FAMILY AND CHILD

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THE FAMILY AND THE CHILD: A PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW

Psych 441

UM ass Boston

Spring 2022

C hildren in C ontext: Brief Review : Early and M iddle C hildhood

Thought Questions 1. Who are the people that offer important support in children’s lives during the early and middle childhood years? 2. How do family changes, challenges, stressors and transitions impact children? 3. What are some important cultural influences on childhood? 4. How do ecological systems, ecocultural influences, and environmental contexts shape early and middle childhood development? 5. How does Maslow’s Model of Hierarchy of Needs apply to development?

5. How important is parent/caregiver-child communication for shaping family relationships? 6. How are patterns of interaction, learning and development different as children move from early to middle childhood? What is the role of school environment? How are teachers influential?

Figure 12.11 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s Model

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EARLY CHILDHOOD

“Early years of childhood form the basis of intelligence, personality, social behavior, and capacity to learn and nurture oneself as an adult. There is significant evidence that links the circum stances of adversity and habits form ed in early years to the non-com m unicable diseases of adulthood.”

Source: UNIC EF

https://w w w .unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_40748.htm l

Early Childhood

◦ Early childhood (usually defined as birth to year 6, but sometimes to year 8) is a time of tremendous physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and language development.

◦ Middle childhood (usually defined as ages 6 to 12) is a time when children develop foundational skills for building healthy social relationships and learn roles that will prepare them for adolescence and adulthood.

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics- objectives/topic/early-and-middle-childhood

Play and Creativity

Play and well-being Play and learning

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MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

“M iddle childhood is w hen the parts of the brain m ost closely associated w ith being hum an finally com e online: our ability to control our im pulses, to

reason, to focus, to plan for the future.”

(Angier, N., 2011,p.1)

Middle Childhood….

“A time of great cognitive creativity and ambition, when the brain has pretty much reached its adult size and can focus on threading together its private intranet service — on forging, organizing, amplifying and annotating the tens of billions of synaptic connections that allow brain cells and brain domains to communicate.” Angier, N. (2011) Retrieved December 27, 2011 from the New York Times web site

Middle Childhood: APA

◦ Children ages 6–12 undergo major developmental changes. During this period, known as middle childhood, they develop a more advanced sense of self, emotion regulation skills, and self- confidence. They become less dependent on their parents and learn to form connections with peers.

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Middle Childhood: Ages 6-8

◦ Middle childhood brings many changes in a child’s life. By this time, children can dress themselves, catch a ball more easily using only their hands, and tie their shoes. Having independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become more and more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop quickly at this time. This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork, and sports.

◦ https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenti ng/middle.html

Middle Childhood: Ages 9-11 ◦ Children’s growing independence from the family and interest in

friends might be obvious by now. Healthy friendships are very important to your child’s development, but peer pressure can become strong during this time. Children who feel good about themselves are more able to resist negative peer pressure and make better choices for themselves. This is an important time for children to gain a sense of responsibility along with their growing independence. Also, physical changes of puberty might be showing by now, especially for girls. Another big change children need to prepare for during this time is starting middle or junior high school.

◦ https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenti ng/middle2.html

UNICEF International Primary Education ◦ Access to primary education is a basic right of every child. ◦ An effective primary education can build a solid

foundation and open avenues for future success. With its profound implications on both the individual and society, primary education plays a crucial role in reducing extreme poverty and promoting social changes.

◦ The Sustainable Development Agenda acknowledges the importance of primary education in Goal 4 which stipulates that by 2030, the world should ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, including a target on universal access to primary education.

◦ Though there are varying standards, primary education is typically designed for children 6 to 11 years of age.

◦ https://data.unicef.org/topic/education/primary-education/

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UNICEF International Primary Education ◦ Significant progress has been made toward achieving universal

primary education. Globally, the adjusted net attendance rate reached 87 per cent in 2019, and about four out of five children attending primary education completed it. Additionally, over the past two decades, the number of out-of-school children was reduced by over 40 per cent.

◦ However, there is still a long way to go: 58 million children of primary school age remain out of school, with the majority of them coming from marginalized groups. In addition, recent MICS results show that many children do not have foundational reading and numeracy skills, highlighting the massive challenge to achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

◦ https://data.unicef.org/topic/education/primary-education/

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

Developmental Areas

Early Childhood ◦ Erik and Joan Erikson: Stages of Psychsocial Development

◦ Stage 2: Toddlerhood: resolve crisis of autonomy versus shame and doubt ◦ Develop or gain self-control without loss of self-esteem.

