- Thomas S. Weisner, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus at UCLA, where he taught since 1971. He ... moreThomas S. Weisner, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus at UCLA, where he taught since 1971. He directed the Center for Culture and Health at UCLA through 2014. His research and teaching interests are in culture and human development; sibling and nonparental care of children; ecocultural theory and methods, medical, psychological and cultural studies of families and children at risk; mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods; and culturally and contextually rich policy-informed evidence as well as evidence-informed policy. He has done fieldwork with the Abaluyia of Western Kenya and Nairobi, native Hawaiians, countercultural U.S. families, California families with children with disabilities and mental illness, families and children with autism in India, youth with ADHD in the U.S., Mexican-American adolescents and parents in Los Angeles, and working poor families in the U.S. (the New Hope study). His BA is from Reed College and PhD from Harvard in Social Relations & Anthropology. He is the co-editor of African families and the crisis of social change (with Candice Bradley and Phil Kilbride), co-author of Higher Ground: New Hope for the Working Poor and Their Children (with Greg Duncan and Aletha Huston); co-editor of Making it work (with Hiro Yoshikawa & Edward Lowe); editor of Discovering successful pathways in children's development (2005); and contributor to Methods That Matter (Cameron Hay, Ed., 2016). He also has a TEDx talk on YouTube, “What is the most important influence in child development” (2016). He is the co-developer and co-founder of the qualitative & mixed methods software Dedoose (Dedoose.com). Weisner has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, a member of the MacArthur Foundation research network on successful pathways in middle childhood, President and Distinguished Research Award, of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, a Senior Program Advisor to the William T Grant Foundation, served on the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development, where he also received the 2017 interdisciplinary research award from SRCD, and served on the Board of ChildFund International. The article from 2018, “Culture, context, and the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in the study of human development” summarizes his research.edit
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New Hope (NH) is a random-assignment, antipoverty program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that offers child care subsidies, wage subsidies, health insurance, and, if needed, a temporary community service job to participants working 30 or more... more
New Hope (NH) is a random-assignment, antipoverty program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that offers child care subsidies, wage subsidies, health insurance, and, if needed, a temporary community service job to participants working 30 or more hours per week. Despite the relative generosity of the program and supportive caseworkers, take-up was far from universal, and participants rarely used all services. Ethnographic analysis of a random sample of experimental participants found that NH's economically based offer was theoretically too narrow to motivate all participants. Four categories of personal and family circumstances were associated with take-up: 1) the constrained-by-information group (participants' understandings about the program differed from what NH in fact offered); 2) the disruptive-life group (significant personal troubles and instability); 3) the pro-con group (used often explicit cost-benefit calculations); and 4) the daily-routine group (used particular benefits b...
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Autism understood in cultural context is as essential as autism understood as a neurological condition. Psychological Anthropology (PA) includes the comparative, contextual study of culture and mental life. PA aspires to be holistic, open... more
Autism understood in cultural context is as essential as autism understood as a neurological condition. Psychological Anthropology (PA) includes the comparative, contextual study of culture and mental life. PA aspires to be holistic, open to plural mixed methods, comparative, collaborative with other disciplines, and inclusive across the levels of analysis. This essay considers six themes in PA that also are reflected in the chapters in our volume: difference is both biological and social; diverse experiences of disability are central; cultural beliefs regarding disability vary widely around the world; disability is connected to other differences in society, including deprivation, exclusion and vulnerability due to race, class and resources; social and sociolinguistic mechanisms that are important for understanding disability also are important for studying many other topics in PA generally; and diverse family and parenting practices and everyday routine activities are important in the field of PA, perhaps especially so for ASD, as are the institutional and structural conditions in society that condition daily routines. The contributions of PA—particularly ecocultural theory, cultural models, and explanatory models of illness—are important for theory, methods, and empirical outcomes for autism spectrum conditions, and open up possibilities for new approaches to ASD.
