Social context and

socioemotional development
 1. Contemporary theories
A. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
B. Erikson’s life-span development theory
 microsystem
• is a setting in which the individual spends
considerable time, such as the student’s family,
peers, school, and neighborhood. Within these
microsystems, the individual has direct
interactions with parents, teachers, peers, and
others.
• student is not a passive recipient of experiences
but is someone who reciprocally interacts with
others and helps to construct the microsystem
 mesosystem
• involves linkages between microsystems.
Examples are the connections between family
experiences and school experiences and
between family and peers.
 exosystem
• is at work when experiences in another setting
(in which the student does not have an active
role) influence what students and teachers
experience in the immediate context.
• For example, consider the school and park
supervisory boards in a community. They have
strong roles in determining the quality of
schools, parks, recreation facilities, and libraries,
which can help or hinder a child’s development.
 macrosystem
• involves the broader culture. Culture is a very
broad term that encompasses the roles of
ethnicity and socioeconomic factors in
children’s development. It’s the broadest
context in which students and teachers live,
reinforcing the society’s values and customs
(Shiraev & Levy, 2010). For example, some
cultures (such as rural China and Iran)
emphasize traditional gender role.
 chronosystem
• includes the sociohistorical conditions of
students’ development. For example, the lives
of children today differ in many ways from
what their parents and grandparents
experienced as children (Schaie & Willis, 2016).
• Today’s children are more likely to be in child
care, use computers, and grow up in new kinds
of dispersed, deconcentrated cities that are
not quite urban, rural, or suburban.
 Evaluation to Bronfenbrenner’s theory
• Bronfenbrenner’s theory has been criticized
for paying too little attention to biological and
cognitive factors in children’s development
and not addressing the step-by-step
developmental changes that are the focus of
theories such as Piaget’s and Erikson’s
ERIKSON’S LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
THEORY
Each stage consists of a developmental task
that confronts individuals with a crisis. For
Erikson, each crisis is not catastrophic but a
turning point of increased vulnerability and
enhanced potential.
The more successfully an individual resolves
each crisis, the more psychologically healthy
the individual will be.
Each stage has both positive and negative
aspects.
 2. Social context of development
• Families
• Peers
• Schools
 FAMILIES
• Parenting Styles
Diana Baumrind (1971, 1996), a leading
authority on parenting, states that parents
should be neither punitive nor aloof. Rather,
they should develop rules for children while at
the same time being supportive and nurturing.
Baumrind says that parenting styles fall into four
main categories
 Authoritarian parenting
• is restrictive and punitive. Authoritarian parents
exhort children to follow their directions and
respect them. They place firm limits and controls on
their children and allow little verbal exchange.
• For example, an authoritarian parent might say, “Do
it my way or else. There will be no discussion!”
Children of authoritarian parents often behave in
socially incompetent ways. They tend to be anxious
about social comparison, fail to initiate activity, and
have poor communication skills.
 Authoritative parenting
• encourages children to be independent but still
places limits and controls on their actions.
Extensive verbal give-and-take is allowed, and
parents are nurturant and supportive.
• Children whose parents are authoritative often
behave in socially competent ways. They tend to be
self-reliant, delay gratification, get along with their
peers, and show high self-esteem. Because of these
positive outcomes, Baumrind strongly endorses
authoritative parenting.
 Neglectful parenting
• is a parenting style in which parents are
uninvolved in their children’s lives. Children of
neglectful parents develop the sense that other
aspects of their parents’ lives are more important
than they are. Children of neglectful parents often
behave in socially incompetent ways.
• They tend to have poor self-control, don’t handle
independence well, and aren’t motivated to
achieve
 Indulgent parenting
• is a parenting style in which parents are highly
involved with their children but place few limits or
restrictions on their behaviors. These parents often
let their children do whatever they want because they
believe the combination of nurturant support and
lack of restraints will produce a creative, confident
child.
• The result is that these children usually don’t learn to
control their own behavior. Indulgent parents do not
take into account the development of the whole child
 PEERS
• Peer Statuses Developmentalists have
pinpointed five types of peer status: popular
children, average children, neglected children,
rejected children, and controversial children
• Popular children are frequently nominated as a best
friend and are rarely disliked by their peers.
• Average children receive an average number of both
positive and negative nominations from their peers.
• Neglected children are infrequently nominated as a best
friend but are not disliked by their peers.
• Rejected children are infrequently nominated as
someone’s best friend and are often actively disliked by
their peers.
• Controversial children are frequently nominated both as
someone’s best friend and as being disliked.
 SCHOOLS
• developmentally appropriate education
Education that focuses on the typical
developmental patterns of children (age
appropriateness) and the uniqueness of each
child (individual appropriateness).
 3. socio-emotional development
A. The self-identity
B. Moral Development
C. Emotional Development
• Self-esteem refers to an individual’s overall
view of himself or her-self. Self-esteem also is
referred to as self-worth, or self-image. For
example, a child with high self-esteem might
perceive that she is not just a person but a
good person.
• Identity Development—searching for
answers to questions like these: Who am I?
What am I all about? What am I going to do
with my life? Not usually considered during
childhood, these questions become nearly
universal concerns during the high school and
college years (Waterman, 2015)
 Identity Statuses
• Identity Statuses James Marcia (1980, 1998)
analyzed Erikson’s concept of identity and
concluded that it is important to distinguish
between exploration and commitment.
• Exploration involves examining meaningful
alternative identities.
• Commitment means showing a personal
investment in an identity and staying with
whatever that identity implies.
• Identity diffusion occurs when individuals
have not yet experienced a crisis (that is, they
have not yet explored meaningful alternatives)
or made any commitments. Not only are they
undecided about occupational and ideological
choices, but they are also likely to show little
interest in such matters.
• Identity foreclosure occurs when individuals
have made a commitment but have not yet
experienced a crisis. This occurs most often
when parents hand down commitments to
their adolescents, more often than not in an
authoritarian manner. In these circumstances,
adolescents have not had adequate
opportunities to explore different approaches,
ideologies, and vocations on their own
• Identity moratorium occurs when individuals
are in the midst of a crisis, but their
commitments are either absent or only
vaguely defined
• Identity achievement occurs when individuals
have undergone a crisis and have made a
commitment.