>Do any tipsters have sources to consult for a broader
>cultural perspective on the child's effort toward autonomy? Any cultural
>critiques of popular attachment or separation-individuation ideas, or
>infusion of other cultural perspectives on so-called "object-relations"
>views of child personality?
Gary,
I think one of the best places to start would be Robert Bellah et
al.'s (1985) Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in
American Life. There is a chapter on "Finding Oneself," which
includes sections on "leaving home" and "leaving church." It is
written more as a cultural critique, and is one of the most
influential books in modern sociology. It does not specifically
address early childhood separation.
Since attachment-separation issues are often tied (in some of our
minds, at least) to the issue of self-esteem, another interesting
book might be John Hewitt's (1998) The Myth of Self-esteem: Finding
Happiness and Solving Problems in America.
Some detailed criticism (addressing what you are really looking for)
might be found in a book called Deconstructing Social Psychology,
perhaps by John Potter (Ed.), though I don't have it here and I'm not
sure who edited it.
Of course, when entertaining sociology, some basic perspectives may
be called into question. An article that addresses the difference
between a psychological view of personality and a sociological view
of self is:
Singer, J. L., & Kolligian, J., Jr. (1987). Personality:
Developments in the study of private experience. Annual Review of
Psych, 38, 533-574.
--> Mike O.
_______________________________________________
Michael S. Ofsowitz
University of Maryland - European Division
http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~mofsowit
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