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This volume consists of articles which summarize both theoretical perspectives and research themes from the project "Multidisability, Family, and Childhood" which was carried out at the Department of Special Education in the... more
This volume consists of articles which summarize both theoretical perspectives and research themes from the project "Multidisability, Family, and Childhood" which was carried out at the Department of Special Education in the University of Jyvaskyla from 1990 to 1993. All writers have participated in the project as consultants or researchers. The chapters cover a variety of topics on the theme of early childhood special education. Thomas Weisner and Ronald Gallimore (University of California, Los Angeles) introduce (Chapter 1) the central principles of ecocultural theory and discuss its applicability to practice. Dianne and Philip Ferguson (University of Oregon, Eugene) examine (Chapter 2) the features of family-professional collaboration. In Chapter 3, Marika Veisson, Aino Saar, and Ene Magi (Tallinn Pedagogical University, Tallinn) present preliminary results from their study on parents' needs in Estonia and support-organizations founded in the 1990's. Markku Leskinen and Jaana Juvonen present (Chapter 4) an attributional model in which parents' responsibility perceptions predict their child-focused emotions which then predict the level of adjustment. !iris Maki examines (Chapter 5) the problems in the assessment of children with severe disabilities and discusses the ecological approach's applicability to early intervention practices. Marjo-Riitta Mattus examines (Chapter 6) different strategies for empowering families by concentrating especially on the of question how an interview could be an intervention. The last set of articles concern families of small premature infants and their development. Maija Virpiranta-Salo discusses (Chapter 7) the development of parenthood in parents whose family-life starts with special circumstances. Annikki Riitesuo provides (Chapter 8) a literature review about speech and language problems in prematurely-born children. Finally, Tuula Laukkanen discusses (Chapter 9) parentprofessional communication in a health care context
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The cultural community a child grows up in is arguably the most important influence in a child’s development. Culture and context should be incorporated into every research program in human development in our field. Ecocultural theory... more
The cultural community a child grows up in is arguably the most important influence in a child’s development. Culture and context should be incorporated into every research program in human development in our field. Ecocultural theory links structural and environmental conditions to the cultural learning environments of children and the everyday routines and activities that shape behavior and the minds of children. To do this, we require strong mixed methods, designs, samples, and analytical approaches. The world certainly is not linear, additive, and decontextualized, although for analytical purposes we can usefully model the world as if it were. This chapter discusses five research programs that use ecocultural models and integrate qualitative and quantitative methods: rural-urban migration and effects on parenting and children’s development in Kenya; sibling caretaking; countercultural families and children in California; families with children with disabilities in California; and interventions to support working poor families in Wisconsin.
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Ethnography produces believable findings that matter both to those we study and to the social sciences. Ethnog- raphy is best suited to understanding human development as an adaptive project of individuals and communities-that is, what... more
Ethnography produces believable findings that matter both to those we study and to the social sciences. Ethnog- raphy is best suited to understanding human development as an adaptive project of individuals and communities-that is, what families and communities are trying to accomplish to meet their goals in their cultural world, and the cultural pathways that are availablefor children to achieve those goals. thnography is and should remain a preeminent method of inquiry in the social sciences because it produces findings that matter. In addition to ethical and personal-equation issues in fieldwork, what other reason is there for valuing any research method except that it assists us in achieving that goal? Ethnography certainly meets this test in the fields of psychological anthropology and human development. What a wonderful body of litera- ture we have, crystallized in ethnographies, articles, chapters, and com- parative studies, and how much bleaker and more partial would our understanding be if this literature were not available to us! Our ethno- graphic literature has come under attack from many sides in the last 15 years, and some of these critiques are useful and productive. But compared to not having a body of cross-cultural work to build on, the critiques pale. What is it about ethnography and fieldwork that produces findings that matter? First, ethnographic fieldwork is centrally concerned with the adap- tive projects of individuals and communities-that is, with what they are trying to accomplish to meet their goals in their cultural world. A project has a direction and a meaning; it involves struggle, internal and external
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As originally conceived and still practiced today, attachment theory is limited in its ability to recognize and understand cross-cultural variations in human attachment systems, and it is restrictive in its inclusion of cross-species... more
As originally conceived and still practiced today, attachment theory is limited in its ability to recognize and understand cross-cultural variations in human attachment systems, and it is restrictive in its inclusion of cross-species comparisons. This chapter argues that attachment must be reconceived to account for and include cross-cultural and cross-species perspectives. To provide a foundation for rethinking attachment, two universal functions of attachment systems are proposed: they provide (a) socially organized resources for the infant’s protection and psychobiological regulation and (b) a privileged entry point for social learning. Ways of understanding the nature of the cultural and ecological contexts that organize attachment systems are suggested, so that they can be recognized as culturally specific, normative behavior. Culturally valid methods for describing children’s attachment systems are also discussed. In conclusion, a wide range of research strategies are proposed...
