Chapter 2
The Contexts of Development
Learning Objectives
When students have studied the material in the chapter, they will be able to answer the following:
•
Introduction
1. What is known about the effects of environmental deprivation on children's development?
2. What aspects of the contexts provided by the Williams, Gordon, and Polonius families seem likely
to be especially significant for their children’s development?
3. How have the contexts in which you grew up influenced your development?
•
An overview of developmental contexts
4. Describe Bronfenbrenner's model of developmental contexts and explain what is included at each
level in the model.
•
The child’s biological makeup
5. Explain the three basic components of the child’s biological makeup and how they interact.
•
The child's immediate environment
6. Explain how the family, day care, peers, neighborhoods, and schools influence children's
development.
•
The social and economic context
7. Summarize the ways American families have changed in recent decades and how these changes
have affected children’s development.
8. Explain how socioeconomic status influences children’s development.
•
The cultural context
9. What is the same about child rearing across all cultures? What varies?
10. Summarize the impacts of culture on children’s development.
•
Development as context
11. Explain two ways in which development itself provides a context for further development.
•
Contexts in interaction
12. Explain how contexts interact to influence children's development.
17
Chapter 2
Chapter Summary Outline
Note: Terms in bold print are chapter vocabulary words.
Introduction
•
•
Development, both physical and mental, requires an appropriate context.
An abnormal context may result in abnormal development. Some examples:
1. Victor, “the wild boy of Aveyron”
2. Genie
3. Infants raised in institutions. Recent examples are from Eastern Europe.
•
Contexts of development include variations in genes, culture, family relations, and economic
circumstances, which all contribute to developmental differences.
An Overview of Developmental Contexts
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory outlines the complexity of contextual influences on
development by means of a model depicting three concentric rings around the child at the center,
where each ring influences all the rings inside of it.
4. Biological Makeup
5. Immediate Environment
6. Social and Economic Context
7. Cultural Context
The Child’s Biological Makeup
•
Three components influence the center of the model, the child’s biological makeup:
8. The evolutionary heritage shared by all humans.
9. The child’s individual genetic inheritance.
10. The biological results of interactions between genes and environment.
•
The Human Evolutionary Heritage
1. We have a fairly precise timetable for many developmental milestones.
2. We have a strong disposition to act upon the environment, to be curious rather than
passive.
3. We have an innate propensity for learning simple (e.g., sucking) and complex (e.g.,
language) skills.
4. We have a predisposition to be social, to form bonds.
•
•
Individual genetic differences have allowed our species to meet environmental challenges
over hundreds of thousands of years. There are direct and indirect effects of individual
genetic makeup.
There are interactions between genes and the environment. An important question pertains
to the degree to which genes constrain environmental influences (canalization).
18
The Contexts of Development
The Child’s Immediate Environment
•
The Family Context
1. The family is the dominant part of a child’s immediate environment, forming first social
relationships and providing models for behavior.

The Family as a System
1. Researchers have moved beyond a focus on maternal caregiving to now include
fathers, siblings, and the extended family.
2. The family is an interconnected system—each member’s behavior depends in
part on the behavior of the others.
3. Bidirectional effects – parents shape children’s behavior and children’s
characteristics influence parent’s behavior.

4. Sameroff’s Transactional Model – cumulative effects of ongoing bidirectional
influences.
Characteristics of Family Systems
a. Made up of many subsystems joined together in a coherent, interlocking network.
b. A family is a dynamic, open system, subject to change as well as continuity.
c.
They are subject to cyclical influences that can be repeated across generations.

Fathers in the Family System
a. Direct (e.g., attachment) and indirect influences (e.g., marital harmony) are
considered important.

Siblings in the Family System
a. Aid in development of social understanding.
Immediate Contexts Outside the Family
•
The Day-Care Setting – increase in use of day care in the U.S.
1. 1 in 5 are cared for by grandparent or other relative. 1 in 6 are cared for by father at
home. About 1 in 4 are cared for by a nonrelative such as an individual babysitter or a
family day-care setting. 1 in 4 are in a child-care center or preschool.
2. Researchers have noted no negative effects of full-time day care for toddlers and
preschoolers. It can promote cognitive and social development if high quality. The debate
continues regarding day care for those under one year of age.
•
The Peer Group
1. Teaches how to interact in equal-status, or symmetrical relationships.
2. Reinforces values, beliefs, and behavior standards that are part of the child’s culture.
•
The Neighborhood
1. Community income levels have been a research focus, particularly community poverty.
2. Influence via collective socialization where adults provide role models and monitoring for
local children; social networks.
•
The School
1. Instruction in cultural norms and values, such as gender roles, neatness, discipline,
punctuality, competition, hard work, and material success.
19
Chapter 2
2. How the school is run and how teachers interact with students can affect how positive the
school experience is for children.
The Social and Economic Context
•
•
•
The second ring of Bronfenbrenner’s model contains the following: community in which the
child’s immediate environment exists; social institutions, health-care systems, and religious
organizations; social and economic conditions in the community and in the larger society
(e.g., birth rates, income levels).
The social and economic context affects children directly and indirectly.
Family Changes Caused by Social and Economic Factors
1. Maternal Employment and Its Effects
 How maternal employment effects the child depends on the child’s age and gender,
amount of time mother spends at work, quality of shared time remaining, quality of
substitute care, strength of the parent-child relationship, and the meaning of the
woman’s employment to both herself and other family members

Maternal employment during first year associated with slightly lower performance on
cognitive measures, but maternal employment after that has generally positive
effects, especially on girls.

Mothers who are unhappy with their situation, especially dissatisfied nonworking
mothers, have more problems child rearing than those who are satisfied.

