Sociology 169
Psychology 130
and Human Development 180:
SOC 169/PSY 130/HDV 180: Psychosocial Aspects of Human Development
Dr. Deborah T. Gold
Spring, 2004
This course will trace cultural, behavioral, and social arenas of human development throughout the human life span, emphasizing the comparisons within socially constructed age groups. Age groups (e.g., childhood, middle age) are examined in terms of their unique ethical values and challenges as well as the social dilemmas cause by the extension of life expectancy. We compare psychosocial development (1) between men and women, (2) among African-Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasian, and (3) different socioeconomic strata. Biological development is brought in when it expands understanding of psychosocial issues. Students participate in a service learning project with the Duke LEAPS program in which they volunteer at one of several centers in Durham that provide senior care (e.g., retirement communities, nursing homes, meals on wheels). Brief daily entries in a LEAPS journal allow students to describe and analyze the social and cultural challenges of being old in contemporary American society.
Reading Assignments:
Kail, Robert V., and Cavanaugh, John C. (2004). Human Development (3rd Edition). Brooks/Cole Publishing Company: Pacific Grove, CA.
Term Papers: Students will be required to write two papers as indicated below:
1. One mid-term paper (4-5 pages) on a developmental topic related to childhood or adolescence (Due February 19th).
2. A final research paper (15-20 pages) on a developmental topic related to young adulthood, middle age, or late life. This topic should be particularly relevant to one stage of the life course (e.g., coping with losses in late life;). Get your topic approved before you start writing. The paper will be due on the final day of class (4/20) at the beginning of class. Peer-reviewed journal articles should be the primary sources of information unless you have specific approval from me to use books. Internet sites are unacceptable for academic research. NOTE: If you include a URL (e.g., www.XXX.com) in your bibliography, your grade on the paper will be lowered one grade.
LEAPS (Learning through Experience, Action, Partnership, and Service)
In addition to your papers and journal article assignments, this class has a required LEAPS or Service Learning component. If you are unfamiliar with LEAPS, you will learn quickly as someone from the LEAPS program will also be in to talk with us very soon. LEAPS gives you the opportunity to Alearn while doing@ and also exposes you to sides of human development and life that you might not otherwise see. For this class, the LEAPS coordinator will help you find a volunteer placement at a local organization serving senior citizens (nursing home, life care community, senior center or whatever). To meet the LEAPS requirement for the class, you must do the following:
1. Spend at least two hours a week or 20 total hours during the semester volunteering at an approved LEAPS site. (Week 1 of classes and spring break do not count.)
2. Attend 4 reflection sessions during the semester. These are sessions run by the LEAPS student coordinators that give you an opportunity to discuss your experiences as well as hear about those of the other students. It is also a place where gripes can be discussed (though they should not just be gripe sessions). One of these will be held during class; the rest will be outsides of class. The leaders give me attendance records at the end of the semester.
3. Write at least 1 handwritten page in a journal for each 2-hour experience. You should record special circumstances or experiences and identify how you feel and what you learn while volunteering. This is not a diary; simply listing your activities is insufficient. The journal must have 10 entries, 1 per 2 hour block. Journal due the final day of class (April 20).
Students who have participated in this before have not only learned a great deal from it but have also really enjoyed it! If you have questions, please feel free to ask. Questions about grading should go to me; questions about volunteering and placements should go to the facilitators.
Grade To Be Based On:
| Short paper | 30% |
| Research Paper | 40% |
| LEAPS participation & journal | 20% |
| Class participation | 10% |
Borderline grades can be positively affected by class participation. Such participation includes both attending class regularly and participating in discussion
SYLLABUS
| Date | Topic | Reading |
| Thursday, 1/8 | Introduction and Overview | |
| Tuesday, 1/13 | Overview of Human Development | K&C, Chapter 1 |
| Thursday, 1/15 | Biology and Human Development; Physical Growth | K&C, Chapter 2 |
| Tuesday, 1/20 | Perceptual Development | K&C, Chapter 3 |
| Thursday, 1/22 | Cognition in Childhood Children and Language |
K&C, Chapter 4 |
| Tuesday, 1/27 | Trust and Attachment in Childhood | K&C, Chapter 5 (1st half) |
| Thursday, 1/29 | Children and Gender Issues | K&C, Chapter 5 (2nd half) |
| Tuesday, 2/3 | Cognitive Development & Education; Individual Educational Needs | K&C, Chapter 6 |
| Thursday, 2/5 | Adolescents and Families | K&C, Chapter 7 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 2/10 | Peer Relations and Social Influences in Adolescence | K&C, Chapter 7 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 2/12 | Identity versus Identity Confusion: Adolescent Development | K&C, Chapter 8 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 2/17 | Problems in Adolescent Development | K&C, Chapter 8 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 2/19 | Transition to Adulthood: Social and Physical Development | K&C, Chapter 9 (1st half) MID-TERM PAPER DUE |
| Tuesday, 2/24 | Transition to Adulthood: Cognition and Moral Reasoning | K&C, Chapter 9 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 2/26 | Self and Others in Adulthood: Adult Development | K&C, Chapter 10 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 3/2 | The Family Life Cycle | K&C, Chapter 10 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 3/4 | Work & Leisure in Young Adulthood | K&C, Chapter 11 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 3/9 & Thursday, 3/11 |
SPRING BREAK | |
| Tuesday, 3/16 | Development in Mid-life | K&C, Chatper 11 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 3/18 | Middle Age: Health & Cognition | K&C, Chapter 12 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 3/23 | Personality in Mid-life: Continuity and Discontinuity | K&C, Chapter 12 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 3/25 | The Work World of Middle Age | K&C, Chapter 13 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 3/30 | The Demography of Aging | K&C, Chapter 13 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 4/1 | Social Theories of Aging | K&C, Chapter 14 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 4/6 | Late-Life Family and Friends | K&C, Chapter 14 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 4/8 | Late Life: Mental Health & Cognition | K&C, Chapter 15 (1st half) |
| Tuesday, 4/13 | Chronic Illness in Late Life | K&C, Chapter 15 (2nd half) |
| Thursday, 4/15 | Death and Dying | K&C, Chapter 16 |
| Tuesday, 4/20 | Summary and Conclusions | FINAL RESEARCH PAPER AND LEAPS JOURNAL DUE |