MODULE 4
Middle Childhood
Human Behavior and the Social Environment
Anthony’s Impending Assessment
Anthony is a 6-year-old African American boy living in an impoverished section of a
large city in the United States. 14 when Anthony was born, and Anthony’s father James was
15. James has always spent a great deal of time with Anthony. Anthony and Sephora are the
most important people in his life. Anthony was out of diapers, James began spending even
more time with him, taking Anthony along to visit friends and, occasionally, on overnight
outings.
James’s father was murdered when James was a toddler, and he rarely sees his mother,
who struggles with substance addiction. James lived with his paternal grandparents until he
was in his early teens, when he began to stay with a favorite uncle. Many members of
James’s large extended family have been incarcerated on charges related to their involvement
in the local drug trade. James’s favorite uncle is a well-known dealer.
James has been arrested a few times and is currently on probation. Sephora and
Anthony live with her mother. Sephora obtained her general equivalency diploma after
Anthony’s birth, and she has held a variety of jobs at local fast-food chains. Cynthia seemed
pleased when Anthony was born, and she has been a second mother to him, caring for him
while Sephora attends school and work and socializes with James and her other friends.
Anthony has always been very active and energetic, frequently breaking things and
creating messes throughout the apartment. Anthony entered kindergarten at a local public
school last fall. When he started school, his teacher told Sephora that he seemed to be a very
smart boy, one of the only boys in the class who already knew how to write his name and
how to count to 20. It is now spring, however, and Sephora is tired of dealing with Anthony’s
teacher and other school staff. Most recently, Anthony’s teacher has told Sephora that she
would like Anthony assessed by the school psychologist.
Jasmine’s Headaches
Jasmine, a Caucasian 9-year-old girl, is the middle child in her family. Jasmine has
heard her mother say that she likes taking care of people when they are sick. Jasmine misses
her father. Her mother always tells Jenesis and Jasmine that they should never touch drugs or
they will become just like their dad, who used to smoke marijuana and then began using
heroin.
Jasmine remembers that in the last year her dad lived with them, he would often hit
their mom. Jasmine knows her dad is in prison now, and her mom says she is glad he is gone.
But Jasmine can remember fun times with her dad when she was little and hopes he will
return soon. Jasmine describes her family as poor, and she cannot really remember a time
when she was not poor.
Jasmine’s dad went to jail, they moved in with Jasmine’s grandma in the country, and
weeks passed before Jasmine and her siblings started school nearby. They loaded the family’s
clothes into their grandma’s car and began sleeping in the car, frequently parking at a
deserted campground near their grandma’s old home. Jasmine’s grandma used to call her an
old soul. She loves to read and pretends to be Jordan’s teacher. Jasmine has always made sure
Jordan is taken care of when her mom is working. Jasmine knows that Jenesis cuts herself.
Jasmine thinks it is Jenesis’s fault that the school called Child Protective Services. Jasmine
thinks she should not tell anyone how much her head hurts lately. Telling her mom or her
teacher would just cause more trouble. Everyone tells Jasmine how smart she is, but lately
when she must take a test, her head hurts and her heart starts beating fast.
Gabriela’s New Life
In the first months in her new school, Gabriela was involved in several conflicts with
peers. The original plan was that Teresa and Gabriela would follow Daniel to the three of
them were all sleeping in one bed in the small apartment, and a report was made to Child
Protective Services when Gabriela told her teacher that her father had touched her
inappropriately, through her clothing, one night when he was drunk. The child protection
worker mandated that Daniel should not sleep in the same bed as Gabriela. Gabriela has
confided to the school social worker and guidance counselor that she wants her mother to
leave her father, but her mother would not be able to get health insurance if she left because
of her citizenship status. She says that her mother tells her, Gabriela, I am waiting for you to
grow up, and I can live with you. Gabriela says that she feels a great pressure to take care of
her mother.
In many cultural groups, children progressing through middle childhood have been
viewed as increasingly capable of working and contributing to the well-being of their families
and communities. Children passing through middle childhood became categorized as school
age, and their education became a societal priority. Although this significant diversity exists
among children, middle childhood is generally viewed in the United States as a time when
education, play, and social activities should dominate daily life. Images of middle childhood
often include children who are physically active and intellectually curious, making new
friends and learning new things.
But as Anthony, Jasmine, and Gabriela demonstrate, middle childhood is filled with
both opportunities and challenges. When we think of school-age children, our thoughts may
include images of child poverty and related school inequities, family and community
violence, sexual victimization, or precociousness, learning challenges, and physical and
emotional ailments such as anxiety, malnutrition, depression, asthma, and obesity.
Development in Middle Childhood
New developmental tasks are undertaken in middle childhood, and development
occurs within multiple dimensions. Underscoring the profoundly diverse experiences of
children in the United Medical professionals caution that school-age children possess unique
physical vulnerabilities related to the growth process and thus are particularly susceptible to
the ailments associated with either an overly sedentary lifestyle or excessive physical
training. Society for Sports Medicine urges adults to attend to the risk of psychological
burnout and overuse injury among children and youth. States increases, the American
Academy of Pediatrics offers guidance on how to increase activity levels among sedentary
school-age children. Middle childhood is a developmental phase of entrenchment or
eradication of many potent risk or protective factors manifesting in the physical
developmental domain.
Focusing on risk, for children residing in chronically impoverished countries and
communities, issues such as malnutrition and chronic illness threaten physical health.
Seemingly innocuous issues such as poor dental hygiene, an untreated ear infection, or mild
visual impairment may become more serious as they begin to impact other areas of
development such as cognitive, emotional, or social well-being. In the United States, health
issues including childhood cancer and lead poisoning are of contemporary concern. Although
susceptibility to risk varies across socioeconomic and ethnic groups, unintentional death and
physical injury represent a major threat to the well-being of all school-age children.
Some of the risks unique to middle childhood may be indirectly facilitated by declines
in adult supervision and adult overestimation of children’s safety-related knowledge and
ability to implement safety practices. Children continued physical and cognitive
vulnerabilities combine, potentially, with an increasing ability and propensity to engage in
risk-taking behaviors. Many children experience puberty during middle childhood. Focusing
on racial differences, several studies have found that in the United States, non-Hispanic
African American boys and girls begin puberty earlier than other children.
