Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Scholars from varied disciplines and cultural backgrounds have collaborated on this important addition to the English-language literature on Japanese culture. General background culture reports, empirical study summaries, and conceptual chapters form the work's three sections. Although needed integrative material is missing, each chapter does include bibliographic citations and relevant figures. Subject and author indexes facilitate information retrieval. Spurred by interest raised by the high academic achievement of Japanese youth, the work provides a comprehensive database on childrearing practices in Japan, frequently contrasting those practices with a somewhat superficial US counterpart. Cultural values that emphasize family privatization and the economic pressure on Japanese women to work coexist with strong traditional values of maternal devotion and community support for childhood's developmental stages. The resulting ambivalence forms the context for each child's struggle with issues of disciplined effort, low self-esteem, and scholastic regimentation. Sex-role socialization renders these issues particularly acute for females, but the issue is not treated here in any detail. Although the existential impact of rapid cultural change is profound, this work functions solely to alert the reader to the issues, encouraging the integration of philosophical and psychological work. Appropriate for undergraduates.-L.M.C. Abbott, California School of Professional Psychology-Fresno