It is often said that a person’s development is affected by everything in their surrounding environment. The relative contribution of nature and nurture, that is the effect of heredity and environment on behavior and development, has been the subject of philosophical and scientific debate for a long time. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed the ecological theory to explain how a child’s environment ultimately determines or influences development and shapes who he/she becomes. Growing up at age 11 in a small rural community in Jamaica, I was surrounded by people who were closely knit. I came from a large extended family household with aunts, uncles, cousins and my great-grandmother, Ryanetta, as the matriarch of the family. A petite, …show more content…
That was not an option but a requirement of my great-grandmother when she was alive. During the fall, she passed on. That was a sad moment for the family, but we remained strong and tried to live up to her teachings. Middle-class living afforded me opportunities that many in my community did not have. We had spacious accommodations, the latest appliances and a car. Our family was well respected and our home has been often a gathering place for the elders. I am grateful for the life I was given through my family’s hard work and dedication. 1994 was a year of many changes for me, new school, new teachers, and a new environment. My outlook on life became more expansive. I became more aware of national and world events. Sadly, that year was also a sad event in African history with the genocide in Rwanda. It was at this stage the macrosystem that Bronfenbrenner said children are influenced positively or negatively by the wider society through national government, cultural values, the economy, wars, etc. I saw the how religious affiliations and ethnic heritage influenced the heinous actions and the effect it had on many people even though I did not fully comprehend all the reasons behind the genocide taking place. It was years later when I watched “Hotel Rwanda” that I understood. I …show more content…
"According to Erik Erikson, middle childhood encompasses the industry-versus-inferiority stage, characterized by a focus on meeting the challenges presented by the world" (Feldman, 2013, p. 308). Why is this so? Children in the middle childhood stage are at a struggle of knowing who they are. They battle with social and academic demands. They are beginning to realize that they are good, and not so good at different things. As they compare themselves to the ability and opinions of others, they try to have suitable skills to meet the demands of peers, teacher, parents, school and the world, and clinging towards those who are similar to themselves. It is essential for the child at this stage to discover pleasure in being productive and the need to be successful. Middle childhood is about competence. The child 's relationship with peers in school and the neighborhood become increasingly important. This stage is also meaningful in building a child 's self esteem. According to Feldman (2013), "Children are on a quest for self-understanding during middle childhood" (p. 309). Those who are noticed or applauded are likely to feel good about themselves and those who are not will feel uncertain. It is known that success leads to competence and difficulty with a child 's ability (failure) leads to
What makes us who we are? Does the answer lie in our genes, our environment, or in the way we are raised? For years, there has been an on-going debate between nature and nurture. T.H. White, author of The Once and Future King, explores the debate through many of the book’s characters. The issue clearly appears in the relationship of Queen Morgause and her sons, the Orkney brothers. The debate caused people to pick a side, to pick nature over nurture, or nurture over nature. However, it does not have to be one or the other. Nature and nurture work together to determine who we are.
Stage four of Erickson`s eight stages of development is middle childhood. This stage ranges from around age six to age eleven. It includes elementary school and the beginning of middle school. Each stage has a center crisis that needs to be addressed in order for healthy development to take place. Erickson calls this stage industry versus inferiority. Cognitive development is rapid in this age group. During this stage of development the school age child is rapidly mastering skills and taking in lots of new information. The center of the elementary school student`s universe is school. Children strive to complete tasks to the best of their ability and live up to the expectations of their parents and teachers as well as gain the acceptance and respect of their peers. This age group thrives to prove themselves by successfully completing projects. The importance of the development of self-esteem and self confidence is vital at this age according to Ericson. More successful kids gain a sense of competence while kids who have less success completing tasks might be affected negatively and feel inferior to their peers.
The genogram provided me an opportunity review my relationships with my immediate and extended families. The theory I would use with my family would be Reality Therapy because of the cognitive distortion we possessed going up in the household. Despite the negative cultural influences my parents were exposed to growing up. Corey (2015) discussed how individuals are not the cause for a particular family dysfunction. The cumulative effect of parents cultural experiences prohibited them from trusting Caucasians. My father was born in lady Island South Carolina and my mother was from Haskell Oklahoma a raised on a Native American reservation. Both were abandoned by their maternal parents. Both of their mothers died at a very young age. However, their father’s relationships were sporadic. I never met my dad’s father (Joe) and I visited my mother’s father (Calvin) a few times before his death.
This stage takes place during childhood (6 to 12 years); during this period the child seeks to settle crisis of industriousness versus inferiority. According to this theory, these behaviors might have an explanation that goes back to my childhood. Erikson points out that at stage four, children need to be reinforced positively for activities at school, in sports, or artistic fields in order to cultivate a high self-concept and a sense of industriousness. If the child’s efforts are perceived as inadequate, feelings of social and mental inferiority can move stealthily into adulthood, (Maitland, 2011).
