Chapter Introduction

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EARLY CHILDHOOD:
Psychosocial Development

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Emotional Development

Initiative Versus Guilt Motivation

Culture and Emotional Control

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE: Sex Differences in Emotional Regulation

Seeking Emotional Balance

Gender Development

Sex and Gender

Theories of Gender Development

Play

Playmates and Friendships

Cultural Differences in Play

Active Play

The New Media

The Role of Caregivers

Caregiving Styles

Cultural Variations

Moral Development

Nature and Nurture

Empathy and Antipathy Discipline

OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES: Is Spanking OK?

Child Maltreatment

Maltreatment Noticed and Defined

Frequency of Maltreatment

Consequences of Maltreatment

Three Levels of Prevention, Revisited

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WHAT WILL YOU KNOW?

  • Why do 2-year-olds have more sudden tempers, tears, and terrors than 6-year-olds?
  • How important is play in a child’s development?
  • Is it better for parents to be strict disciplinarians or to let children do whatever they want?
  • How do children know the difference between right and wrong?
  • Do maltreated children always become abusive adults?

It was a hot summer afternoon. My thirsty 3- and 4-year-olds were with me in the kitchen, which was in one corner of our living/dining area. The younger one opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of orange juice. The sticky bottle slipped, shattering on the floor. My stunned daughters looked at me, at the shards, at the spreading juice with extra pulp. I picked them up and plopped them on the couch. “Stay there until I clean this up,” I shouted.

They did, wide-eyed at my fury. As they watched me pick, sweep, and mop, I understood how parents could hit their kids. By the end of this chapter, I hope you also realize how a moment like this—in the summer heat, with two small children, and unexpected and difficult work—can turn a loving, patient parent into something else. It is not easy, day after day, being the guide and model that parents should be.

—Kathleen Berger

FORTUNATELY, IN SUCH TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES, a number of safeguards prevent serious maltreatment (a belief children should not be hit, an understanding that accidents do happen) and keep parents from taking their frustrations out on their children. Many aspects of psychosocial development—as children learn to manage their emotions, as parents learn to guide their children, as the microcosm (beliefs) and macrocosm (household income) influence adult–child interaction—affect how well children develop from ages 2 to 6. This chapter describes all that.

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