Child Development and Support

PsyD621
DEVELOPMENT
 The concept “Development” is defined as the process of
growth and change that occurs across the lifespan,
focusing primarily on childhood and adolescence.
 Development encompasses physical, cognitive, emotional,
and social dimensions.
 Development is seen as both a continuous and stage-
based process where children acquire new abilities and
refine existing ones Example: Piaget,Erikson.

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DEVELOPMENTAL
PSYCHOLOGY
 Developmental psychology is a branch of psychology that
studies how people grow, change, and adapt throughout
their lives.
 It focuses on the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social
changes that occur from infancy through old age.
 Developmental psychologists aim to understand how and
why people change over time and explore factors that
influence development, including genetics, family, culture,
and life experiences.
 While the field covers the entire lifespan, much research
emphasizes childhood and adolescence as critical periods
of development.
 Lifespan development is the study of how people grow,
change, and adapt across their entire lives, from
conception through old age.

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KEY FEATURES OF LIFESPAN
DEVELOPMENT
 Multidimensionality: Development encompasses various domains—
biological, cognitive, and psychosocial—that interact and influence each
other.
 Multidirectionality: Growth does not occur in a single, linear path.
People experience both gains and losses in abilities and traits at different
stages (e.g., cognitive skills may peak in early adulthood but decline in
older age).
 Plasticity: The potential for change in response to experience remains
throughout the lifespan, meaning development can be shaped by
environmental factors, learning, and adaptation at any age.
 Historical and cultural context: Life experiences and development
are shaped by the cultural and historical context in which a person lives,
influencing how they view and respond to life stages and transitions.
 Lifespan perspective: Rather than focusing only on early childhood or
adolescence, lifespan development considers every stage—infancy,
childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age—each with its own
unique challenges, opportunities, and developmental tasks.
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 CHILDHOOD
 What is childhood?
 What is the age range for childhood?
 Is it universal phenomenon?

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 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF
DEV PSYCH
 During the 17th-century (1596-1650),
the French philosopher Rene Descartes
introduced the idea of dualism, which
asserted that the mind and body were
two separate entities that interact to
form the human experience.
 Innate Ideas: Descartes believed that
some ideas were innate. He is thus an
intellectual forerunner of nativism.
 In the history of developmental theory,
Descarte, Rousseau, Darwin, Gesell are
considered nativists.
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THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
 There are some basic issues in development
that make psychologists different.
 Nature-nurture controversy: the debate
whether heredity (nature) or environment
(nurture) is the most important for development.
 Continuity-discontinuity issue in
development: This is a question whether
development proceeds in continuous increment
or in stage-like progression from one state to the
next higher level.
 Early and later experience: This is an issue of
whether development is affected by early
experience alone or it is also affected by later
experiences as well.
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 Because of differences on the above
issues different psychologists have
different theories of human
development.

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EARLY THEORISTS
Preformationism
 For many years, people seem to have
looked upon children as fully formed
miniature adults. The French historian
Aries (1914-1984) described how this
view was predominant during middle
ages.
 According to Aries, children were
treated like adults. When they
reached 6 or 7, they would begin
working as apprentices.
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 However, children before the age of 6 or 7
were treated differently. People realized the
need for protection and care.
 In relation to preformationists’ theory of
embryology, they believed that a tiny, fully
formed human is implanted in the sperm or
egg at the instant of conception.
 After the 15000 and the invention of the
printing press, the growth of commerce and
market economies, and the rise of cities,
the occupational world begun to change
and the need for education was felt.

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JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)
 The father of environmentalism and learning theory:
his heirs are Pavlov and B. F. Skinner.
 John Locke believed that all children are created equal.
 According to Locke the mind of a new born baby is
likened to a white paper or tabula rasa (‘blank slate’)
upon which knowledge is printed through experience
and learning.
 Locke further asserted that children are neither
innately good nor evil. They were simply the products
of their environment and upbringing – an idea that is
today referred to as environmentalism. Sometimes
Locke is called great-grand father of behaviorism.
 Locke also offered advice to parents on the best
methods for raising their children.

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JEAN J. ROUSSEAU (1712 -
1778)
 Rousseau, an 18th century French
philosopher, described his nativistic
view of child development.
 Rousseau agreed with Locke that
children are different from adults, but he
contended that they are not empty
containers.
 They grow according to Nature’s plan,
which obliges them to develop different
capacities and modalities at different
stages.
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 The child’s innate knowledge includes such
things as the principles of justice and
fairness and, above all, a sense of
conscience.
 According to Rousseau whatever knowledge
the child does not possess innately will be
gradually acquired from interactions with
the environment, guided by the child’s own
interests and level of development.
 The recommended approach to child
rearing is not to formally instruct children
but rather to have them learn through a
process of exploration and discovery.
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 He argues that well socialized
individuals are far too dependent on the
opinion of others.
 According to Rousseau childhood is a
special phase in human development.
But attention is not given to knowing
this special stage, rather people are
preoccupied with the child’s future.

