Children, Cities and Psychological Theories ― Developing Relationships

Reviews the premises and research practices of twelve widely popular theoretical orientations in psychology, and tests their applicability to issues of child development in urban environments. Includes an elaborate system of documented interactions between specialists in developmental and environmental psychology, commentaries on those articles, and often responses from the authors. The 22 papers and ensuing discussions are from a 1992 conference in Herten, an average sized mining town in northern Germany that inspired much of the original impetus for it. Among the topics are children in secondary territories, a constructivist perspective, a psychological perspective on relational-development theory, the phenomenological approach to children's environments, and how integration is not a straight line. The debates might interest city planners and architects, and social workers and counselors as well as developmental and environmental psychologists. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.