Child Psychopathology in Context II – Cultural Models

1. Child Psychopathology in Context II – Cultural Models

2. 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

3. Continuities and discontinuities in Cultural Conditioning [Benedict] • 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 • Areas judged to be distinctly different on the continuity- discontinuity continuum • Responsible – nonresponsible status role • Dominance – submission • Contrasted sexual role

4. 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) • 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Growing Up Black [Ladner]

8. 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

9. 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 well-integrated personality than his white middle-class counterparts, whose protected, sheltered lives are representations of the most fragile personality the society could produce” (p. 215)

10. 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

11. 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)

12. 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)

13. 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)

14. 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

15. Views of Child Development from Other Non-European Cultures Views of Child Development from Cross-Cultural Studies of Attachment • Israel: Kibbutzim [ C] • Rural Japan [ C] • Northern Germany [ A] • African-American [ A, C]

16. Mention Cultural Critique • Genital mutilation • Child labor [WTO Convention] • Profit-driven educational systems • Institutional racism and sexism