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 According to him, there are four major
stages:
 Stage 1: Infancy (birth to about 2 years):
Infants experience directly through the
senses.
 They do not know ideas or reasons; they
simply experience pleasure and pain.
 However, babies are active and curious and
they learn a great deal.
 Infants also acquire language, which they
do almost entirely on their own; they
develop their own grammar.

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 Stage 2: Childhood (about 2 – 12 years):
This period begins when children gain
independence; at this stage they are able to
walk, talk and feed themselves.
 Children develop reasons but it does not
deal with remote events or abstractions.
 Thinking is still concrete.

 Stage3: Late Childhood (about 12 to 15

years): This is a transition between
childhood and adolescence.

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 Children gain an enormous amount of
physical strength.
 They are still not able to think about
purely theoretical and verbal matters.
 They can best apply their cognitive
capacity in concrete and useful tasks.
 During the first three stages children are
by nature presocial.

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 Stage 4: Adolescence: with puberty children become
social beings.
 Puberty begins at the age of 15, the child
undergoes a second birth.
 At this stage the adolescent is not self-sufficient,
and he is attracted to and needs others.
 Cognitive development also advances, and the adolescent
can now deal with abstract concepts and takes interest in
theoretical matters of science and morals.
 Rousseau believed that these four stages unfurl in an
invariant sequence according to nature’s plan.
 In relation to education, Rousseau promotes the principle
of non-interference; the child is given complete freedom
to explore, observe, manipulate, and get engaged in
various activities to learn.

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 Rousseau introduced key concepts in
development:
 Development proceeds according to an
inner biological timetable.
 Development unfolds in a series of
stages, periods when the child
experiences the world in different ways.
 He came up with a new philosophy of
education, which we now call child-
centered approach.
 Many psychologists would disagree
with his concept of presocial children.
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MONTESSORI’S THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT
(1897)

 Montessori argued that it should not be

assumed that children are whatever we
make them, since they learn on their own,
from their own maturational promptings.
 Children often think and learn quite
differently from adults.
 The concept of sensitive periods:
genetically programmed blocks of time
during which the child is especially eager
and able to master certain tasks, for
acquisition of language, for walking, etc.

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 Sensitive Period for Order: during the first 3
years the child has a strong need for order.
 Sensitive Period for Details: between 1 and 2
years of age, children fix their attention on
minute details. This concern for details
signals a change in children’s psychic
development.
 Sensitive Period for the Use of Hands:
between about 18 months and 3 years of
age, children are constantly grasping
objects. During the next 2 years or so, they
refine their movements and their senses of
touch.
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 Sensitive Period for Walking: learning to
walk is a kind of second birth, the child
moves from being helpless to an active
being.
 Children are driven by an irresistible impulse
in their attempts to walk.
 When adults walk they have a destination
but a child does not walk to reach
somewhere, rather the child walks for the
sake of walking.
 Sensitive Period for Language: a time when
children acquire language in an amazing
speed.
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 Because the child’s ability to grasp
language is so great, Montessori
concluded that the child must be
endowed with a special kind of language
receptivity.
 Because language acquisition is
governed by innate, maturational
factors, children develop language in
the same stages no matter where they
grow up.

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 Early Education at Home: at various
sensitive periods, children are derived
by an inner impulse to independently
master certain experiences. The goal of
education is to assist this process. Since
children do not enter schools until they
are 2 or 3 years old, parents and
caretakers are the first educators.

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 We have to realize that it is not our job
to direct our children’s learning, since
we have to respect their efforts at
independent mastery. We must have
faith in their powers of inner
construction. We need give them the
opportunities to learn what is most vital
to them. We can watch their
spontaneous interest and give them the
chance to pursue them.

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RESEARCH METHODS IN DEV. PSYCH.

 Research is a system of established

principles and processes of scientific
inquiry, including identification of a
problem to be studied, formulation
and testing of alternative
hypotheses/research questions,
collection and analysis of data, and
dissemination of findings.

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 MAJOR RESEARCH DESIGNS

 What is a research design?

