Psychosocial Development of Puerto Rican Women

This collection of original papers explores the psychological and social development of the Puerto Rican woman from a lifespan developmental perspective. Using a wide range of methodologies and perspectives, the book addresses important issues of growth and development, among them cultural constructs of womanhood, adaptation to school, early pregnancy, sexuality, migration, autonomy, family interaction, and aging. Choice

This collection of original papers explores the psychological and social development of the Puerto Rican woman from a lifespan developmental perspective. Using a wide range of methodologies and perspectives, the book is organized around the major developmental stages: childhood and adolescence, adulthood, and growing old. An ideal supplemental text for courses in the psychology of women, Puerto Rican studies, and cross-cultural psychology, the book addresses important issues of growth and development, among them cultural constructs of womanhood, adaptation to school, early pregnancy, sexuality, migration, autonomy, family interaction, and aging.

The book begins with an introductory section that examines the social, demographic, and cultural variables that affect Puerto Rican women and provides a historical and social context for understanding the profound changes experienced by the Puerto Rican people in recent decades. In the section of childhood and adolescence two chapters look at how Puerto Rican girls learn the American student role and the problems of adolescent pregnancy respectively. The following group of papers explore developmental issues during adulthood, with separate chapters on the effects of social background on the expression of female sexuality, the implications of cross-cultural transitions, the role of the single female head of household, the conflict between autonomy and social networks, and the problems of elderly Puerto Rican women. Taken together, these essays offer a spirited contribution to the women's studies curriculum.

CYNTHIA T. GARCIA COLL has been a faculty member at Brown University since 1981 in the Pediatrics and Psychology Departments. Since 1983 she also holds a honorary appointment at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Puerto Rico Medical School, where she has been conducting research since 1982. Dr. Garcia Coll's main research interests are on the inter-play between biology and sociocultural influences on human development.

MARIA DE LOURDES MATTEI is an Associate faculty member at Antioch/New England School of Professional Psychology and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Smith School of Social Work. She is a psychotherapist and consultant in private practice in Western Massachusetts and has been associated with the Gandara Mental Health Center since 1983.