Child, Family, School, and Community

Socialization and Support 6th ed.

Chapter OneEcology of the Child

Ecology is the science of interrelationships between organisms and their environments.

- In human development, it involves the consequent biological, psychological, social, and cultural processes that develop over time.

Ecology, Change, and Children

Socialization is the process by which individuals acquire the

- knowledge- skills - character traits

that enable them to participate as effective members of groups and society.

Socialization and Child Development

- every parent- every teacher- every friend - every religion - every community

Socialization is what…

} DOES

Language separates humans from other animals makes ideas and communication of these

ideas possible makes it possible to replace action with

thoughts

George Mead

Internalization is the process by which externally controlled behavior shifts to

- internally- self-controlledbehavior

A Unique Human Process

Birth Deat

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Infan

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Early C

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Middle

Childh

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Adoles

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Early A

dulth

ood

Middle

Adulth

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Late

Adulth

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Toddle

rhood

A Reciprocal Dynamic Process

Socialization begins and birth and continues throughout life

Temperament and Socialization

SocializationIntentional

When adults have certain values that they consistently convey to children

Approval for compliance

Negative consequences for noncompliance

Unintentional Without the

deliberate intent to impart knowledge or values

Involves human interaction or observation of interaction

How children are socialized• Parents• Siblings• Grandparents• Aunts• Uncles• Cousins

• Friends• Neighbors• Peers• Teachers• Coaches• Characters on

television• Characters on movies• Characters in books

Changes We assume childhood to be a special

period of time when we are cared for, taught, and protected because we are not mature enough to do these things for ourselves

Children today must cope with a world in which both parents work, drugs are readily available, sex is as close as TV or the Internet, and violence is just “around the corner”

Change and SocializationInput

Interactions in various settings and situations

Output Values Attitudes Attributes Motives Self-esteem Self-regulation Morals Gender roles

Examining Socialization in an Ecological Context

In Bronfenbrenner’s Theory there are fourbasic structures:

1. Microsystem2. Mesosystem3. Exosystem4. Macrosystem

Relationships and interactions take place to form patterns that effect human development.

An Ecological Model of Human Development

Microsystem(micro meaning “small”)

The activities and relationships withsignificant others experienced by childrenin a particular small setting such as:

- Family- School- Peer group- Community

The Family:- is the setting that

provides nurturance, affection, and a variety of opportunities.

- is the primary socializer of children in that it has the most significant impact on their development

The School:- is the setting in

which children formally learn about their society.

- is a socializer of children that teaches reading, writing, arithmetic, history, science, and so on.

The Peer Group:

- is the setting in which children are generally unsupervised by adults and gain experience in independence.

- helps children get a sense of who they are and what they can do.

The Community:

- or neighborhood is the main microsystem in which children learn by what they are doing.

- determines what real experiences children will have.

The Media:

- Television- Movies- Videos- Books- Magazines- Music- Computers

Mesosystem(meso meaning “intermediate”)

Interrelationships between two ormore of a children’s microsystems:

- Home and School- School and Community- Peer Group and School- Etc.

Exosystem(exo meaning “outside”)

Settings in which children are not active participants, but that affect them in oneof their microsytems:

- parents’ job- city council- parental social support networks- etc.

Macrosystem(macro meaning “large”)

The society and subculture to whichchildren belong, with particularreference to:

- belief systems- lifestyles (lower/middle/upper class)- patterns of social interactions- life changes- etc.

Ethnicity:

- is an attribute of membership in a group in which members continue to identify themselves by national origin, culture, race, or religion.

Ethnic diversity in the United Statesmakes the understanding of themacrosystem more important.

Hall’s Classification of Macrosystems

• Low-Context

RationalityPracticalityCompetitionIndividuality

Progress

• High-Context

IntuitivenessEmotionalityCooperation

Group identityTradition

Interaction of Ecological Systems Over Time

• The chronosystem involves temporal changes in ecological systems or within individuals as they develop that produce new conditions affecting children’s development.

Successful Socialization of Children

The challenge in today’s society is to rear children to maintain certain:– values– morals– attitudes– behaviors– roles

while being adaptable to change, so that they become responsible, caring, competent adults.

Society, Change, and Consequences

With change comes consequences, some affecting many people and others affecting few.

“The future will depend on what we do in the present.”

-Mahatma Ghandi

Change and Societal Trends

Societal trends that impact children andfamilies include the following:

Biotechnology Reconceptualization of societal and individual

responsibilities Mobile technology Globalism/Nationalism Information Intermediaries

Reconceptualization of Societal and Individual Responsibilities

The challenge is to create caring communities that teach children to:

- think- apply- analyze- synthesize- evaluate } information

NOT simply regurgitate facts

Change and Consequences

The following ecological trends challengefamilies, schools, and communities’ commitment to children’s needs:

Family size is shrinking Highly mobile society mothers in the labor force homelessness number of children living w/both parents children who are abused/neglected

Children in a Toxic Environment

James Garbarino believes that:– violence– drugs– uncaring communities– poverty– abusive families– custody battles

are poisoning children’s lives and are responsible for the less-than-optimal well-being of America’s children.

Parents’ Bill of Rights

Parents are entitled to: time for their children economic security a profamily electoral and legal system a supportive external environment honor and dignity

- Hewlett and West (authors of The War Against Parents, 1998)