ISS 210 1st Edition Lecture 21 Outline of Last Lecture I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI Cultural Communities Communities overlap and conflict Middle Class European American Culture Euro American Values It takes a Village Demographic Transition Model Chinese Government Policy Parental Child Rearing Goals Resignation and Emotional Balance The Strange Situation Extended Nuclear Families Outline of Current Lecture I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI Sibling Caregivers Age grade Segregation Other Community Involvements Learning About Work USDA Family Expenditure on Children Engaging Groups or Dyads Social Markers Four Stages of the Hindu Life Cycle Life Cycle Makers Age as Life Cycle Marker Piaget s Chemata Current Lecture I Sibling Caregivers How old before begin carrying for siblings Depends in part on the number of siblings and birth spacing In US middle class children all in same cohort Polynesia 3 or 4 years old look after babies who can walk US Euro American middle class use baby sitters 12 years or older Among Kikuyu playful teasing by older siblings teaches children how to act properly and to distinguish what is true from what is not II Age grade Segregation Need adequate number of children to create groups one year age groups for bureaucratic requirements and adults convenience Limitations Reduces opportunities to engage with older and younger children Interaction with age similar people over intergenerational family and adult siblings in household Community s role Polynesia children have many laps to sit in and models of adult behavior Extended kinship network provides checks and balances in parenting Non relatives always present and involved Child care in the US is not seen as community investment in the next generation but as parental responsibility school millage property tax for schools III Other Community Involvements Role of specialization expert caregivers Teachers social workers pediatricians Dr Spock offered a necessary corrective Loss of support in immigrant communities Parents could not depend on communities to reinforce and support decisions Who s responsible on school field trips in japan Lack of access to community activities Middle class Euro American children segregation with alternating periods of isolation and intense interaction IV Learning About Work Doing chores involved children in productive household activities Children whose parents work at home learned the business or how to perform tasks Child labor laws Response to unhealthy conditions and union efforts to protect adult jobs Pitching in on family farms where work is not divided from family social life Children and youth in US society have few opportunities to contribute to their families and communities or to work with adults to accomplish anything V USDA Family Expenditure on Children By Income level and age of child High income households spend twice as much per child as low income households Expenditures includes cost of housing and transportation Expenditures vary by region the age of number of children and family structure Housing cost increased in real terms food cost declined as did clothing likely due to technological changes and globalization Healthcare costs doubled Marked increase in education child care costs due to women s work force participation and decreases in home babysitting VI Engaging Groups or Dyads Middle class Euro American children primarily engage in exclusive one to one dyadic interactions Mother child interaction over doll The switch board model of interaction with teacher often ignoring or not talking into account other students contributions Other society stress multiparty engaged Face infants toward others and engage with them Discourage self absorbed behavior to pay attention to others African mothers encourage babies by referencing third parties Smoothly integrated into groups US schools attempting to introduce more collaborative learning models but have to teach Euro American children these skills VII Social Markers When does a child become a person Naming ceremonies Newborn infants are potential spirit children who may be taken away do not belong to the world until they are named about a week of age Native American Navajo First laugh ceremony Christian baptism Jewish boys Bris VIII Four Stages of the Hindu Life Cycle Childhood not the first stage 1 Youth starts in 10th year last for 10 years 2 Second stage adulthood the householder begins with marriage During this period one raises a family and performs worldly duties Ends when children establish in life 3 Middle Age the Forest Dweller Live separately but not as anchorities Gradually ridding themselves 4 Sannyas To live as a religious mendicant IX Life Cycle Makers How are cultural differences revealed in the following Not based on chronological age but on social categories and expectations In many communities age is not tracked Inuit does celebrate birthdays or reckon maturity in terms of years Relative sonority may be important Marked by physical changes Ngoni loss of first teeth Menstruation Marked by competencies Euro American middle class parents focus on verbal skills and assertiveness Italian focus on sensitivity to needs of others and social graciousness X XI Marked by social changes Marriage and birth of first child Birth of first grandchild Myan and chines where order matters Age as Life Cycle Marker Tracking time elapsed since birth becomes a key market in industrial society Age governed institutions in the US Development milestones create parental concerns about being on time Piaget s Chemata Schemata internalized representation of external world Perceptual invariant thought The internalized representation of objects is based on direct sensory qualities and manipulative responses Preoperational intuitive thought Able to make intuitive judgments about relationships but can only attend to on property at a time Concrete operational thought 7 years to 11 years Formal propositional though 11 years and older