The Limits of Family Influence: Genes, Experience, and Behavior
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Be that as it may, I cannot seriously recommend this book for any reason." --Marriage & Family Review "The Limits of Family Influence is a thorough and provocative critique of the vast majority of research that seeks to 'understand how children acquire traits from their families and cultures' (p.1). By arguing that most studies of family influence on behaviors and outcomes are fundamentally flawed, this book is sure to challenge the research orientations and convictions of a large and diverse group of social scientist. I would strongly encourage sociologists who study the family to give serious consideration to Rowe's contention that family socialization experiences have few direct effects on important individual outcomes relative to hereditary and nonfamily environmental factors." --Contemporary Sociology "....Exciting and provocative....Rowe has compiled a wide range of behavior genetic studies into an argument that childrearing has little effect on children's individual differences in intelligence, personality, and psychopathology. The argument is persuasive, and will present a serious challenge to those who assume the primacy of the family in children's development....The book is well written, with many useful and sometimes piquant anecdotes and illustrations woven in and out of the data and the argument. Although the argument is a challenging one, the tone is affable....The contents of the book will make many people outraged--all to the good....An excellent selection for a graduate level or upper-level undergraduate course on the family, included alongside family texts that present the assumptions more typical of the field. Even for readers well versed in behavior genetics, this book will provide a handy reference and be an enjoyable read." --Family Relations "A thorough and provocative critique of the vast majority of research that seeks to 'understand how children acquire traits from their families and cultures.' By arguing that most studies of family influence on behaviors and outcomes are fundamentally flawed, this book is sure to challenge the research orientations and convictions of a large and diverse group of social scientists. I would strongly encourage sociologists who study the family to give serious consideration to Rowe's contention that family socialization experiences have few direct effects on important individual outcomes relative to hereditary and nonfamilial environmental factors." --Contemporary Sociology "....challenges many long-held assumptions about socialization....Rowe begins his assault on the bulk of social science research by identifying weaknesses in the psychological theories that undergirded many research efforts--namely, Freudianism, early behaviorism, and social learning theory. He then carefully sets out the behavior genetics research paradigm. The chapter, 'Separating Nature and Nurture,' is probably as lucid a treatment of this paradigm as can be found anywhere....does an excellent job of explicating the behavior geneticist's position on environmental influences...." --Journal of Marriage and the Family
--This text refers to the
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Book Description
University of Arizona, Tucson. Research for psychologists into the nature vs. nurture debate, also called socialization science, defined by the author as the empirical effort to understand how children acquire traits from their families and cultures.
The Limits of Family Influence: Genes, Experience, and Behavior
The Limits of Family Influence: Genes, Experience, and Behavior,David C. Rowe,The Guilford Press,0898621321,Behavior genetics,Developmental Psychology,General,Mental Health,Nature and nurture,Psychology,Social Psychology,Socialization,Child & developmental psychology,Psychology & Psychiatry / Developmental Psychology,Social, group or collective psychology
Book Contents:
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