 It is a standardized framework or means by
which we ensure that the evidence obtained
enables us to answer the initial question as
clearly as possible.
 Case Study
 Case study is a scientific process that involves
the study of a single case using methods like
interviewing, examination of various sources
and documents compiled about the subject of
observation, collecting data from others who
know the subject and so on.
 Disadvantage: the results are often difficult to
generalize to larger populations.
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 Experimental Method
 Laboratory Experiment is a rigorously
controlled, replicable procedure in which the
researcher manipulates variables (IV and
DV) to assess the effect of one on the other.
 In a laboratory experiment the participants
are brought to a place where they
experience conditions manipulated by the
experimenter. The experimenter records the
participants’ reactions to these conditions
and may compare them with reactions of
others or themselves under different
conditions.
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 Advantage: the situation can be controlled by
the design.
 Disadvantage: in lab observation the setting
can be unnatural and the subjects are aware
that they are being studied. Both of these
factors can have an impact on results of the
study.
 It can be difficult to use if the variables of
interest are abstract or internal concepts, not
observable behavior.
 Some variables of interest cannot be studied
through experimentation for ethical reasons.
Example, research on the effects of child
abuse on development.
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 Confirmation bias: when the
researcher’s desire to publish or achieve
an unambiguous result can distort or
bias the interpretations leading to false
positive.
 One way to avoid is to conduct a double
blind study.
 A double-blind randomized control trial
(RCT) seems to be the best design.

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 Field Experiments: are controlled
studies conducted in settings that are part
of everyday life such as a child’s home or
school.
 Advantage: the subjects act more or less
naturally.
 Disadvantage: difficult to control
extraneous variables.

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 Longitudinal Study
 In
longitudinal study researchers study the same
person (or many persons) more than once over a
period of time to assess developmental changes that
occur with age.
 Advantage: it allows researchers to look at
changes over time.
 Disadvantage: it requires enormous amounts of
time and is often quite expensive.
 Because of this, it often has only a small group of
subjects, which makes it difficult to apply the
results to a larger population.
 Participants sometimes drop out of the study,
shrinking the sample size and decreasing the
amount of data collected.
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 Cross Sectional Study
 Crosssectional is a study design in which
people of different ages are assessed on
one occasion providing comparative
information about different age cohorts
(group of people who share similar
experiences such as growing up at the
same time and place).

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 Advantages:
 Simple and inexpensive
 Quick data collection
 Attrition is not an issue
 Holds time constant

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 Disadvantages:
 Does not permit distinction between cause
and effect
 Recall bias susceptibility
 Confounders may be unequally distributed
between groups
 Differences may be due to age/time effects
or cohort effects
 Inter-subject variability exists, making it
harder to detect a difference

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 Sequential Design
 A research method used to study changes over time by
combining aspects of both cross-sectional and longitudinal
designs..
 It allows researchers to examine development across
multiple age groups while also tracking changes over time
within these groups.
 Provides a more comprehensive view of development.
 Advantages
 Disentangles Age and Cohort Effects: By studying
multiple age groups over time, researchers can separate
developmental changes due to aging from those caused by
generational differences.
 More Efficient: Compared to pure longitudinal studies,
sequential design requires less time to collect meaningful
data.
 Comprehensive Data: Offers insights into both group
differences (from cross-sectional elements) and individual
development (from longitudinal elements).
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 Survey Method
 When a study requires that a large number
of respondents to be included, the survey
method become very useful. It involves the
use of predetermined questions that are
distributed to respondents whose responses
are then collected and analyzed.
 The two common forms of survey are using
questionnaires, and using interviews.
Questionnaires are written forms of
questions, and interviews are conducted
orally.

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 Advantage: enables to gather large
amount of data from many participants
in a short period of time.
 Disadvantage: it reduces variety,
creativity, and individuality of
responses. In cases where the subject is
unable to fill out a questionnaire, with
very young children for example,
questions are often posed through a
structured interview.

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 Observation Methods
 The researcher observes behavior in real-
world settings with an effort to change or
control conditions. Researchers often keep a
meticulous record of their observations.
 Advantage: it allows researchers to observe
participants in real-world settings; it allows
researchers to view behavior as it really
happens in a natural setting.
 Disadvantage: the presence of a researcher
can affect the subjects’ behavior.
 This problem can be solved by using covert
observation.
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 Disadvantage: the presence of a researcher
can affect the subjects’ behavior. In other
words, subjects may tend to show a
behavior which is different from their usual
(typical) one.
 This problem can be solved by using covert
observation. A common way of making an
observation covert is by using open-way
mirrors to observe subjects without being in
turn observed by them.
 The other is that the researcher cannot
control outside variables that might impact
behavior.
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PREGNANCY -
CHILDHOOD
 How does life begin?
 Life begins at the moment of conception
with the unity of the sperm and ovum; when
a sperm from the father unites with an
ovum (egg) from the mother to form a one –
celled zygote.
 The zygote contains the new individual’s
complete hereditary endowment
(inheritance).
 Conception takes place in the fallopian tube
(tubes connecting the ovaries with the
uterus both the right and left side).

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 GENES AND CHROMOSOMES

 The basic unit of heredity is the gene.