“The term “nature versus nurture” is used to refer to a long-running scientific debate. The source of debate is the question of which has a greater influence on development: someone's innate characteristics provided by genetics, or someone's environment. In fact, the nature versus nurture debate has been largely termed obsolete by many researchers, because both innate characteristics and environment play a huge role in development, and they often intersect”. (Smith, 2010 p. 1)
The Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory focuses on how ones environment can affect a person’s development. It focuses on 5 main areas namely the Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem and Chronosystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, p. 514-515). Each system represents the setting in which they live in and how these people affect their growth. In this particular case study, Andy’s main influence is from the Microsystem and Mesosystem.
Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory labeled this period of life the latency stage, a time when sexual and aggressive urges are repressed. Freud suggested that no significant contributions to personality development were made during this period; therefore, middle childhood was not considered an important stage in human development according to Freud’s analytical theory. However, more recent theorists have recognized the importance of middle childhood for the development of cognitive skills, personality, motivation, and inter-personal relationships. Erikson's conception of middle childhood is the industry/inferiority stage were children begin to develop an attitude about themselves, develop self-esteem, internalize society's standards, and develop an evaluation of socially relevant emotions of shame and pride.
Erikson stated that the development of children between 5 to 12 years old mostly happen in school and they are using social interaction frequently. School is the place to train children to adapt to society and master their knowledge and skills which is necessary for life in the future. So children in this stage are trying their best to strengthen their muscle, sensory and physical skills in order to overcome all the challenges form the society. Children in this stage realise that they need to have some result in this society, they work very hard to get the distinction in their result, but they are also worry that they will fail. In this stage, if they get encourage for their hardworking, specially from parent, teacher, peers or neighbour, they will feel industrious, competence and belief in their skills. If they get too much negative feedback, they start to feel inferior and lose
The Effects of Nature and Nurture on Shaping of Behavior The nature/nurture investigation has been studied for many years by psychologists and it is a subject that is still in debate today. It brings up the question, how is our behaviour shaped, and the two sides of the answer are nature and nurture. Behaviour in the context of a human being can be described as; the way humans act and think in situations. What is meant by nature and nurture?
Bronfenbrenner theorised that there are many different influences that affect a child’s development, forming 5 systems to categorise certain events, or environments into. This theory helps me to understand the theme of Nature Vs Nurture, as it gives some context as to what environments can affect a child's development. From this, we can work out solutions for each child's situation, to ensure that their development is still progressing.
Middle childhood is defined a number of ways, but perhaps best defined as the ages 6 to 12 years of age or prepubescent to pubescence Middle childhood is a challenging time and a major challenge is social constructs, as this is the earliest time when children begin to move away from parental influences and establish more meaningful peer and other adult relationships. It signifies a new set of social contacts with adults and other children as well as a wider variety of settings than those that characterize early childhood. Children begin to see themselves as a part of a bigger whole. Peer influences can become more powerful than the adults in the children’s life and impact their sense of self. Grouping is established and teasing of others groups and children begins to take hold in establishing social ranking. This can be a critical time for children and a great time for a social work practitioner to implement interventions to assist vulnerable children. However, a child who has one or two adults or trustworthy peers to whom she may turn may learn that peers cannot necessarily be trusted to give her good feedback. (website) Providing a setting were children could expand their ideas, make like minded friends and have the mentoring of trustworthy adults can transition children into the next developmental phase. They begin to look at different perspectives and can see another point of view. The world opens up before them, while this is an exciting time; it is also perhaps the most turbulent.
Children in middle childhood are growing psychosocially at a quick rate. During middle childhood they become industrious, develop a self-concept, and learn how to be friends, amongst other things. In Erickson’s Stages of Development, a child in middle childhood (or children from age six to age eleven) moves through the industry versus inferiority stage. This stage is marked by the child working to gain new skills and in general just being productive (Click P. M., Parker J., 2002, p. 89). A child who is successful in their attempts will gain confidence in themselves and move on into adolescence firmly on the industrious side.
Heredity Versus Environment - The Nature-nurture Controversy, Exploring Heredity And Environment: Research Methods, Beyond Heritability
Child growth and development is a process that consists of some building blocks, which are components that combine in an infinite number of ways (Cherry, n.d.). As a result of the variations of building blocks in a child’s development, educators, psychologists, and philosophers have been constantly engaged in the debate of nature versus nurture debate. Many researchers agree that child development is a complex interaction between his/her genetic background (nature) and his/her environment (nurture). In essence, some developmental aspects are strongly affected by biology whereas other aspects are influenced by environmental factors. From the onset of an individu...
In the study of child development, nature and nurture are two essential concepts that immensely influence future abilities and characteristics of developing children. Nature refers to the genetically obtained characteristics and abilities that influence development while nurture refers to the surrounding environmental conditions that influence development. Without one or the other, a child may not develop some important skills, such as communication and walking. The roles of physiological and psychological needs in a person’s life are also crucial for developing children. Humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, suggested that humans don’t only aim towards survival, but also aim towards self-actualization (Rathus, P. 94).