What Is Development?
Development is a term used to describe a range of activities, from real estate growth to personal and professional improvement. It also refers to social advancement and globalization. Development is a part of a person’s life cycle and can be seen in the stages of adolescence, adulthood and old age. A person’s developmental journey is shaped by culture, economics and the environment.
The idea of sustainable development is based on the idea that people need to meet their own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do so. However, the notion of development is viewed differently by different countries, as each country has its own priorities and markers for achievement. This is one reason why nations with similar income levels can have such a wide gap in their social and economic progress.
Sociologists use the concept of development to examine a number of issues, such as gender inequality and wealth disparity among different groups in society. They also study the process of development from a global perspective, examining patterns of inequality between different regions and within nation-states.
There are a number of meta-theories about development, including those that focus on the causes of development and the way that people develop over time. For example, some theories – such as those of Erikson and Vygotsky – assume that people are born with certain traits or characteristics and that they can only grow by reacting to their environment. Other theories, such as those of the behaviorists and information processing theorists, assume that people are malleable and can change throughout their lives.