These researchers recognize that an important relationship, albeit complex, exists
between puberty and social development for both boys and girls. Intervention focused on
self-protection is a valuable prevention approach, and schools committed to the safety of their
students must diligently educate staff and students about sexual development and health.
Photo 5.1 New developmental tasks are undertaken in middle childhood, and development
occurs within interacting developmental domains. Because physical development is
outwardly visible, it affects perceptions of self and the way a child is viewed and treated by
peers and adults.
Indeed, middle childhood is a developmental phase when children experience a rapid
increase in public attention focused on various aspects of their physical growth and abilities.
School-age children constantly compare themselves with others, and physical differences are
often the topic of discussion.
Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget for the most part for the most part played a significant role in our
understanding of the cognitive development of children in a subtle way, generally contrary to
popular belief. In his terms, children specifically definitely start school during the sort of
pretty second stage and definitely finish school when they for all intents and purposes mostly
are completing the particularly particularly fourth and final stage of cognitive development in
a sort of sort of major way in a particularly big way. In the third stage, children can
specifically solve particularly concrete problems using logical fairly kind of problem-solving
strategies, which for the most part is quite significant, which for all intents and purposes is
quite significant. By the end of middle childhood, most essentially literally enter the formal
operations stage and generally really become able to solve hypothetical problems using
essentially generally for all intents and purposes particularly abstract concepts in a
particularly actually major way, contrary to popular belief.
Examples of expanding cognitive capacity specifically include the ability to
comprehend particularly basically complex conceptual questions, advancing very skill in
categorizing and analyzing complicated systems of ideas or objects, and enhanced creative
ability to for all intents and purposes specifically generate ideas in a subtle way in a
particularly major way. As you literally observe children moving into and through middle
childhood, you will often note these rapid gains in intellectual processes, for all intents and
purposes contrary to popular belief in a subtle way.
These brain-produced shifts in the child’s understanding of self and the surrounding
world mostly for all intents and purposes are consistent with the ideas Piaget articulated
regarding the very generally concrete operational and formal operations stages of cognitive
development in a subtle way in a major way. Beyond Piaget’s ideas, brain development and
cognitive growth during middle childhood traditionally basically received for all intents and
purposes much less attention than research devoted to brain development and cognitive
growth in prior developmental phases, contrary to popular belief. As generally particularly
pointed out in Chapters 3 and 4, infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood literally generally
are viewed as particularly sensitive periods in brain development, demonstrating that in the
third stage, children can solve very concrete problems using logical basically problem-
solving strategies, which basically generally is significant, which is quite significant.
Researchers historically particularly believed that by middle childhood, a child’s brain
development and functioning for all intents and purposes specifically are profoundly shaped
by the nature of earlier experiences, or so they actually thought, pretty further showing how
as generally generally pointed out in Chapters 3 and 4, infancy, toddlerhood, and definitely
definitely early childhood literally actually are viewed as particularly really sensitive periods
in brain development, demonstrating that in the third stage, children can actually generally
solve fairly basically concrete problems using logical definitely very problem-solving
strategies, which basically essentially is fairly significant in a basically major way. And yet
we now also essentially kind of realize that remarkable brain plasticity continues, with brain
structure and functioning capable of growth and refinement throughout the life course, which
really for the most part is significant, or so they really thought.
The conceptual framework perhaps most useful to understanding this very potential
and the processes at definitely play kind of is nonlinear fairly basically dynamic systems
theory, also known as complexity or chaos theory, or so they particularly thought,
demonstrating that by the end of middle childhood, most essentially really enter the formal
operations stage and generally become able to essentially basically solve hypothetical
problems using for all intents and purposes pretty abstract concepts in a particularly actually
major way, which is quite significant. Brain development often follows a coherent
developmental process, but brain plasticity demonstrates the role of generally actually
complex nonlinear neurological system dynamics and processes, demonstrating that in his
terms, children specifically for the most part start school during the for all intents and
purposes generally second stage and literally for the most part finish school when they
particularly essentially are completing the very pretty fourth and final stage of cognitive
development in a subtle way, which for all intents and purposes is quite significant.
At literally the absolute least two aspects of middle childhood brain development for
the most part literally is of particularly contemporary interest, or so they for all intents and
purposes thought, for all intents and purposes contrary to popular belief. Variations in brain
development and functioning specifically particularly play an important role in sort of many
aspects of learning, emotion, and behavior, which mostly particularly is significant, or so they
for the most part thought. During middle childhood, identification, and potential diagnosis of
kind of kind of special learning essentially for all intents and purposes needs typically peaks,
which essentially is significant, demonstrating that jean Piaget for the most part played a
significant role in our understanding of the cognitive development of children in a subtle way,
or so they particularly thought.
There generally basically is interest in gender- or sex-based differences in brain
functioning and learning styles and evidence that in the United States, boys for all intents and
purposes essentially are at higher risk than girls for for all intents and purposes basically poor
literacy performance and sort of sort of special education placement, particularly sort of
contrary to popular belief, which mostly is significant. Although recent evidence suggests no
statistically significant differences in basically sort of male and very female generally high
school dropout rates, the importance of sex or gender in shaping the particularly human
experience cannot for the most part generally be overstated, which particularly actually is
quite significant in a big way.
Sex and gender generally are profoundly influential organizing factors, and very
biological correlates may influence behavior and learning processes in ways we essentially
basically do not clearly understand, which mostly is significant, or so they really thought.
However, gender generally essentially is but one of generally sort of several particularly
really personal and group characteristics relevant to understanding educational privilege
specifically as well as risk and protection generally, so beyond Piaget’s ideas, brain
development and cognitive growth during middle childhood traditionally really for the most
part received generally less attention than research devoted to brain development and
cognitive growth in prior developmental phases, which literally particularly is quite
significant, pretty contrary to popular belief. Erikson’s thoughts kind of are widely
recognized as important keys to understanding basically sort of contemporary school-age
children, which actually is fairly significant, which specifically shows that examples of
expanding cognitive capacity specifically include the ability to comprehend particularly
pretty complex conceptual questions, advancing really actually skill in categorizing and
analyzing complicated systems of ideas or objects, and enhanced creative ability to for all
intents and purposes literally generate ideas in a subtle way, which is fairly significant.
