Contexts of Child Development PDF

Chapter 11: Contexts of Child Development Learning Objectives: Contexts of Child Development 1. Describe the microsystem. 2. Describe the interactions in the mesosystem. 3. Discuss different family types. 4. Describe the impact of divorce and parental separation on c...

Chapter 11: Contexts of Child Development Learning Objectives: Contexts of Child Development 1. Describe the microsystem. 2. Describe the interactions in the mesosystem. 3. Discuss different family types. 4. Describe the impact of divorce and parental separation on children. 5. Describe the problem and impact of parental incarceration. 6. Discuss child abuse. 7. Describe aspects of the school environment including educational inequality and school shootings. 8. Describe the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In Chapter 1 you learned about the Bioecological Model (Ryan, John & Paquette, Dede, 2009) and the layers of the environment that interact in individual’s lives. The immediate environment for the child (microsystem) consists of the home and family, school, neighborhood, and extended family and faith groups (Figure11-1). In the neighborhood, children are exposed to more violence and crime than are adults. A government survey showed that in 2009 forty percent of children reported being direct victims of violence. Sixty percent of children reported either direct or indirect exposure to violence, crime, or abuse (Facts about Children and Violence, 2014). We describe aspects of the family and educational environment below as applies to American children. We end the chapter with a discussion of children’s rights. Figure 11-1 Immediate environments of child development 281  Home and Family In 1968, 13% of children resided with single parents, Now 23% live with one parent (usually mother) and no other adults, the remainder live with either two parents or a parent and stepparent (Kramer, 2019). Around 140,000 children are adopted by American families each year. There are about 1.5 million adopted children in the United States, which is 2% of the population, or one out of 50 children. Today, almost 60%- 70% of domestic adoptions are open adoptions, which means there is a degree of openness and disclosure of information between adoptive and birth parents regarding the adopted child (US Adoption Statistics, 2020). American children are less likely than children from other countries to live with extended family (Kramer, 2019). The result is that fewer adults are available to support parents and children emotionally and financially. Worldwide most people live close to family for economic reasons (Kramer, 2019). The percentage of children living in poverty dropped recently from 16.0% to 15.3% due to anti-poverty measures (read more). Blended families contain stepparents and step or halfsiblings. One in six American children (16%) live in blended families (Parker & Horowitz, 2015). Blended families are more complex, but they have been around throughout human history. In the 1700-1800s there were many blended families, but they were created because a parent died, and the surviving partner remarried. Most blended families today result from divorce and remarriage, and this origin leads to new considerations. Children in the blended families of today may be a part of two households, each with different rules and people to adjust to. Lesbian and Gay Parenting In 2016 there were an estimated 114,000 same sex couples raising children; 25% were gay men and 75% were lesbian women. While 68% of these couples had biologic children, the rest had adopted or foster children (Goldberg & Conron, 2018). Research has consistently shown that the children of lesbian and gay parents are as successful as those of heterosexual parents. Patterson (2009) reviewed more than 25 years of social science research on the development of children raised by lesbian and gay parents and found no evidence of detrimental effects. Children of lesbian and gay parents are as well-adjusted overall as those of heterosexual parents. Specifically, research comparing children based on parental sexual orientation has not shown any differences in the development of gender identity, gender role development, or sexual orientation. Additionally, there were no differences between the children of lesbian or gay parents and those of heterosexual parents in separation-individuation, behavior problems, self-concept, locus of control, moral judgment, school adjustment, intelligence, victimization, and substance use. Further, research has consistently found that children and adolescents of gay and lesbian parents report normal social relationships with family members, peers, and other adults. Patterson concluded that there is no evidence to support legal discrimination or policy bias against lesbian and 282 gay parents. Armed with this evidence, lawyers from the ACLU advocate that gay and lesbian couples have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples when adopting children (“LGBTQ Parenting,” 2016). Read more. COVID-19 Deaths and Orphanhood As of January 2023, 1,414 American children under 18 died from COVID-19 related causes (click here for up-to-date total). Thousands more were hospitalized but the exact number is not available. As of November 2022, an estimated 214,545 American children (0-17 years) lost at least one parent from COVID-19 related causes (Figure 11-2); 0.1% or 214 children lost both parents (Unwin et al., 2022). This is a 110% increase in the number of children who typically lose a parent each year. Although they represent 14% of the U.S. population, 20% of children who lost a parent to COVID-19 were Black (Kidman et al., 2021). The number of children orphaned by COVID-19 will continue to grow, and the aftermath of parental death will affect many aspects of these children’s lives. Families were unprepared for this tragedy because the pandemic was sudden and unexpected. Children who lost a parent will require significant support as they navigate their grief. The difficulties they face are worsened by social isolation, lack of in-person schooling, and family financial stress. Many orphaned children will rely on school staff for emotional and educational support schools because few other social supports may exist for them. Figure 11-2. Number of children orphaned over the course of the pandemic (source with most recent data). 