PSYC 2314 Lifespan Development Chapter 13 The School Years: Psychosocial Development

Theories of School-Age Development Freud –Latency stage Erikson’s –Industry vs. inferiority Learning/Cognitive/Sociocultural –Acquisition of new skills, of self understanding or of social awareness.

Theories of School-Age Development Epigenetic –School-age child’s independence is the result of the species’ need to free parental efforts so that they may be focused on younger children and to accustom school-age children to their peers and the adults in the community.

Understanding Others Social Cognition: understanding of other people and groups Children’s theory of mind evolves into a complex, multifaceted view of others. Younger schoolchildren focus on observable behavior to explain others’ behavior. Older schoolchildren understand the motivation and origins of behavior.

Self-Understanding Social Comparison –Tendency to assess one’s abilities, achievements, social status, etc. by measuring them against others, esp. peers. –Self-criticism rises and self-esteem dips.

Peer Group –A group of individuals of roughly the same age and social status who play, work, or learn together. Society of Children –Children develop their own subculture, which has its own vocabulary, dress codes, and rules of behaviors.

Friendship Personal friendship is more important to school-age children than is acceptance by the peer group. Middle schoolers tend to choose best friends whose backgrounds, interests, and values are similar to their own.

The Rejected Child Children who are actively rejected—who are unpopular most of the time—can be classified as either: –Aggressive-rejected –Withdrawn-rejected

Bullying Repeated, systematic attempts to harm a child through physical, verbal, or social attack. –Gender differences –Victims

Consequences of Bullying Bullied children are anxious, depressed and underachieving during the months and years of torment. Even years later, they still have damaged self-esteem and painful memories. Bullies usu. have friends who abet, fear, and admire them. They become more hostile. Their parents do nothing to stop them.

Intervention Change the social climate within schools –Provide educational materials –Evoke sympathy for victims –Train teachers for intervention

Family Support Families that function well nurture schoolchildren in five essential ways: –Meeting basic needs –Encouraging learning –Developing self-esteem –Nurturing peer friendships –Providing an environment of harmony and stability

Family Styles Open style –Values contributions from every family member. Closed-style –One parent, usu. the father, sets strict guidelines, limits, and rules.

Divorce Although divorce does, in fact, eventually benefit many children, the disruption and discord surrounding the divorce always adversely affect the children for at least a year or two. Divorce may not harm children if the family income remains stable, if fights between the parents are few, and if caregiving by both parents is as good or better than it was before the divorce.

Joint Custody Although “joint custody” is theoretically the best decision following a divorce, in practice this often is not the case. –Custodial fathers sometimes do as well as mothers, partly because they have more income, more authority over sons, and usu. choose to maintain active parenthood. –Children whose fathers have custody have close relationships with their mothers more often than vice versa.

Variable Factors Impacting Stress Number of stresses the child is experiencing concurrently The degree to which these stresses affect the overall patterns of the child’s daily life How many protective barriers and coping patterns are in place

Coping with Stress Child’s Competencies Social Support