chapter thirteen the school years: psychosocial development
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter Thirteen
The School Years:
Psychosocial Development
• Increased Competence– and more responsible and independent
The Child’s Emotions and Concerns
• Freud: Latency– emotional drives quieter, psychosexual
needs repressed, unconscious conflicts submerged
• Erikson: Industry vs. Inferiority– children try to master skills valuable in
own culture• social worlds beyond family contribute to
sense of industry or inferiority
Theories of Development During Middle Childhood
• Social cognitive theory—the perspective that highlights how school-age children advance in learning, cognition, and culture, building on maturation and experience to become more articulate, insightful, and competent
Theories of Development During Middle Childhood, cont.
• Middle childhood is the time when children learn whatever skills they will need as adults
• Self-understanding comes at a price– lower self-esteem– greater self-criticism and self-consciousness
• Self-development affected by relationships with parents and peers
Understanding Self and Others
• Peer group—aggregate of individuals of roughly the same age and social status who play, work, or learn together
The Peer Group
• Peers become increasingly important– developmentalists believe that getting along with
peers is crucial during middle childhood– being rejected is a precursor for other problems– children depend on each other for
companionship, advice, self-validation– peer partners must learn to negotiate,
share, compromise, and defend each other and themselves
– certain amount of aggression, counter-aggression, and reconciliation expected
The Peer Group, cont.
• Developmentalists are troubled if children have no free time to spend with each other– child may have to come straight home
from school– child may be in after-school programs
due to parents work– children prefer to choose their own
activities with their own friends
The Peer Group, cont.
• Peer Group Subculture– special vocabulary, rules of behavior,
dress codes– an “in” group and an “out” group
Friendship
• Friendships become more important– forum for self disclosure Mutual
dependency– become more choosy in picking friends
• best friends likely to be same in sex, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status
– more intense, intimate, and demanding
Friendship, cont.
• Unpopular Children
– neglected children
• receive little attention, but not necessarily
disliked by peers
– aggressive-rejected—rejected by peers
because of confrontational behavior
– withdrawn-rejected—rejected by peers
because they are timid and anxious
– for rejected, situation can worsen over time
Friendship, cont.
• Bullying is universal
• Bullies are not necessarily
rejected, and victims are not
always odd in appearance or
background, although they are
always rejected
Bullies and Their Victims
• Bullying—repeated, systematic effort
to inflict harm
– physical attack, taunting, teasing, name
calling
• Bullying once thought to be a normal
part of children’s play with few long-
term consequences
Types of Bullying
• Bully-victims—bullies who are or have been victims of bullying; also called provocative victims, they are minority of victims– can be aggressive-rejected children
• Bullies and victims usually of same gender
Types of Bullying, cont.
• Boys vs. Girls
– male bullies
• above average in size
– female bullies
• above average in assertiveness
– victims tend to be less assertive and
physically weaker (boys) or shyer (girls)
Types of Bullying, cont.
• Studies show that bullying is
widespread and serious in all nations
– Norway, Britain, Japan, Italy, U.S.
• Bullying occurs in all cultures
– rural areas, suburbs, inner cities; well-to-do,
poor; all races and religions
– more where many adults are engaged in
violence
• Palestine, Ethiopia, South Africa
Bullying in Many Nations
Families and Children
• Nature vs. Nurture debate continues– particulars of family practice– shared environmental influences– nonshared environmental influences
Family Function
• How a family works to meet the needs of its members– provides food, clothing and shelter– encourages learning– develops self-esteem– nurtures friendships with peers– provides harmony and stability
Family Structure
• How a family is legally constructed and its members genetically constructed– nuclear family—two parents and their
biological children• still most common type
– one-parent family—one parent and his or her biological children
• Structure influences function– structure alone is not a total measure– genetic connection increases if families
live together
Connecting Structure and Function
• Well-to-do families can easily provide (which explains why family income strongly correlates with optimal child development)– better schools– more material things to help children feel
accepted accepted– bigger houses in safer neighborhoods– calmer home environment as parents need
not disagree over money
Family Income
• Well-educated wage earners raise more successful children than do large, multigenerational families on public assistance
Family Income, cont.
Harmony at Home
• Warmth or conflict that characterizes family interaction– children are handicapped if parents
verbally or physically abuse each other– parental alliance—cooperative
relationship, in which each parent supports the other’s parenting practices
• The Single-Parent Family- numbers have increased markedly over
past two decades- single parent is likely to work hard to fill
dual role of provider and caregiver- single parent tends to be younger (and
less mature?) than married parents
Harmony at Home, cont.
Harmony at Home, cont.
• Ethnic differences
• Outcome affected byincome, conflict at home, parental age and education, family support, number of children, social isolation, community support
• Problems of middle childhood are often exacerbated by long-standing problems- living with violent, emotionally disturbed,
drug-addicted, or imprisoned parent- living in decaying, violent, high-crime
community- growing up in a chronically poor household
• Children develop coping mechanisms
Coping with Problems
• Resilience
– dynamic process, not a stable trait– positive adaptation to stress– adversity must be significant
• Determining significance of stress– how many stressors?– how does the stress affect daily life?– how does child interpret the stress?
Resilience and the Assessment of Stress
• Daily routines are crucial• If child’s daily routines include the
following, stress is overwhelming– manage own daily care and school
attendance– contend directly with parent’s mental state– supervise and discipline younger siblings– keep friends away from house
The Impact of Stress
• Strong bond with loving parent can see children through many difficulties– supportive family
• Community influences can counteract negative effects– cultural differences in seeking support must
be respected– network of friends
• Child’s own attitude is crucial
Social Support
Religious Faith and Coping
• Powerful source of support
• School-age children develop their own theology
• How well children cope with the problems in their lives depends on the following:- nature of stresses they experience- strengths of their various competencies- social support they receive
. neighborhoods where everyone is seen as responsible for all children can improve behavior
Conclusion