283 Disruptions in Family Life As the aftermath of the pandemic illustrates, the health and wellbeing of children depends on the health and wellbeing of the adults in their lives. Each year 1 out of every 15 children is exposed to domestic violence (NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, n.d.). A majority of children will experience the divorce or separation of their parents before age 18 (Anderson, 2014). Divorce and parental separation create stress for children and increase risk for internalizing and externalizing disorders. Some children do better than others after divorce and risk is related to loss of contact and lower quality relationships with parents. (Be aware that studies that report statistics may not consider potential benefits of reduced contact with an abusive parent.) Parent-child relationships may be lower in quality after separation, as defined by hostility, loss of warmth, and less supervision of the child. When parents are stressed they may step out of the parent role and inappropriately confide in the child, use the child for emotional support or triangulate the child into parent conflict (van Dijk et al., 2020). Meta-analyses indicate that the impact of divorce on children with respect to health outcomes is small but statistically significant (van Dijk et al., 2020). The small effect is among children overall as some are greatly affected whereas the transition is easier for others. Other changes that accompany the divorce such as moving to a new home in another neighborhood, changing schools and losing friends also cause grief and stress. Those working with children should be aware of these risks and assess how individual children and parents are coping with the circumstances of their lives. Is cohabitation and remarriage more difficult for children than divorce? The remarriage of a parent may be a more difficult adjustment for a child than the original divorce (Seccombe & Warner, 2004). Biological parents are more likely to continue to be involved with their children jointly when neither parent has remarried. They are least likely to jointly be involved if the father has remarried and the mother has not. Cohabitation can be disrupting to children because cohabiting relationships in the United States tend to be short-lived. About 50 percent last less than 2 years (Brown, 2000). The child who starts a relationship with the parent's live-in partner may have to sever this relationship later. Even in long-term relationships, continued contact between stepparents and children is rare. Parental Incarceration As you will learn in later chapters, criminal offending peaks in early adulthood. Only 7% of those in state, and 11% of those in Federal custody are 55 or older (BOP Statistics: Average Inmate Age, n.d.; Jail Inmates in 2020 – Statistical Tables, n.d.). The demographics of offenders indicate that they are of childbearing and parenting age. Indeed, about half of those in custody are parents with children under 18 (Murray et al., 2012). According to The National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated “On any given day, an estimated 2.7 million children in America have at least one parent in prison or jail” (The National Resource Center on Children and 284 Families of the Incarcerated, n.d.). Incarceration rates went down during the pandemic; prior to that, parental incarceration peaked for Millennials. One in 25 White children and one in four Black children born in 1990 had experienced parental imprisonment by their 14th birthday (Murray et al., 2012). Many children have little or no contact with incarcerated parents because 62% of parents in state prisons and 84% of parents in federal prisons are held over 100 miles away from their residence; 43% of parents in federal prisons are held over 500 miles away from their last residence. Many children with incarcerated mothers are placed in foster care or are cared for by relatives, most commonly grandmothers; most with incarcerated fathers are cared for by their mothers (Fact Sheets – The National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated, n.d.; Murray et al., 2012). Children’s experiences prior to parental incarceration vary. Nearly half of offenders have substance use and/or mental health issues. Children often directly witness the arrest of their parent and arresting officers can surprise the family in the night and have weapons drawn (Murray et al., 2012). Children not witnessing the arrest may not know their parent is in custody. Caregivers may not tell them the truth about why their parent is absent, hoping to spare the child. It is usually best to provide age-appropriate accurate information to the child rather than lie or tell a partial truth (Murray et al., 2012). A recent comprehensive meta-analysis found that children of incarcerated parents are at increased risk for externalizing behavior problems (Murray et al., 2012). Child Abuse The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2013) defines Child Abuse and Neglect as: Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation; or an act or failure to act, which presents an imminent risk of serious harm (p. viii). Each state has its own definition of child abuse based on the federal law, and most states recognize four major types of maltreatment: neglect, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, and sexual abuse. Each of the forms of child maltreatment may be identified alone or in combination. