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8 - From Unruly Child to Political Protester and Promoter of an Ecology-Minded Concept of Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2021

By
Rainer K. Silbereisen
Edited by
Richard E. Tremblay
Richard E. Tremblay
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
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Summary

Rainer K. Silbereisen was born in Germany in 1944. He was Professor of Psychology at the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena (Germany) and President of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development. His research program focused on complex ecology-biology-person interactions. Ecology was hypothesized to be a major developmental force. Maladjusted behaviors, such as antisocial behavior during adolescence, were investigated in order to understand their putative constructive role in the development of entrepreneurial behavior during adulthood. Longitudinal studies were conducted on a wide range of topics, such as substance use and delinquency during adolescence, variation in the timing of psychosocial transitions, the impact of social change on adjustment and development, psychological dimensions of entrepreneurship and civic participation, biobehavioral aspects of adolescent development, and acculturation among immigrants. These studies had an explicit cross-national and cross-cultural format. The prevention of maladjustment and scientific advice for policy makers were important dimensions of this research program. With longitudinal studies, Silbereisen examined the effects of German unification and of globalization on adjustment in adulthood. This provided opportunities to investigate how individuals cope with new challenges to their developmental tasks as the result of gross changes in ecological opportunity structures.

Keywords

ecologybiologypersondevelopmentantisocial behaviorentrepreneurshiplongitudinal studiesdelinquencyacculturationimmigrants
Type
Chapter
Information
The Science of Violent Behavior Development and Prevention
Contributions of the Second World War Generation
 , pp. 188 - 214
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

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