 Genes contain all the hereditary material passed
from biological parents to children.
 Each cell in the human body contains an estimated
80,000 to 100,000 genes, which are made up of
the chemical deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
 Every cell in the body except the sex cells has 23
pairs of chromosomes, 46 in all, 23 from each
parent. Thus when the sperm and the ovum fuse at
conception, they produce a zygote with 46
chromosomes.
 At conception the single-cell zygote has all the
biological information needed to guide its
development into a unique human baby.
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SEX DETERMINATION
 At the moment of conception, the 23
chromosomes from the sperm and the 23
chromosomes from the ovum form 23 pairs
(46 in total).
 The 23rd pair contains sex chromosomes.
Sex chromosom es are either X or Y. The sex
chromosome in every ovum contains an X
chromosome.
 When the ovum is fertilized by a Y carrying
sperm the result is a male zygote, and
when the ovum is fertilized by an X carrying
sperm the result is a female zygote.

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PRINCIPLES OF
DEVELOPMENT
 Children’s development occurs in a
predictable (orderly) sequence.
 Children’s development is affected by
early experiences.
 Children’s development occurs in a
broader context.
 Children’s development depends on the
interplay between genes and
environment.

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PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
 Prenatal Development takes place in three
stages: Germinal, Embryonic, and Fetal.
 Important things determined during conception:
 Heredity,
 Sexdetermination, and
 Number of fetuses.

Genes and chromosomes;

 Both before and after birth, development
proceeds according to the two fundamental
principles of growth: Cephalocaudal: from head
to toe and proximodistal: from the center
towards the periphery.
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TYPES OF BIRTH
 Natural birth:
 Three stages:
 Labor – (14 hrs) rhythmic contraction of strong
muscle fibers;
 Delivery – (20 to 80 minutes) passage of the
infant’s head through the cervix to the time the
infant completes its passage thr the birth canal.
 After birth - a stage when the placenta, the
umbilical cord and the amniotic sack are
detached and expelled from the uterus.
 Cesarean section: times when C-section
is needed.
 Birth complications.
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INFANCY
 Infancy - from birth to 2 years.
 The first two weeks – neonatal period.
 Adjustment of infancy:
 Temperature changes = 37.7 ⁰C – 15.5 to 21
⁰C
 Breathing
 Sucking and swallowing
 Elimination

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NEONATE BEHAVIOR
 Sleeping – 16 or more hrs per day.
 Crying
 Feeding- between 8 and 14 times.

Physical Dev’t
 48 to 56 CMs long and between 2.5 and
4.5 KGs.
 Head ¼ of the entire body length.
 Chins smaller; eye mature in size; neck
short; shoulders narrow; arms and legs
short, and stomach large.
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REFLEXES
 Reflexes: are automatic (built-in)
responses to specific stimulation.
 Good indicators for neurological
development.
 About 27 reflexes; most disappear
between 3 to 6 months.
 Mororeflex: when a baby suddenly loses its
support for the neck and head – throwing
arms and legs and bringing them back as in
an embrace.

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 Rooting reflex: when infants are gently
touched near the corner of their mouth the
try to suck.
 Sucking: they suck when the soft palates of
their months are touched.

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SENSORY DEVELOPMENT
 Vision: intact and functional visual
system.
 Central peripheral retina and optic
nerves not fully developed.
 Muscles controlling the lenses not fully
matured.
 Infants have preferences.

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INFANCY
 Physical dev’t
 Firsttwo yrs twice as much as the growth
between 3 and 5.
 Follows the principles of asynchronous
growth and discontinuity of growth rates.
 After 5, it levels of until puberty.
 Regulated by growth hormone and the
hypothalamus.
 Malnutrition affects physical development -
brain.

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MOTOR
 Depends on overall physical growth.
 Balance improves.
 Motor dev’t proceeds according to the
maturational program and the
interaction with the env’t.
 Walking between eleven and fifteen
months, a result of long series of
development following cephalocaudal
principle.
 Seventh month – significant degree of
motor dev’t.
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MANUAL SKILLS
 Follow proximodistal principle:
 Two months – a swiping mov’t towards an object
with upper body and arms;
 Three months – attempts to reach with clumsy
shoulder and elbow mov’ts;
 Four months – approach an object with hands
open;
 Five months – touch an object in one quick, direct
motion of the hand, and sometimes grasp
automatically;
 Six months – grasp objects with their fingers and
palm;
 Nine months – coordinate grasp with their fingers
and palm;
 Thirteen months – master more sophisticated
forefinger grasp.
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INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENT
 Piaget’s sensorimotor period
 Coordination of motor activities with sensori inputs or
perception.
 Major task – attaining object permanence.
1. Reflex act – (birth to 1 month)
2. Primary circular reaction – (1 – 4 months)
 Coordinating sensation and new schemas.
3. Secondary circular reaction – (4 – 9 months)
 Focus on the world to intentionally repeat an action to trigger a
response in the environment.
4. Coordination of secondary schemes – (9-12 months)
 Combining schemas to achieve the desired effect.
5. Tertiary circular reactions – (12 – 18 months)
 Beginning a period of trial-and-error experimentation.
6. Beginning of thought – (18 – 24 months)
 Developing symbols to represent events or objects in their
environment.
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LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT
 Premises:
 Nativists- Chomsky – Language Acquisition
Device (LAD)
 Those who place emphasis on learning
 Those who consider both nature and learning
 Children speak their own language with a
characteristic patterns that develop
through a series of stages:
 Early vocalizations
 Cooing and babbling – 3 rd and 6th months
 Holophrastic speech -12 – 18 –use of single
word.
 Two-word sentences (18-24) – combines two
words, early grammar use.
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LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT
 Three-word sentences
 Telegraphic speech
 Complex sentences (3 yrs and above)