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (2019), during 2017 (the most recent year data has been collected) Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies received an estimated 4.1 million referrals for abuse involving approximately 7.5 million children. This is a rate of 31.8 per 1,000 children in the national population. Professionals made 65.7% of alleged child abuse and neglect reports, and they included law enforcement (18.3%), educational (19.4%) and social services personnel (11.7%). Nonprofessionals, such as friends, neighbors, and relatives, submitted 17.3% of the reports. Approximately 3.5 million children were the subjects of at least one report. Children under one year had the highest rate of victimization (25.3 per 1,000 children of the same age). The majority of victims consisted of three ethnicities: White (44.6%), Hispanic (22.3%), and African American (20.7%). The greatest percentages of children 285 suffered from neglect (74.9%) and physical abuse (18.3%), although some suffered multiple forms of maltreatment. In 2017 an estimated 1,720 children died from abuse and neglect, and 71.8% of all fatalities were in children under 3 years old. Boys had a higher child fatality rate (2.68 per 100,000 boys), while girls died of abuse and neglect at a rate of 2.02 per 100,000 girls. More than 88% of child fatalities were White (41.9%), African American (31.5%), or Hispanic (15.1%) (HHS, 2019). Sexual Abuse Childhood sexual abuse is defined as any sexual contact between a child and an adult or a child 3 years older. Incest refers to sexual contact between a child and a family member. In each of these cases, the child is exploited by an older person without regard for the child's developmental immaturity and inability to understand the sexual behavior. Research estimates that 1 out of 4 girls and 1 out of 10 boys have been sexually abused (Valente, 2005). The median age for sexual abuse is 8 or 9 years for both boys and girls (Finkelhorn et al., 1990). Most boys and girls are sexually abused by a male. Although rates of sexual abuse are higher for girls than for boys, boys may be less likely to report abuse because of the cultural expectation that boys should be able to take care of themselves and because of the stigma attached to homosexual encounters (Finkelhorn et al., 1990). Girls are more likely to be abused by family member and boys by strangers. Sexual abuse can create feelings of self-blame, betrayal, shame, and guilt (Valente, 2005). Sexual abuse is particularly damaging when the perpetrator is someone the child trusts and may lead to depression, anxiety, problems with intimacy, and suicide (Valente, 2005). The School Environment Figure 11-3. Percentage distribution of student enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity: Fall 2009, fall 2020, and fall 2030. 286 Most children in public schools are nonwhite as of the Fall of 2020 (Figure 11-2). More than a quarter of students are Hispanic and most of these families are bilingual. Despite the potential benefits of developing bilingual, many Hispanic children are not themselves fluent in Spanish (Lopez et al., 2018). Figure 11-3 shows that American society is increasingly diverse. However, most children attend segregated schools even though the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case outlawed segregation in schools in 1954 (School Segregation and Integration | Articles and Essays | Civil Rights History Project | Digital Collections | Library of Congress, n.d.). Most White children (78%) attend schools that are at least half White; 41% of Black children attend schools that are at least half Black; and 54% of Hispanic students attend schools that are at least half Hispanic (Figure 11-4). According to Darling-Hammond of the Brookings Institute (2001), “Over the past 30 years, a large body of research has shown that four factors consistently influence student achievement all else equal, students perform better if they are 1) educated in smaller schools where they are well known (300 to 500 students is optimal), 2) have smaller class sizes (especially at the elementary level), 3) receive a challenging curriculum, and 4) have more highly qualified teachers.” White children are more likely to attend schools that are high quality as defined by each of these four factors. The end of legal segregation was followed by efforts to improve the schools that minority children attend and with school improvement standardized test scores improved (Darling-Hammond, 2001). Minority children are still more likely to attend inferior schools. Inequality and segregation result from how schools are funded and where children live. White children tend to live in the suburbs and children of color tend to live cities. Figure 11-4. Percentage distribution of public elementary and secondary school students, by student's race/ethnicity and percentage of students of color enrolled in the school: Fall 2019 Percentage distribution of public elementary and secondary school students, by student's race/ethnicity and percentage of students of color enrolled in the school: Fall 2019 287 Educational Inequality in Connecticut With a population of just