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Objective: Recent studies suggest attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may emerge post-childhood. We integrate qualitative methods to systematically characterize contextual factors that may (a) delay identification of ADHD in... more
Objective: Recent studies suggest attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may emerge post-childhood. We integrate qualitative methods to systematically characterize contextual factors that may (a) delay identification of ADHD in childhood and (b) inform why ADHD symptoms emerge post-childhood. Method: Suspected late-onset ADHD cases from the local normative comparison group of the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD completed a qualitative interview (14 young adults and 7 caregivers). Interviews were qualitatively analyzed. Results: We identified five themes. Three themes may attenuate or delay identification of childhood ADHD: external factors (e.g., supportive adults), internal factors (e.g., strong intellectual functioning), and other factors (e.g., dismissive attitudes toward ADHD). Two themes may accompany an increase in ADHD symptoms post-childhood: external factors (e.g., increased external demands) and internal factors (e.g., perceived stress). Conclusion: Clinicians ...
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Nonformal education (NFE) has a significant function to play in learning. Recognition of the importance of NFE has grown over the past 50 years, and education no longer is limited to formal schooling alone. This chapter conceptualizes... more
Nonformal education (NFE) has a significant function to play in learning. Recognition of the importance of NFE has grown over the past 50 years, and education no longer is limited to formal schooling alone. This chapter conceptualizes education as learning in a wide range of contexts and argues for research programs that include the broad sweep of learning in family and community, as well as in the many institutions in addition to formal schools in which this occurs. This revised conceptual framework is presented with contemporary relevance to early childhood development (ECD) and primary and secondary school stages. Implications for research, practice, and policy in low- and middle-income countries are emphasized, particularly for vulnerable, excluded, and disadvantaged children and communities.
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Research on childhood in anthropology and neighboring disciplines has continuously broadened the range of the social partners that are considered relevant for young children's development-from parents to other caregivers, siblings, and... more
Research on childhood in anthropology and neighboring disciplines has continuously broadened the range of the social partners that are considered relevant for young children's development-from parents to other caregivers, siblings, and peers. Yet most studies as well as interventions in early childhood still focus exclusively on parents, who are presumed to be the most significant socializing agents. Objecting to such a hierarchical understanding of the social world of children, I propose a complementarity view. Rather than being linearly ranked in a hierarchy of significance, children's social partners may complement each other by providing different but equally significant experiences. My suggestions are based on an ethnographic study in a rural community in Madagascar. Focusing on children in the first 3 years of life, I explore the full range of their social partners and the respective experiences they provide. Caregivers focus on children's physical needs and aim to keep them in a calm emotional state, while other young related children are the most crucial partners when it comes to play, face-to-face interaction, and the exchange of intense emotions. These complementary roles, I argue, lead to the parallel formation of two distinct socioemotional modes: a hierarchical one and an egalitarian one.
Research Interests: Developmental Psychology, Emotion, Early Intervention, Ethnography, Cognitive development, and 15 morePastoralism (Social Anthropology), Parenting, Family Caregivers/Carers, Anthropology of Kinship, Anthropology of emotions, Attachment Theory, Anthropology of Madagascar, Affect/Emotion, Mixed Methods Research, Infancy, Early Childhood, Kinship and Relatedness (Anthropology), Children's Play, Peer Relations, and Early Childhood Development
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Usage guidelines relating to measures created by study investigators
This chapter reviews efforts to broaden research on families adapting to childhood disability and delay. First, we briefly review and critique the longstanding emphasis in family research on crisis, stress, coping, and the restoration of... more
This chapter reviews efforts to broaden research on families adapting to childhood disability and delay. First, we briefly review and critique the longstanding emphasis in family research on crisis, stress, coping, and the restoration of emotional well-being. Second, to broaden ...