Factors:
 Biological – brain and hearing
 Environmental – Interaction, SES, Exposure
 Cultural/social – story telling

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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
 John Bowlby - a product of evolutionary
processes –born with an innate drive.
 Human being are social animals.
 An important social phenomenon during
infancy – attachment.
 Attachment – an affectionate bond that
one individual forms for another that
endures across time and space.
 Infants – approaching, following,
clinging, and signaling.

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ATTACHMENT
 Stages of attachment:
 Pre-attachment - Getting aroused by all parts of
their environment.
 Indiscriminate attachment.
 Specific/discriminate attachment.
 Multiple attachment.
 Four functions of attachment:
 Development and maintenance of proximity
and contact with adults;
 Avoiding people, objects, or situation that are
strange and could be a source of danger;
 Encouraging infants to enter into social
relationships; and
 Providing a feeling of security to allow
exploration.
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ATTACHMENT STYLES
 Factors of Attachment
 Oppprtunity for attachment, and
 Quality of care.
 Types of attachment
 Avoidant attachment
 Ambivalent attachment (Anxious-resistant)
– intense clinginess and dependence on the
caregiver due to inconsistence care giving.
 Disorganized attachment – contradictory
and confused behaviour towards caregivers
due to fear, trauma and neglect.
 Secure attachment

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EARLY CHILDHOOD 2 - 6
 Physical Dev’t
 Slower rate of physical dev’t compared to
infancy;
 Height increases on the average by 7.5 cm
annually;
 Weight between 1.5 to 2.5 kgs;
 Bones ossify and muscles grow and become
heavier and stronger.

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  The last baby tooth come out during the
first 2 to 6 moths of early childhood; and
 The front baby teeth are replaced by
permanent ones in the last half year of the
period.

 Body types:
 Ectomorhp – lean and slender build, narrow
shoulder and hips.
 Mesomorphic – naturally muscular and
athletic, broad shoulder and narrow waist.
 Endomorphic – rounded, softer body with
high fat storage, narrow shoulder and 62wide
COGNITIVE OR
INTELLECTUAL DEV’T
 2 – 7 - Preoperational period.
 Capacity of children to represent the
external world internally through the
use of symbols.
 Language acquisition helps the process.
 Children are unable to use the concept
of conservation and reversibility.
 Egocentrism – the child is unaware of
the existence of others’ point of view.
 Criticism – children are less egocentric
than Piaget claimed.
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SOCIAL DEV’T
 Children as young as 3 form friendships
similar to those of adults;
 Their relationship to other of similar age
–peer relationship;
 Friendship serves as behavioral model;
 Much learning takes place during the
interaction with peers; and
 Influence is through encouraging some
behaviors and discouraging others.
 The tendency to stay in mixed sex group
is noted.
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 Play is an important activity with various
advantages:
 Physical values;
 Educative values, cognitive;
 Social values, roles, cooperation; and
 Therapeutic values.

 Six types of play according to Mildred Parten:

 Unoccupied play;
 Solitary play;
 Onlooker play;
 Parallel play;
 Associative play; and
 Cooperative play.

 It is not known whether these play come in the

order proposed by Mildred.
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 Gender identification:
 Differences between the concept of sex and
gender;
 Sex- biological and universal;
 Gender – sets of cultural expectations that
define the way in which members of each
sex should behave.
 Gender identities - conceptions of what one
identifies to be.
 Stereotypes in parents’ treatment, which
extends to other socialization agents.
 Parents’ and other close family relations
reaction when children behave in the way
considered appropriate for the opposite sex.

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 Parenting style – Diana Baumrind came up
with the styles based on the degree of
parents’ responsiveness and demandingness.
 Authoritarian parenting – shape, control and
evaluates a child’s behavior according to
traditional and absolute values and standards of
conduct.
 High demands and low responsiveness;
 Little autonomy for choices and unidirectional
communication;
 Obedience is encouraged and dialogue
discouraged;
 Discipline is punitive;
 Children tend to be discontented, withdrawn, and
distrustful;
 Could be cases of child abuse.

