University of Yangon

Department of Psychology

Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work

A Study on the Social Maturity of the Children under the

Department of Social Welfare

SUBMITTED BY

GROUP 11

May, 2010

A Study on the Social Maturity of the Children under the

Department of Social Welfare

A Term Paper

GROUP 11

Submitted to the board of examiners in Psychology Department, in

partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Post Graduate Diploma in Social

Work and accepted on the recommendation of:

Dr. Aung Myat Kyaw Sein

Chairman

Professor/Head

Department of Psychology

Board of Examiners in Psychology

University of Yangon

U Myint Thein

Member

Professor/Head

Director, Department of Social Welfare

Department of Psychology

Board of Examiners in Psychology

University of Yangon

Dr. Cho Cho San

Supervisor

Assistant Lecturer

Department of Psychology

University of Yangon

Dr. Khin Aye Win

Member

Professor/Head (Retd.)

Department of Psychology

University of Yangon

U Taik Aung

Member

Social Work Consultant, UNICEF

Board of Examiners in Psychology

University of Yangon

Daw Htay Htay

External Examiner

Professor/Head (Retd.)

Board of Examiners in Psychology

University of Yangon

Members of Group 11

SR. ROLL NO. NAME

1. D-Sa-SW 32 Mg Phone Myat Kyaw

2. D-Sa-SW 7 Ma Thu Thu Thaw Myint

3. D-Sa-SW 63 Ma Kyu Kyu Zaw

4. D-Sa-SW 65 Ma Khin Ni Lar Than

5. D-Sa-SW 79 Nang Sandi Tun

6. D-Sa-SW 154 Naw Say Ler Htoo

7. D-Sa-SW 156 Mg Aung Zaw Myint

8. D-Sa-SW 160 Ma Phyo Phyo Wai

9. D-Sa-SW 193 Mg Aung Kyi Soe

CONTENTS Page

ACKNOWLEDGENMENTS

ABSTRACT

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

2.0 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

2.1 Social development in Infancy 5

2.2 Social Development in Early Childhood 6

2.3 Social Development in Middle and Late Childhood 7

2.4 Social Development in Adolescence 8

2.5 Studied Schools in Department of Social Welfare 8

2.6 The Vineland Social Maturity Scale 10

3.0 METHODOLOGY 11

3.1 Purpose 11

3.2 Hypothesis 11

3.3 Subjects 11

3.4 Instruments 11

3.5 Procedure 12

3.6 Table of conversion of raw scores to social age 13

4.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 14

4.1 Data Analysis 14

4.2 Discussions 18

4.3 Hypothesis Testing 18

5.0 CONCLUSION 19

5.1 Limitations 20

5.2 Recommendations 20

APPENDIXS

REFFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to express our profound thanks to Professor Dr. U Aung Myat Kyaw

Sein, Professor and Head of Department of Psychology, University of Yangon, for his

kind permission to carry out this work, his encouragement and help during this work

and to Dr. Aung Than Oo (deceased), Department of Psychology, University of

Yangon, for teaching us and encouragement of the research.

Our sincere thanks also go to Dr. Daw Khin Aye Win, Professor/Head (Retd.),

Department of Psychology, University of Yangon, Dr. Daw Than Nwe,

Professor/Head (Retd.), Department of Law, University of Yangon, Saya U Taik

Aung, Consultant, Capacity Development, UNICEF and Saya U Myint Thein,

Director, Department of Social Welfare, for their advices, encouragement and giving

us their extensive knowledge.

Our sincere thanks also go to supervisor Dr Cho Cho San, Assistant Lecturer in

Psychology, University of Yangon, for her guidance and help throughout this work.

We would like to express our appreciation Daw Khin Mar Aye, Principal of Shwe

Gone Dine Residential Nursery, Daw Tin Tin Aye, Principal of Htauk Kyant

Residential Nursery, Daw Ni Ni Shwe, Principal of Training School for Girls,

U Soe Lwin, Principal of Kyaik Wine Boy’s Training School, and the Staffs who

provided necessary support during the research.

It is our pleasure to express our sincere thanks to all members of the staffs of

Psychology Department, University of Yangon, for their constant encouragement and

help during this research work.

Special thanks should also go to all our friends for their support without which this

term paper have not been possible.

ABSTRACT

To determine development patterns of the child under Department of Social Welfare

at the age when they come into contact with a school program, the study was made of

the test performance of children from four schools under Department of Social

Welfare on the Vineland Social Maturity Scale. The Vineland test was conducted

social work interviews. Each child’s performance was examined in terms of

successful items and unsuccessful items on the Vineland Scale. Early failures and late

successes were categorized, identifying subareas of good and poor development. One

hundred children from Department of Social Welfare are used as subjects, who are

from the age of 0 to 15 years. In this study, our group targeted four orphanage schools

under Social Welfare Department.