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Research Interests: Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Occupational Health, Health Impact Assessment, and 11 moreQualitative Research, Medicine, Social Science & Medicine, Workplace, Humans, Female, Male, Longitudinal Studies, Adult, Public health systems and services research, and Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity
Background: Parent training programs rarely have an explicit focus on improving parenting practices, parent problem-solving, or stress management (Brookman-Frazee et al, 2006). Along with increased self-efficacy, these are all aspects of... more
Background: Parent training programs rarely have an explicit focus on improving parenting practices, parent problem-solving, or stress management (Brookman-Frazee et al, 2006). Along with increased self-efficacy, these are all aspects of parent empowerment. A focus on parent empowerment and psychological acceptance are particularly appropriate for many low and middle income countries, where mothers often shoulder full responsibility for both care and education of their children with disabilities in addition to the demands of the family and household. In addition, there is often a deeply entrenched belief that parents should not question teachers and other professionals. Teaching parent skills and increasing parent knowledge alone is not sufficient to shift these powerful dynamics. The Parent Child Training Program (PCTP) was developed in India in 2000 with parental acceptance of the child and empowerment as explicit program goals. The program additionally aims to provide practical a...
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Anthropologists believe that the most important influence in human development is the ecological and cultural setting within which a child will grow up. The anthropological study of childhood documents and accounts for the variety of... more
Anthropologists believe that the most important influence in human development is the ecological and cultural setting within which a child will grow up. The anthropological study of childhood documents and accounts for the variety of childhoods found around the world, using comparative ethnographic evidence to test hypotheses about human development. It also studies the mechanisms in child, family, and community life for the acquisition, internal transformations, sharing, and intergenerational transmission of culture. Most importantly, it does this with close attention to the everyday contexts and routines of life, experience, meanings, intentions, and beliefs and goals of the communities, parents, families, and children themselves.
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There are ways to integrate culturally competent services (CCS) and evidence-based practices (EBP) which can improve the experiences of patients and their families and communities when faced with health problems, as well as the... more
There are ways to integrate culturally competent services (CCS) and evidence-based practices (EBP) which can improve the experiences of patients and their families and communities when faced with health problems, as well as the effectiveness and positive experiences of practitioners. CCS and EBP evidence should be jointly deployed for helping patients and clinicians. Partnership research models are useful for achieving the integration of CCS and EBP, since they involve close observation of and participation by clinicians and practitioners in the research process, and often use integrated qualitative and quantitative mixed methods. We illustrate this with 3 examples of work that can help integrate CCS and EBP: ongoing collection of information from patients, clinicians and staff, or "evidence farming"; close study and continuous improvement of activities and accommodations; and use of evidence of tacit, implicit cultural scripts and norms, such as being "productive,&qu...
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The Whiting vision of a holistic, interdisciplinary, cross-cultural understanding of human development continues today. The Whiting team approach had an ethos, core intellectual projects, and ways of working-their practices, norms, goals,... more
The Whiting vision of a holistic, interdisciplinary, cross-cultural understanding of human development continues today. The Whiting team approach had an ethos, core intellectual projects, and ways of working-their practices, norms, goals, and values. The Whitings believed that the cultural learning environment (CLE) is a powerful influence on development, but not the only one. The Whitings asked descriptive, process, causal, and functional questions and worked with international teams on holistic studies of local communities which then were used for comparative studies. They were open to a wide range of theories, used integrated, mixed methods, shared their data, and included local students and researchers as apprentices or colleagues. Their research ethos was egalitarian, pragmatic, and generative. The articles in this special section exemplify the continuing relevance of this model. There are new units of analysis for understanding CLEs in globalizing settings across space and tim...