If the husband is displeased with the wife’s employment, he may have more negative
feelings toward his children and parenting responsibilities.

Positive effects on mothers and children when single mother moves from welfare to
paid employment.
2. Single Parenting and Its Effects
 Unmarried Mothers
a. Rate of births to unmarried mothers increased from 11% in 1970 to 33% in 2000.
29% of these births are to women under age 20.
b. Children of unmarried adolescent mothers often have developmental problems,
show higher rates of school failure, delinquency, early sexual activity, and
pregnancy. Much of these outcomes could be influenced by poverty factors.
About 40% of the children in American families heading by single mothers are
poor.
c.

Social support, family support, and finishing high school are important for
reducing potential developmental problems.
Divorced Parents
a. Each year 1 million U.S. children are involved in divorce.
b. Outcome issues depend on child’s age, sex, personality, quality of home life and
parenting, and resources available to both parents and child.
c.
Divorce that ends parental conflict is generally better for children than a conflictbased marriage. Divorce with continued conflict is worse than marriage with
conflict.
20
The Contexts of Development
d. Ongoing contact with the noncustodial parent (usually father) generally reduces
the negative consequences of divorce (with low conflict between the parents).
e. Children’s adjustment to parental remarriage can take several years. Conflict is
higher between children and stepparents, especially stepmothers.
f. Adjustment to stepparents is more difficult for adolescents.
3. Other Nontraditional Families
 Homosexual parents are as involved with their children as are heterosexual parents.

•
Being raised by homosexual parents results in no obvious differences in gender
identity, sex-role behavior, sexual orientation, and does not appear to place the child
at risk for psychological problems.
Socioeconomic Status and the Family
1. Socioeconomic Status (SES), the grouping of people within a society on the basis of
income, occupation, and education, is another important aspect of social and economic
context.
 Differences in parenting styles have been noted between working-class and middleclass parents.

Poor quality childcare cuts across socioeconomic lines.
2. Poverty and Child Development
 Nearly 11.6 million U.S. children lived in poverty in 2000. This is 1 in 6 children
overall but the rate is nearly twice that for Hispanic and African American children
than for White children.

Persistent poverty has consequences for child development. These children score
lower on IQ, vocabulary, and achievement tests. They are more likely to repeat
grades, be placed in special education, drop out of high school, have higher rates of
behavior problems and delinquency.

Why? Inadequate prenatal care, prenatal drug exposure, and low birth weight set the
stage for later cognitive deficits. Lead exposure and lower cognitive stimulation at
home intensify the early effects.

Poor families experience more stress. They are more likely to be exposed to a string
of negative events and to chronic problems. Parents then may be more depressed,
irritable, and distracted which has negative consequences for parenting.

Poverty can be a self-perpetuating cycle. This has been highlighted in research on
the inner city African Americans living in ghettos.

Intervention programs like Head Start can make a difference.
3. Homelessness
 Homelessness carries a particularly strong set of risks for children.

In 2000 in the US, 40% of those in homeless shelters were families with children.

Homeless women are least likely to receive prenatal care and have higher rates of
low birth weight infants as well as higher infant mortality rates.
21
Chapter 2

Homeless children suffer from more health problems and are least likely to receive
proper immunizations, they experience more stress, more disruptions in school and
friendships, and have higher rates of behavior problems.
4. Unemployment and Family Relationships
 Job loss and its hardships tend to increase conflict and violence in families, including
child abuse.
The Cultural Context
•
•
The cultural context is the third ring in Bronfenbrenner’s model.
Culture – a system of beliefs, attitudes, values, and guidelines for behavior. Different cultures
tend to produce different patterns of personality characteristics, cognitive skills, and social
relationships.
1. Cultural Influences
 We all have the same human biological inheritance and the same fundamental need
for care. Adults in all cultures must 1) provide for infants with basic nurturance
needed for development, and 2) must prepare children to function as adults in their
particular social world by passing on rules, standards, and values of the culture via
socialization.

Socialization occurs by means of explicit and implicit instruction. The values of a
culture are often reflected in the structure of the settings in which children spend their
time (e.g., Chinese vs. U.S. nursery school environments).

Children’s behavior also reflects the values and demands of their culture (see
Madsen’s study on competition vs. cooperation in a game).

Children in nonindustrialized cultures show more nurturant and responsible behaviors
due to the tasks they are given while those in industrialized cultures are more
dependent and self-centered since most do not contribute to family survival. Egoism
may be an asset in cultures that depend on personal profit for economic growth.
2. Cultural Change and Child Development
 Parenting practices have changed over the decades and centuries as economic life
patterns have changed.

China is a recent example of rapid cultural change (family-centered to state-centered
shift).
3. Subcultures
Subcultures – groups whose beliefs, attitudes, values, and guidelines for behavior differ
in some ways from those of the dominant culture. Sometimes a child’s subculture clashes
with that of the dominant culture, which can result in difficulties in the classroom, for
example.
Development as Context
•
Development provides a context in two ways:
1. It gives each person a developmental history, which influences the course of future
development (e.g., Erikson’s theory).
2. Development provides a context for future development because children change
physically and intellectually as they mature. These transformations dramatically influence
how children interact with their environments.
22
The Contexts of Development
Contexts in Interaction
•
Central message of the chapter: human development always occurs within a set of contexts.
None of the contexts exists in isolation. An example of this interaction is maternal
employment.
•
Certain environmental factors tend to be grouped.
•
All the environmental influences are funneled through the family to some extent.
Lecture Topics
The following are lecture topic suggestions to complement Chapter 2 reading material.
Topic 1: The Concept of Family Systems
•
Research Questions:
1. Interdependence of subsystems in the family. Families are made up of subsystems (husbandwife, mother-daughter, brother-sister, etc.). How are these subsystems interrelated and in what
ways do these interrelationships manifest themselves?
2. Bidirectionality and changes in family systems. The concept of bidirectionality can be extended
beyond the parent-child dyad to the family as a whole. Children are influenced by the family
context in which they live, but they also influence that context by their very presence and by the
stages of development they pass through. Family systems are not static, as often assumed, but
are constantly adjusting to changes in family composition and in the developmental status of
individual members. How do family systems change?

