Chapter 16 - Rural versus Urban Environments

Summary

This chapter explains the daily life in urban and rural communities. There is a long tradition of social theory suggesting that urban life may be detrimental to the quality and quantity of social relationships, and there is evidence that people living in urban areas are less likely to extend help to strangers. Adults living in rural areas tend to have different health beliefs and practices compared to adults living in urban and suburban areas. Children from farm families had greater academic success than children from nonfarm families living in rural areas. The differences were owing to strong parental involvement and high levels of integration into the local community. There is a substantial literature showing that socioeconomic and demographic factors affect the adaptive functioning of all family members and determines how parents parent. The chapter concludes with some general thoughts about the implications of urban-rural differences as regards behavior and development.