Transcript Child Psychopathology in Context II – Cultural Models

 Views
of child development from
non-industrialized cultures
 Views of child development from
other non-European cultures
 Views of child development from
inner-city African-American
culture
 Views of child development from
cross-cultural studies of
attachment
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Distinction in perspectives on childrearing
and child development between Western and
non-Western, nonindustrialized cultures
◦ In Western cultures “conditioning” is discontinuous
◦ In non-Western cultures “conditioning” is
continuous
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Areas judged to be distinctly different on the
continuity- discontinuity continuum
◦ Responsible – nonresponsible status role
◦ Dominance – submission
◦ Contrasted sexual role
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Responsible – nonresponsible status role
◦ No clear dichotomy between work and play
◦ No total dependence on parents but rather
“scaffolding” of tasks takes place
◦ Children conditioned to assume adult roles
throughout childhood (Ojibwa)
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Dominance-submission
◦ Son and father refer to each other using same term
(Latino mothers calling children mommy and
poppy)
◦ Reciprocal joking, privileges, and obligations – no
dichotomy of first total submission, then total
dominance (polarization)
◦ Obedience not valued, and punishment not applied
◦ Approval and praise are used

Contrasted sexual role
◦ Continuity different to establish in this area
because of the inherent discontinuity in sexual
maturity pre- and post-puberty
◦ Prepubertal sex play not discouraged because it
cannot result in reproduction
◦ Sex can be associated with either pleasure or
reproduction, but not associated with wickedness
that affects later performance

Discontinuity in non-Western cultures
minimized by rites of passage
◦ Age groups are solidified to provide support for
each other
◦ Tribal rites of passage help to bridge discontinuity
between “feminine” boy and “masculine” man

Comparisons with Western culture
◦ Adolescent rebellion exists because of jolting effect
of entering adulthood without help in role
progression
◦ “maladjustment”, or fixation at preadult level,
occurs because children fear to use behavior
previously banned, instead exercising behavior
approved during formative years
◦ Physiological explanations of neurotic adjustments
overlook influence of social institutions
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
Inner-city black children’s emotional
development differs from middle-class white
children’s emotional development
This difference exists because of two
circumstances
◦ Racism
◦ Economic difference

Because of these two circumstances black
children need to assume adult responsibilities
earlier in development
◦ Become wage earners to support the family
◦ Become caregivers for younger siblings and cousins
◦ Assume more responsibility for defending oneself
against racially motivated attacks to survive
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According to Ladner, these adult
responsibilities for protection are positive
symbols of maturity
◦ Deeper involvement in shaping their futures
◦ More control over destinies
◦ Black child has a “more emotionally stable and wellintegrated personality than his white middle-class
counterparts, whose protected, sheltered lives are
representations of the most fragile personality the
society could produce” (p. 215)

Features of childrearing of inner-city black
children
◦ Childrearing done primarily by extended family,
usually grandmothers
◦ Peer group contributes to the childrearing process
◦ Adults perceived by children as powerless because
they cannot eliminate antisocial behavior from the
community
◦ Hunger, inadequate clothing because of this
powerlessness
◦ Handling of stressful situations with fair amount of
capability

Results of unprotected childhood
◦ “Mature knowledge they have about antisocial
behavior and their abilities to cope with it are
symbols of strength that the ‘protected’ child does
not share” (p.217)
◦ “Although the experiences are harsh and often
times cruel, children do develop a great amount of
strength and adaptability that enables them to
adjust to and cope with this world” (p. 218)
◦ “Mrs. Marshall’s 16-year-old had given birth to a
child at 14, and was to become pregnant again at
16…Judy often played hooky from school, talked
back to her mother and had taken to smoking” (p.
219)

Beth’s parents sheltered her from the street
life, yet this overprotectiveness “seemed to
have curbed much of her initiation and
creativity…Her life is so insulated that she is
in the process of developing a reticence and
naïveté about life that might prevent her from
effectively coping with the harsh realities of
her community…This alternative has probably
stifled Beth somewhat and rendered her
ineffective in dealing with traumatic events”
(p. 220)
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In early childhood “children usually do not stray
very far from [the grandmother/babysitter], and
when they do, they are promptly brought back to
the area to which they have been restricted”
(p.221)
“Children in the community are taught to be strong
and not to allow others to take them for
granted…if one allows his guards to fall too often,
he can be taken advantage of” (p. 223)
“The negative experiences which blacks in this
kind of environment have encountered with society
have fostered and perpetuated within them
suspicion and hostility…As a result of such
attitudes, self-defense mechanisms are deeply
ingrained in children at very early ages” (p.224)

Implications of this perspective
◦ Adaptation preferred to truth, to justice, to mental
health
◦ Denial of social plight
◦ No need to intervene if everything is okay
◦ Real problems (e.g., teen pregnancy) are perceived
as affirmations of life and family
◦ Ambivalence regarding childrearing practices
◦ Strength of peer group = gang activity potential
Views of Child Development from Other NonEuropean Cultures
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Views of Child Development from CrossCultural Studies of Attachment
Israel: Kibbutzim [ C]
Rural Japan [ C]
Northern Germany [ A]
African-American [ A, C]
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Genital mutilation
Child labor [WTO Convention]
Profit-driven educational systems
Institutional racism and sexism