◦ Stage 3: Early Childhood: resolve crisis of initiative versus guilt ◦ Develop: Curiosity and eagerness to try new tasks without fear or

guilt.

◦ Stage 4: Middle Childhood resolve crisis of industry versus inferiority ◦ Develop a sense of competence at useful skills and tasks such as

pride and accomplishment in their schoolwork, sports, social activities, and family life, or develop a sense of pessimism and lack of confidence in one’s ability to do things well.

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Eriksons’ Psychosocial Stages Basic trust v. mistrust Birth–1 year Autonomy v. shame and doubt 1–3 years Initiative v. guilt 3–6 years Industry v. inferiority 6–11 years Identity v. role confusion Adolescence Intimacy v. isolation Emerging adulthood Generativity v. stagnation Adulthood Integrity v. despair Old age

Prosocial Moral Reasoning and Empathy (Eisenberg, 2009,2011)

◦ Thinking involved in deciding whether to share with, help, or take care of others (even at cost to oneself)

l Findings from earlier studies l Young children’s reasoning is

focused on themselves, and helping others is justified in terms of what is to be gained personally

l With increasing age, children express more empathy for the person in difficulty and a greater consideration of social norms

Positive Justice (Damon, 1990) ◦ Ideas about how to divide resources or

distribute rewards fairly ◦ Findings: ◦ 4- and 5-year-olds: Focus primarily on gratifying

themselves, but begin to justify decisions with appeals to characteristics such as size and sex (“The biggest should get the most.” “We should all get some because we’re girls.”)

◦ Between ages of 5 and 7: Begin to believe that all participants have equal claim (“It’s only fair for everyone to get the same.”)

◦ Age 8 and onward: Begin to take particular circumstances into consideration (e.g., greater contribution to group’s work gets more, or those handicapped in some way)

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Figure 12.11 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s Model

Self-Esteem

Erik and Joan Erikson Middle childhood: resolve crisis of

Behavioral Domain l Increased memory capacity; strategic

remembering l Concrete operations and logical

classification l Decreased egocentrism; improved

perspective taking

◦ Develop positive self-esteem (i.e., self- evaluation of worth)

◦ Self-esteem is an important index of mental health

◦ Low self-esteem linked to depression, anxiety, and academic and social maladjustment.

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Scales of Perceived Self- Competence (Harter)

Children indicate the picture or statement which most closely applies to them.

Self-Esteem

◦ Self-esteem configurations ◦ 6- to 7-year-olds

Competence and acceptance ◦ 8- to 12-year-olds

Cognitive competence, social competence, physical competence, general self-worth (new integration)

◦ High self-esteem fostered by parents’ acceptance, setting clearly defined limits, respect for individuality.

Influences on Self-Esteem

◦Cultural values ◦Gender-stereotyped beliefs ◦Child-rearing practices: ◦Authoritative parenting builds self- esteem. ◦Controlling parenting undermines self- esteem.

◦Achievement-related attributions

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Achievement-Related Attributions

◦Mastery-oriented attributions ◦ Attribution of successes to ability ◦ Incremental view of ability (belief that it can be improved through effort) ◦ Focus on learning goals

◦Learned helplessness ◦ Attribution of failure to ability and success to luck ◦ Fixed view of ability (belief that it cannot be changed) ◦ Focus on performance goals

Friendship in Middle Childhood ◦Friendship becomes more complex and psychologically based. ◦Trust is the defining feature of friendship. ◦Friendships are more selective. ◦High-quality friendships are fairly stable. ◦ Impact of friendships depends on qualities of friends: kindness and compassion vs. aggression and hostile interaction

Understanding Diversity and Inequality

◦Children absorb prevailing societal attitudes, often associating power and privilege with white people, inferior status with people of color. These attitudes are deeply harmful. ◦Children pick up information about group status from implicit messages in their surroundings. ◦When authority figures confer status distinctions, children may form biased attitudes.

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Racial Identity Kenneth and Mamie Clark

◦ African American children became aware of their racial identity at about three years old.

◦ Doll Study report (1950) based on research in the 1940’s. The findings supported that the practice of segregation was psychologically damaging, which played a role in the Supreme Court decision in outlawing segregation.

◦ Many of the young children in their studies began to observe, reflect and internalize the views that society held about them.

