Child Development From Infancy to Adolescence. Laura E. Levine
and gender—can be a source of privilege or oppression. For example, while a Black woman may be harmed by both racism and sexism, a Black man may experience racism but also benefit from the gender inequity that may exist (Rosenthal, 2016). One of the goals of this theoretical framework is to use research to inform social policy and promote social justice and equity.
Intersectionality: A theoretical framework that examines the effects of the overlap of social identities such race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status on development.
This understanding of individual differences also has changed the way we view behavioral and emotional disorders. In the field of developmental psychopathology, psychological disorders are now seen as distortions of normal developmental pathways (Cicchetti, 2016). Accordingly, in this book we include these disorders in our discussions of typical development. For example, language disorders appear with the discussion of typical language development, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder appears in the section in which we describe the typical development of attention. Thinking about atypical development this way may help reduce the stigma associated with mental disorders because it helps us see them as individual differences in development rather than simply as illnesses.
Developmental psychopathology: An approach that sees mental and behavioral problems as distortions of normal developmental processes rather than as illnesses.
The Role of the Child in Development
Are you the person you are today because you chose to be that person, or did someone else make you who you are? How you think about that question pretty much sums up the issue of an active child versus a passive one. Some theories presume that it is the environment that shapes the development of the child. The clearest example of this way of thinking is called learning theory or behaviorism. As you will see in Chapter 2, this approach looks at the way that systematic use of rewards and punishment affects the likelihood that a child will—or won’t—behave in certain ways. You may agree with this point of view if you think children are like lumps of clay that parents shape into the type of children they want. Other theories in child development give children a much more active role in shaping their own development. For example, Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, discussed in Chapter 2, is based on the idea that children actively explore their environment and, in the process, construct their own ideas about how the world works.
As with some of the other issues we have already discussed, maybe the answer to this issue isn’t one or the other, but rather some combination of both. The concept of niche picking (Scarr & McCartney, 1983) suggests that people actively seek out environments that are a good fit with their genetic makeup. In this way, children actively shape their experiences by choosing environments that, in turn, enhance or inhibit the characteristics that initially attracted the child to that environment. And, while children don’t choose the family, the neighborhood, or culture into which they are born, each of these environments significantly impacts and shapes their development. Later in this chapter, we describe in more detail the important roles specific contexts have on development.
Niche picking: The process by which people express their genetic tendencies by finding environments that match and enhance those tendencies.
Positive Psychology
For many years, research in the field of child development came from a perspective that has been called a disease model (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The primary focus was on understanding the cause of problems in people’s lives and finding ways to restore their functioning and well-being. Beginning in the late 1990s, psychologists began to think more about people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses and to look for ways to foster optimal outcomes for all individuals, not just those who were struggling. Rather than fixing what is broken, the goal of positive psychology is to nurture what is best in the individual (Seligman, 2011; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Using this approach, researchers have identified a number of human strengths including courage, optimism, interpersonal skills, perseverance, and insight that allow all people not only to survive, but to flourish.
The influence of positive psychology on the study of child development is clearly seen in the positive youth development movement. The framework for positive youth development is based on a set of developmental assets that support optimal development for all children, not just those who are at risk. These assets not only allow the child to cope with challenges, but also to take advantage of opportunities. You will learn more about the positive youth development movement in Chapter 15, but research guided by the positive youth development perspective appears in many topics throughout the book.
Positive youth development: An approach to finding ways to help all young people reach their full potential.
Integrating Themes and Issues
Each of these issues cuts across many of the specific topics that you will study. Each also has been the subject of discussion and debate for many years. For that reason, we are not searching for a single best way to understand the complex process of child development. Rather, each of these issues is a lens through which we can view the process. As you continue to read this book, think about the ways you conceptualize development. As your understanding grows, continue to ask yourself what you believe about development, but also think critically about why you hold these beliefs. You should expect your ideas to undergo some significant changes as your understanding of this process grows.
Check Your Understanding
Knowledge Questions
1 What are the differences between physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development?
2 Contrast quantitative and qualitative changes that occur in development.
3 How does niche picking relate to the nature-nurture controversy?
4 What is the positive youth development movement?
Critical Thinking
Compare how a parental belief that children play an active role in their own development versus the belief that children passively receive the influences of their parents affect the parenting strategies a parent might use.
Contexts of Development
>> LQ 1.3 What are the contexts for child development?
Children around the world are similar to one another in many ways, but the way development occurs varies widely depending on the context in which they grow up. Context is a very broad term that includes all the settings in which development occurs. Children develop in multiple contexts that include family, schools, communities, socioeconomic status, and cultures. Throughout this book you will learn about these different contexts and the way they influence various aspects of children’s development.
Family
Families are the primary context for development for most children. Families today take many different forms, but whether they are nuclear families, single-parent families, multigenerational families, step- or adoptive families, they all serve one important function: They are responsible for the socialization of their children. They instill the norms, values, attitudes, and beliefs of their culture so that children grow up to be positive, contributing members of their society. We discuss the effect of different family forms on child development in later chapters, and also examine the ways that families link children and adolescents to the other contexts that influence their development.
Socialization: The process of instilling the norms, values, attitudes, and beliefs of a culture