Child Development From Infancy to Adolescence. Laura E. Levine
School
In most countries, school is another important context for development. During the school year, American children spend on average about 7 hours a day in school (National Center for Education Statistics, 2007–2008). Within this context children learn academic skills, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, and older children and adolescents are prepared for higher education or entry into the workforce, but schools also play a role in socializing children to become good citizens. In recent years, schools have increasingly taken on other functions besides educating children. Today, schools provide nutritious meals, some health care, and a range of social services for their students. School also is where most children and adolescents make friends, and sometimes become the victims of bullies.
Community
The characteristics of the community in which children live impact many aspects of development (Narine, Krishnakumar, Roopnarine, & Logie, 2013). The nature of that community affects the range and quality of support services available to children and their families. The quality of neighborhood schools affects the educational opportunities and out-of-school activities that are available. Whether a neighborhood is safe or not and whether there are public recreational spaces such as parks in the area affect the amount of time children might spend outside their homes and the kinds of things they do with this time (Kurka et al., 2015). You will learn more about the effects of children’s involvement in the natural world in Chapter 11. Community environments can promote healthy development or they can expose children to risks such as environmental pollutants, described in Chapter 8.
Socioeconomic Status
Some families have more resources than others and these differences affect children’s development. Socioeconomic status (SES) is an indication of the social standing of an individual or group based on a combined measure of income, education, and occupation (American Psychological Association [APA], 2017c). Differences in socioeconomic status are often associated with inequities in access to resources in a society, and these inequities, in turn, can have a negative impact on the lives of children and families (APA, 2017c). This process begins even before a child is born when low SES parents have less access to good nutrition and prenatal care. Consequently, their babies are more likely to be born prematurely or at low birth weight, leaving the child more vulnerable to long-term health problems and possible limits on the child’s ability to learn. Families with fewer financial resources often live in neighborhoods that are both unhealthy and unsafe and have schools that offer students fewer opportunities to learn and achieve. Finally, families with few resources are more likely to experience highly stressful life events, such as loss of income, relocation, divorce and separation, and violence (APA, 2017c). Despite these economic disadvantages, we point out to you throughout the book that many children are able to overcome these challenges and lead healthy, happy, and productive lives (see for example Ellis, Bianchi, Griskevicius, & Frankenhuis, 2017; Luthar & Eisenberg, 2017; Masten, 2014; Mayo & Siraj, 2015; Ratcliffe & Kalish, 2017), but as a society we have an essential stake in “leveling the playing field” so that every child has the chance to reach their full potential.
Socioeconomic status (SES): The social standing of an individual or group based on a combined measure of income, education, and occupation.
Culture
The general findings from research on development are modified not only by individual differences, but also by group differences, such as those between different cultures. Culture includes the behaviors, norms, beliefs, and traditions that are shared by a group and that are transmitted from one generation to the next (Matsumoto & Juang, 2017). Culture emerges from a group’s environmental niche (or their place in their particular environment) and promotes the survival of the group by improving the ability of the group to meet the demands of that environment. It also helps group members pursue happiness and find meaning in life.
Culture: The system of behaviors, norms, beliefs, and traditions that form to promote the survival of a group that lives in a particular environmental niche.
Much of the information we have about child development is based on research carried out in Western, developed countries, but increasingly the field has sought to understand children within the context of their own cultures. To this end, we draw on cross-cultural studies throughout the book to illustrate both research that finds similarities across cultures, which suggests there is a universal process at work, and research that illustrates important differences between cultures that impact children as they develop. For example, in Chapter 6 we look at cross-cultural similarities and differences in child-directed speech. In Chapter 7 we look at how adaptive styles of attachment differ from one cultural context to another as well as how emotions are displayed across cultures. We also look at cultural similarities and differences in children’s play (Chapter 8), self-concept (Chapter 13), and self-esteem (Chapter 16), in addition to a number of other topics.
Although the field of child development has shown a deeper, richer appreciation of this diversity in recent years, it is still easy to slip into the assumption that the way we do things is the right way and that other ways are wrong. To guard against labeling culturally based parenting practices as deficient rather than simply different, we must understand cross-cultural experiences in their environmental context to see them as a reflection of a particular set of cultural values. If we do that, we will see that there are a number of different ways to raise children, each of which is responsive to the realities of a particular environment and promotes the well-being of the children in that culture.
For an example of how we may misinterpret the actions and intentions of people whose culture is different from our own, see Active Learning: Cultural Competence and Grief.
Active Learning: Cultural Competence and Grief
Joanne Cacciatore (2009) recounts an experience she had with a family that had just suffered the unexpected death of an 18-month-old son. Although two sets of grandparents and the young child’s parents were present, no one except one of the grandfathers would talk with a representative of the medical examiner’s office. When the grandfather did talk with her, he stayed at least 4 feet away and did not make eye contact. He steadfastly insisted that no autopsy be performed on the child’s body, even though the law required one in cases of sudden child deaths in his state. The family sat in the medical examiner’s office for almost 2 hours in silence, with little or no show of emotion. When they finally were asked whether they wanted to have some time with the dead child to say their good-byes, they adamantly refused.
How would you interpret this family’s behavior? What circumstances could account for it? How does it fit with your cultural beliefs regarding the way a family grieves for the death of a young child? Does their behavior seem typical or atypical to you? Now read about an interpretation of this situation in a particular cultural context in the information printed upside down below.
Does a better understanding of the cultural context in which this episode happened change your interpretation of this family’s reaction to the death of this young child? When we see the behavior of parents only through our own cultural lens, it can lead to a seriously flawed interpretation of both what they are doing and why they are doing it. We always need to be on guard against making this mistake. Throughout this book we point out cultural differences that are functional and adaptive in the setting in which they occur.
Answer: This case involved a Native American family, and their behaviors were completely expected and normal for some families in their culture. In