1

1.0 INTRODUCTION

All children are the future of our human generation. Therefore, children

development in any ways is important for not only human generation as well as our

future country. In the study of child development, the origins of knowledge and

behavior have an impact on it. That is why philosophers and scientists have debated

for centuries about the true origins of knowledge and behavior. The origins of

behavior and knowledge do not lie exclusively in either nature (genes) or nurture (the

environment), but most often in both.

Moreover, they also thought over like this: why do human need to develop?

There is one very straightforward reason: there is no room for a full-sized adult in the

mother’s womb, so nature is forced to start small. More importantly, however,

extending the process of development over time enables humans to fine-tune their

physical, intellectual, and social capabilities to better meet the needs of the

environments they face (Bjorklund, 1997). Nature has built a certain amount of

flexibility, or plasticity, into the developmental process that allows the environment to

modify the course of development. This flexibility has given us, as individuals and as

a species, an exceptional degree of adaptability to environmental influences

(Corballis, 1991; Greenough et al., 1987).

Human development is the age-related physical, intellectual, social, and

personal changes that occur throughout an individual’s lifetime. Modern

developmental psychologists believe that to understand the origins of any

developmental change it is necessary to view the developing human from the

perspective of combine social, cultural, and biological forces (Sigelman & Shaffer,

1995; Zigler & Stevenson, 1993). Development is seen as a series of adjustments that

the mind and body make multiple factors. Moreover, these adjustments occur

throughout the lifespan: from conception to death, the developmental process

continues (Baltes, 1987; Baltes et al., 1980).

'Developmental psychology', also known as human development, is the

scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over

the course of the life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field

has expanded to include adolescence and adult development, aging, and the entire life

span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills

2

and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas

such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding;

language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-

concept and identity formation.

Child development refers to the biological and psychological changes that

occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence, as the individual

progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy. Because these developmental

changes may be strongly influenced by genetic factors and events during prenatal life,

genetics and prenatal development are usually included as part of the study of child

development. Developmental change may occur as a result of genetically-controlled

processes known as maturation, or as a result of environmental factors and learning,

but most commonly involves an interaction between the two.

Many tests on developmental checklists have been developed to measure a

child’s development. One of the tests that are much used is “Vineland Social Maturity

Scale”. The Vineland Social Maturity Scale was originally devised by E.A. Doll in

1935 and since then this test is being used in many parts of the world. It provided

itself to be uniquely useful instrument in measuring Social Maturity of children and

young adults. Since its first publication it had served the useful purpose of estimating

the differential social capacities of an individual.

The use of this scale must have confirmed its usefulness with mentally

retarded children. The results to date appear so promising that the use of this scale at

many other clinics, guidance center may bring forth further valuable information.

With the arrival of more research findings in our own country may eventually produce

a scale that can be widely used in our country. It is important that this instrument just

not only provides a measure of Social Age and Social Quotation. It will also indicate

the social deficits and social assets in a growing child. With the presently popular

skills training procedures these information would go a long way in training the

retarded children to be socially self sufficient.

In this paper, our group studied the social maturity scale of the children from 0

to 15 years. The meanings of children are defined differently all over the world.

According to the United Nation Convention on the Right of the Child, the child means

every human being below, the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the

3

child, majority is attained earlier. And also our country, Myanmar, have a specific

definition for the child. According to Myanmar Child Law, 1993, Chapter (1), Title

and Definition, Section 2(a) child means a person who has not attained the age of 16

years. This paper wants to study the social Quotient of the children from 0 to 15 years

under Social Welfare Department.

4

2.0 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Development is the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception

and continues through the life cycle. The pattern of movement is complex because it

is the product of several processes such as biological, cognitive and social. Biological

processes involve changes in an individual’s physical nature. Genes inherited from

parents, the development of the brain, height and weight gains, motor skills, and the

hormonal changes of puberty all reflect the role of biological processes in

development. Cognitive processes involve changes in an individual’s thought,

intelligence, and language. The tasks of watching a colorful mobile swinging above a

crib, putting together a two-word sentence, memorizing a poem, solving a math

problem, and imagining what it would be a movie star all reflect the role of cognitive

processes in children’s development. Social processes involve changes in an

individual’s relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in

personality. An infant’s smile in response to her mother’s touch, a young boy’s

aggressive on a playmate, a girl’s development of assertiveness, and adolescent’s joy

at the senior prom all reflect the role of social processes in children’s development.