When a child is born, the family into which he or she comes is already an organized system.
If there is another child or children, the family consists of several subsystems--husband-wife,
mother-child, father-child, and sometimes sibling relationships. In addition to these dyadic
relationships, there are also triadic relationships, if the family already has three or more
members. A new child forces the reorganization of the existing system and the formation of
new relationships. The existing pattern of interactions in the family must change to
accommodate the new member, with repercussions for everyone in the family. For example,
older siblings must adjust to the mother's preoccupation with the new baby, the new demands
on her time, and her resulting limited availability. As a result, they often seek and receive
more attention from their father, changing the previous patterns of interaction in the family.
This particular change in family organization is one that often confronts children during their
preschool years.

It is not just the addition of new family members that changes families' organization and
interaction patterns, however. As children develop, their families change in response to their
changing needs and abilities. A new baby demands a very different type of caregiving than a
toddler, a preschooler, an 8-year-old, or an adolescent. A child also makes a different
contribution to the family as a newborn than at later points in development. As a result,
families pass through developmental changes and face various developmental tasks that in
some ways parallel those faced by individuals.
3. Intergenerational aspects of systems. How are relationship patterns transmitted from one
generation to the next? How can knowledge about the family in which a person grew up illuminate
that individual's current behavior as a spouse and parent?
•
Background Literature:
1. Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1: Attachment (2nd ed.). New York: Basic
Books. (Chapters 1, 12).
23
Chapter 2
2. Brody, G. H., Stoneman, Z., & McCoy, K. (1992). Associations of maternal and paternal direct
and differential behavior with sibling relationships: Contemporaneous and longitudinal analyses.
Child Development, 63, 82-92.
3. Brody, G. H., Stoneman, Z., & McCoy, K. (1994). Forecasting sibling relationships in early
adolescence from child temperaments and family processes in middle childhood. Child
Development, 65, 771-784.
4. Dunn, J., & Plomin, R. (1990). Separate lives: Why siblings are so different. New York: Basic.
5. Dunn, J., Stocker, C., & Plomin, R. (1990). Nonshared experiences within the family: Correlates
of behavioral problems in middle childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 113-126.
6. Kowal, A. M., & Kramer, L. (1995, March). Why mom liked you best: Children's understanding of
parental differential treatment. In L. Kramer & N. Howe (Chairs), Sibling relationships and
emotional development. Symposium conducted at the biennial meeting of the Society for
Research in Child Development, Indianapolis, IN.
7. Kreppner, K., Paulsen, S., & Schuetze, Y. (1982). Infant and family development: From triads to
tetrads. Human Development, 25, 373-391.
8. Quittner, A. L., & Opipari, L. C. (1994). Differential treatment of siblings: Interview and diary
analyses comparing two family contexts. Child Development, 65, 800-814.
9. Sroufe, L. A., Jacobvitz, D., Mangelsdorf, S., DeAngelo, E., & Ward, M. J. (1985). Generational
boundary dissolution between mothers and their preschool children: A relationship systems
approach. Child Development, 56, 317-325.
10. Sroufe, L. A., & Fleeson, J. (1988). Relationships within families: Mutual influences. In R. A.
Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), The coherence of family relationships. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
•
Methods and Results: More information is available at http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/devel/kidc/resources/1-top.htm.
1. Interdependence of subsystems in the family. See the discussion of Sroufe and Fleeson (1988)
results and Sroufe et al., 1985 available at the Web site listed above.
2. Bidirectionality and changes in family systems. See the discussion by Kreppner and his
colleagues on birth order. See also the Brody, Stoneman, and McCoy discussion of differences in
parent-sibling subsystems within the same family, part of a growing literature on intrafamily
variation.
3. Intergenerational aspects of systems. Relationship patterns often are transmitted from generation
to generation. This has been most obvious in the case of abuse, where maltreated children often
grow up to mistreat their own youngsters. A further illustration of the power of a relationship
systems perspective comes from two of our stories in the textbook. A systems view adds
perspective to the question of why Karen becomes pregnant and why Frank so desperately wants
a son.

A piece of information not included in the vignette is the fact that Karen's mother also had
become pregnant as a teenager, marrying a man who shortly thereafter abandoned her.
While Karen's pregnancy may be explained by societal trends in teenage pregnancies or by
carelessness in using birth control, a further explanation lies in her reenactment of her
mother's life. Clinical psychologists speak of "invisible loyalties" that children have to their
parents. That is, despite the fact that Karen's pregnancy made her mother angry, in a basic
(though unconscious) way it expressed a "loyalty" or "obligation" to her family relationship
system.

