Publication Abstract
Thornton, Arland, Georgina Binstock, and Dirgha J. Ghimire. 2008. “International Dissemination of Ideas about Development and Family Change.” Pp. 19-44 in International Family Change: Ideational Perspectives, edited by R. Jayakody, A. Thornton, and W.G. Axinn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
This chapter looks at family change, and in particular at family behavior and family attitudes, values, and beliefs. The perspective is large in that we consider family change around the world and over the last two centuries, with an emphasis on the last several decades. We focus on one particular ideational factor in family change-developmental idealismthat we consider especially influential in producing family change around the world. To buttress our ideas about the importance of developmental ideology on family change, we present initial findings from recent studies in Argentina and Nepal.