Full Description
The Handbook of the Study of Play brings together in two volumes thinkers whose diverse interests at the leading edge of scholarship and practice define the current field. Because play is an activity that humans have shared across time, place, and culture and in their personal developmental timelines-and because this behavior stretches deep into the evolutionary past-no single discipline can lay claim to exclusive rights to study the subject. Thus this handbook features the thinking of evolutionary psychologists; ethologists and biologists; neuroscientists; developmental psychologists; psychotherapists and play therapists; historians; sociologists and anthropologists; cultural psychologists; philosophers; theorists of music, performance, and dance; specialists in learning and language acquisition; and playground designers. Together, but out of their varied understandings, the incisive contributions to The Handbook take on vital questions of educational policy, of literacy, of fitness, of the role of play in brain development, of spontaneity and pleasure, of well-being and happiness, of fairness, and of the fuller realization of the self. These volumes also comprise an intellectual history, retrospective looks at the great thinkers who have made possible the modern study of play.
Contents
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction-James E. JohnsonOverview: Play as Self Realization: Towards a General Theory of Play, Thomas Henricks Part 1: Theory and ResearchSection I: Disciplines Chapter 1: Integrative Approaches to the Biological Study of Play, Gordon BurghardtChapter 2: Play in America: An Historical Overview, Jon-Paul C. DysonChapter 3: Psychological Approaches to the Study of Play, Doris BergenChapter 4: Anthropology and the Study of Play, Garry ChickChapter 5: Parent-Child Play Across Cultures: Theoretical Considerations and Suggestions for Advancing Play Research, Jaipaul L. Roopnarine and Kimberly DavidsonChapter 6: Sociological Perspectives on Play, Thomas S. HenricksChapter 7: Contributions of Humanistic and Positive Psychology to the Understanding of Play, Peter GrayChapter 8: Philosophizing Play, Wendy Russell and Emily RyallSection II: Influential Minds Chapter 9: Classical Theories of Play, Thomas S. HenricksChapter 10: Modern Theorists of Play: Huizinga, Caillois, Goffman, and Henricks, Thomas S. HenricksChapter 11: The Interpretation of Play: Psychoanalysis and Beyond, Stephen P. Demanchick Chapter 12: Standing 'A Head Taller than Himself': Vygotskian and Post-Vygotskian Views on Children's Play, Elena Bodrova and Deborah LeongChapter 13: Play through a Bakhtinian Lens, Lynn E. CohenChapter 14: Piaget's Sympathetic But Unromantic Account of Children's Play, Richard DeLisiChapter 15: Play Theory: A Personal Journey and New Thoughts, Brian Sutton-SmithPart 2: Applications, Challenges, and DirectionsSection III: ApplicationsChapter 16: Games Psychotherapists Play: Hide and Seek in the Therapeutic Dialog, Terry Marks-TarlowChapter 17: Play and Early Childhood Education, David KuschnerChapter 18: Recess and Learning: Research on the Effects of Recess on Children and Teachers, Olga S. JarrettChapter 19: The Principles of Playwork, Fraser BrownChapter 20: "Jamming Together" as Musical Play, Patricia A. St. JohnChapter 21: Performance, Theatre, and Improvisation: Bringing Play and Development into New Arenas, Carrie LobmanChapter 22: Play Interventions and Therapy, Cindy Dell ClarkSection IV: ChallengesChapter 23: Where are we Now?: Challenges to the Study of Play, Thomas S. HenricksChapter 24: A Student's Guide for Understanding Play Through the Theories of Brian Sutton-Smith, Alice M. MeckleyChapter 25: Play Therapy on the Edge: Understanding Definitions and Change Mechanisms, Stephen P. Demanchick and Mary Anne PeabodyChapter 26: How Does Play Contribute to Literacy?, James F. Christie and Kathleen A. RoskosChapter 27: Designing and Creating Playgrounds: The Future is Now, Joe L. FrostChapter 28: Mapping the Landscape of Children's Play, David LancyChapter 29: Challenges to Research on Play: Mending the Methodological Mistakes, Angeline S. Lillard, Rebecca A. Dore, Emily J. Hopkins, and Eric D. SmithChapter 30: Does Play have to be Playful?, Lynn A. Barnett and Megan H. OwensChapter 31: Play Fighting and Real Fighting, Peter SmithChapter 32: Playing nicely together: Integrating Studies of Well-being and Play, Gwen GordonChapter 33: Give Play a Chance: The Psychobiology of PLAY and the Benefits of Social Playfulness, Jaak PankseppEpilogue: What's Not Play?, Scott EberleIndexAbout the EditorsAbout the Contributors