Likewise, Frank Gordon's desire for a son can be explained at the cultural level (our
patrilineal culture's prizing of males and valuing children of both genders in a family) and at
the subcultural or socioeconomic level (macho Frank's need to have a son to engage in
manly activities). But it can also be explained at a more personal family systems level. Frank
24
The Contexts of Development
Gordon lost his father when he was 11. For him, a son would represent the re-creation of a
father-son relationship that was prematurely fractured. And you will see that he winds up
separated from his own son through divorce when his son is also in middle childhood.
•
Discussion Questions: What are some of the methodological difficulties in carrying out research on
family systems? Which methods seem to be best suited to this kind of topic and why?
Topic 2: Contexts in Interaction
•
•
•
Research Question: How can the various contexts in Bronfenbrenner's model help us understand
the impact of poverty on black families and children?
Huston, McLoyd, and Garcia Coll (1994) discuss the complex relationships between social and
economic factors, parents' psychological well being, and children's socioemotional functioning. Their
analysis helps us understand how the contexts in Bronfenbrenner's model interact to shape children's
development.
Background Literature:
1. Brody, G. H., Stoneman, Z., Flor, D., McCrary, C., Hastings, L., & Conyers, O. (1994). Financial
resources, parent psychological functioning, parent co-caregiving, and early adolescent
competence in rural two-parent African American families. Child Development, 65, 590-605.
2. Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Zamsky, E. S. (1994). Young African American
multigenerational families in poverty: Quality of mothering and grandmothering. Child
Development, 65, 373-393.
3. Garrett, P., Ng'andu, N., & Ferron, J. (1994). Poverty experiences of young children and the
quality of their home environments. Child Development, 65, 331-345.
4. Grantham-McGregor, S., Powell, C., Walker, S., Chang, S., & Fletcher, P. (1994). The long-term
follow-up of severely malnourished children who participated in an intervention program. Child
Development, 65, 428-439.
5. Hashima, P. Y., & Amato, P. R. (1994). Poverty, social support, and parental behavior. Child
Development, 65, 394-403.
6. Huston, A. C., McLoyd, V. C., & Garcia Coll, C. (1994). Children and poverty: Issues in
contemporary research. Child Development, 65, 275-282.
7. Huston, A. C., McLoyd, V. C., & Garcia Coll, C. (Eds.) (1994). Children and poverty [Special
issue]. Child Development, 65.
8. McAdoo, H. P., & McAdoo, J. L. (Eds.) (1981). Black families. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
9. McLoyd, V. (1990). The impact of economic hardship on black families and children:
Psychological distress, parenting, and socioeconomic development. Child Development, 61, 311346.
10. Spencer, M., Brookins, G., & Allen, W. (Eds.) (1985). Beginnings: The social and affective
development of black children. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
•
•
Additional Reading: Kotlowitz, A. (1991). There are no children here: The story of two boys growing
up in the other America. New York: Doubleday.
Analysis of Contexts: Further background information is available at
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/devel/kid-c/resources/1-top.htm [Note: One effective way to present
Huston et al.'s ideas is to develop this example beginning at the outermost ring in the model--the
cultural context--and working your way in to the biological context.]
1. The cultural context. North American culture holds that success is the result of individual effort
and that people who fail have only themselves to blame, adding psychological insult to financial
hardship for families in poverty. For black families, cultural attitudes about race create additional
social and economic barriers and contribute to psychological distress.
25
Chapter 2
2. The social and economic context. Increasing numbers of inner city black children are growing up
in chronic poverty because of:

The transformation of cities from manufacturing to information-processing centers and the
accompanying decline in traditional working-class jobs.

Low wages in the jobs that are available to inner city residents with low levels of education.

