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Context in action: Implications for the study of children and adolescents
Author(s) -
Henrich Christopher C.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.20296
Subject(s) - action (physics) , psychology , perspective (graphical) , reciprocal , context (archaeology) , social environment , developmental psychology , control (management) , social psychology , sociology , social science , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , management , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , economics , biology
Action theories acknowledge the reciprocal nature of the relationship between individual action and social context. In this article, the author discusses various ways that the social context and the individual's actions can interact in childhood and adolescence. From an ecological perspective, emphasis is placed on two main issues: Children and adolescents develop within an interactive web of social contexts, and the examination of some contexts without taking into account others can lead to an incomplete and inaccurate accounting of the role of the social environment. Social contexts are frequently dynamic systems that fluctuate over time, and the extent to which children and adolescents can exert effortful control over changes in contexts varies. Implications of the ecological perspective for action‐oriented research are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 1083–1096, 2006.