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 Authoritative parenting:
 Firm direction for a child’s overall activities
with considerable freedom within
reasonable limits;
 No rigid parental control nor punitive or
unnecessarily restrictive;
 Parents provide reasons for rules;
 Dialogue, verbal give and take, is
encouraged;
 Children tend to be happy with higher self-
esteem, socially competent, self-reliant, and
explorative, successful.

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 Permissive parenting (indulgent)
 Accepting and affirming envit, children
regulate their behavior as much as possible;
 Parents place few demands for
responsibilities or orderly behavior;
 Children participate in decisions;
 Children tend to be low in happiness and
self-control, poor school performance, and
less competent.

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 Uninvolved (neglectful) parenting
(Maccoby and Martin)
 Fulfill
children’s physical needs but are
distant and disengaged;
 Demand less from the children, low in
control, communication, responsiveness or
warmth;
 Children tend to be low in self-control, self-
esteem, and less competent.

 Possibility of mixed types of approaches.

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 Personality dev’t
 The pattern laid down during infancy begins
to take shape;
 How those close to the child treat him/her
are important factors for self-concept;
 As they start school peers and how they are
treated at school is also a factor in self-
concept of children;
 Parenting style affects personality of
children;
 Aspiration of parents and their expectation
also affect self-concept;
 Birth order is also found to affect self-
concept.

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LATE CHILDHOOD /7-12
OR 12/
 Some call it elementary school age;
 Physical Dev’t:
 Slow and relatively uniform growth rate until
the beginning of puberty;
 Body build affects both height and weight;
 Fat tissues develop more rapidly than muscle
tissues;
 Children with mesomorph body type grow
faster;
 By the end of this period, a child will normally
have 28 of the 32 permanent teeth;
 The last 4 permanent teeth erupt during
adolescence.
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 Cognitive Dev’t
 Concrete operational period
 Able to grasp the concept of conservation
and reversibility;
 Able to classify or sort out objects into their
categories on the basis of shared attributes
such as shape, color, pattern, etc.
 Children also show various readiness such
as reading readiness, emotional readiness,
etc.
 Children are able to think about things
distant in time and place.
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 They show increased mastery of symbols,
improved use of language, and later
advanced manipulations of symbols such
as multiplication and division.
 Are able to think in ways close to those of
adults due to mastery of symbols and
improved language.
 Scapegoating – venting out frustration on
some convenient object is seen.
 Many children suffer from some degree of
diffused fear.

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 Social Dev’t
 Peer group serves different functions:
 Opportunity in which children experience
independence;
 Experience with relationship in which they are on
equal footing with others – they learn the
functional and reciprocal basis for social rules
and regulations;
 Experience in which the position of the child is
not marginal – children acquire status, security,
companionship and acceptance;
 Agents for transformation of informal knowledge,
superstition, folklores, games, etc.
 The grouping shows sex cleavage.
 Same sex friendship is more close and intense in
late childhood and early adolescence than any
other phase in the life span.

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 Popularity (Social acceptance and
rejection)
 Peer relationship take on a lasting and
stable character.
 Sense of unity is expressed in different
ways – shared values.
 Shared values – criteria that childreb use in
deciding relative goodness of things.
 Children use shared values to arrange
themselves in hierarchies – who is popular?

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 Some identified qualities for popularity
 Physical attractiveness and body build -
mesomorphs are described by children as
strong, popular, happy, helpful, health,
honest etc.;
 Behavioral characteristics – active,
outgoing, alert, self-assured, helpful,
cheerful and friendly.
 Social maturity.

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 Personality (self-esteem)
 Their interaction with peers and adults,
children are provided with clues as to their
desirability, worth, and status.
 Through the accepting and rejecting behavior
of others, children respond to the questions,
who am I, and how values am I.
 Acceptance, approval and respect vs. blame,
rejection and belittling on self-attitude.
 Children are not simply passive being who
mirror other people’s attitude towards them.
 They actively shape their self-conceptions as
they go about their daily activities.

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CHILDREN AND POVERTY
 How does poverty impact children?
 During pregnancy
 Maternal nutrition, environment, stress, etc. all affect
pre-natal development.
 Maternal nutrition affects brain dev’t which can be
reversed if intervened during the first 3 years of the
child’s life.
 Birth
 Lack of pre-natal services, complication during birth,
maternal mortality.
 After the child’s birth
 Phyisical dev’t
 Malnourishment, stunting, infant and child mortality.
 A child's growth makes new behavior possible – pre-
requites for acquiring certain skills.
 Determines the kind of experiences the child will
have – exploring the env’t affecting cognitive and
social dev’t.
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  Affects the perception and expectation of people
around the child.
 Affects self-concept.
 Cognitive development
 Both hereditary and environmental factors
determine intelligence.
 Nutrition.
 Families environment both physical and
emotional, and intellectual.
 Social development
 Attachment – time, emotional readiness,
 Play – env’t and feedback (interaction)

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 Personality Dev’t
 Self-concept - affects behavior; it influences
social interaction, independence, one's
motivation to engage in tasks,
perseverance and performance.
 Affirmation, stimulation, pre-school.

