Early Childhood Social Emotional Development

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Early Childhood Social Emotional Development

• Berk Chapter 10
• Socialization Discipline
• Super Nanny video case study

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Social-emotional Development

• During young childhood, parent's concerns shift
  from feeding, dressing, toilet training
• to deliberate attempts at socialization
• eg they start to help their children control
  their emotional outbursts or temper tantrums,
• Parents want child to be socially competent
• eg polite in speech, sharing toys with friends.
• It is the social experiences within the family
• have greatest influence on social development
• Interact with sibs, grandparents and parents

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Social-emotional Development

• Socialization child as a social being
• ie developmental process
• by which kids acquire the social knowledge,
  behaviours, attitudes valued by the larger
  society around them.
• Eventually internalize the values as their own

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Social-emotional Development

• As child gets older, socialization involves
  parents
• get child to be cooperative,
• sharing household tasks,
• learning to avoid conflicts with sibs, parents
• encouraging independence (eg, school work),
• but still exerting control over child's social
  activities.
• For preschoolers, social experiences within
  family
• Interaction with sibs, grandparents, parents
• has greatest influence on their social development

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Parents socialize in 3 key ways

• direct training - one to one
• reinforcing desirable behaviours
• eg learning to share or showing them how to make
  friends
• modelling valued behaviours
• family attitudes, beliefs activities of child
• eg warm, engaging parents - kids popular in
  school
• child's own temperament influences how
  parent-child relationship evolves
• eg easy-going child vs difficult child
• indirectly
• through community environment
• parents choose neighbourhood, sports programs,
  peer group

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Early Childhood Socialization

• So child is developing within the family
• ongoing give take between parent child
• continual adjustment of family equilibrium!

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Styles of Parenting

• We can see parents interacting with children
• in parks, malls, grocery stores
• are very different styles of parental behaviour
• Some parents are extremely controlling, use firm,
  crisp commands
• restrict their children's behaviour
• Others seem not to notice as their children
  create havoc around them!
• Discipline becomes an NB feature of parenting in
  preschool age children
• is part of socialization process that
• encourages children to become competent social
  beings

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Styles of Parenting

• Baumrind identified 3 types of parents
• Maccoby (1983) identified one more type
• Authoritative parents
• Authoritarian parents
• Permissive parents
• Uninvolved parents

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Styles of Parenting

• Authoritative parents
• tend to use reward more than punishment
• make their expectations clear to child
• provide explanations reasons for requests
• encourage a dialogue with child
• expect kids to behave maturely
• are supportive warm in interactions
• kids of these parents
• Are friendly with peers, cooperative with adults,
• independent, energetic, achievement oriented
• sense of self-reliance, autonomy, sense of
  control over lives

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Styles of Parenting

• Authoritarian parents
• want strict obedience, rely on coercion
• eg threats, physical punishment
• use little reasoning or explanation
• less nurturant than other parents
• kids of these parents
• tend to be unhappy, anxious
• boys aggressive, girls dependent
• Do better in school, less antisocial behaviour
  than with permissive uninvolved parents

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Styles of Parenting

• Permissive parents
• make few demands for mature behaviour
• set few limits
• eg child decides own time for bed, meals, tv
• No manners, no chores
• Overindulge or are inattentive
• somewhat nurturant, or cool uninvolved
• kids of these parents
• Have low self-control, low self-reliance
• More impulsive and disobedient, more antisocial
  behaviour
• Poor school achievement

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Styles of Parenting

• Uninvolved parent
• uncommitted to parental role, emotionally
  detached from their children
• often give priority to their own needs
  preferences
• uninterested in child's school events,
• don't know child's playmates,
• have infrequent conversations with child
• kids of these parents
• low self-esteem,
• high aggression,
• impulsive, poor self-control in behaviour
• Problems in school

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Styles of Parenting

• Authoritative parenting associated with most
  desirable outcomes.
• Tend to be friendly with peers, cooperative with
  adults,
• sense of self-reliance, sense of control,
  achievement oriented
• Authoritarian parents
• tend to be unhappy, anxious
• boys aggressive, girls dependent
• less antisocial behaviour than last 2 types,
• so do better school achievement
• Permissive parents
• low self-reliance, poor self-control,
• impulsive and disobedient, more antisocial
  behaviour
• Poor school achievement
• Uninvolved parents
• low self-esteem, poor self-control,
• impulsive, high aggression
• Poor school achievement

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Styles of Parenting

• Most desirable outcomes
• authoritative style which has 2 key
  characteristics
• set limits on child's behaviour
• nurturing warm responsive to child
• ie being sensitive parents
• set out clear consistent guidelines for
  behaviour,
• give reasonable explanations for things they
  demand,
• respect their kids and show affection,
• Provides children with
• sense of self-reliance,
• autonomy,
• sense of control over their lives

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Discipline

• Whats a typical day in a young childs life?
• 3 7 years of age
• What activities do they do?
• Get up for school or play
• Get dressed, breakfast, gather school books
• Get to school on time
• School attend to work, interact with peers
• After school play, tv, dinner, homework
• Evening bath, bed
• Being socialized on how to act in these areas

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Strategies of Parental Control

• Induction includes
• reasoning, explanations, communicating clear
  standard of behaviour
• (authoritative) - recommended
• Power assertion directive style
• physical punishment, forceful commands, removal
  of toys privileges
• (authoritarian) - not recommended
• Love withdrawal
• parent ignores child behaviour,
• reacts coldly or implies affection lost until
  child obeys
• (uninvolved) (or permissive?)
• effective short term discipline, but not
  recommended