over 3.6 million people Connecticut ranks 29th in terms of population. The geography of the state includes high density urban cities and lower density suburban and rural towns. Connecticut demonstrates the educational inequality that exists throughout the country partly because the state has the highest per capita income of any state (How Rich Is Each US State?, 2020). While urban schools’ need is higher urban schools have significantly fewer “guidance counselors, tutors, and psychologists; lower-paid teachers; more dilapidated facilities; and bigger class sizes than wealthier districts” (Semuels, 2016). Across the state, there is a $639 million funding gap between districts with BIPOC student populations of at least 25 percent and districts with White student populations greater than 75 percent (Racial Disparities in Connecticut Education Funding, 2020). Stated another way, Greenwich spends $6000 more per student than Bridgeport (Semuels, 2016). The disparity extends beyond the classroom and may be even more pronounced for athletics (Putterman, 2022). You might be wondering why segregation and funding differences exist if these practices are illegal. The short answer is that lawsuits about this problem were filed then appealed to the CT Supreme Court; the case is called Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Rell. In 2016 the court ruled that steps had to be taken to correct the problems. But then in a final decision in 2018 the court ruled that the disparities are not illegal. The court found that the state is not required to guarantee equal educational opportunity. The state is only required to provide a minimum acceptable free public education and that the minimum provided is good enough. If inequality is to be corrected new laws will have to be written and adopted. Read more: Connecticut Supreme Court Overturns Sweeping Education Ruling. Racial Disparities in Connecticut Education Funding. Impact of the Pandemic on Education Educational inequality and a “digital divide” were present before the pandemic, and recent educational disruptions exacerbated the existing problems. In 2018, “before the pandemic, Black teens and those living in lower-income households were more likely than other groups to report trouble completing homework assignments because they did not have reliable technology access (computer or internet)” (Schaeffer, 2021). Nearly all US schools were closed by March and April 2020 and closures lasted from 2 months to an entire academic year depending on the location; on average schools were wholly or partially closed for 58 weeks (Colvin et al., 2022). Schools and teachers tried to implement remote learning but faced challenges due to students lacking access to computers and the internet, and lack of knowledge of best practices in online teaching. As noted above, social factors contribute greatly to a child’s quality educational experience. Relationships with teachers and school staff are especially important. Children learn best when they are actively engaged, and active engagement is difficult online. Students were bored with watching teaching videos and many turned their 288 cameras off and did not feel motivated to learn (Morgan, 2022). As the US emerges from the pandemic, educators and parents realize that most children lost a year of school. Natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina created similar disruptions and were associated with lower academic achievement with larger impact on disadvantaged groups (Colvin et al., 2022). The terms “COVID learning loss” or “COVID Slide’ refer to lower academic achievement due to the pandemic. Two meta-analyses agree that scores fell about.15 standard deviations which is a small but significant effect; disadvantage students were affected most (Betthäuser et al., 2022; Storey & Zhang, 2021). The long-term outlook is not known. Figure 11-5. The digital divide by income and ethnicity. The number of teens unable to complete homework due to lack of a computer or internet access (source). Mass Shootings and Gun Deaths After the Pandemic Last week, an 8-year-old boy told his father, “Dad, I’m not sure if I’m ready to go back to that school.” Just days before a 6-year-old boy found his mother’s legally purchased loaded hand gun, put it in his backpack and brought it to school. Someone notified school officials who searched the backpack and did not find the gun. Hours later at 2 PM the boy shot his first-grade teacher in the chest. Despite her injury she was able to clear the other children out of the classroom and is expected to survive (Mervosh & Fawcett, 2023). In the first two weeks of 2023, 3 people have already been shot in American schools (“School Shootings Over Time,” 2021). Figure 11-6 shows the number of people shot at school over the last 5 years. The average shooter is a 16 y/o White male who obtained the gun from a friend or family member. Most shooters have a connection to the school and display warning signs. In 77% of shootings, the plan was known by at least one other person (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). Given there are nearly 50 million children in US public schools, the vast majority of students will not directly experience a shooting. However, no other WEIRD nation has the gun violence that the 289 US has. Children and teens are traumatized both by the shootings and by the need to practice what to do in case there is another one. A majority of students and their parents do not feel safe in school and many worry their school is next (Graf, 2018). School Shooting Victims 2018-2022 120 101 100 Number of People Shot 79 80 60 55 35 39 40 32 20 15 8 9 3 0 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Death