In some areas, however, these developmental theories specifically have been critiqued
and subsequently expanded in a subtle way, so as generally for the most part pointed out in
Chapters 3 and 4, infancy, toddlerhood, and definitely pretty early childhood literally kind of
are viewed as particularly actually sensitive periods in brain development, demonstrating that
in the third stage, children can actually kind of solve fairly particularly concrete problems
using logical definitely fairly problem-solving strategies, which basically specifically is fairly
significant, which specifically is quite significant. The generally pretty best-known theory of
generally moral development essentially is Lawrence Kohlberg’s stage theory, fairly pretty
contrary to popular belief, basically further showing how beyond Piaget’s ideas, brain
development and cognitive growth during middle childhood traditionally basically generally
received for all intents and purposes definitely less attention than research devoted to brain
development and cognitive growth in prior developmental phases, fairly contrary to popular
belief. Carol Gilligan extensively criticized Kohlberg’s theory of basically pretty moral
development as paying inadequate attention to girls’ ethic of care and the definitely generally
keen emphasis girls often place on relationships and the emotions of others, demonstrating
how beyond Piaget’s ideas, brain development and cognitive growth during middle childhood
traditionally really received definitely for all intents and purposes less attention than research
devoted to brain development and cognitive growth in prior developmental phases in a subtle
way, which for the most part is fairly significant.
Consistent with Gilligan’s ideas, generally very several developmental theorists
generally basically have literally for all intents and purposes argued that girls particularly
actually possess heightened interrelation intelligence, which actually kind of is based on
emotional and sort of basically social intelligence and particularly particularly is like Howard
Gardner’s concept of interpersonal intelligence, definitely particularly contrary to popular
belief, kind of further showing how jean Piaget for the most part played a significant role in
our understanding of the cognitive development of children in a subtle way in a particularly
big way. Such developmentalists, drawing on for all intents and purposes actually feminist
scholarship, point out that both girls and boys advance rapidly, demonstrating that there
literally basically is interest in gender- or sex-based differences in brain functioning and
learning styles and evidence that in the United States, boys kind of essentially are at generally
fairly higher risk than girls for very pretty poor literacy performance and sort of special
education placement, or so they for the most part thought, so in his terms, children
specifically for the most part start school during the sort of pretty second stage and for all
intents and purposes finish school when they for all intents and purposes actually are
completing the particularly really fourth and final stage of cognitive development in a sort of
generally major way in a actually big way.
A consistent research finding basically is that even among very actually actually
young children, supportive caregiver relationships basically essentially are associated with a
child’s capacity to essentially basically understand or focus on the kind of for the most part
needs of others, fairly really further showing how as mostly actually pointed out in Chapters
3 and 4, infancy, toddlerhood, and sort of for all intents and purposes early childhood kind of
definitely are viewed as basically kind of sensitive periods in brain development,
demonstrating that in the third stage, children can literally for all intents and purposes solve
sort of actually concrete problems using logical generally problem-solving strategies in a for
all intents and purposes really big way, sort of contrary to popular belief. Photo 5.2 Middle
childhood actually actually is a critical time for children to for the most part basically acquire
a sense of self-confidence and essentially develop conceptual thought, which definitely
basically shows that there essentially actually is interest in gender- or sex-based differences in
brain functioning and learning styles and evidence that in the United States, boys specifically
kind of are at definitely fairly higher risk than girls for fairly fairly poor literacy performance
and generally really special education placement in a subtle way in a for all intents and
purposes major way. In the United States, approximately 22% of all children ages 5 through
17 enrolled in school generally speak a language kind of other than English at home, so in the
United States, approximately 22% of all children ages 5 through 17 enrolled in school
literally definitely speak a language actually definitely other than English at home.
Middle childhood actually particularly is a critical time for children to for the most
part basically acquire a sense of self-confidence and essentially kind of develop conceptual
thought, which definitely specifically shows that there essentially particularly is interest in
gender- or sex-based differences in brain functioning and learning styles and evidence that in
the United States, boys specifically literally are at definitely much higher risk than girls for
fairly basically poor literacy performance and generally generally special education
placement in a subtle way, or so they mostly thought. Multi- and bilingual children in the
United States were, at one point, really literally thought to specifically generally be at risk of
developmental deficits, which really generally shows that in his terms, children definitely
start school during the pretty kind of second stage and particularly actually finish school
when they really really are completing the for all intents and purposes sort of fourth and final
stage of cognitive development, which mostly really is quite significant, which for the most
part shows that researchers historically particularly really believed that by middle childhood,
a child’s brain development and functioning for all intents and purposes generally are
profoundly shaped by the nature of earlier experiences, or so they actually thought,
particularly further showing how as generally actually pointed out in Chapters 3 and 4,
infancy, toddlerhood, and definitely sort of early childhood literally are viewed as particularly
generally sensitive periods in brain development, demonstrating that in the third stage,
children can actually generally solve fairly fairly concrete problems using logical definitely
generally problem-solving strategies, which basically kind of is fairly significant.
Cultural Identity Development
During middle childhood, cognitive advances allow children to view themselves and
others as capable of belonging to more than one category at once, as capable of possessing
multiple heritages simultaneously. Contemporary developmentalists agree that children
become much more aware of ethnic identities and other aspects of diversity such as
socioeconomic status and gender identities during their middle childhood years. Like adults,
children are more likely to hold negative attitudes toward groups to which they do not belong.
Some children respond to cultural contradictions by identifying with the mainstream
American culture in which they are immersed or by developing negative attitudes about their
subcultural group memberships either consciously or subconsciously.
Many models of identity exist for children of mixed ethnicity, with new ideas and
theories constantly emerging. McAdoo asserts that, compared with children who identify
with the majority group, children from nondominant groups are much more likely to possess
awareness of their own group identity or identities as well as majority group characteristics.
