Research approaches and findings on childrearing and .docVIP

Research approaches and findings on childrearing and socialisation of young children (birth to eight years of age) in the Caribbean A LITERATURE REVIEW Prepared for participants in the meeting of researchers Fort Young Hotel, Dominica, May 25th to 28th 2006 Prepared by Janet Brown and Sian Williams INTRODUCTION The purpose of the review is to discover the extent of the coverage of the research on childrearing and socialization of young children in the Caribbean and to reflect on the findings. One of the triggers for the review was the lack of understanding of what it is that parents in the region actually do to raise their children. The concern expressed by parent educators is that the basis for interventions is not informed by local or regional research on actual childrearing practices. For example, philosophies about the importance of play in child development are “imported” and not counterbalanced, informed or mediated by how or what children are in fact learning in their family environments. The review process has been informed by a meeting in December 2005 of Caribbean researchers based in Jamaica. This meeting provided close comment on a preliminary literature review and suggested additional material for inclusion such as studies on older children where the findings could inform research approaches with younger children and the potential for longitudinal studies. Communications with researchers in the United Kingdom and the United States provided insights into research findings and methodologies used elsewhere in the world for our consideration. We recognised that the balance of the literature we have reviewed is skewed to Jamaica as we have not received many studies from elsewhere in the Caribbean. The collection and inclusion of other Caribbean studies remains ‘work in progress’. A companion review to this paper was commissioned from Professor Jaipaul Roopnarine to explore in greater depth the theme of children and cultures, drawing on researc