 Intergenerational transfer of poverty

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CHILDREN AND DIVORCE
 Decision for divorce create multiple
stressors for children;
 The feeling different, but not sure exactly
how can be frightening;
 Children need to learn to cope with:
 Less contact with one of the parents;
 Moving from home;
 Changing neighborhood and school;
 Lower standard of living;
 More responsibilities to take up;
 The custodial parents may have less time and
gets stressed, and less physically and
psychologically available; etc.
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 Factors for adjustment:
 Parents’ sensitivity to their child’s needs;
 Child’s age;
 Gender; and
 Temperament, difficult temperament.
 Children in early childhood differ in their
understanding of divorce that adolescents;
 They may become confused and emotionally
needy;
 They may blame themselves due to their
egocentrism;
 They may feel responsible;
 They may develop fear of abandonment;
 They may show regressive behaviors;
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 Children in middle childhood may fantasize
about bringing their parents back together;
 Greif over losing one parent living with
them;
 Older children are better able to
understand;
 They express disapproval and tend to take
the side of one parent;
 Adolescents ability to conceptualize divorce
helps their adjustment;
 Challenges integrating their parents’
divorce with the task of identity formation.

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 Girls tend to become anxious and withdrawn and
boys aggressive;
 Girls may show early sexual initiation;
 In general boys to have more difficulty than girls;
 Boys tend to adjust better when mothers
remarry and girls tend to have difficulties;
 Adjustment gets challenging if there is ongoing
conflict;
 Regular, predictable and visits in conflict free
setting enhances adjustment;
 Understanding, warm, nurturing custodial parent
with good parenting skills facilitates adjustment.

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 A child's adjustment to divorce will be
quicker when fewer disruptions happen
by the divorce and when an established
routine is achieved.
 If parents stay supportive throughout
the divorce and afterwards, children
eventually adjust and overcome the
challenges to thrive.

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 Factors for making adjustment difficult:
 Continued conflict between the parents;
 Loss of contact with a competent, non-
custodial parent;
 Financial stress;
 Change of address;
 Loss of continuity in school and home
routines; and
 Psychological problem of custodial
parent.

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CHILDREN AND
CONFLICT
 Conflict and war affects children in a
similar and different ways.
 Children’s
dependency on the care,
empathy, and attention.
 Attachments disrupted in times of war
 Loss of parents, preoccupation of parents for
protection and subsistence,
 Emotional unavailability due to depression,
 Cared by someone else or an orphanage,
 Unaccompanied children.

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 Life trajectory of children much more
affected,
 Education,being in refugee or displaced
person or camps, health services.
 Death, Injury, Disability, Illness (nutrition,
water safety, sanitation, housing, access
to health services), Rape and prostitution
for subsistence, Psychological suffering
(depression, anxiety, hopelessness, grief,
resentment, anger, and fear), Moral and
spiritual impacts and Social and cultural
losses.

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 War undermines the very foundations of
children’s lives, destroying their homes,
splintering their communities and
breaking down their trust in adults.
 Humanitarian outreach focuses on the
concrete, what can be seen, measured,
built: food, medicine, bricks, etc.
 Psychological trauma is invisible.

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CHILDREN AND
RESILIENCE
 Most studies talk about the physical,
social, and psychological problems
children in difficult circumstances face;
 Discuss examples;
 Children’s individual responses to
adversity are usually described in terms
of ‘risk’ and ‘resilience’.
 Risk - variables that increase an
individual’s likelihood of susceptibility to
negative development outcomes,
poverty, divorce,...
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 Resilience is an individual’s capacity to adapt
and remain strong in the face of adversity.
 Adverse situations or problems are mediated
by protective factors that help individuals
adapt to the situation and develop resilience.
 Protective factors are made up of personal and
social resources.
 Personal resources include health,
temperament, memory, reasoning (cognitive
capacity) and social skills.
 Social resources could be supportive
relationship with family, positive peer
relationship, support from non-parental adults,
such as neighbors, teachers, priests,
counselors, etc.
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STRESS AND COPING
 Relationship between individuals and
society – two way.
 Sometime society creates stress
through demands.
 Expectations as a source of stress:
conflict, ambiguity and overload.
 Individuals use coping strategies to
achieve goals.
 View of coping as a transaction process.