The development of children can be classified into five periods: the prenatal

period, infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, and adolescence. The

prenatal period is the time from conception to birth. It is a time of tremendous growth,

that is, from a single cell to an organism complete with a brain and behavioral

capabilities, produced in approximately a nine-month period. Infancy is the

developmental period that extends from birth to 18 or 24 months. Infancy is a time of

extreme dependence on adults. Early childhood is the developmental period that

extends from the end of infancy to about 5 or 6 years; sometimes the period is called

the preschool years. Middle and late childhood is the developmental period that

extends from about 6 to 11years of age, approximately corresponding to elementary

school years; sometimes the period is called the elementary school years. Adolescence

is the developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood, entered

approximately at 10 to 12 years of age and ending at 18 to 22 years of age. In these

five periods of development children are changes or developed in several ways:

physical development, perceptual development, cognitive development and social

development.

5

2.1 Social Development in Infancy

Social development of infancy is largely depending on their parents or

guardian or caregiver. Scholars recommend that infants socialize parents just as

parents socialize infants. Parent-infant relationships are mutually regulated by the

parent and the infant. In infancy, much of the relationship is driven by the parent or

guardian, but as the infant gains self-control, the relationship is initiated more on an

equal basis. Attachment is also influence the social development of infancy.

Attachment is a relationship between two people in which each person feels strongly

about the other and does a number of things to ensure the continuation of the

relationship. In infancy, attachment refers to the bond between the parents or guardian

or caregiver and the infant. Feeding is not critical element in attachment; contact

comfort, familiarity, and trust are important. Emotions in infancy are adaptive and

promote survival, serve as a form of communication, and provide regulation. Izard

developed the Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System (MAX

System) for coding infant facial expressions of emotion. Using this system, it was

found that interest and disgust are present in the newborn, and that a social smile,

anger, surprise, sadness, fear, and shame and shyness develop in the first year, while

contempt and guilt develop in the second year. Erikson argues that the first year of life

is characterized by the crisis of trust versus mistrust. At some point in the second half

of the second year of life, the infant develops a sense of self, and independence

becomes a central theme. Mahler argues that the infant separates herself from the

mother and then develops individuation. To get the social developmental status of the

infant parents or guardian or caregiver should adapting the following care giving

systems; from birth to 4 months of age, caregivers should respond quickly to the

infant’s needs with love, affection and care. From 4 to 8 months of age, the caregivers

consistent care and emotional involvement with the infant support the development of

a focused attachment. From 8 to 12 months of age, caregivers should continue to talk

and play with the infant, and allow the infant access to other adults and infants.

During this age period, caregivers need to monitor their infants’ attentional bids. From

12 to 18 months of age, toddlers’ independence should be encouraged, but their

negativism needs to be dealt with firmly in the context of a loving and nurturant

atmosphere. From 18 to 24 months of age, caregivers can encourage the toddlers’

6

development of self, continue monitoring their negativism, and continue giving them

considerable affection.

2.2 Social Development in Early Childhood

As stated in above topic, “social development in infancy”, parents are one of

the most important ingredients for the social development. Parents want their children

into socially mature individuals, and they may feel frustrated in trying to discover the

best way to accomplish this. Psychologists have stated that there are four major

categories of parenting styles that are associated with different aspects of the child’s

behavior: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive-indifferent, and permissive-

indulgent. Authoritarian parenting is a restrictive, punitive style that exhorts the child

to follow the parent’s directions and to respect work and effort. The authoritarian

parent places firm limits and controls on the child with little verbal exchange allowed.

Authoritarian parenting is associated with children’s social incompetence.

Authoritative parenting encourages children to be independent but still places limits

and controls on their actions. Extensive verbal give-and-take is allowed and parents

are warm and nurturant toward the child. Authoritative parenting is associated with

children’s social competence. Permissive-indifferent parenting is a style in which the

parent is very uninvolved in the child’s life; it is associated with children’s social

incompetence, especially a lack of self-control. Permissive-indulgent parenting is a

style of parenting in which parents are highly involved with their children but place

few demands or controls on them. Permissive-indulgent parenting is associated with

children’s social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control. Scholars

recommended that authoritative parenting is associated with children’s social

competence more than other styles. Parents need to adapt their interaction strategies

as the child grows older, using less physical manipulation and more reasoning in the

process. Moreover sibling relationships also influence the social development of the

children. In some cases, siblings are stronger socializing influences than parents. And

then cultural, social class and ethnic variations in families are also important in social

development of the children. Working-class and low-income parents place a higher

value on external characteristics; middle-class parents place a higher value on internal

characteristics. On the other hand peers are powerful social agents. The term peers

refers to children who are of about the same age or maturity level. Peers provide a

source of information and comparison about the world outside the family. The

7

frequency of peer interaction, both positive and negative, increases during the

preschool years. Erikson believes early childhood is a period when the self involves

resolving the conflict between initiative and guilt. Self-understanding is the child’s

cognitive representation of self, the substance and content of the child’s self-

conceptions.