◦ https://www.naacpldf.org/ldf-celebrates-60th-anniversary-brown- v-board-education/significance-doll-test/

Stages in Children’s Development of Racial Cultural Identity and Attitudes (Louise Derman-Sparks,2012)

Children Ages 5 & 6 ◦ Children whose home culture and experiences significantly differ from the dominant or

mainstream culture often face a "bi-cultural" crisis upon entering school. (This may be white children from low-income families, immigrant children, and children whose home culture/language differs from school culture/language).

◦ Ways children begin to handle the “bi-cultural” crisis include: a. Rejecting home culture & learning dominant one b. Rejecting school culture and insisting on home culture c. Learning to code switch and to become bi-cultural

◦ Aware of and exploring meaning of the several aspects of their self and/or group identities (racial, cultural, gender,) and the societal messages about them. Develop gender and racial constancy

◦ Interested in how people get skin color and can understand simple scientific explanations about skin color differences

◦ Show evidence of societal messages affecting how they feel about their self and /or group identity, i.e., evidence of beginnings of internalized superiority (IS) or internalized oppression ( IO)

◦ May select to play only with children close to their gender and racial/cultural identities, but may also reject members of their own racial/cultural group (e.g. darker skinned African American children, Spanish-speaking Latino children)

Stages in Children’s Development of Racial Cultural Identity and Attitudes (Louise Derman-Sparks, 2012) Children Age Seven, Eight & Nine ◦ Establishing group identities and membership -often form groups to act within own cultural

rules and to reinforce sense of group identity. Able to learn to consciously codeswitch between home/community and school cultures

◦ Children of color aware of racism against own racial/ cultural group. May show negative impact of internalized racism: third grade is when many children "psychologically" drop out of school (Their bodies are in the classroom, but their minds are elsewhere).

◦ See rise in name-calling based on racial, gender, class, disability and sexual orientation identities. Show influence of dominant culture myths about class (being poor is the individual's choice/ fault; having money is a sign of superior abilities). However, they also now have a greater capacity for empathy about the hurt name-calling causes.

◦ Can identify and critically think about interpersonal dynamics of racism, sexism and classism, and how to interrupt them. Understand scientific explanations for skin color and how individuals get their skin color. Understand nature and harm of stereotyping.

◦ Like to learn about the “history” of their own people and communities. ( Interviewing people and writing about them are popular activities that also build literacy skills)

◦ Role models of people active in anti-racism /social justice struggles very important to them. Can engage in group activities to challenge individual and cultural forms of racism in their community.

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Anti-Bias Curriculum

◦ Quality primary programs incorporate the four anti-bias education goals into the daily curriculum. Fives and sixes profit from the objectives described for preschoolers. They can apply learning about similarities and differences to creating behavioral “rules” for their classroom and to simple activism activities addressing hurtful prejudice or discrimination affecting themselves and their classmates.

◦ Quality educational programs use children’s greater cognitive abilities to understand their self and group identities, while also fostering children’s empathy for people across differences and their critical thinking and acting skills for countering prejudice and discrimination. It is important to teach about people in their and each others’ communities who work to end prejudice and discrimination. All aspects of curriculum make visible the contributions of all racial/cultural groups.

Gender Identity and Behavior

Gender identity expands to include: ◦ Gender typicality: degree to which child feels similar to others of

same gender. ◦ Gender contentedness: degree to which child feels comfortable

with his/her gender assignment.

◦ Felt pressure to conform to gender roles: degree to which child feels that others disapprove of his/her gender-related traits.

Bio-Psychosocial Shifts

Biological Domain l Loss of baby teeth and gain of permanent teeth l Growth spurt in frontal lobes and overall brain size l Sharp increase in EEG coherence

Social Domain l Peer-group participation and deliberate instruction l Rule-based games without direct adult supervision l Golden Rule morality and social comparison

Behavioral Domain l Increased memory capacity; strategic remembering l Concrete operations and logical classification l Decreased egocentrism; improved perspective taking

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Child and Family Context: A Multidimensional Framework

Video Age 7 in America (See handout)

◦ Upper East Side, New York City ◦ Lucy, Alexis, Kate

◦ Lower East Side, New York City ◦ Luis

◦ Chicago Suburbs ◦ Eric, Brandon

◦ Southside of Chicago ◦ Mike ◦ Vicky ◦ Douglas

Age 7 in America

◦ Urban Chicago: Robert Taylor Homes ◦ Keneesha and LeRoy

◦ Los Angeles, CA ◦ Julio,Michael and Salena

◦ Lincoln, Nebraska ◦ Ashtyn

◦ The South: Rural Georgia ◦ Joey and Edie