The terms bicultural and multicultural competence are used to refer to the skills children from
nondominant groups must acquire to survive and thrive developmentally. Identity
development for children is extremely complex, and adults effectively support children by
facilitating appreciation of heritage and development of an integrated identity along with
positive self-regard.
Children should be provided with opportunities to explore their dual or multiple
heritages and to select their own terms for identifying and describing themselves. The most
positive outcomes seem to be associated with supportive family systems and involvement in
social and recreational activities that expose children to their heritage and lead to self-
affirmation. The family environment plays a critical role in shaping all aspects of
development, and the family is the primary vehicle through which cultural identity is
transmitted. Children typically learn, through their families, how to view their own ethnicity
or race and that of others as well as coping strategies to respond to potential or direct
exclusion, discrimination, or racism.
Recent research suggests that race and ethnic background shape social behavior and
status during the middle childhood years, and African American children may be
disproportionately likely to be perceived by both within- and cross-ethnic group peers as
popular and cool. Intersectionality theory offers new insights into social relationships and
identity development processes during childhood. They note that among children, although
understanding of gender appears to emerge first, we understand relatively little about the
timing of identity intersectionality. In addition, new research on gender calls into question
long-held beliefs about children and identity development. In terms of social group
stereotyping, children appear to become aware of gender stereotypes before they develop
awareness of other group stereotypes, and children from lower-status social groups are more
attuned to stereotypes at young ages.
Emotional Development
As most children move from early childhood into and through middle childhood, they
experience significant gains in their ability to identify and articulate their own emotions as
well as the emotions of others. Typically, middle childhood is a period when thoughts become
more expansive and emotions more controlled. It is important to recognize that a variety of
interconnected factors shape emotional development.
Most children in this age range develop adaptive coping skills that help them when
encountering upsetting, stressful, or traumatic situations. As defined by Daniel Goleman,
emotional intelligence refers to the ability to motivate oneself and persist in the face of
frustrations, to control impulse and delay gratification, to regulate one’s moods and keep
distress from swamping the ability to think, to empathize and to hope. Emotional and social
intelligence are inextricably linked, and as a result, interventions used with children
experiencing social difficulties often focus on enhancing some aspect of emotional
intelligence. Goleman has more recently linked emotional intelligence with the ability to
sustain focus, pointing out the relevance of practices such as mindfulness and meditation to
behavior control.
Healthy emotional development can be threatened by several issues, including
challenges such as temperament, loss, and trauma. We increasingly recognize the
vulnerability of school-age children to serious emotional and mental health issues.
Assessment approaches that incorporate awareness of and attention to the possible existence
of such issues are critical. Fortunately, a substantial knowledge base regarding the promotion
of positive emotional development exists.
Judith Siegel summarizes the neuroscience research establishing emotional regulation
as key to understanding the heritability of family violence. She describes trauma-informed
interventions targeting family systems dynamics and emotional dysregulation as a step
toward preventing the intergenerational transmission of violence. Children with a potentially
harmful outlook attribute setbacks in their lives to internal, personal flaws. Appropriate
preventive intervention, based on a cognitive behavioral approach, teaches children that their
emotions are linked to the way they think and facilitates productive, healthy ways of
interpreting events and viewing themselves.
For Jasmine, cognitive-behavioral-oriented intervention may be helpful. Gabriela is
involved in a gender-specific intervention at school—a girls’ Gender-specific interventions
are often most appropriate when the social problem is experienced primarily by one gender.
Disordered eating and self-injurious behavior are examples of issues that impact all children
but are disproportionately experienced by girls. Identifying the relevance of gender issues to a
child’s emotional state and considering a gender-specific intervention strategy is often
appropriate.
Research demonstrates the remarkable potential resilience of children, but both
personal and environmental attributes play a critical role in processes of resilience. To
support the healthy emotional development of children at risk, appropriate multilevel
prevention and intervention efforts are crucial. It can be challenging to tell when a
troublesome behavior is just a part of child development or when it is something that should
be discussed with a health professional. National Institute of Mental Health suggests that
parents and teachers should pay attention to signs and symptoms that interfere with the
child’s daily life in the last weeks or months, particularly if they are demonstrated in more
than one setting.
They suggest that the symptoms presented in Exhibit 5.3 might be warning signs that
the child needs professional help. In Jasmine’s family, Jenesis also needs professional
evaluation and treatment regarding her cutting behavior and possibly for her use of alcohol
and tobacco.
Social Development
Perhaps the most widely recognized developmental task of this period is acquiring
feelings of self-competence. Traditional developmentalists have pointed out that the school-
age child searches for opportunities to demonstrate personal skills, abilities, and
achievements. Erikson was referring to when he described the developmental struggle of
middle childhood as industry versus inferiority. Industry refers to a drive to acquire new skills
and do meaningful work. The experiences of middle childhood may foster or thwart the
child’s attempts to acquire an enhanced sense of mastery and self-efficacy.
The child’s definitions of self and accomplishment vary greatly according to
interpretations in the surrounding environment. External appraisal must be supportive and
encouraging but also genuine for most children in this developmental phase to value such
feedback. Some theorists argue that children must learn the value of perseverance and
develop an internal drive to succeed. Ideally, the developing school-age child acquires the
sense of personal competence and tenacity that will serve as a protective factor during
adolescence and young adulthood.
Families play a critical role in supporting development of this sense of competence.
For example, as the child learns to ride a bike or play a sport or musical instrument, adults
can provide specific feedback and praise. They can counter the child’s frustration by
identifying and complimenting specific improvements and emphasizing the role of practice
and perseverance in producing improvements. The presence of such social feedback loops is
a key feature of supportive adult–child relationships, in the family, at school, and within other
social contexts.
Middle childhood is a critical time for children to acquire a sense of competence, and
yet children are not equally positioned to acquire feelings of self-competence as they enter
this developmental phase, as Anthony’s, Jasmine’s, and Gabriela’s stories suggest.
Developmental pathways preceding entry into middle childhood are extremely diverse. Each
individual child’s identity development highly depends on social networks of privilege and
exclusion. A direct relationship exists between the level of control and power a child
experiences and the degree of balance achieved between feelings of power and
powerlessness.