2.3 Social Development in Middle and Late Childhood

As children move into the middle and late childhood years, parents spend

considerably less time with them including less time in care giving, instruction,

reading, talking, and playing. Nonetheless, parents are still powerful and important

socializing agents during this period. As stated in early childhood period, peer relation

is also influence the social development of middle and late childhood because

children spend more time with peers in this period of development. Listening skills,

effective communication, being happy, showing enthusiasm and concern for others,

and having self-confidence are predictors of peer popularity. The risk status of

neglected children is unclear. Rejected children are at risk for the development of

problems. Children’s friendships serve six functions: companionship, stimulation,

physical support, ego support, social comparison, and intimacy or affection. Moreover

children spend more than 10,000 hours in the classroom as members of a small

society in which there are tasks to be accomplished, people to be socialized and rules

that define and limit behavior, feelings, and attitudes. It is clear that schools also have

impact on the social development of the children. The internal self, the social self, and

the socially comparative self become more prominent in self-understanding during

middle and late childhood. Elementary school-aged children increasingly describe

themselves with internal, psychological characteristics. They are also more likely to

define themselves in terms of social characteristics and social comparison. Self-

esteem also developed during the middle and late childhood. In Coopersmith’s study,

children self-esteem was associated with such parenting attributes as parental

acceptance and allowing children freedom within well-prescribed limits. Social

development differs as gender differs. Males are more aggressive and active than

females; but females are usually more helping behavior, and have a wider social

network than males.

8

2.4 Social Development in Adolescence

As in the development of children, genetic, biological, environmental, and

social factors interact in adolescent development. Also, continuity and discontinuity

characterized adolescent development. The genes inherited from parents still

influence thought and behavior during adolescence, but inheritance now interacts with

social conditions of the adolescent’s world: with family, peers, friendships, dating,

and school experiences. An adolescent has experienced thousands of hours of

interaction with parents, peers and teachers in the past ten to thirteen years of

development. Still new experiences and development tasks appear during

adolescence. Relationships with parents take a different form, moments with peers

become more intimate, dating occurs for the first time as does sexual exploration and

possibly intercourse. The adolescent’s thoughts are more abstract and idealistic. Many

parents have a difficult time handling the adolescent’s push for autonomy, even

though this push is one of the hallmarks of adolescent development. Conflict with

parents usually increases in early adolescence. This conflict often is of the moderate

variety. The increase in conflict probably serves a positive developmental function of

promoting autonomy and identity. A small subset of adolescents experience high

parent-adolescent conflict that is related to various negative outcomes for adolescents.

Physical, cognitive, and social changes in the adolescent’s development influence

parent-adolescent relationships. And also peer pressures are influence to get social

development. Because of sex differences identity development can different. More

recent studies have shown that as females have developed stronger vocational

interests, sex differences in identity are often turning into similarities.

2.5 Studied Schools in Department of Social Welfare

Throughout the world an unknown number of children are kept in orphanages

and other training schools. According to Myanmar Child Law, 1993, Chapter1, Title

and Definition, Section 2(i), training school means a training school established by the

Department of Social Welfare, to which a child in need of protection and care or a

child who has committed an offence is sent for custody and care under this Law. This

9

expression also includes a home recognized as a training school by the Social Welfare

Department. In Yangon, there are many training schools from Government

Organizations and International Non-governmental Organizations. This study looked

into the social maturity scale of the children from 0 to 15 years under four orphanages

or training schools. These training schools are the Shwe Gone Dine Residential

Nursery, the Htaut Kyant Residential Nursery, the Kyaik Wine Boy’s Training School

and the Training School for Girls (Malikha).

Shwe Gone Dine Residential Nursery mainly accept the child who is

parentless or abandoned for any reason. They accepted children who are from birth to

3year old. The capacity of this school is 100 children. The school provides food,

clothing, shelter and health care. The food is provided with the combination of

Government Budget and external donors. The health care is also provided by 9 nurses

from the Department of Health. The child from this school can be adopted with

suitable laws.

Htauk Kyant Residential Nursery accept the child who is aged from 3 years to

5 years and their capacity is 75 children. They provide food, health care, personal

development, training and other according with the Early Child Care Development

(ECCD). There have 33 permanent staff to help them for development.