The increase in households headed by women with little income and resources.
3. The immediate context. Poverty, writes McLoyd (1990), "defines the child's immediate
environment, almost in its entirety" (p. 314). Refer to the above listed Web site for more detailed
discussion of poverty and its impact on development.
4. The biological context. Finally, the quality of parenting a child receives depends in part on the
child. Because poor children are more likely to be born to young, malnourished mothers who
received little prenatal care and may have used drugs or alcohol, and more likely to be born
prematurely, they are more likely to be "difficult" babies who require extra care and attention to
thrive. Frequent illness and injury and poor nutrition in infancy and childhood may also contribute
to the developmental problems many of these children exhibit. One long-term follow-up study
(Grantham-McGregor et al., 1994) found that severely malnourished children maintained poorer
levels of development than their peers for up to 14 years after an acute episode of malnutrition.
These developmental problems improved, however, when the children participated in an
intervention program that included psychosocial stimulation.
•
Discussion Questions: What are the implications of Bronfenbrenner's model for intervention? If you
wanted to help the children McLoyd (1990) and Huston et al. (1994) describe, in which context(s)
would you try to make changes? Explain your answer.
Topic 3: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Family Sleeping Arrangements
•
•
•
•
Research Questions: What is the basis for family sleeping arrangements? Should parents and
children sleep together or not?
Shweder, Jensen, and Goldstein (1995) assert that "the practice of determining who sleeps by whom
in a family household is a symbolic action that simultaneously expresses and realizes some of the
deepest moral ideals of a cultural community" (p. 21). In all cultures, whether parents and children
sleep together or not, sleeping arrangements reflect childrearing goals and values for interpersonal
relations.
In the U.S., middle-class parents typically furnish a nursery for their newborn infants and provide
separate beds (and, whenever possible, separate bedrooms) for their children throughout childhood.
Middle-class parents in the U.S. believe that infants are born dependent and need to be socialized to
become independent, beginning with learning to sleep alone. Pediatricians in the U.S., such as
Brazelton and Spock, have traditionally advised parents that children should be taught to sleep alone
in order to promote autonomy; these experts have also cautioned that children who routinely sleep
with their parents are at risk of being sexually abused or may develop inappropriate sexual fantasies.
Recently, some pediatricians have advocated the shared "family bed," but this practice has not been
widely adopted by the white middle-class in the United States.
In most other parts of the world (in places as different as Guatemala and Japan), children grow up cosleeping with their parents or other family members, even when space available in the home would
afford separate beds in nonshared sleeping quarters. Moreover, parents in these cultures express
shock and concern about the well being of infants and children who sleep alone. Japanese parents,
for example, believe that infants are born as separate beings who must develop interdependent
relationships with community members to survive; co-sleeping is thought to facilitate this process.
26
The Contexts of Development
•
•
See Shweder et al.'s discussion of Brazelton's (1990) conflict over co-sleeping, the moral perceptions
of the Anglo-American middle class, and Abbott's (1992) and Mandansky and Edelbrock's (1990)
studies of sleeping practices among other ethnic groups and social classes in the United States.
Research Literature:
1. Abbott, S. (1992). Holding on and pushing away: Comparative perspectives on an Eastern
Kentucky child-rearing practice. Ethos, 1, 33-65.
2. Brazelton, T. B. (1990). Parent-infant cosleeping revisited. Ab Initio: An International Newsletter
for Professionals Working with Infants and Their Families, 1, 1-7.
3. Mandansky, D., & Edelbrock, C. (1990). Cosleeping in a community sample of 2- and 3-year-old
children. Pediatrics, 86, 197-203.
4. Morelli, G. A., Rogoff, B., Oppenheim, D., & Goldsmith, D. (1992). Developmental Psychology,
28, 604-613.
5. Shweder, R. A., Jensen, L. A., & Goldstein, W. M. (1995). Who sleeps by whom revisited: A
method for extracting the moral goods implicit in practice. In J. J. Goodnow, P. J. Miller, & F.
Kessel (Eds.), Cultural practices as contexts for development. New Directions for Child
Development, 67, 21-39.
•
•
Methods and Results: Background information is available at
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/devel/kid-c/resources/1-top.htm.
1. Morelli, Rogoff, Oppenheim, and Goldsmith (1992) examined the decisions of middle-class U.S.
and Highland Mayan parents regarding sleeping arrangements during their child's first 2 years
and their explanations for their differing practices. See the Web site for results and discussion.
2. Shweder et al. (1995) investigated sleeping arrangements among high-caste families in a Hindu
town in India and among white middle-class families in Chicago. Shweder et al. used three types
of tasks in their study: (1) a "sleeping arrangement task" in which subjects sorted members of a
hypothetical seven-person family into sleeping spaces under various hypothetical resource
constraints; (2) a "preference conflict task" in which subjects evaluated and ranked various
culturally deviant arrangements of members of the hypothetical seven-person family in terms of
the relative seriousness of the breach; and (3) reports about who slept by whom. See the Web
site listed above for results and discussion of this study regarding the three types of tasks.
3. Taken together, these studies strongly suggest that sleeping arrangements in the family are not
simply based on personal preferences or arbitrary habits. Instead, as Shweder et al. argue, they
are social practices, deliberate acts "of rational choice motivated by an analysis of probable
psychological and social costs and benefits" (p. 37).
Discussion Questions: Should parents and children sleep together? Why or why not?
Topic 4: Cultural Differences in Education
•
•
•
•
•
A lecture topic on Cultural Differences in Education could be compiled from the following: Items 4 and
8 at http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/devel/kid-c/resources/1-lecture/l-18.htm.
Information in item 4 explores the differences between American versus Japanese schools.
Discussion questions that are explored are: How do the Japanese achieve such high educational
standards? What are the costs and benefits of this system? What would it take for U.S. schools to
compete? If there are Japanese students in the classroom, perhaps they would be willing to offer their
experiences as insights into this lecture topic.
Information in item 8 at the above listed Web site briefly mentions cultural differences in the
classroom with Hawaiian, Navajo, Asian American, and European American students.
Discussion questions that may follow could tap into issues of the difficulties children experience
when their subculture is at odds with the dominant culture. 1) students may discuss issues regarding
the design of educational programs by “white, middle-class, educated” persons and how this bias
may affect children in the various subcultures or social strata of the U.S. 2) have students consider
27
Chapter 2
how subcultural differences spill into other domains of society and psychology, such as provision of
mental health services or the legal ramifications of various parenting practices.
•
At the above listed Web site are additional Lecture Topic options available for this chapter:
1. Egalitarian motive (item 6)
2. Rites of passage: O-Kee-Pa, a torture ritual (item 7)
Classroom Discussion Topics and Activities
