The School Years: Psychosocial Development Slides prepared by Kate Byerwalter, Ph.D., Grand Rapids Community College The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence by Kathleen Stassen Berger Chapter 13 Seventh Edition

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Make it Real: The Peer Group Think back to middle childhood:  What kinds of activities did you do with your friends?  How much adult supervision was there?  How did you handle conflicts?  Was there a “leader” of the group?

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 The Culture of Children Kids learn to negotiate, share, and compromise with peers. KYUYA KAWAZAWA / HAGA / THE IMAGE WORKS

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 The Culture of Children (cont.) The culture of children refers to the habits, styles, values, and rules that set children apart from adult society. Examples: secret “clubs,” “cootie catchers,” rules for outdoor games, clothes worn, language used, etc.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 The Culture of Children (cont.) Fitting in with one’s peers is a major priority during middle childhood. Kids engage in social comparison: assessing their abilities and attributes against those of their peers.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 The Culture of Children (cont.) Peers can have both a positive and negative influence on one another. Immigrant children may rely heavily on peers in the dominant culture to teach them language and social customs.  This may or may not please the parents!

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Moral Development Peers send some strong messages (positive and negative) regarding morals within the context of friendship. Examples: Protect your friends. Fit in. Don’t tell on a friend to an adult. Don’t break a contract with a friend.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Variations in Social Acceptance Research has investigated why some kids seem to be more popular than others. Popular kids are kind, trustworthy, and cooperative, and well-liked by peers. Neglected kids are unpopular, but not disliked.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Social Acceptance (cont.) Aggressive-rejected kids are disliked due to antagonistic, confrontational behavior. Withdrawn-rejected kids are disliked due to timid, anxious behavior. Rejected kids often lack social cognition, the ability to understand social behavior.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 “You did that on purpose!” Aggressive- Rejected children are likely to view an accidental event as purposeful. They are often “combat ready.” PHOTODISC

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Perceptions Make a Difference

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Make it Real: Social Acceptance Can you recall a child who was rejected by peers during your schooling? What factors contributed to his/her disliking? What could have been done to help him/her?

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Friendships Friendships are highly valued during middle childhood. Most 10 year olds have one “best” friend. Older children tend to choose friends whose interests, values, and backgrounds are similar to their own.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Bullying Bullying involves repeated, systematic efforts to inflict harm. This includes physical attack, taunting, teasing, name calling.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Bullying: Who are the victims? Victims tend to be withdrawn-rejected kids who have no friend to support them. Some aggressive-rejected kids are also bullied (bully-victims). Consequences of being bullied include anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Bullying: Who are the bullies? Contributing factors to bullying include:  Inborn brain abnormalities or genetic impulses  Insecure attachment  Stressful home life  Hostile siblings  Lack of knowledge of how to control aggressive impulses

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Gender Differences in Bullying Male bullies tend to be above average in size, and use physical aggression. Female bullies tend to use relational aggression: spreading rumors or embarrassing secrets, ridiculing victims through mockery of clothes or behavior.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Bullying: Helping the Victims De-escalating a confrontation is a good strategy for girls (i.e., “never let them see you sweat”); it may not work for boys. Schools need to have comprehensive, anti-bullying programs in place.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13

Families and Children Research has documented the various types of families among U.S. children, known as family structures. However, more important than who lives with a child is family function, the way a family works to meet needs of a child.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Key Components of Family Function Provide food, clothing, and shelter Encourage learning Develop self-respect Nurture peer relationships Ensure harmony and stability

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Quiz: Family Functions Which family functions might be addressed by this activity of shopping for shoes? KATHY MCLAUGHLIN / THE IMAGE WORKS

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13

Make it Real: Family Structures Share with a partner the “structure” of your family. How do you feel about having that family structure? (Note: say “pass” if you don’t wish to share)

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 “Where’s the Beav?” In the 1950’s, nuclear family was the norm  Example: “Leave it to Beaver” TV show Today, only a minority (37%) of U.S. children will live with both biological parents from birth to age 18.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Is one family structure “best”? Children from nuclear families are often at an advantage, but the reason may be family function, not structure.  Higher family income  Parents tend to be psychologically healthy  Biological parents have a genetic impulse to protect their own offspring  Parental “alliance” to raise kids

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Putting it in Perspective … However, just because a family is a nuclear family does not guarantee it is a healthy, happy one! And, just because a family isn’t nuclear, doesn’t mean it can’t be a healthy, happy one!

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 A Happy “Blended” Family BILL ARON / PHOTOEDIT, INC.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Income and Family Functioning The family stress model explores how financial difficulties can impair family functioning by placing stress upon the family. Changes in income can cause parents to be anxious, depressed, or angry, affecting their ability to parent effectively.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Harmony and Stability Children thrive in homes in which parents form a parental alliance, a harmonious relationship that support’s parenting efforts. Blended and single parent families may have more difficulty achieving harmony and stability.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Harmony and Stability (cont.) Multiple transitions (e.g., moving, separations, divorce, remarriage) are especially difficult for children to handle. Some families may appear to be less “harmonious” (warm) than others, but the children still fare well, due to stability.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 The Nature of the Child Latency is Freud’s term for middle childhood, during which emotional drives and psychosocial needs are quiet. This allows the child time to acquire cognitive skills and cultural values.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 The Nature of the Child Industry vs. inferiority is Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial crises, in which children see themselves as competent or incompetent. In middle childhood, kids develop a more complex self concept, including more self- criticism and self-consciousness.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13

Coping with Life: Resilience As shown in this chapter, children in middle childhood must learn to cope with the stresses of life, from bullying to divorce. Resilience is the capacity to develop optimally by adapting positively to significant adversity.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Coping with Life: Resilience (cont.) Key parts of the definition of resilience:  It is a dynamic trait, varying with time  It is not the absence of pathology, but a positive adaptation to stress  The stress may vary in significance

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 Stressors: How many, how often? Children can be affected by stress that is cumulative (e.g., “daily hassles”) How the child interprets the stress is important Daily routines are key in coping with stress  Example: after school activities

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13

Social Support and Stress Social support from parents, neighborhoods, friends, and religious faith can significantly buffer the impact of stress. Religious faith and church involvement are psychologically protective, helping children reinterpret stressful experiences.

Berger: The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 7th Edition, Chapter 13 “We support each other!” BOB CHILD / AP PHOTO