Competence and Character Through Life (John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Mental Health and Development) - Tapa dura

In this collection, leading psychologists, sociologists and criminologists highlight the potential for positive human development in different domains. Covering the years from youth to middle age, they examine a range of social, political and moral components of "competence and character", from teenage pregnancy and life-planning skills to voting records and educational attainment in low income households. By positing the possibility of multiple pathways of development rather than a single universal sequence, the contributors view the individual as potentially advancing in a wide range of interrelated and overlapping competencies. This volume frames issues, events and longitudinal data through the lens of possibility rather than the pathology of defeat, stressing a positive approach to the conception of human potential.