1. Adoption Issues: Adoptions are becoming part of public knowledge, with around 40,000 adoptions or
more taking place each year in the US from domestic and foreign agencies and around 50,000
adoptions of “waiting” children in the US foster care system. In the year 2000, 131,000 children were
waiting to be adopted in the US. It is important, from a context of development perspective, to explore
adoption beliefs that students have and to look at facts, figures, and potential problems.
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•
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Ask students, either in the class setting or on paper, to address how they feel about adoption. To
facilitate discussions, have students explore some Web sites on adoptions. One is
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles/adoption_myths.php that presents some of the myths of
adoption. Information also is available at http://www.geocities.com/ adoptionabc/domestic.html
and at http://adoption.about.com.
 A recent survey showed that there has been an increase in favorable opinions about
adoption. 63% of Americans think very favorably about adoption (a seven percentage point
increase since in 1997), and 64% have a close experience with adoption. 78% of Americans
believe the country should be doing more to encourage adoption and 95% think adoptive
parents should receive the same maternity and paternity benefits from employers as
biological parents. Considering that in the US in 2000, the number of children in the foster
care system was 556,000, and over 100,000 of these children were/are available for
adoption, increasing adoption awareness is a positive step.
If students are comfortable with the idea, ask if anyone is the class is adopted or whether any
families have adopted. First person accounts help flesh out issues more clearly. This can also
lead to discussions about telling children the truth. A number of people adopted did not encounter
information about the fact that they were adopted until they were adults!
Have students consider what questions and concerns children, adolescents, and adults may have
about being adopted. Have students consider issues parents may have about adopting children.
Many in the US have chosen to adopt AFTER having spent thousands and thousands of dollars,
and huge emotional energy, on fertility options which failed. Have students discuss reasons that
people choose adoption and reasons that people choose fertility treatments.
In the US, the trend is to have open or partial open adoptions. Have students talk about what they
think are the pros and cons of open vs. closed adoptions.
Have students think about issues involving domestic vs. international adoptions. There are
estimates that 20,000 or more U.S.-born infants are placed for adoption every year. In 2002,
there were over 20,000 immigrant visas issued to orphans coming to the US from a number of
countries (http://travel.state.gov/orphan_numbers.html). Americans adopted 5,053 infants and
children (mostly girls) from mainland China, 4,939 from Russia, 2,210 from Guatemala, 1,779
from South Korea, and 1,106 from Ukraine (the top five countries).
 Think about reasons that so many families choose international adoption.
 Discuss the pros and cons of transracial adoptions, both foreign and domestic. In the US in
2000, 56,000 (43%) African American children were available for adoption and 17,400 (13%)
Hispanic children were available for adoption.
 Discuss the pros and cons of transcultural adoptions. Age of the child is an important
consideration in cross-cultural placements. Many children placed into permanent homes in
the US have to learn a new language as well as learning to adapt to a family environment vs.
an institutional environment, and within a different culture.
Besides the case in China, where 1.7 million girls are placed into orphanages each year, most
international countries have more boys to place than girls, and many more adoptive families wish
28
The Contexts of Development
to adopt girls than boys (source “How to adopt internationally”). In the US, 52% of “waiting
children” are male, and 50% of the adoptions were for male children, a much more even statistic
than that found in other countries. Discuss issues of child’s sex and how it relates to child
development, culture, and world events.
2. Multiculturalism: “A light-skinned African American girl comes home from preschool in tears because
her Latino playmate, who has approximately the same skin tone, says he won't marry her because
she is too dark. During play time, she refuses to play with dark-skinned dolls.” “A Latina mom drops
her daughter off at preschool in a formal dress and patent leather shoes, hair bedecked with ribbons.
The teacher, who had planned a painting project, says, ‘Gosh, can't you just put on some jeans?’” “At
preschool Sarah says to Ng, ‘You're stupid. You don't know how to talk.’ Ng's home language is
Vietnamese.” Have students consider how to prepare ourselves and our children for a multicultural
world. Read and comment upon the article at http://www.4children.org/news/999divrs.htm.
•
There are more than 700,000 interracial married couples in the United States and an estimated
hundreds of thousands to almost five million interracial or multicultural children. Have students
comment on these statistics. How does this impact the portrait of America? How does this impact
the educational system? In addition, have students explore the article on “Teaching with a
Multicultural Perspective” at http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed339548.html. Discuss the
points in class.
3. Gay and Lesbian Parenting: Researchers estimate that the total number of children nationwide living
with at least one gay parent ranges from six to 14 million. “One belief that often underlies both judicial
decision-making in custody litigation and public policies governing foster care and adoption has been
the belief that lesbians and gay men are not fit to be parents. In particular, courts have sometimes
assumed that gay men and lesbians are mentally ill, that lesbians are less maternal than
heterosexual women, and that lesbians' and gay men's relationships with sexual partners leave little
time for ongoing parent-child interactions.” This is a quote from an article at the APA web site,
http://www.apa.org/pi/parent.html, that reviews literature about lesbian and gay parenting. Have
students read this article, and form groups to comment on their own beliefs and stereotypes, and how
these matched/mismatched the results from investigations. Additional points for this topic are
available at the ACLU’s Web site
http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=9212&c=104.
4. Book Review: Have students explore issues of how poverty affects child development by
summarizing points from Jonathon Kozol’s 1995 book titled Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children
and the Conscience of a Nation about poor families living in the South Bronx. Poignant tales of the
inequities of poverty in health care and education are particularly valuable for students to identify. It is
a good book for exploration of Bronfenbrenner’s model.
5. Video: In class, have students watch the video called Life’s Lessons from the Childhood Series,
available from Ambrose Video. This is one of seven videos about child development in families living
in several countries, including Japan, Russia, and the US. It is a great look at the individual, the
family, the social context, and the cultural context. This particular video is about children between
ages five to seven. Have students, in groups, explore the various rings of Bronfenbrenner’s model to
see how they can be applied to the families and the individual children that are depicted in the video.
6. Cultural Impacts: Have students generate examples of how cultures impact one another. The U.S.
infiltrates many cultures worldwide by means of television and cinema. A recent example of how
