Child, Family, School, and Community S ocialization and Support 6 th ed.

1. Child, Family, School, and CommunitySocialization and Support 6th ed. Chapter 8 ECOLOGY OF THE PEER GROUP

2. THE PEER GROUP AS A SOCIALIZING AGENTTHE SIGNIFICANCE OF PEERS TO DEVELOPMENT Belonging needs and socialization • Infancy/Toddlerhood: the sense of belonging develops first within the family. • Early childhood: preschool children’s social interactions are impacted by attachment and the willingness of adults to provide opportunities.

3. THE PEER GROUP AS A SOCIALIZING AGENTTHE SIGNIFICANCE OF PEERS TO DEVELOPMENT(Cont’d) • Middle childhood: opportunities for social interactions increase. • Adolescence: generally delineate their belonging needs and consequent social interactions according to the closeness of the relationship.

4. THE PEER GROUP AS A SOCIALIZING AGENTSENSE OF SELF AND PERSONAL IDENTITY • Infancy/Toddlerhood: infants as young as 6 months distinguish themselves from others. • Early childhood: begin to play in groups. • Middle childhood: the peer group provides opportunity for greater independence. • Adolescence: peer group activities escalate

5. THE PEER GROUP AS A SOCIALIZING AGENTSENSE OF SELF AND PERSONAL IDENTITY(Cont’d) Psychological development: Emotions - individuals who do not have normal peer relations are affected in their later psychological development. Social development: Social competence - involves behavior influenced by the understanding of others’ feelings and intentions.

6. THE PEER GROUP AS A SOCIALIZING AGENTCOGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: SOCIAL COGNITION Piaget’s theory of cognitive development explains why children are sometimes illogical in their thinking or believe they are always right. Erikson’s psychosocial stages explain why preadolescent children are more conforming than other age groups.

7. THE PEER GROUP AS A SOCIALIZING AGENTPEER GROUP SOCIALIZING MECHANISMS Reinforcement – giving attention Modeling – imitation Punishment – teasing, physical aggression or rejection Apprenticeship – someone with more experience helping someone with less experience

8. MACROSYSTEM INFLUENCE ON THE PEER GROUP: DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS • Getting along with others • Developing morals and values • Learning appropriate sociocultural roles • Achieving personal independence and identity

9. CHRONOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUP: PLAY/ACTIVITIESTHE SIGNIFICANCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLAY Play is behavior that is enjoyed for its own sake. Stage 1: Solitary Stage 2: Onlooker Stage 3: Parallel Stage 4: Associative Stage 5: Cooperative (Parten)

10. CHRONOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUP: PLAY/ACTIVITIESTHE SIGNIFICANCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLAY Categories of Play: Imitative Exploratory Testing Model-building (Sutton-Smith)

11. CHRONOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUP: PLAY/ACTIVITIESPEER ACTIVITIES Infant/Toddler peer activities: • 2-month olds are oriented to other babies’ movements • 6-8 month olds look at and touch each other • 9-13 month olds fight over toys • 2 year olds interact positively with peers, imitate, and respond to each other

12. CHRONOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUP: PLAY/ACTIVITIESPEER ACTIVITIES Early childhood peer activities involve: • Peer interactions increase • Limited friendships • Lack of empathy • Selfishness and aggressiveness • More complex social interactions • Peers speaking directly to each other

13. CHRONOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUP: PLAY/ACTIVITIESPEER ACTIVITIES Middle childhood peer activities are: • More unsupervised than supervised • Informal • Reflect culture • Gender specific

14. PEER GROUP INTERACTIONDEVELOPMENT OF FRIENDSHIP Developmental Stages of Friendship Patterns Stage 1: Early Childhood Momentary playmateship Stage 2: Early to Middle Childhood One-way assistance Stage 3: Middle childhood Two-way, fair-weather cooperation Stage 4: Middle childhood to adolescence Intimate, mutually-shared relationships Stage 5: Adolescence to adulthood Autonomous-interdependent friendships

15. PEER GROUP INTERACTIONDEVELOPMENT OF FRIENDSHIP Acceptance/Rejection by peers Prosocial behavior and family interactions play a role in children’s successful integration into a group.

16. PEER GROUP INTERACTIONDEVELOPMENT OF FRIENDSHIP Peer sociotherapy techniques developed to measure patterns of acceptance, neglect, and rejection among members of a group.

17. PEER GROUP DYNAMICS AND SOCIAL HIERARCHIES • Inclusion and exclusion • Bullies/victims • Gangs • Peer collaboration

18. Teachers Can Help Children Gain Acceptance To encourage peer acceptance, teachers should: • Enable Compromise • Enable Communication • Enable Interpretation • Enable Family Involvement

19. MESOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUPADULT-MEDIATED GROUP INTERACTION How adults mediate, or structure, the social interaction within a peer group influences children’s behavior.

20. MESOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUPADULT-MEDIATED GROUP INTERACTION • Groups tend to stratify, with some individuals assuming more dominate roles and others more submissive ones. • Groups develop norms. • Frustration and competition contribute to hostility between groups. • Competition between groups fosters cohesiveness within groups. • Intergroup hostility can often be reduced by setting up a common goal. (Mustaf Sherif et al.)

21. MESOSYSTEM INFLUENCES ON THE PEER GROUPADULT LEADERSHIP STYLES Groups led by adults can differ markedly in the kind of leadership provided. • Authoritarian • Democratic • Laissez-faire