Kyaik Wine Boy’s Training School accept the boys who are from 5 years to

18 years old. The capacity of this school is 230 boys. This school’s objectives are to

nurture children in need of protection sent by Department of Social Welfare, to

provide temporary care to children sent by juvenile court before sentenced, to train

and take care of those children for holistic development through various ways and

means, to provide formal education, non-formal education and vocational training to

institutionalized children, to stand on their own feet by giving life-long learning and

to ensure reintegration into their society and reunification. In this school, they also

provide training activities, food arrangement, health care, physical fitness, recreation,

religious activities and culture and finally placement into their family and community

and job-placement.

In the Training School for Girls (Malikha), they accept the girls who are from

5 years to 18 years old. The capacity of this school is 300 girls. The objectives of this

training school are to provide protection, care and development of girls under 16 years

10

of age in accordance with the Child Law 1993, to provide formal education and

vocational training, to reintegrate them into the society through programmed and

services, to provide formal education in favour and non-formal education and

vocational training and job placement for children who cannot attend formal

education, to stand their life by self by provide life-long learning and to carry out

services for reintegration them into their society. They also provide activities such as

primary level education, middle school, high school, university and vocational

training like basic dancing course, sports and recreational activities.

2.6 The Vineland Social Maturity Scale

The Vineland Social Maturity Scale was originally devised by E.A.DOLL in

1935 and since then this test is being used in many parts of the world. It proved itself

to be uniquely useful instrument in measuring Social Maturity of children and young

adults. This scale is being used at many clinics, university departments and

institutions. This is a clear reflection of how social development and mental

development are highly correlated. The results to date appear so promising that the

use of this scale at many other clinics, guidance center may bring forth further

valuable information. It is important to remember in this context that this instrument

just not only provides a measure of Social Age and Social Quotient. It will also

indicate the social deficits and social assets in a growing child. With the presently

popular social skills training procedures these informations would go a long way in

training the retarded children to be socially self sufficient. Although the original

Vineland Social Maturity Scale by Doll goes up to the level of XXV years + level, the

Nagpur Adaptation stops at XV year level.

11

3.0 METHODOLOGY

The present study was focused on the social maturity of the children (from 0 to

15 years) who are from Department of Social Welfare.

3.1 PURPOSE

To study the social maturity of the children from 0 to 15 years under Social

Welfare Department.

3.2 HYPOTHESIS

The social maturity of children under Social Welfare Department are low.

3.3 SUBJECTS

One hundred children from Department of Social Welfare are used as subjects,

who are from the age of 0 to 15 years. In this study, our group targeted four

orphanage schools under Social Welfare Department. These schools are Shwe Gone

Daing Residential Nursery, the Htaut Kyant Residential Nursery, the Kyaik Wine

Boy’s Training School and the Training School for Girls (Malikha).Our group

selected 25 children from each training schools.

3.4 INSTRUMENT

A questionnaire containing of 89 items were used in this study. These

questionnaires were directly translated from Vineland Social Maturity Scale which

was devised by E.A.Doll. The questions were concerned with the social maturity scale

of the children.

12

3.5 PROCEDURE

The administration was carried out in a semi-structured informal atmosphere

by having the caregiver along with the child or having the child alone depending upon

the demands made by the items. It is preferable to request caregiver to keep silent and

non participant in the testing situation and just to provide security to the child by

being present.

If the total score falls exactly on the last item of an age level, the child is given

the full Social Age at that age level. The procedure for obtaining the Social Age from

the Raw Score is given. Social Ages can be directly read off from the table and then

converted to Social Quotient by the formula:

100.

... x

AgeActual

AgeSocialQS

The interpretations of S.Q. are on similar lines as that I.Q. except that S.Q has a social

life reference.

13

3.6 TABLE OF CONVERSION OF RAW SCORES TO SOCIAL AGE

SCORE S.A SCORE S.A SCORE S.A

1.0 0.06 31 1.83 64 6.8

1.5 0.09 32 1.83 65 7.0

2.0 0.12 33 1.94 66 7.2

2.5 0.15 34 2.00 67 7.4

3.0 0.18 35 2.1 68 7.6

3.5 0.21 36 2.2 69 7.8

4.0 0.24 37 2.3 70 8.0

5 0.30 38 2.4 71 8.3

6 0.35 39 2.5 72 8.5

7 0.41 40 2.6 73 8.8

8 0.47 41 2.7 74 9.0

9 0.53 42 2.8 75 9.3

10 0.59 43 2.9 76 9.7

11 0.65 44 3.0 77 10.0

12 0.71 45 3.2 78 10.3

13 0.77 46 3.3 79 10.5

14 0.83 47 3.5 80 10.8

15 0.89 48 3.7 81 11.0

16 0.94 49 3.8 82 11.3

17 1.00 50 4.0 83 11.7

18 1.06 51 4.2 84 12.0

19 1.12 52 4.3 85 12.6

20 1.18 53 4.5 86 13.2

21 1.24 54 4.7 87 13.8

22 1.30 55 4.8 88 14.4

23 1.35 56 5.0 89 15.0

24 1.41 57 5.2

25 1.47 58 5.4

26 1.53 59 5.6

27 1.59 60 5.8

28 1.65 61 6.0

29 1.71 62 6.3

30 1.77 63 6.3

14

4.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Under this topic, the social maturity of children from 0 to 15 years, under the

social welfare department was presented. A survey was used to study the social

maturity of children from 0 to 15 years, under the Social Welfare Department. And

the last part under this topic is discussions for the finding.

