First find your child a good mother
Subtitle: the construction of self in two African communities
By: Paul Riesman ; with a prologue by Suzanne Riesman ; editorial committee, David L. Szanton ... [et al.].
Contributors: Szanton, David L., 1938-
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 1992
Place of publication: New Brunswick, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 241
Subjects: Fula (African people) -- Kinship.; Fula (African people) -- Psychology.; Children -- Burkina Faso -- Djibo.; Children -- Burkina Faso -- Pétéga.; Parenting -- Burkina Faso -- Djibo.; Parenting -- Burkina Faso -- Pétéga.; Fula (African people) -- Social life and customs.; Djibo (Burkina Faso) -- Social life and customs.; Pétéga (Burkina Faso) -- Social life and customs.
Description: "Through a systematic comparison of the life circumstances, child-rearing practices, and personalities of the FulBe and their former slaves, the RiimaayBe, this book develops an alternative theory of the way personality is formed in the Fulani society of West Africa. Riesman discusses the different characters, economies, and life plans of adult men and women of both groups, focusing on their ideas about the value of relatives. He further presents detailed observations of child-rearing practices, and concludes that the FulBe and RiimaayBe do not differ in these practices. Contrasting Fulani and Western notions of parenting, he suggests that child-rearing practices are themselves irrelevant to the formation of adult personality, but that a people's ideas about the meaning of life, social relations, and the development of character are very important. Finally, Riesman outlines a sociocultural theory of personality and its formation, and uses this theory to make sense of the differences between FulBe and RiimaayBe." "After Paul Riesman's death in 1988, this book was completed with the assistance of David L. Szanton (University of California, Berkeley), Lila Abu-Lughod (New York University), Sharon Hutchinson (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Paul Stoller (West Chester University), and Carol Trosset (Tulane). Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [233]-235) and index.