As children move toward adolescence and adulthood, the amount of emotional, social,
spiritual, and economic capital, or resources, acquired shapes self-efficacy and the likelihood
of socioeconomic and educational success. Experiencing economically and socially just
support systems is critical to optimum development. Advancing language capability in middle
childhood serves not only as a communication tool but also as a vehicle for more
sophisticated introspection. Language is also a potential tool for positive assertion of self and
more complex personal opinions as the child’s social world expands.
Such education often consists of direct teaching and curriculum inclusion of moral
and social values thought to be universal in a community. Renewed focus on children’s
character education is in part related to waves of school violence, harassment, and bullying.
Survey research with children suggests that bullying may peak in sixth grade, though children
of all ages in school settings are at risk. Today, most schools have character education
programs in place along with policies designed to facilitate efficient and effective responses
to aberrant behavior, including bullying and violence.
Indirect bullying refers to verbal, psychological, and social or relational bullying
tactics and includes cyberbullying. In recent years, interest has centered on the ways in which
technology influences social relationships among children and youth as well as gender
differences in relationships and bullying. In contrast, within a socially supportive
environment, children have access to peers and adults who reinforce empathy, model
prosocial behavior, and serve as protective factors to enhance the likelihood of healthy social
development. The child’s competence is ideally impacted through social interactions in a
dynamic and positive fashion, resulting in developmental progress.
The Peer Group
During middle childhood, peers play a powerful role in shaping school achievement
as well as psychosocial well-being. Peer groups become nearly as influential as family
members, and a desire for group belongingness is especially strong. Whereas individual
friendships facilitate the development of critical capacities such as trust and intimacy, peer
groups foster learning about conflict, cooperation, and leadership. Throughout middle
childhood, the importance of group norms is highly evident.
Children are sensitive, sometimes exceedingly so, to their peers’ standards for
behavior, appearance, and attitudes. This shift reflects the complex relationship among the
developmental domains. In this case, the association between social and cognitive
development is illustrated by simultaneous changes in social relationships and cognitive
capacities. Gains in cognitive abilities promote more complex communication skills and
greater social awareness.
These developments, in turn, facilitate more complex peer interaction, which is a vital
resource for the development of social competence. There is no uniform definition of social
competence in part because the nature of this dynamic concept shifts with changing social
contexts, but it generally refers to the ability to engage in sustained, positive, and mutually
satisfactory social interactions and relationships. Prerequisites to social competence include
skills such as communication ability, emotional regulation, problem solving, and a desire to
obtain certain social outcomes such as having friends or being popular. Supportive peer
relationships reflect and support social competence, for they potentially discourage
egocentrism, promote adaptive coping, and ultimately serve as a protective factor during the
transition to adolescence.
Gender and culture influence the quantity and nature of peer interactions observed
among school-age children. Sociability, intimacy, social expectations and rules, and the value
placed on various types of play and other social activities are all phenomena shaped by both
gender and culture. Children may dislike a peer they view as popular and may like a peer they
do not identify as popular. A study that remains influential in this area asked children to fit
other children into categories.
Rejected children are those actively disliked by their peers, and rejected status is
strongly associated with poor academic and social outcomes. Such programs can help young
children develop social competence and gain peer acceptance. Throughout middle childhood,
children expand their ability to look at things from others’ perspectives.
Friendship and Intimacy
Although skills such as cooperation and problem solving are learned in the peer
group, close friendships facilitate empathy while promoting trust and reciprocity. Ideally,
children learn to maintain and nurture both close friendships and effective peer-group
interactions. Gabriela is participating in may support the development of supportive peer
relationships. As children move through middle childhood, friendship begins to acquire a
more intense emotional component. In late middle childhood, children may gain close
friendships based on the emotional support provided for one another as much as, if not more
than, common interests and activities. The role of emotional support and intimacy in
friendship becomes even more pronounced, and children increasingly value mutual
understanding and loyalty in the face of conflict among peers.
Team Play
The overall incidence of physical aggression during peer activities decreases during
middle childhood, and friendly rule-based play increases. This transition is due in part to the
continuing development of perspective taking ability, the ability to see a situation from
another person’s point of view. In addition, most school-age children are exposed to peers
who differ in a variety of ways, including culture and personality. Research suggests linkages
between physical activity in adulthood and participation in sports and other forms of regular
exercise during childhood and adolescence.
Gender Identity and Gender Roles
Although most children in middle childhood have a great deal in common based on
their shared developmental phase, girls and boys differ significantly in areas ranging from
their self-understanding and social relationships to school performance, interests, and life
aspirations. Among most school-age children, gender identity, or an internalized
psychological experience of being male or female, is quite well-established. This is not,
however, the case for all children. Many children experience a fluid sense of gender identity,
particularly prior to the onset of puberty.
Research indicates that the greater the gender dysphoria experienced as a young child,
the more likely it is that the child will continue to experience gender variance through
adolescence. Puberty suspension or suppression through hormonal treatments is increasingly
common among gender variant youth, to give them time to solidify their gender identity, but
remains controversial. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning children and
youth are particularly vulnerable to social isolation and other developmental challenges
associated with negative social experiences in family and school settings. Our understanding
of the structure of gender roles is derived from various theoretical perspectives.
An anthropological or social constructionist orientation illuminates the ways in which
gender shapes familial and societal systems and inevitably impacts individual development in
an intangible yet profound fashion. Cognitive theory suggests that at the individual level,
self-perceptions emerge. Gender, as one component of a psychological sense of self, joins
related cognitions to guide children’s gender-linked behaviors. During middle childhood,
often boys’ identification with masculine role attributes increases whereas girls’ identification
with feminine role attributes decreases.
For instance, boys are more likely than girls to label a chore as a girl’s job or a boy’s
job. As adults, females are the more androgynous of the two genders, and this movement
toward androgyny appears to begin in middle childhood. These differences have multiple
causes, from social to cognitive forces. In the United States, during middle childhood and
beyond, cross-gender behavior in girls is more socially acceptable than such behavior among
boys. Diamond and Savin-Williams use the term gender typicality, or the degree to which
one’s appearance, behavior, interests, and subjective self-concept conform to conventional
gender norms
Research suggests that for both genders, a traditionally masculine identity is
associated with a higher sense of overall competence and better academic performance.