4.1 Data Analysis

Table (1) The Social Quotient of the Children according to Age Level

No Age Level Social Quotient Total Children

1 0-1 86.63 6

2 1.1-2 117.262 6

3 2.1-3 101.285 7

4 3.1-4 117.561 6

5 4.1-5 95.408 8

6 5.1-6 121.521 9

7 6.1-7 87.783 9

8 7.1-8 101.722 3

9 8.1-9 101.809 5

10 9.1-10 96.117 7

11 10.1-11 91.686 6

12 11.1-12 91.305 8

13 12.1-13 92.972 6

14 13.1-14 89.905 10

15 14.1-15 87.097 4

15

Table (1) shows the social quotient of the age level (from 0 to 1 year) is 86.63

of the total children of 6 persons. In age level 1.1 to 2 years, the social quotient is

117.26 of the total children of 6 persons. In age level 2.1 to 3, the social quotient is

101.28 of the total children of 7 persons. And also in the age level of 3.1 to 4 years,

the social quotient is 117.56 of the total children of 6 persons. In age level 4.1 to 5,

the social quotient is 95.41 of the total children of 8 persons. In age level 5.1 to 6, the

social quotient is 121.52 of the total children of 9 persons. In age level 6.1 to 7, the

social quotient is 87.78 of the total children of 9 persons. In age level 7.1 to 8, the

social quotient is 101.72 of the total children of 3 persons. In age level 8.1 to 9, the

social quotient is 101.81 of the total children of 5 persons. In age level 9.1 to 10, the

social quotient is 96.12 of the total children of 7 persons. In age level 10.1 to 11, the

social quotient is 91.69 of the total children of 6 persons. In age level 11.1 to 12, the

social quotient is 91.31 of the total children of 8 persons. In age level 12.1 to 13, the

social quotient is 92.97 of the total children of 6 persons. In age level 13.1 to14, the

social quotient is 89.91 of the total children of 10 persons. In age level 14.1 to 15, the

social quotient is 87.1 of the total children of 4 persons. From this table, it is clearly

shown that the social maturity scale of children from the institution under Department

of Social Welfare have high maturity scale except the age level (from 0 to 1 years)

have the social quotient of 86.63. It is assume that every child from the age level from

0 to 1 year was sent to this Shwe Gone Daing Residential Nursery at the age of 6

months. So these children were not familiar with this Nursery school and they are

under the transition period and also they will be under the situation of trying to

familiar with this Nursery school and their respective caregivers.

16

Table (2) The Social Quotient of the Children according to Male and Female

Male Female Male Female

1 0-1 84.42 88.844 3 3

2 1.1-2 123.75 115.964 1 5

3 2.1-3 99.74 103.346 4 3

4 3.1-4 118.53 115.609 4 2

5 4.1-5 102.008 84.408 5 3

6 5.1-6 123.057 119.601 5 4

7 6.1-7 96.317 100.393 4 5

8 7.1-8 101.722 - 3 -

9 8.1-9 - 101.809 - 5

10 9.1-10 99.932 94.591 2 5

11 10.1-11 103.206 80.167 3 3

12 11.1-12 103.935 83.728 3 5

13 12.1-13 82.899 103.045 3 3

14 13.1-14 89.905 - 10 -

15 14.1-15 87.097 - 4 -

No Age Level

Social Quotient Total Children

17

According to table (2), the social quotient of the male (from 0 to 1 year) is

84.42 and the social quotient of female at the same age level is 88.84. At the age level

(from 1.1 to 2 years), the social quotient of the male is 123.75 and female is 115.96.

