©2001 Allyn & Bacon
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Chapter 10: Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood
Erikson's stage of initiative versus guilt offers an overview of the personality changes of early childhood. During the preschool years, children's self-concepts begin to take shape. Their self-esteem is high, which supports their enthusiasm for mastering new skills. Preschoolers' understanding of emotion, emotional self-regulation, capacity to experience self-conscious emotions, and capacity for empathy and sympathy improve. Cognition, language, and warm, sensitive parenting support these developments.
During the preschool years, peer interaction increases, cooperative play becomes common, and children form first friendships. Preschoolers learn to resolve conflicts with new social problem-solving skills. Peer relations are influenced by parental encouragement and the quality of sibling ties. Peers provide an important context for the development of a wide range of social skills.
Three approaches to understanding early childhood morality-psychoanalytic, behaviorist and social learning, and cognitive-developmental-emphasize different aspects of moral functioning. While most researchers now disagree with Freud's account of conscience development, the power of inductive discipline is recognized. Social learning theorists believe that children learn to act morally through modeling. A third voice, the cognitive-developmental perspective, regards children as active thinkers about social rules. Hostile family atmospheres, poor parenting practices, and heavy viewing of violent television promote childhood aggression, which can spiral into serious antisocial activity.
Gender typing develops rapidly over the preschool years. Heredity contributes to several aspects of gender-typed behavior, but environmental forces-parents, siblings, teachers, peers, television, and the broader social environment-play powerful roles. Neither cognitive-developmental theory nor social learning theory provide a complete account of the development of gender identity. Gender schema theory is an information-processing approach that shows how environmental pressures and children's cognition combine to affect gender-role development.
Compared to children of authoritarian and permissive parents, children whose parents use an authoritative style are especially well adjusted and socially mature. Warmth, explanations, and reasonable demands for mature behavior account for the effectiveness of the authoritative style. Ethnic groups often have distinct child-rearing beliefs and practices that are adaptive when viewed in light of cultural values and the circumstances in which parents and children live.
Child maltreatment is the combined result of factors within the family, community, and larger culture. Interventions at all of these levels are essential for preventing it.
©2001 Allyn & Bacon |