Equity and Justice in Developmental Sciences: Theoretical and Methodological Issues

The first of two volumes in the Advances in Child Development and Behavior series, Equity and Justice in Developmental Science: Theoretical and Methodological Issues focuses on conceptual issues, definitions, and critical concepts relevant to equity and justice for the developmental sciences. This volume covers critical methodological issues that serve to either challenge or advance our understanding of, and ability to promote, equity and justice in the developmental sciences.

Both volumes bring together a growing body of developmental scholarship that addresses how issues relevant to equity and justice (or their opposites) affect development and developmental outcomes, as well as scholarship focused on mitigating the developmental consequences of inequity, inequality, and injustice for young people, families, and communities and ensuring that all young people have opportunities to develop and thrive.

• Contains contributions from leading authorities in the field of child development and behavior
• Presents a coherent picture of the importance of the development of children’s participation in ongoing activity
• Provides a major step forward in highlighting patterns and variability in the normative development of the everyday lives of children, expanding beyond the usual research populations that have extensive Western schooling in common
• Focuses on conceptual issues, definitions, and critical concepts relevant to equity and justice for the developmental sciences

Stacey S. Horn, (Ph.D. 2000, University of Maryland) is a Professor of Educational and Developmental Psychology and Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology, affiliate faculty member in Community Psychology and Prevention Research, and Program Director for the M.Ed. program in Youth Development at University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current research focuses on issues of sexual prejudice and bias-motivated harassment among adolescents, adolescents’ reasoning about peer harassment, as well as LGBT students’ experiences in schools and communities. Much of this work looks at the underlying moral, social, and personal dimension of exclusion and peer harassment, how adolescents construct an understanding of their peer interactions based on these dimension, and the role that bias plays in adolescents understanding and experiences of harassment. Stacey has served on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, International Journal of Behavioral Development, and the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Youth, served as Chair of the Equity and Justice Committee for the Society for Research in Child Development, and is a past-chair of the Governing Board for the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance. She has published articles in journals such as Developmental Psychology, Journal of Social Issues, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Cognitive Development, and Equity and Excellence in Education. She is a past recipient of the Wayne F. Placek Award from the American Psychological Foundation (2002), the Outstanding Dissertation Award from Division 7 (Developmental) from the American Psychological Association, and the Outstanding Youth Scholar award from the University of Maryland Alumni Association. Stacey is a former high school English teacher and has worked with young people for over 25 years.

Martin D. Ruck ,(Ph.D. 1994, University of Toronto) is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His research examines the overall process of cognitive socialization―at the intersection of race, ethnicity and class―in terms of children’s and adolescents’ thinking about human rights, educational opportunity, and social justice. Much of his research has addressed how children and adolescents view their protection/nurturance and participation/self-determination rights across various settings. He is a consulting editor for Child Development and serves on the Editorial Boards for Human Development and Journal of Social Issues. His published work has appeared in journals such as Applied Developmental Science, Child Development, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, International Journal of Children’s Rights, Journal of Adolescence, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Early Adolescence, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Research on Adolescence, Journal of Social Issues, and Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Departments of Psychology, Human Development & Family Studies, and Education, The Pennsylvania State University, USA