Child Care and Culture

Examines parenthood and infant care among the Gussi people of Kenya, raising questions about 'normal' child care. Comparing the Gusii with the American white middle class, the authors show how divergent cultural priorities create differing conditions for early childhood development. Child Care and Culture examines parenthood, infancy, and early childhood in an African community, revealing patterns unanticipated by current theories of child development and raising provocative questions about 'normal' child care in the human species. Comparing the Gusii people of Kenya, whose practices were intensively observed from the combined perspectives of social anthropology, pediatrics, and developmental psychology, with the American white middle class, the authors show how divergent cultural priorities create differing conditions for early childhood development.