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The initial impetus for this volume was the occasion of the World Congress for Mental Health held in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1977. The theme of that congress was priorities in mental health. The keynote speaker Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, wife of the then President of the United States, focused attention on the necessity for an international perspective in understanding priorities for mental health. Without exception subsequent speakers echoed the sentiments Mrs. Carter expressed, that the first priority for mental health was that of children. For many participants the concern for children was translated not only into techniques for treatment but more importantly into broadening the approaches to prevention. One theme emerged which has begun to be addressed around the world - that of the cultural and developmental implications of sex role stereotyping for mental health. This topic proved to be the touchstone for many issues related both directly and indirectly to mental health. Among the most prominent concerns expressed were those for the effects on careers, the learning environment and relations between the sexes which stem from stereotyped attitudes concerning appropriate sex role behavior. The consensus of the par tiCipants was to urge the directorate of the congress to continue this topic at the next World Congress. This was a particularly appropriate content for the next World Congress, since 1979 was the International Year of the Child.
List of contents
and Overview.- Parents' Sex Role Attitudes and Children's Concepts of Femininity and Masculinity.- Ethnic Differences in Sex Stereotyping by Mothers: Implications for Health Care.- The Role of Schools in Developing Sex Role Attitudes.- Review of the Literature on Non-sexist Curriculum and a Critique of the Underlying Assumptions and Rationale.- Language and Attitudes toward Masculine and Feminine Sex Role.- Does Sex Stereotyping Lead to a Higher Incidence of Male Dyslexia?.- Making Literacy Equally Accessible to Females and Males.- Sex Typing in Occupational Preferences of High School Boys and Girls.- Aspirations and Sex Roles - Are They in Conflict?.- Cross-Sex Friendship in the Elementary School.- Sex Differences in Children's Road Accidents.- Cultural Differences in Children's Sex Role Stereotypes.- Sex Role Stereotyping and Mental Health Standards in Israel: A Cross-cultural Comparison.- Sex Role Images in Lebanese Text Books.- Strategies of Healthy Sex Role Development in Modernized India.- Effectiveness of Self-persuasion in Producing Healthy Attitudes towards Polygyny.- Overemphasis of Mother Role and Inflexibility of Roles.- Sex without Reproduction: Voluntary Childlessness as a Response to Contemporary Sex Roles.- Changing Sex Roles Reflected in the Films of François Truffaut.- Mental Health in Boys and Girls: Awareness of Attitudes for Positive Sex Roles.- Discussion.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.