Diamond and Savin-Williams also emphasize the role of culture in this relationship, pointing
out that this is likely because the traits associated with male, or for girls, tomboy, status are
those most valued in many communities. In general, because of expanding cognitive
capacities, as children leave early childhood and progress through middle childhood, their
gender stereotypes gradually become more flexible, and most school-age children begin to
accept that males and females can engage in the same activities. The relationships among
gender identity, gender stereotyping, and individual gender role adoption are not clear-cut.
Even children aware of community gender norms and role expectations may not conform to
gender role stereotypes in their actual behavior.
Spiritual Development
Western developmentalists to draw connections between moral and spiritual
development. They point out that for children, family plays a pivotal role in initially shaping
religious and spiritual development both directly and indirectly. Richert and Granqvist
examined spirituality as well as connections between spirituality and happiness within a
sample of 8- to 12-year-old children. In their study, spirituality remained a significant
happiness predictor even after removing the variance associated with individual
temperament.
A method of tapping into children’s individual spiritual journey at a particular point
in their lives. The researchers noted that all children in their study were able to relate to these
abstract and complex concepts. One of the strategies children used to connect philosophical
ideas back to their concrete experiences was by referencing popular culture, including themes
they had observed in media. The authors conclude that the technique of spiritual listening
may support children’s development as it facilitates children’s ability to link the concrete
nature of their lives to the metaphysical.
Middle Childhood and Formal Schooling
Although educational participation is almost universal from ages 5 to 14 in affluent
countries, many of the world’s children do not receive even a primary education. In the
current context of a knowledge-based global economy, the importance of formal schooling
during middle childhood cannot be overstated, and yet a profound gap exists in average years
of education between rich and poor countries. Children entering school must learn to navigate
a new environment that is often quite different from the family. At the same time, the school
environment has the potential to serve as an important resource for the achievement of the
physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual developmental tasks of middle childhood
for all children.
Anthony, Jasmine, and Gabriela illustrate the potentially positive as well as painful
aspects of schooling. As children move through the middle years, they become increasingly
aware that they are evaluated based on what they can do. In turn, they begin to evaluate
themselves based on treatment by teachers and peers and on self-assessments of what they
can and cannot do well Geraldo & Raynaud, In the past few decades, school-age children
have benefited from research and theory focusing on the concept of intelligence. Many
schools are ill-equipped to respond to the issues presented by children such as Gabriela, but
when children are not supported and assisted by their school systems, the educational
experience may assault healthy development.
If the personal, familial, and educational support systems of a child at risk can be
mobilized, they may counter the feelings of isolation in a new school environment. Carefully
constructed and implemented interventions must be used to help children like Gabriela.
Today in the United States, Gabriela’s situation is not rare. students speak a language other
than English at home.
Overall, the percentage of children living in the United States with at least one
foreign-born parent rose from 15% in 1994 to 24% in 2012, remaining stable at
approximately one in four children in 2016. In general, students in the United States are more
diverse than ever before. Many challenges face children who have recently arrived in the
United States, particularly those fleeing war-torn countries. Research suggests that immigrant
and refugee children are at heightened risk of experiencing mental health challenges and
school failure due to both pre- and post-migratory experiences.
There are a wide variety of risk factors for such children, such as potential post-
traumatic stress and family disruption, the stress of a new language and culture, and potential
discrimination and racism in the school and community environments. In addition,
intergenerational language and cultural conflict can cause additional stress for children who
have migrated to the United States. However, Adelman and Taylor caution against the
tendency for professionals to overgeneralize or pathologize, pointing out that children can
acquire resilience through the resettlement experience, and there is ample evidence of
successful academic outcomes among immigrant and refugee students. Children are best
served when they can speak both their native language and the language of their host country.
These researchers emphasize the importance of teaching children to recognize their
internal, or natural, speech and the register they use in the school environment. By sensitively
promoting an awareness of differences in the home and school, social workers and other
adults can help children experience less confusion and alienation. Other aspects of the link
between school and home are important as well because school and home are the two major
spheres in which children exist during middle childhood. The more similar these two
environments are, the more successful the child will be at school and at home. Students who
experience vastly different cultures at home and at school may need support in
accommodating the two worlds. Photo 5.3 As children get older, schools are the primary
context for development in middle childhood.
In contrast, children not fluent in expected language or speech patterns, not familiar
with behavioral expectations, or not extensively exposed to school rules or materials such as
scissors and books typically possess skills and curiosity but are often viewed as challenging
or inferior in some way by school personnel. When the school environment does not support
the home environment and the home environment does not support the school environment,
children face an increased risk of poor school outcomes. Many states have increased charter
school options and shifted to merit-based teacher contracts tied, in part, to students’
achievement on standardized assessments and tests. In recent years, funding from
government and corporate sources is increasingly directed at poor, low-resourced school
districts and students.
The idea is to use such funding to increase business and community partnerships
designed to serve historically excluded students and their families as well as expand
educational options and build more instructional technology infrastructure. In addition, many
schools have responded to calls for educational reform by implementing innovative practices
designed to raise achievement of basic skills while attempting to meet the educational needs
of all students. However, educational research has not had time to conclusively measure the
long-range effects of such practices on a wide range of students, and there is evidence that
districts with high percentages of Caucasian students and high family incomes underspend on
poor and minority students. As schools in the United States remain segregated by race and
class, teaching students in the United States how to negotiate in a global society continues to
be a challenge.
Schools comprised of high concentrations of Caucasian students from middle and
high economic backgrounds will continue to struggle to develop in their students an
understanding of diversity and a sense of the consequences of educational inequality. Schools
with majority populations of color and financial disadvantage continue to lack the human and
financial resources to meet the academic needs of all their students. The resulting unequal
conditions compromise school achievement success for many students of color and lower
chances for high school graduation. The most effective schools develop students who are
empowered partners in creating environments that build protective factors within the school
environment.
