Human Growth
and
Development
Chapter Thirteen
The School Years:
Psychosocial Development
PowerPoints prepared by Cathie Robertson, Grossmont College
Revised by Jenni Fauchier, Metropolitan Community College
The Child’s Emotions
and Concerns
• Increased Competence
– and more responsible and
independent
Theories of Development
During Middle Childhood
• Freud: Latency
– emotional drives quieter, psychosexual
needs repressed, unconscious conflicts
submerged
• Erikson: Industry vs. Inferiority
– children try to master skills valuable in own
culture
• social worlds beyond family contribute to
sense of industry or inferiority
Theories of Development During
Middle Childhood, cont.
• Social cognitive theory—the perspective
that highlights how school-age children
advance in learning, cognition, and
culture, building on maturation and
experience to become more articulate,
insightful, and competent
Theories of Development During
Middle Childhood, cont.
• Sociocultural theory looks at cultures
and subcultures
• Epigenetic theory considers how
inherited impulses lead to social
maturity
Theories of Development During
Middle Childhood, cont.
• All 5 major theories describe the child of
ages 7 to 11 as competent, eager,
manageable outside the home
• Worldwide, cultures recognize this
maturity and give the child more
independence and responsibility
Understanding Self and
Others
• Middle childhood is the time when
children learn whatever skills they will
need as adults
• Self-understanding comes at a price
– lower self-esteem
– greater self-criticism and selfconsciousness
• Self-development affected by
relationships with parents and peers
Understanding Self and Others, cont.
• Social comparison—the tendency to
assess one’s abilities, achievements,
social status, and other attributes by
measuring them against those of other
people, especially one’s peers
– children often feel personally at fault for
their shortcomings
• Cultural influences are reflected
– many social groups teach children not to
be “too outstanding”
The Peer Group
• Peer group—aggregate of individuals of
roughly the same age and social status
who play, work, or learn together
• Peers become increasingly important
– developmentalists believe that getting along
with peers is crucial during middle childhood
– being rejected is a precursor for other problems
– children depend on each other for
companionship, advice, self-validation
– peer partners must learn to negotiate,
share, compromise, and defend each
other and themselves
– certain amount of aggression, counteraggression, and reconciliation expected
The Peer Group, cont.
• Developmentalists are troubled if
children have no free time to spend
with each other
– child may have to come straight
home from school
– child may be in after-school
programs due to parents work
– children prefer to choose their own
activities with their own friends
Friendship
• Peer Group Subculture
– special vocabulary, rules of
behavior, dress codes
– an “in” group and an “out” group
Friendship, cont.
• Friendships become more important
– forum for self disclosure = Mutual
dependency
– become more choosy in picking friends
• best friends likely to be same in sex,
age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic
status
– more intense, intimate, and demanding
Friendship, cont.
• Unpopular Children
– neglected children
• receive little attention, but not
necessarily disliked by peers
– aggressive-rejected—rejected by peers
because of confrontational behavior
– withdrawn-rejected—rejected by peers
because they are timid and anxious
– for rejected, situation can worsen over time
Bullies and Their Victims
• Bullying is universal
• Bullies are not necessarily rejected,
and victims are not always odd in
appearance or background, although
they are always rejected
Types of Bullying
• Bullying—repeated, systematic effort to
inflict harm
– physical attack, taunting, teasing,
name calling
• Bullying once thought to be a normal
part of children’s play with few long-term
consequences
Types of Bullying, cont.
• Bully-victims—bullies who are or have
been victims of bullying; also called
provocative victims, they are minority
of victims
– can be aggressive-rejected children
• Bullies and victims usually of same
gender
Types of Bullying, cont.
• Boys vs. Girls
– male bullies
• above average in size
– female bullies
• above average in assertiveness
– victims tend to be less assertive and
physically weaker (boys) or shyer (girls)
Bullying in Many Nations
• Studies show that bullying is
widespread and serious in all nations
– Norway, Britain, Japan, Italy, U.S.
• Bullying occurs in all cultures
– rural areas, suburbs, inner cities; well-todo, poor; all races and religions
– more where many adults are engaged in
violence
• Palestine, Ethiopia, South Africa
Families and Children
• Nature vs. Nurture debate continues
– particulars of family practice
– shared environmental influences
– nonshared environmental influences
Family Function
• How a family works to meet the needs
of its members
– provides food, clothing and shelter
– encourages learning
– develops self-esteem
– nurtures friendships with peers
– provides harmony and stability
Family Structure
• How a family is legally constructed and
its members genetically constructed
– nuclear family—two parents and their
biological children
• still most common type
– one-parent family—one parent and
his or her biological children
Connecting Structure
and Function
• Structure influences function
– structure alone is not a total measure
– genetic connection increases if
families live together
Family Income
• Well-to-do families can easily provide
(which explains why family income
strongly correlates with optimal child
development)
– better schools
– more material things to help children feel
accepted accepted
– bigger houses in safer neighborhoods
– calmer home environment as parents need
not disagree over money
Family Income, cont.
• Well-educated wage earners raise
more successful children than do
large, multigenerational families on
public assistance
Harmony at Home
• Warmth or conflict that characterizes
family interaction
– children are handicapped if parents
verbally or physically abuse each
other
– parental alliance—cooperative
relationship, in which each parent
supports the other’s parenting
practices
Harmony at Home, cont.
• The Single-Parent Family
- numbers have increased markedly
over past two decades
- single parent is likely to work hard to
fill dual role of provider and caregiver
- single parent tends to be younger
(and less mature?) than married
parents
Harmony at Home, cont.
• Ethnic differences
• Outcome affected by
income, conflict at home, parental age
and education, family support, number
of children, social isolation, community
support
Coping with Problems
• Problems of middle childhood are often
exacerbated by long-standing problems
- living with violent, emotionally disturbed,
drug-addicted, or imprisoned parent
- living in decaying, violent, high-crime
community
- growing up in a chronically poor household
• Children develop coping mechanisms
Resilience and the
Assessment of Stress
• Resilience
– dynamic process, not a stable trait
– positive adaptation to stress
– adversity must be significant
• Determining significance of stress
– how many stressors?
– how does the stress affect daily life?
– how does child interpret the stress?
The Impact of Stress
• Daily routines are crucial
• If child’s daily routines include the
following, stress is overwhelming
– manage own daily care and school
attendance
– contend directly with parent’s mental state
– supervise and discipline younger siblings
– keep friends away from house
Social Support
• Strong bond with loving parent can see
children through many difficulties
– supportive family
• Community influences can counteract
negative effects
– cultural differences in seeking
support must be respected
– network of friends
• Child’s own attitude is crucial
Religious Faith and
Coping
• Powerful source of support
• School-age children develop their own
theology
Conclusion
• How well children cope with the
problems in their lives depends on the
following:
- nature of stresses they experience
- strengths of their various competencies
- social support they receive
. neighborhoods where everyone is seen
as responsible for all children can
improve behavior