimpse into not just the history of our country, but the feelings, dreams, and fears of a generation remarkably kindred to the present day.

A century ago, most Americans had ties to the land. Now only one in fifty is engaged in farming and little more than a fourth live in rural communities. Though not new, this exodus from the land represents one of the great social movements of our age and is also symptomatic of an unparalleled transformation of our society.
In "Children of the Land," the authors ask whether traditional observations about farm families--strong intergenerational ties, productive roles for youth in work and social leadership, dedicated parents and a network of positive engagement in church, school, and community life--apply to three hundred Iowa children who have grown up with some tie to the land. The answer, as this study shows, is a resounding yes. In spite of the hardships they faced during the agricultural crisis of the 1980s, these children, whose lives we follow from the seventh grade to after high school graduation, proved to be remarkably successful, both academically and socially.
A moving testament to the distinctly positive lifestyle of Iowa families with connections to the land, this uplifting book also suggests important routes to success for youths in other high risk settings.

Children live in rapidly changing times that require them to constantly adapt to new economic, social, and cultural conditions. In this book, a distinguished, interdisciplinary group of scholars explores the issues faced by children in contemporary societies, such as discrimination in school and neighborhoods, the emergence of new family forms, the availability of new communication technologies, and economic hardship, as well as the stresses associated with immigration, war, and famine. The book applies a historical, cultural, and life-course developmental framework for understanding the factors that affect how children adjust to these challenges, and offers a new perspective on how changing historical circumstances alter children's developmental outcomes. It is ideal for researchers and graduate students in developmental and educational psychology or the sociology and anthropology of childhood.

What are the most effective methods for doing life course research? The field?s founders and leaders answer this question, giving readers tips on: the art and method of the appropriate research design; the collection of life-history data; and the search for meaningful patterns to be found in the results.

What are the most effective methods for doing life course research? The field?s founders and leaders answer this question, giving readers tips on: the art and method of the appropriate research design; the collection of life-history data; and the search for meaningful patterns to be found in the results.

Developmental Science provides an account of the basic principles of the new developmental synthesis. A group of eminent scientists from sociology, psychiatry, psychology, public health, social ecology, and psychobiology believe that a fresh, interdisciplinary orientation is required to achieve progress on critical issues of behavioral theory, method, and application. Toward this end, they formed the Carolina Consortium on Human Development in 1987 as part of an advanced institute for the study of development, the Center for Developmental Science. This book grew from that long-term collaboration. In addition to the collaborative statement, individual chapters outline implications of the orientation for method and theory in traditional disciplines. The chapters address specific developmental issues, varying across time frames, methodologies, disciplines, cultures, and even species. They provide an inside look at the basic issues that confront modern social and behavioral study, including its strengths and problems.

Each generation of American children across the tumultuous 20th-century has come of age in a very different world. How do major historical events - such as war or the depression - influence children's development? Children in Time and Place brings together social historians and developmentalists to explore the implications of a changing society for children's growth and life chances. Transitions provide a central theme, from historical transitions to the social transitions of children and their developmental experiences. The book has two stories to tell, one about children growing up and coming of age in various times and places, and another about how collaboration worked across the disciplines of history and psychology. Children in Time and Place begins with studies that link historical and life transitions in children's lives, with an emphasis on wartime experience. It turns to studies of historical variation in the effect of life transitions, from the onset of sexual experience in girl's lives to the transition to fatherhood in boys, and it concludes by introducing the reader to the collaborative efforts involved in the workshop that led to the volume.

Although the growth of longitudinal data archives is one of the most dramatic developments in the behavioural sciences, there has been a barrier to the effective use of these files due to a lack of understanding of the relation between research questions and archival data - until now. The authors of this volume illustrate how to use the model-fitting process to select and fit the right data set to a particular research problem. Beginning with an introduction to the general issues in working with archival data, the book takes the reader through steps in the recasting of data and question, using substantive examples from the life course, such as temporal patterns of physical and emotional health as well as pathways to retirement.

Developmental Science provides an account of the basic principles of the new developmental synthesis, as formulated by the Carolina Consortium on Human Development. Based on a collaborative statement, individual chapters outline implications of the orientation for method and theory in traditional disciplines. The chapters address specific developmental issues, varying across time frames, methodologies, disciplines, cultures and even species. They provide an inside look at the issues that confront modern social and behavioral study, including its strengths and problems.

This book brings together prominent investigators to provide a comprehensive guide to doing life course research, including an "inside view" of how they designed and carried out influential longitudinal studies. Using vivid examples, the contributors trace the connections between early and later experience and reveal how researchers and graduate students can discover these links in their own research. Well-organized chapters describe the best and newest ways to: *Use surveys, life records, ethnography, and data archives to collect different types of data over years or even decades.*Apply innovative statistical methods to measure dynamic processes that result in improvement, decline, or reversibility in economic fortune, stress, health, and criminality.*Explore the micro- and macro-level explanatory factors that shape individual trajectories, including genetic and environmental interactions, personal life history, interpersonal ties, and sociocultural institutions.

One of the myths about families in inner-city neighbourhoods is that they are characterized by poor parenting. The sociologist Frank Furstenberg and his colleagues explode this and other misconceptions about success, parenting, and socioeconomic advantage in this text. The book launches a series which focuses on how and why youth are able to overcome - rather than succumb to - social disadvantages. Based on more than 500 interviews and qualitative case studies of families in inner-city Philadelphia, the text reveals how parents managed different levels of resources and dangers in low-income neighbourhoods and how this management, rather than community involvement, contributed to the success of their children. The authors detail the factors that shape the trajectories of adolescents and in so doing provide information about programmes and services that should be useful to policy makers, sociologists, educators, and indeed anyone concerned with the fate of the urban poor.