Injury Figure 11-6. School Shooting victims 2018-2022 (source). Children’s Rights Children are young human beings. Some children are very young human beings. As human beings children evidently have a certain moral status. There are things that should not be done to them for the simple reason that they are human. At the same time children are different from adult human beings and it seems reasonable to think that there are things children may not do that adults are permitted to do… Do children have rights? If so, do they have all the rights that adults have, and do they have rights that adults do not have? If they do not have rights, how do we ensure that they are treated in the morally right way? Most jurisdictions accord children legal rights (Archard, 2018). Read More. Children’s rights refer to the rights of children as human beings, especially regarding the care they need from parents and social or public institutions providing for their health, education, safety, and well-being. The topic of children’s rights has been neglected in America. The future will always depend on what we do now to improve the welfare of generations to come. By studying child development, you will become knowledgeable about what children need to grow and thrive, and what can happen if they are not well cared for or are abused. 290 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child There is international agreement that children have rights that should be formally recognized by governments. World leaders got together and decided on a list of rights children should have. This agreement is called United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Most countries—though not the United States of America—have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which was first adopted in 1989. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a kind of “Bill of Rights” like the one in the US Constitution. It was patterned after many different legal systems and cultural traditions, the “Convention is a universally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations. These basic standards—also called human rights—set minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be respected by governments. They are founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each individual, regardless of race, colour, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or ability and therefore apply to every human being everywhere.” The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. It was created in 1989, when world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too. The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols. It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. The four core principles of the Convention are: 1) non-discrimination; 2) devotion to the best interests of the child; 3) the right to life, survival and development; 4) and respect for the views of the child. The Convention protects children’s rights by setting standards in health care; education; and legal, civil and social services. Officials from the administration of President Ronald Reagan helped write the Convention; it was signed February 23, 1995, by United Nation’s Ambassador Madeleine Albright on behalf of President William “Bill” Clinton. 291 The Convention has not been officially agreed to (ratified) by Congress. The United States is the only country in the world with a functioning government that has not officially adopted the convention. Since many countries have accepted the Convention but still do not grant children rights in practice, there is more to children’s rights than signing the UN Convention. Why hasn’t the United States ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child? There are many complications to the arguments that children should have rights. In our country, we still do not agree about these complicated arguments and that is why we haven’t adopted the Convention. It is important for you to understand BOTH sides of the arguments about children’s rights—for and against. If you understand the arguments, you can participate in discussions and make up your own mind. Those that are against adopting the Convention object to several parts of it. The Convention says that parents should not use corporal (physical) punishment against their children and that governments should not sentence youth under the age of 18 to life in prison. The United States also opposes the language of the Convention calling on government to ensure a basic level of economic, social, and cultural wellbeing for children. The text of the treaty stipulates that “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” It specifically prohibits capital punishment and life imprisonment without possibility of release for offenses committed by children under 18. Another disputed clause says that “no child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honor and reputation.” In favor of ratification: The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: After 25 Years, Should Americans Still Care? Why the US Must Ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Against ratification: Why the United States should not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child The U.S. Should Not Ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child References Anderson, J. (2014). The impact of family structure on the health of children: Effects of divorce. The Linacre Quarterly, 81(4), 378–387. https://doi.org/10.1179/0024363914Z.00000000087 Archard, D. W. (2018). Children’s Rights. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018). 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