strong of an impact U.S. television images can have on other cultures comes from research by Anne
Becker, director of research at the Harvard Eating Disorders Center of the Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Becker and colleagues researched body image and prevalence of eating disorders among people
of Viti Levu of Fiji where a well-rounded body is the norm for men and women. The study began in
1995, one month after satellite television with U.S. programs became available to the islanders. At
this time, only 3% of the sample of high school girls (average age 17) reported inducing vomiting to
control weight. In 1998, the number rose to 15%, and 29% scored highly on a test of eating disorder
29
Chapter 2
risk compared to 13% in 1995. In 1998, those who watched television three or more nights per week
were 50% more likely to describe themselves as “too big or fat” and 30% more likely to diet than girls
who watched television less frequently. Have students comment on the implications of this research
for standards of beauty and how these standards may foster development of attitudes toward bodies.
7. Working Moms: Have students list ways that maternal employment outside of the home can alter the
context of young children's development. In particular, have students list the practical changes it
produces in the ecology of early childhood at all three levels of Bronfenbrenner's model.
8. Bias in Research: It has been remarked that the phrase "of white, middle-class, American children"
should be added to the titles of most of the research articles published in the field of child
development. Have students consider what kinds of bias a reliance on research produced in one
cultural setting can introduce into our ideas about what children are like and how they develop. Are
there facts about the course of child development that we are likely to get wrong as a result? Are
there factors whose importance we are likely to overestimate?
9. Family Changes: Have students generate examples of how family changes can result from social and
economic changes in a country. The text has discussions of the impact of maternal employment on
family change. Many examples are available from history (e.g., historical notes of family disintegration
from the Great Depression are numerous). However, recently we have had opportunity to see these
impacts from the economic fall of Russia where we have heard tales of educators and other workers
in Russia being paid only in vodka as the government has no money to offer its employees (the
alcoholism rate is 15% in Russia). In a Life magazine article (July 1999), a grim picture was painted of
the lives of many children, where it is estimated that two million children have been abandoned by
their parents. More than 80 % of these children become criminals. The orphanages are bankrupt and
to most Russians these children are simply known as young wolves (volchata). Interestingly, as
discussed in the article, some Russian Army officers have been chipping in funds from their own
meager wages to set up units of “youngers”, orphaned children between the ages of 11 and 18 who
are enlisted as soldiers. These children live in the barracks and have combat training. How do your
students feel about this situation? The children are fed regular meals and have to attend school, care
for livestock, and take training classes. They are not roaming the street. They have structure and are
cared for by the older soldiers. In many ways, the boys are quite fortunate to have ended up as
“youngers”. Have students discuss their thoughts on child soldiers (it is estimated that 300,000 child
soldiers exist in the world) and the plight of children in Russia after social and economic upheaval.
10. Activity Sheet 1: At the end of this chapter is an activity sheet that could be copied for students to
work on in groups or individually. The goal of this activity sheet is to have students apply
Bronfenbrenner’s model to the characters in the family vignettes (Williams, Gordon, and Polonious
families) presented in this text, particularly to the infants who are about to be born into these families.
On the activity sheet, students will be asked to (a) note what each of Bronfenbrenner's contexts may
be like for each baby; (b) suggest how each baby's development may be affected by the contexts he
or she will be born into, drawing wherever possible on research discussed in Chapter 2. Have
students bring their responses to discuss in class.
11. Activity Sheet 2: Walton (1987) describes an exercise designed to encourage students to think about
the ways values affect the application of developmental research to practical problems. Use the
exercise in Activity Sheet 2 as a way of summing up at the end of a term or reinforcing the importance
of context in children's development with Bronfenbrenner's notions of immediate environment and
social/economic context. The exercise requires class time on two different days. On day 1, students
choose two statements from two sets of alternatives. They turn their choices in, signed. Before the
next class, divide the class into groups (four minimum) made up of those who gave the same
answers to the two questions. On day 2, each group should spend class time deciding on a group
answer to the following: (1) What five factors in the child's immediate environment are the most
necessary for optimal human development? (2) What five factors in the social and economic context
are the most necessary for optimal human development? When they have finished, collect the lists
and compare the responses of the groups. Groups will generally emphasize different aspects of the
30
The Contexts of Development
environment, leading to interesting discussions of how values influence perceptions of developmental
influences and developmental research. [Adapted from Walton, M. D. (1987). Science and values:
Addressing practical issues in developmental psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 14, 50-51.]
Films, Videos, and Internet Resources
Films and Videos:
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Culture, Time, and Place (1992, 30 min., Insight Media). Shows how language, school, and
relationships bring about acculturation about attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Development and Diversity (1992, 30 min., Insight Media). Explores historical and cultural definitions
of childhood. Probes the prolongation of infancy and childhood. Looks at children in many countries.
The Ecology of Development (1992, 30 min., Insight Media). Profiles children of 12 families in five
countries to illustrate the influence of family, peers, school, culture, and history on development.
Defines the terms of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory.
Family Patterns, Program 2 (1989, 17 min.). Describes family types, formal and informal roles, and
dysfunctional aspects of family patterns. This program is slides on video.
Family Therapy Theories, Program 3 (1989, 23 min.). Discusses the origin of family theory and family
therapy, including models of Bowen, Satir, and Minuchin.
The House of Tomorrow (1991, 57 min., Ambrose Video). Childhood Series - Features the ways
various cultures celebrate the passage from childhood to adolescence. Includes Baka boys from
Camaroon and a young girl in Brazil.
Life's Lessons (1991, 57 min., Ambrose Video). Childhood Series - Shows children of different
cultures between the ages of 5 and 7 as they shift to new abilities and behaviors. Features children
starting school from Moscow, Japan, and America.
Love's Labors (1991, 57 min., Ambrose Video). Childhood Series - Explores the developmental
period of children in different cultures between the ages of 6 months and 3 years.
Myths of Childhood: New Perspectives on Nature and Nurture (1997; 55 minutes each in a 3 part
series; Films for the Humanities and Sciences). This provocative three-part series confronts the
notion that children are naturally innocent, asks why some adults blame childhood events for their
adult unhappiness, and questions the ambitions of parents who strive to raise the perfect child.
