Why Do Children Who Have A Strong Sense Of Self

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During adolescence, children face the daunting task of establishing their own identity. This is when they look around them, at their peers, parents, teachers and members of the wider community to see who is significant to them. Whose beliefs and values match up top their own? Erikson (1968) would argue that children who have a strong sense of self would be those who have gained outcomes that are more positive during the earlier stages of their psychosocial development (Zwoziak-Myers, 2007). For children who have predominantly experienced negative outcomes it seems more likely that their sense of self will be weakened and therefore they may start to feel disconnected with those around them. They may feel that they have less in common with their peers and as a result become less engaged in school and this could affect attendance, leading to feelings of further isolation and depression. Whilst searching for identity children seek greater independence from their parents. As a consequence; this can cause conflict at home as children become more autonomous. They are able to get a job and start to take control of their finances. This change in status gives children a sense of increased freedom but with freedom comes responsibility. For children who are disaffected this may be a time when they struggle with the more ‘adult’ aspects of their life. They may come into contact with alcohol and drugs and become involved in criminal activities. At the same time media continually bombards …show more content…

Poverty is a significant factor to consider because between 2015/16 three point seven million, 27 per cent of all children in the UK were living in poverty (House of Commons Library, 2017). Children who live in poverty are not meeting the lowest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow states that if the base needs are disrupted it can affect the individual and stop them from reaching self-actualisation (Maslow, 1943,

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