Childhood in a Sri Lankan village : shaping hierarchy and desire / Bambi L. Chapin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chapin, Bambi L., author.

Series:

Rutgers series in childhood studies.

Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children--Sri Lanka--Social conditions.

Children.

Children--Family relationships--Sri Lanka.

Child development--Sri Lanka.

Child development.

Child psychology--Sri Lanka.

Child psychology.

Parenting--Sri Lanka.

Parenting.

Sri Lanka--Social life and customs.

Sri Lanka.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Like toddlers all over the world, Sri Lankan children go through a period that in the U.S. is referred to as the "terrible twos." Yet once they reach elementary school age, they appear uncannily passive, compliant, and undemanding compared to their Western counterparts. Clearly, these children have undergone some process of socialization, but what? Over ten years ago, anthropologist Bambi Chapin traveled to a rural Sri Lankan village to begin answering this question, getting to know the toddlers in the village, then returning to track their development over the course of the following decade. Childhood in a Sri Lankan Village offers an intimate look at how these children, raised on the tenets of Buddhism, are trained to set aside selfish desires for the good of their families and the community. Chapin reveals how this cultural conditioning is carried out through small everyday practices, including eating and sleeping arrangements, yet she also explores how the village's attitudes and customs continue to evolve with each new generation. Combining penetrating psychological insights with a rigorous observation of larger social structures, Chapin enables us to see the world through the eyes of Sri Lankan children searching for a place within their families and communities. Childhood in a Sri Lankan Village offers a fresh, global perspective on child development and the transmission of culture.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Note on Translation and Transliteration

1. Introduction

2. Sri Lanka: Setting the Ethnographic Context

3. Socializing Desire: Demanding Toddlers and Self-Restrained Children

4. Shaping Attachments: Learning Hierarchy at Home

5. Making Sense of Envy: Desires and Relationships in Conflict

6. Engaging with Hierarchy outside the Home: Education and Efforts at Change

7. Culturing People

Notes

References

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-8135-6167-1

OCLC:

889644759