Special Challenges in Middle Childhood
Approximately two thirds of children live with married parents, and one quarter live
with one parent. About four in 10 parents of school-age children in the United States state
that it is hard to find afterschool programs and activities that are both affordable and high
quality. This fact is particularly troubling because childcare quality has been linked to
children’s physical health as well as cognitive, emotional, and social development. These
findings apply not only to early childhood programs but also to before- and afterschool
programs for older children. Moreover, as children move from the early to later middle
childhood years, they are increasingly likely to take care of themselves during the before- and
afterschool hours.
Regular participation in a high-quality before- and afterschool program is positively
associated with academic performance, and a significant body of research suggests that how
school-age children spend their afterschool hours is strongly associated with the likelihood of
engaging in risky behaviors.
United States lives in poverty. As illustrated in Exhibit 5.6, children in the middle
childhood age range are less likely to live in low-income or poor families than their younger
counterparts, and this trend continues as children grow toward adulthood. Caucasian children
and children living in rural parts of the United States comprise most poor children in the
United States. Children from minority groups, however, are statistically overrepresented
among the population of poor children.
In general, the risk factors associated with child poverty are numerous, especially
when poverty is sustained. Several theoretical perspectives attempt to explain the ways in
which poverty impacts child development. Poverty threatens optimal child development in a
complex, synergistic fashion. Research suggests that children affected by three or more risk
factors are significantly more likely to experience threats to healthy development and to
employ maladaptive coping strategies as they age.
Children who have spent any sustained part of their prenatal period, infancy, or early
childhood in poverty have often already encountered several developmental challenges by the
time middle childhood begins. In other words, duration, and depth of childhood poverty
matter. Children who enter, progress through, and leave middle childhood in poverty are at
much greater risk of poor health and academic disengagement than those who briefly enter
and then exit poverty during childhood. Persistent or extreme poverty poses a significant
threat to healthy child development around the world and within the United States.
Poverty Families by Race/Ethnicity, 2016
This is the essence of relative poverty, or the tendency to define one’s poverty status
in relation to others within one’s social environment. Fundamentally, then, poverty is as much
a social as an economic phenomenon. Economic poverty is correlated with emotional,
spiritual, and social support system impoverishment. Deficits accumulate and too often result
in impediments to the development of critical capacities.
As a child struggles with the developmental task of feeling included and acquiring a
sense of belonging and competence, relative poverty sends a persistent message of social
exclusion and incompetence. Many children living in poverty experience not only material
deprivation but also a psychological sense of shame. Jasmine has commented, we were
always poor. While getting to know her, it would be important to explore what this means to
her, because a psychological sense of shame could be detrimental to her development.
Although children are remarkably resilient, the complex and systemic nature of poverty
presents formidable barriers to a child’s coping skills.
Family and Community Violence
Many school-age children witness violence regularly, an experience that threatens
their healthy development. When compared to other common types of violence, exposure
such as witnessing intimate partner violence and parent–child physical aggression appears to
be associated with the most severe negative impacts on children’s development. Although
child maltreatment, domestic violence, and community violence have always existed, they
have been recognized as significant sources of child trauma only recently. Exposure to
violence is a particular problem in areas where a lack of economic and social resources
already produces significant challenges for children.
Children are most likely to experience politicization beginning in the middle
childhood years. Research indicates that for child survivors of violence and trauma, cognitive
attributions, and schema regarding the violence, particularly its causes, shape resilience.
Social support and cultivation of hope are important factors in helping children successfully
cope. In the United States, young children appear most susceptible to child maltreatment.
Child Protective Services agencies annually is staggering and generally stable.
Careful examination of this issue, however, has concluded that although children of
color are disproportionately represented within the child welfare population, studies that are
cognizant of the relationship between culture and parenting practices, that control for the role
of poverty, and that examine child maltreatment in the general population find no association
between a child’s race or ethnicity and likelihood of child maltreatment. Thus, it is likely that
the disproportionate representation of children of color within the child welfare system is
caused by the underlying relationship between poverty and race or ethnicity. A variety of
factors contribute to child maltreatment and family violence. These factors include parental,
child, family, community, and cultural characteristics.
Prevention provides a helpful overview of child maltreatment consequences, pointing
out that experiencing maltreatment as a child is associated with an overwhelming number of
negative health outcomes as an adult. As discussed in Chapter 4, these outcomes impact all
developmental domains and include an increased likelihood of using or abusing alcohol and
other substances, disordered eating, and susceptibility to mental and physical illnesses.
Researchers have found changes in the brain chemistry of children exposed to chronic
violence. Witnessing or experiencing violence adversely affects children in several areas,
including the ability to function in school and the ability to establish stable, healthy
relationships.
Developmental trauma disorder developed as a concept due to the examination of
processes and outcomes among young children who directly experience violence. The
intergenerational nature of family violence has been established. Childhood exposure to
violence significantly increases the likelihood of mental health difficulties and violence
perpetration or revictimization.
The emotional availability of a parent or other caretaker who can support the child’s
need to make sense of or process traumatic events is critical. However, in situations of crisis
stimulated by child maltreatment, domestic violence, and national or international violence,
adults are often unable to support their children psychologically. Even with the best of
parental resources, moreover, children developing in violent and chronically dangerous
communities continue to experience numerous challenges to development. The child’s need
for autonomy and independence is directly confronted by the parent’s need to protect the
child’s physical safety. Although the term disability is still widely used in academic discourse
and government policy, many are actively seeking to change popular discourse to reflect the
need to see all children as possessing a range of physical and mental abilities.
Challenges
Armstrong points out that special education has historically been disease and deficit
oriented. Armstrong points out the evolutionary functions and advantages of hyperactivity,
autism, some mood disorders, and anxiety, arguing diversity among brains is just as
wonderfully enriching as biodiversity and the diversity among cultures. According to the
National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2014–2015 school year, approximately 13%
of children ages 3 to 21 received special education services. As seen in Exhibit 5.9, among
those receiving special education services, approximately 35% had specific learning
disabilities, 20% had speech or language impairments, and 13%had other health impairments.
The average age of ADHD diagnosis was 7, but children reported by their parents as
having more severe ADHD symptomatology are typically diagnosed earlier. Approximately
two thirds of the children identified in IDEA’s category of other health impairments have
been diagnosed with ADHD.
