Social Development in Children
Humans are social animals. We need interactions with other people in order to simply survive. But to have healthy social interactions with other human beings, it’s important for parents to cultivate their children’s social development as soon as possible and, of course, the right way too.
Social Development in children is defined as a child’s interaction with others. During the initial stages, he or she depends greatly on the parents and caregivers. In this phase, his or her interaction is limited to these people. Eventually, children begin interacting with other kids and adults. A child dwells a lot upon the love, security, and care provided by the parents and caregivers. Eventually, children learn to impart love and care and shows signs of empathetic behaviour, indicating sound social development.
Social Development In Children: How it Works
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN: 4 TO 6 YEARS OLD
As the kids begin their preschool, their social interaction with peers begins in a true sense. While they may still prefer to play alone, they might show interest in other kids’ play. A little pushing, grabbing, crying, all of which results from ‘co-playing’ is common at this stage. In fact, it may teach your kid some valuable lessons in social interaction.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN: 7 TO 10 YEARS OLD
The primary school allows children to spend more time with their peers than their parents. From 6 to 10 years, children can observe other kids and may try to imitate them. Friendships bloom at this stage and kids may show more liking towards some peers, thereby fostering the concept of ‘best friends. The social skills developed at this stage are valuable as they form the basis for social interaction in adult life.
Throughout all childhood, friendships are very important because it provides kids with much more than just people to play with. Learning to make friends as well as learning how to be a good friend are important parts of a child’s social development skills that will help them to find success in both their personal and professional lives when they are older. During childhood, your kid will have several best friends but if he or she has a solid loving and caring base of self-esteem and confidence, they will develop amazing social attachments. They will also build social competence and look out for one another.
ERIK ERIKSON ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN
Who studied psychology in school must remember Erik Erikson. He is a well-known developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst. His most famous and influential theory was on the psychological development of human beings, slightly influenced by Sigmund Freud’s work.
Well, for Erikson there is eight stages of social development: trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame and doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation and integrity vs despair.
For each stage, Erikson's theory explains what types of stimulation children need to master that stage and become productive and well-adjusted members of society and explains the types of problems and developmental delays that can result when this stimulation does not occur. We are going to talk about the first five stages as they are the ones your child will experience from birth to 10 years old.
The first psychosocial stage of social development in children, named trust vs mistrust, starts immediately after birth until your child is about 1 year old. During this phase, by providing your child with all the basic needs, such as food, clean diapers, warmth, and loving affection, he or she will learn that they can trust other people in their environment to love and care and ultimately, will believe the world is a good place to live in. However, if the infant is neglected and doesn’t consistently receive the basic needs described above, they will learn to question their caretakers and to believe that others won’t always be there for support when needed. Basically, learning to trust others is the first necessary step to learning how to have loving, supportive relationships with others and to have a positive self-image.
The second stage of social development in children, called autonomy vs shame and doubt, starts from when your toddler is 1 year old to 3 years old. When children are autonomous, they feel confident that they can make their own choices and decisions and that they will be positive experiences. Young children become autonomous when caregivers are supportive and give children the safe space to make their own decisions and to experiment with their bodies and problem-solving skills without shaming or ridiculing the child. When children feel shame and doubt, they believe that they are not capable of making valid decisions and not capable of doing everyday tasks. This will begin stunting positive self-esteem as these small children start seeing themselves as “stupid.”
The third stage social development in children is called initiative vs guilt and occurs from 4 to 5 years old. During this stage, your child becomes more interactive with other kids. He or she will learn to cooperate with others. They will also start indulging in group plays and other activities. And your child will learn to lead as well as to follow. The emotional and physical dependence on parents will still be there as the child is being introduced to new emotions such as fear, guilt, etc. It’s important that they be supported in their efforts, lest they feel inept and begin to mistrust their own abilities.
The fourth stage of social development in children is called industry vs inferiority and it starts around 6 years old. At this stage, your kid is getting into formal education and become used to a fixed schedule as well as rules and regulations. Also, their play will also become more rule-oriented, as they will shift from individual games to team games. Normal children grow up to become quite industrious by this time. However, children who are not well taken care of, often develop a mistrust for their future or develop an inferiority complex. The encouragement of parents and caring educators helps to build a child's sense of self-esteem, furthering their confidence and ability to interact positively in the world.
The last stage of social development in children related to your child’s age is intimacy vs isolation and it starts at 10 years old. This is the phase where your kid will start entering adolescence. He or she will become conscious of their own identity and seek an answer to the question “who am I?”. Be aware that your child might go through rebellious behaviour, but it’s completely normal, as your kid will be experiencing a flood of myriad emotions. Later on, you can also count on your child becoming aware of her sexual identity. For a more in-depth look at social development in children, I highly recommend you buy this book by Erik Erikson.