And also at the age level (from 2.1 to 3 years), the social quotient of the male is 99.74

and female is 103.35. And at the age level (from 3.1 to 4 years), the social quotient of

male is 118.53 and female is 115.61. And the social quotient of the male (from 4.1 to

5 years) is 102 and the female at the same age level is 84.4. At the age level (from 5.1

to 6 years), the social quotient of the male is 123.1 and the female is 119.6. And the

age level (from 6.1 to 7), the social quotient of the male is 96.32 and the female is

100.4. At the age level (from 7.1 to 8 years), the social quotient of the male 101.72.

At the age level (from 8.1 to 9 years), the social quotient of the female is 101.81. And

also the social quotient of the male (from 9.1 to 10 years) is 99.93 and the female at

the same age level is 94.59. At the age level (from 10.1 to 11 years), the social

quotient of the male is 103.21 and the female is 80.17. And also at the age level (from

11.1 to 12 years), the social quotient of the male is 103. 94 and the female is 83.73. At

the age level (from 12.1 to 13 years), the social quotient of the male is 82.9 and the

female is 103. 05. Moreover the social quotient of the male (from 13.1 to 14 years) is

89.91. At the age level (from 14.1 to 15 years), the social quotient of the male is 87.1.

This table (2) clearly shown that all the age level the social quotient of the male is

superior than female except the age level (from 0 to 1, 2.1 to 3, 6.1 to 7 and 12.1 to 13

years). It could be due to most of the female are grown up under the rule of

institution and most of the boy come from outside world and they have many

experiences in social relation than female.

18

4.2 Discussion

As children are the human resources for the development of the country,

children development is crucial for one’s country development. In our study, the

social maturity of the children from 0 to 15 years, under Social Welfare Department

has presented. In our findings, the social maturity of the children according to age

level, the youngest age level (from 0 to 1 year) have the lowest social quotient. It can

be assumed that every child at these age level is arrived at the nursery school only on

6 months. So they are not familiar with the school nature and their respective

caregivers. And some excursion were arrange for children once or twice per year and

this was only for the age two and above so infant side track with outside world was

limited. The long-term development of the children is largely relying on the infant

level. To improve the social development of the infant the department should

appointed the skilful caregivers. And in these infant age level, as the school nature is

not familiar with the children caregivers should try and practice to familiar with the

school nature. Moreover, our studies are only the children (from 0 to 15 years) and

surveyed on four orphanage schools under Social Welfare Department. In these

schools, children are living and staying under the permanent nature of their respective

schools. They had limited visitation to the open air areas.

On the other hand, the respective institution should provide sufficient support

for the children being taking care by the informal sector where they can have

opportunities for their long-term development. And also the majority of the staff and

caregiver were committed but due to institutions focus on discipline, there was little

awareness of children’s psycho-social support, especially their social dealing.

Therefore, for the further social development of the children respective government

officers should deal with and ask for the advice from psychologist from the

Psychology Department of Yangon University as well as other countries.

4.3 Hypothesis Testing

The hypothesis which is stated in this paper is the social maturity of the

children under Social Welfare Department are low. According to our finding, the

social quotient of the children under Social Welfare Department are high. So we reject

the hypothesis which is stated before.

19

5.0 CONCLUSION

Children are the most vulnerable group of human society. And the

development of children is crucial in the development of the future country. Therefore

many institutions in the world are running the projects for the benefits of the children.

And in our country Myanmar, the government is trying to provide the rights of the

children in order to get the development not only in physical development but also in

social development.

According to the scholars’ findings, there are five periods of development

during the childhood. These are the prenatal period, infancy, early childhood, middle

and late childhood, and adolescence. The development of each period is largely

depending on the development of others. In these five periods of development

children are changes or developed in several ways: physical development, perceptual

development, cognitive development and social development. As children grown up

in human society they have to enter in social society. Therefore social development is

important for each child. The psychologist, E.A.DOLL, had devised the Vineland

Social Maturity Scale in 1935. This Vineland Social Maturity Scale proved itself to be

uniquely useful instrument in measuring Social Maturity of children and young adults.

In this paper, our group has presented the social maturity scale of children

from 0 to 15 years under Department of Social Welfare. To get the necessary facts,

we used 89 items, directly translated from Vineland Social Maturity Scale which was

devised by E.A.Doll. According to the survey data, children under Social Welfare

Department are high in social quotient. But as these children are living under the

permanent nature of the institution in some areas they need to go to the outside world

to get further social development.

20

5.1 Limitations

There are some constraints and limitations such as:

- the study time is short

- the indicators used for this study may not reflect full coverage for

measuring the social maturity of the children

- in female institution, question number 71, 75, 76, 77 cannot be

measured as it is not in accordance with the behaviors and rules of

the institution.

- in male institution, question number 83 cannot be measured as it is

not in accordance with the behaviors and rules of the institution.