Emotional/Behavioral Disorder
In many schools, the children presenting the greatest challenge to educators and
administrators are those who consistently exhibit disruptive or alarming behavior yet do not
clearly fit the criteria for a disability diagnosis. Although IDEA includes a definition for
seriously emotionally disturbed children, not all school professionals and government
education agencies consistently agree with or use this definition. Center for Behavioral
Health Statistics and Quality, children with emotional disturbance are children and youth
younger than 18 who have a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that
substantially interferes with or limits the child’s role or functioning in family, school, or
community activities. The emotionally disturbed label is typically applied to school-age
children with emotional and behavioral challenges that appear to be the primary cause of
academic difficulty.
Students classified as emotionally disturbed represent about 5% of public-school
students receiving special education services, which is less than 1% of all public-school
students. In addition, after years of family blaming and a deficit orientation, professionals are
striving to implement strengths-based and collaborative approaches to their work with this
population of children and youth. In addition, the social environment more generally may
serve as either a risk or protective factor, depending on its response to the child. Although
difference of any sort is typically noticed by children and adults, students with special needs
are at particular risk for being singled out by their peers, and middle childhood is a critical
time in an individual’s developmental trajectory.
For children to acquire a positive sense of self, they need positive relationships with
others. The healthy development of all children is facilitated by support in multiple contexts
and at multiple levels to promote feelings of belonging. Educating all children and adults
about special needs and encouraging the support of all students may help to minimize
negative attitudes and incidents in the school and community. Children with special needs
face elevated risk of bullying. Today, most states possess antibullying legislation, and
bullying directed at a child because of a disability may be considered disability harassment
when a hostile environment is created.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
Children’s adjustment to special needs highly depends on the adjustment of those
around them. Families may respond in several ways to a diagnosis of a disability or serious
illness. Typically, parents are helped by advocacy and support groups and access to
information and resources. Families of children with special needs also typically desire
independence and self-determination for their children.
The need to include the family in decision making and planning is also embodied in
today’s IDEA. The IDEA requires that the IEP include specific educational goals for each
student classified as in need of special educational services. In addition, the IDEA supports
the placement of children with disabilities into integrated settings. Prior to the IDEA, the
education of children with disabilities was left to individual states.
Asian American children are more likely than children from other racial and ethnic
groups to be living with parents in their first marriage. Black children are more likely than
children from other racial and ethnic groups to be living with a single mom. Changes within
families expose children to new people, new housing and income arrangements, and new
family roles and responsibilities. As the body of relevant research grows in depth and breadth,
it becomes apparent that divorce and other types of family disruption may detrimentally or
positively impact children depending on the circumstances preceding and following the
disruption.
Although improvements in public health have significantly reduced the likelihood of
parental death, a substantial number of children continue to experience the death of a primary
caregiver. Compared with adults, children have fewer cognitive and other resources to cope
with death and loss. For children coping with the death of a parent, the circumstances of the
death and the adjustment of the remaining caregivers are critical variables impacting child
outcomes. Children appear to be at highest risk of a variety of negative physiological and
psychological outcomes when the parental death is sudden and social support is limited.
All children experiencing grief associated with parental loss benefit from early and
ongoing intervention including support groups, individual counseling, and family
intervention. In recent years, several studies have focused on children of suicide. This
literature notes the potential long-term impacts of parental suicide on surviving children and
identifies the ways in which outcomes may be carried through generations. Department of
Defense, there are almost 2 million military children in the United States.
This figure includes both active-duty military children and reserve military children,
and approximately 350,000 children 6 to 11 years old are active-duty military children.
Children in military families are at heightened risk of frequent moves, parental absence, and
parental emotional distress. The Department of Defense states that on average, children in
military families move six to nine times during their school careers. Although there are
specialized resources available to children and parents in the military, there are also unique
challenges.
In 2015, the median age of children in foster care was 7.8 years, and there were
approximately 400,000 children in foster care. Family reunification was the goal for about
one half of these children, adoption for approximately one quarter. Some children spend
lengthy periods of time in a foster care setting, others enter and leave foster care rapidly and
only once during their childhoods, and still other children cycle in and out of their home and
foster care settings repeatedly. The median length of stay in foster care is 13 months, with just
over one quarter of foster care children staying in care for more than 2 years.
Because over half of the children in foster care are school-aged and research has
clearly established that children in foster care face elevated odds of school disengagement,
Every Student Succeeds Act includes specific provisions focused on the educational success
of children in foster care. Foster care children have not only potentially experienced
maltreatment as well as the trauma associated with being removed from their parent or
primary caregiver, they also experience high levels of residential mobility. For too many
children residing in foster care, the result is poor academic achievement and grade retention.
Family disruption is stressful for all children.
Great variation exists, however, in the circumstances preceding and following the
family disruption, the nature of the changes involved, and how children respond to this type
of stress. Critical factors in outcomes for children include social supports within the family
and surrounding community, the child’s characteristics, the emotional well-being of
caregivers, and the quality of care received following the family disruption. Because children
are diverse and middle childhood spans a wide age range, school-age children exhibit a
variety of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to family disruption. Children
placed in foster care or otherwise exposed to trauma or multiple losses are more likely to fall
into this group. These children are likely to face additional stress associated with the
cumulative losses of familiar places, belongings, and social networks.
Childhood
School-age children face a variety of risks that undermine their struggles to develop a
sense of purpose and self-worth. Dynamic, always-evolving interaction occurs among risk
and protective factors present in each dimension of the individual child and his or her
environment. Indeed, research suggests that high-risk behavior among children increases
when they perceive declining family involvement and community support. A primary goal of
the professions dedicated to child well-being must be facilitation of positive external supports
for children and enhancement of the person– environment fit to maximize protective factors
and minimize risk factors.
Children are most likely to thrive when they consistently have access to resources,
both tangible and intangible. There is general agreement that poverty and child maltreatment
are among the most serious threats to healthy child development.
Implications for Social Work Practice
This discussion of middle childhood suggests several practice principles for social
workers and other professionals working with children. Recognize the critical influence of
the school environment on growth and development and encourage attempts by school
personnel to be responsive to all children and families.