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Discipline

• By age 2 lots of passive or defiant behaviours
• eg such as whining or temper tantrums
• Parents use more physical control
• eg parent pulling child away from forbidden
  object,
• By age 3 parents use less physical control
• use more verbal commands, reprimands,
  persuasion
• Older children try negotiation with parent
• Eg, "I'll do it later" or "I have a better idea"

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Discipline

• Parents shift style
• due to child active bargaining?
• parents recognize child is more autonomous
• that persuasion works better than power assertion
  
• So, parental control varies
• as a function of age of child,
• parental child-rearing philosophy,
• and child's own behaviours

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Discipline

• Punishment
• Physical
• Time out
• Withdrawal of privileges
• Positive Discipline

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Discipline

• Punishment
• administration of an aversive stimulus
• or withdrawal of rewards
• to reduce frequency of undesirable behaviour
• Eg, physical - spanking,
• verbal threats,
• loss of privileges (tv, play time with friends)

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Physical Punishment

• slapping, spanking, yelling are ineffective.
• Promotes immediate compliance
• But not lasting change
• More likely develop mental health problems
• Weak internalization of moral rules
• Depression, aggression, antisocial behaviour
• Poor school performance,
• More likely to abuse partner child as adults

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Physical punishment

• Associated with many negative outcomes
• especially aggression in boys
• Parents who use physical punishment
• serve as model of aggression for child
• Attention the child receives from parents
  teachers after being aggressive may serve as
  positive reinforcement to child

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Physical Punishment by Age
Sample of 1000 parents reporting instances of
spanking, slapping, pinching, shaking, or hitting
over past year.
1999 US data
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Punishment

• Time Out
• uses behaviourists social learning technique
• immediate contingent feedback
• stops reinforcement of negative behaviour
• Child is removed from all sources of reward,
• even accidental or subtle ones
• Taken to a neutral, quiet place,
• Stays alone for period of time
• usually 2-5 mins (1 min per year of childs age)
• child returns to routine activities at end of time

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Time out

• Example
• mealtime - throwing food, screaming, etc
• Parent tells child to stop behaviour
• If it continues, child is taken to another room
  for time out, parent states why child is there
• Child must remain alone for specified time
• Parent tells child he/she may return to table.
• Child apologises, gets hug OK from parent
• parent praises childs appropriate behaviours

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For effective use of time out

• Parent
• stops reinforcing undesired behaviour
• by paying a lot of attention to it
• is consistent in applying time-out
• whenever undesirable behaviour occurs
• keeps time out period brief
• makes it clear why time out is being used
• provides child with alternative desirable
  behaviour

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Punishment

• Withdrawal of privileges
• Example
• Not allowed to watch TV, having friends visit
• May produce resentment in child,
• but avoids harsher discipline techniques

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Positive Discipline

• Focuses on cooperation, problem solving,
  consideration of others
• Letting child know ahead how to act
• Then praising mature behaviour
• Firm, appropriate expectations
• Backed with explanations
• Child is accepted as competent worthwhile

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Positive Discipline

• Reduces need for punishment
• Builds mutually respectful bond
• Encourages better development of
• conscience,
• playing fair in games,
• responsible behaviour,
• considering others welfare

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Positive Discipline

• Uses transgressions as chance to teach
• Motivates child to make amends, prosocial
• Avoids situations likely to gt misbehaviour
• Offers reasons for rules
• Gets child to participate in family activities,
  chores
• Encourages childs mature behaviour
• Is sensitive to childs own resources

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Discipline

• Effectiveness of discipline is increased by
• Consistency
• Warm parent-child relationship
• Explanations

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Case study - discipline

• Supernanny show Nanny Jo Foster
• Bradbury - Lambert family
• Parents Laura (30) Stuart (29)
• Children 5 yr-old Matthew, 2 yr-old Tieghan,
  Diesel, 5 mo

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Case study - discipline

• Observation of Matts discipline problems
• What are the problems?

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Case study - discipline

• Parent problems
• What are the parents doing (wrong)?
• What do the parents need to be told?

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Discipline techniques

• Meeting with parents
• House rules
• What are they?
• Discipline techniques
• What discipline techniques does she advise?
• Development of good family social relations
• What does Jo advise?

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Case study - Tieghan

• Observation of Tieghans problems
• What are her discipline problems?

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Case study - discipline

• Can this family be saved?
• Improvements?
• Positive factors?
• Negative factors?

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Supernanny

• Discussion of childrens behaviour and needs from
  different theoretical perspectives.
• Emotional development
• Social cultural self-regulation
• Social learning
• Cognitive-developmental

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Social development needs

• Individual emotional development
• Need to learn emotional understanding
• To develop sympathy empathy
• Children with difficult temperament
• who have intense negative feelings
• have difficulty inhibiting feelings, shifting
  attention
• Need parents who offer effective emotional
  regulatory strategies, are sensitive to child
• To get along with peers, teachers, parents
• Learn what is acceptable behaviour

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Social development needs

• Social cultural self-regulation - Vygotsky
• Communicate feelings in acceptable ways
• Moral understanding of values, expectations
• Need parents who foster positive social values,
  provide scaffolding
• Prepare children for difficult situations
• Describing what to expect
• Offer ways of coping, handling anxiety, anger

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Social development needs

• Social learning behaviourists, Bandura
• Based on notions of rewards punishment
• Need parents to model positive behaviours,
  provide examples, strategies on how to act
• Children imitate warm, responsive parents
• Internalize prosocial rules via observation,
  encouragement

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Social development needs

• Cognitive-developmental perspective - Piagetian
• Emphasize active thinking by child
• about social rules - right wrong, fair unfair
• Observe others reactions to their behaviour
• Actively make sense of their experiences
• Decide what action to take
• Need parents who provide opportunities to
  explore, experience world