Children and parents from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom share their experiences.
Home movies, photographs, and scenes from television and films portray the mythic childhoods we
imagine, while best-selling authors discuss changing ideas about childhood and the raising of
children. The series includes: Innocence: What Is a Child?, Damage: The Effects of a Troubled
Childhood, Perfection: The Pressure on Parents and Children.
Not All Parents Are Straight (1987, 58 min.). Examines the dynamics of the parent-child relationship
within several different households where children are being raised by gay and lesbian parents.
Preschool in Three Cultures (1989, 55 min., Yale University Films). Shows a typical day in a
preschool in Japan, China, and the United States, with evaluations by Japanese, Chinese, and
American teachers of their own and each other's schools.
Secret of the Wild Child (1994, 60 min., Insight Media). This NOVA program profiles Genie, a girl
whose parents kept her imprisoned in near-total isolation from infancy. It includes footage of Genie
during her rehabilitation, exploring how and when people learn the skills that make them “human.”
7up in the Soviet Union (1989, 70 min., Shanachie Entertainment). Part of the 7up Around the World
project--where children from many countries are revisited every seven years to document their growth
and development. 7up in the Soviet Union presents an intimate portrait of 20 children.
7up in South Africa (1993, 80 min., Shanachie Entertainment). Part of the 7up Around the World
project. Shows 19 children responding to basic questions regarding their present lives and future
aspirations.
31
Chapter 2
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Shooting Back (1990, 26 min.). Documents the lives of homeless children in shelters in the
Washington, DC, area. Provides a comprehensive look at shelter life through the eyes of the children.
Discusses feelings and self-esteem issues.
A-V Resource List Information:
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List of providers for most of the videos listed above:
1. Ambrose Video at www.ambrosevideo.com or 800-526-4663
2. Davidson Films at www.davidsonfilms.com or 888-437-4200.
3. Films for the Humanities and Sciences at www.films.com or 800-257-5126.
4. Insight Media at www.insight-media.com or 212-721-6316.
5. Public Broadcasting Service at 1-800-949-8670 or www.shop.pbs.org.
6. Pyramid Film and Video at 213-828-7577.
7. Shanachie Entertainment at 201-579-7763.
Additional Internet Resource Options for Chapter 2:
http://www.mhhe.com/dehart5
A variety of teaching tools for this textbook are available from the Web site for McGraw-Hill:
http://www.apa.org
American Psychological Association – main site as the lead organization in psychology. This site is excellent
for background material on historical and current issues in developmental psychology
http://quiz.ivillage.com/home/html/
Online Psychological Web site of links to a variety of topics on child development and particularly on issues
relative to family, health, and well-being.
http://www.clearinghouse.net/
This site provides a juncture to issues relative to schooling for children K –12. By accessing this site, it will
provide links to other sites relative to your search. It is an effective tool to shorten the search process.
http://www.nacd.org/
National Academy for Child Development – private site doing research on developing learning skills.
http://www.childcare-ppin.com/links.htm
This site gives the state-by-state license requirements for day care centers.
http://www.naeyc.org/
This is the main site for the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The site provides
outlines to some of their journals as well as links to other sites on child development. Membership is
required for complete article downloads.
http://www.zerotothree.org
An excellent site providing a myriad of links to dozens of topics relative to children aged birth to three
years. Among some topics are: Sudden Death Syndrome, child abuse, cultural diversity, drug abuse, and
brain development. Many of these sites are parents’ information lists.
32
The Contexts of Development
Name: _________________________________
Activity Sheet 1 – Applying Bronfenbrenner’s Model
Re-read the three families vignettes. For each of the families portrayed, consider how the components in each ring of
Bronfenbrenner’s model may impact the babies of the Williams, Gordon, and Polonious families. Briefly write your
answers in the space provided. Be prepared to discuss your responses in class.
Baby Williams: Important factors to consider in your analysis: parents are heterosexual, married, living in the same
home; two-wage earners; extended family involvement; emotional support of family members; two older siblings;
older parents; urban environment; financial concerns; African American; male; physically strong baby; active infant.
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Child’s biological make-up
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The family context (family as a system, fathers in the family, siblings in the family)
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Day-care setting; the neighborhood
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Social and economic context (maternal employment and its effects, SES)
Baby Gordon: Important factors to consider: parents are heterosexual, married, living in the same home; father is
main wage earner; mother wishes to have greater employment options; extended family involvement; conflict
between parents; female sibling a few years older; male; slow to warm-up to new situations; father encourages “all
boy” behavior; working-class SES.
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Child’s biological make-up
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The family context (family as a system, fathers in the family, siblings in the family)
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Day-care setting
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Social and economic context (maternal employment and its effects, SES)
Baby Polonius: Important factors to consider: single, adolescent mother; no contact with father, limited emotional
support; mother feels isolated; female; difficult infant with feeding problems; large financial concerns; family patterns
of unplanned and early pregnancies; mother feels insecure about parenting.
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Child’s biological make-up
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The family context (family as a system, fathers in the family, siblings in the family)
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Day-care setting
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Social and economic context (maternal employment and its effects, SES)
33
Chapter 2
Name: _________________________________
Activity Sheet 2: How Values Influence Perceptions of Child Development?
Day 1
Circle one alternative or the other for the two pairs of statements below.
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"Which is more important:
the development of individual uniqueness or
the development of the ability to relate to and get along with others?"
"Which is more important:
the development of emotional security or
the development of cognitive and intellectual skills?"
Day 2 (Your Group # _________)
In your groups (as determined by your instructor) discuss the following and generate the lists that you are
asked to consider. As a group, you should decide on a group answer to the following two questions:
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What five factors in the child's immediate environment are the most necessary for optimal human
development?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
•
What five factors in the social and economic context are the most necessary for optimal human
development?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
34