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 Two types of coping:
 Problem focused – eliminate or go around
the problems.
 Emotion focused – deal with the emotion
attached to the problem.
 Coping involves assessment or
appraisal.
 Primary – assessing the problem.
 Secondary – what can be done AND
assessing resources.
 A set of belief influences coping during
secondary appraisal – self-efficacy,
optimism and hope. 94
 Study findings:
 Protective
factors in poverty during the first
three years (Egeland’s study):
 a secure attachment during infancy, along with
good quality parenting, particularly emotionally
responsive care giving, and good quality parent-
child relationship in the toddler, and preschool
period serve as major protective factors against
the negative effects of various childhood
adversities.

95
 Factors for childhood resilience among 7-
10 year olds to differentiate resilient and
non-resilient children(Wyman, et al’s
study) :
 variables reflecting emotional responsiveness,
competent parenting had direct effects;
 mediated caregiver resources such as
education, mental health, and relational
history were proximal predictors.
 The studies show the importance of
supportive relationships in reducing the
effects of stressful experiences and assisting
children to attain their goals.
96
 Schmitz, Wagner & Menke’s study on
poor and homeless children, qualities of
resilient children who succeeded against
the odds:
 interpersonal relationship skills, insight,
independence, initiative, creativity, and a
sense of moral obligation, all of which
constitute personal resources.
 A strong career goal, vision and being
realistic were some of the protective factors
that helped poor and homeless children to
succeed in their education.

97
 Werner and Smith’s longitudinal study:
 Personal resources:
 high activity level,
 a good disposition,
 a positive social interaction,
 an ability to focus and delay gratification,
 optimism, and
 a desire to improve oneself.

98
 Social resources:
 quality mother-child relationship,
 any additional caretaker besides the mother,
 availability of kin and neighbors for emotional
support, and
 the availability of counsel by teachers or a
minister.

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LEGAL AND POLICE FRAMEWORKS
ON CHILDREN’S ISSUES
 UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child
 Art. 3 - The best interests of children.
 Art. 4 - Children’s rights are respected,
protected and fulfilled.
 Art. 6 - The right to live.
 Art. 8 – The right to live with parents.
 Art 12 – The right to involve in decision that
affect their lives (Respect for their views).
 Art. 18. - Both parents share responsibility
for bringing up their children.
 Art. 19 – The right to be protected from all
forms of violence. 100
CRC …
 Art 23. - Children who have any kind of
disability have the right to special care
and support.
 Art. 24. - The right to good quality
health care.
 Art. 27 – The right to adequate
standard of living.
 Art. 28 – The right to education.
 Art. 31 – The right to to relax and play,
and to join in a wide range of cultural,
artistic and other recreational activities.
101
CRC …
 Art. 32 – The right for protection from
work that is dangerous or might harm
their health or their education.
 Art. 34 – The right for protection from
sexual exploitation.

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AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS
AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD
 Art. 2 - Defn. any human being under the age of 18.

 Art. 21 - Protection Against Child Abuse and Torture.

1. Eliminate harmful social and cultural practices affecting welfare,
dignity, normal growth and development of the child and in
particular.
2. Child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys.
 Art. 22 – Armed Conflicts
1. No child shall take a direct part in hostilities and refrain in
particular, from recruiting any child.
2. Protection of children affected by armed conflicts including children
in situations of internal armed conflicts, tension and strife.

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AFRICAN CHARTER …
 Art. 23 – Refugee Children
1. Provision of appropriate protection and humanitarian
assistance in the enjoyment of the rights set out in this
Charter and other legal instruments.
2. Cooperation with existing international organizations to
protect and to reunite the child wit parents,
3. Where no family is found to ensure the rights accorded to
any other child.

 Art. 24. Adoption

1. Ensure adoption take place in conformity with other
applicable laws and procedures.
2. Inter country adoption as a last resort.
3. Ensuring the protection of the rights of the child who is
affected by international adoption.
4. Ensure trafficking does not take place nor any other
financial gain attached.
5. Find a mechanism to ensure the welfare of the adopted
child.
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AFRICAN CHARTER …
 Art. 26 – Protection against Apartheid and
Discrimination
1. Ensuring the accordance of highest priority to
the special needs of children living under
Apartheid or military destabilization, or regimes
practicing discrimination.

 Art. 27 - Sexual exploitation

1. Engagement of children in any sexual activity
through inducement, coercion or
encouragement is prohibited.
2. Prostitution or other sexual practices.
3. The use of children in pornographic activities,
performances and materials ..

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FDRE CONSTITUTION
 Article 36
1. Children have the right to:
 To life;
 To a name and nationality;
 To know and be cared for by his or her parents or legal
guardians;
 Not to be subject to exploitative practices, and be protected
from hazardous or harmful work;
 To be free of corporal punishment or cruel and inhumane
treatment.
2. The best interests of the child.
3. Juvenile offenders shall be kept separately from
adults.
4. Children born out of wedlock shall have the same
rights as children born of wedlock.
5. The State shall accord special protection to orphans.
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