5.2 Recommendations

- A comparative study of the children should be conducted with families and

the children from the institution

- Should be conducted relationship between intelligent (I.Q) and social

maturity (S.Q) of the children

- Should be conducted relationship between emotional (E.Q) and social

maturity (S.Q) of the children

APPENDIXS

Appendix - I

AGE LEVEL 0 – I YEAR

1. Cries / Laughs

2. Balances head

3. Grasps object within reach

4. Reaches for familiar persons

5. Rolls over (unassisted)

6. Reaches for nearly objects

7. Occupies self unattended

8. Sits unsupported

9. Pulls self upright

10. Talks / Imitates sounds

11. Drinks from cup or glass assisted

12. Move about on floor (creeping / crawling)

13. Grasps with thumb and finger

14. Demands personal attention

15. Stands alone

16. Does not drool

17. Follows simple instructions

AGE LEVEL I – II YEAR

18. Walks about room unattended

19. Marks with pencil or crayon

20. Masticates (chews) solid or semi-solid food

21. Removes shoes or sandals, pulls off socks

22. Transfers objects

23. Overcomes simple obstacles

24. Fetches or carries familiar objects

25. Drinks from cup or glass unassisted

26. Walks or uses go-cart for walking

27. Plays with own hands

28. Eats with own hands

29. Goes about house or yard

30. Discriminates edible substances from non-edibles

31. Uses names of familiar objects

32. Walks up-stairs unassisted

33. Unwraps sweets, chocolates

34. Talks in short sentences

AGE LEVEL II – III YEAR

35. Asks go to toilet

36. Initiates own play activities

37. Removes shirt and frock

38. Eats with spoon

39. Drinks (water) unassisted

40. Dries own hands

41. Avoids simple hazards

42. Puts on shirt or frock unassisted (need not button)

43. Can do paper folding

44. Relates experiences

AGE LEVEL III – IV YEAR

45. Walks downstairs, one step at a time

46. Plays co-operatively at Kindergarten level

47. Buttons shirt or frock

48. Helps at little household tasks

49. ‘Performs’ for others

50. Washes hands unaided

AGE LEVEL IV – V YEAR

51. Cares for self at toilet

52. Washes face unassisted

53. Goes about neighborhood unattended

54. Dresses self except for tying or buttoning

55. Uses pencil or crayon for drawing

56. Plays competitive exercises, games

AGE LEVEL V – VI YEAR 57. Uses hoops, flies kites, rides tricycles

58. Prints (writes) simple words

59. Plays simple table games

60. Is trusted with money

61. Goes to school unattended

AGE LEVEL VI – VII YEAR

62. Mixes rice ‘properly’ unassisted

63. Uses pencil for writing

64. Bathes self assisted

65. Goes to bed unassisted

AGE LEVEL VII – VIII YEAR

66. Tells time to quarter hour

67. Helps himself during meals

68. Refuses to believe in magic and fairy tales

69. Participates in pre-adolescent play

70. Coombs or brushes hair

AGE LEVEL VIII – IX YEAR

71. Uses tools or utensils

72. Does routine household tasks

73. Reads on own initiative

74. Baths self unaided

AGE LEVEL IX – X YEAR

75. Buy useful articles.

76. Exercises some choice or discretion in so doing.

77. Responsible for safety of articles, money and correct change.

AGE LEVEL X – XI YEAR

78. Writes occasional short letters to friends

79. Makes independent choice of shops

80. Does small remunerative work; makes articles

81. Answers ads; writes letters for information

AGE LEVEL XI – XII YEAR

82. Does simple creative work

83. Is left to care for self or others

84. Enjoys reading books, newspapers, magazines

AGE LEVEL XII – XV YEAR

85. Plays difficult games

86. Exercises complete care of dress

87. Buys own clothing accessories

88. Engages in adolescent group activities

89. Performs responsible routine chores

REFFERENCES

1. Bee, Helen L, 6th

Edition, The Developing Child, Harper Collins

College Publishers, 1992.

2. Doll, E.A, The Measurement of Social Competence: A Manual for

the Vineland Social Maturity Scale, Washington: Educational Test

Bureau, 1953.

3. Doll, E.A, The Vineland Scale of Social Maturity: Condensed

Manual of Directions. Minnesota, 1965.

4. John W.Santrock, 3rd

Edition, Children, Wm.C.Brown

Communications, Inc.

5. Nairne, J.S., Psychology: The Adaptive Mind: 2nd

Edition,

Stamford; USA, Wadsworth; Thomson Learning, 2000.

6. Raj, J.B, Vineland Social Maturity Scale and Manual: Indian

Adaption (Enlarged Edition), Mysore, Swayamsiddha Prakashana,

1992.

7. Santrock, J.W, Child Development, 11th

Edition, New York,

McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2007.

8. Sroufe, L.A. & Cooper, R.G., Child Development: Its Nature and

Course, 2nd

Edition, New York, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc,

1992.