Readings: You are writing about the Kusserow (1999) paper: “De‐homogenizing American individualism: Socializing hard and soft individualism in Manhattan and Queens”. When referring to the reading, just refer to the author. Don’t refer to the title of the paper in your paragraph.

ASSIGNMENT: IN 600 WORDS ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

Paragraph 1: Within‐Cultural Comparison

The Kusserow (1999) paper discusses the early socialization of American Individualism in 3 New York communities that differ in social class: upper‐middle‐class Carter Hill, upper‐working‐class Beach Channel, and lower‐working‐class South Rockaway. She focused her ethnographic study on European American families with preschool‐age children.

Choose two of these communities, and CONTRAST the two communities in terms of parenting beliefs or parenting practices.

• Mention at least 2 differences in parenting beliefs or parenting practices
  • Also note how the differences relate to environmental characteristics.

Paragraph 2: Relating the reading material to your own social‐cultural background

Write a paragraph on your reactions to or thoughts about Kusserow’s social class data. For example:

• What were you surprised about and why?
• Did anything bother you, and why?
• How do the New York social class patterns compare/contrast with your own childhood experiences?
• Do you have some particular thoughts about social class, physical environment, and childhood after doing the readings?