major child development theories and theorists

8/19/2019 Major Child Development Theories and Theorists

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Major Child Development Theories and Theorists

Angela Oswalt, MSW

Though many scientists and researchers have approached the study of childdevelopment over the last hundred or so years, only a few of the theories that haveresulted have stood the test of time and have proven to be widely in uential.Among this core group of theories are ve that will serve as the basis for thedocuments in this series. These are!

• "reud#s psychose$ual stage theory

• %ri&son#s psychosocial stage theory

• 'ohlberg#s moral understanding stage theory

• (iaget#s cognitive development stage theory

• )ronfenbrenner#s ecological systems theory

Sigmund "reud and *hild +evelopment

Angela Oswalt, MSW

Sigmund "reud - /01-2324 was a 5iennese doctor who came to believe that theway parents dealt with children#s basic se$ual and aggressive desires woulddetermine how their personalities developed and whether or not they would end up

well1ad6usted as adults. "reud described children as going through multiple stagesof se$ual development, which he labeled Oral, Anal, (hallic, 7atency, and 8enital.

9n "reud#s view, each stage focused on se$ual activity and the pleasure receivedfrom a particular area of the body. 9n the oral phase, children are focused on thepleasures that they receive from suc&ing and biting with their mouth. 9n the Analphase, this focus shifts to the anus as they begin toilet training and attempt tocontrol their bowels. 9n the (hallic stage, the focus moves to genital stimulation andthe se$ual identi cation that comes with having or not having a penis. +uring this

phase, "reud thought that children turn their interest and love toward their parent of the opposite se$ and begin to strongly resent the parent of the same se$. :e calledthis idea the Oedipus *omple$ as it closely mirrored the events of an ancient 8ree&tragic play in which a &ing named Oedipus manages to marry his mother and &ill hisfather. The (hallic;Oedipus stage was thought to be followed by a period of 7atencyduring which se$ual urges and interest were temporarily none$istent. "inally,children were thought to enter and remain in a nal 8enital stage in which adultse$ual interests and activities come to dominate.



Another part of "reud#s theory focused on identifying the parts of consciousness."reud thought that all babies are initially dominated by unconscious, instinctual andsel sh urges for immediate grati cation which he labeled the 9d. As babies attempt

and fail to get all their whims met, they develop a more realistic appreciation ofwhat is realistic and possible, which "reud called the <%go<. Over time, babies alsolearn about and come to internali=e and represent their parents# values and rules.

These internali=ed rules, which he called the <Super1%go<, are the basis for the thedeveloping child#s conscience that struggles with the concepts of right and wrongand wor&s with the %go to control the immediate grati cation urges of the 9d.

)y today#s rigorous scienti c standards, "reud#s psychose$ual theory is notconsidered to be very accurate. :owever, it is still important and in uential todaybecause it was the rst stage development theory that gained real attention, andmany other theorists used it as a starting place.

%ri& %ri&son and *hild +evelopment

Angela Oswalt, MSW

%ri& %ri&son -2>?1-22@4 used "reud#s wor& as a starting place to develop a theoryabout human stage development from birth to death. 9n contrast to "reud#s focus onse$uality, %ri&son focused on how peoples# sense of identity develops how people

develop or fail to develop abilities and beliefs about themselves which allow them tobecome productive, satis ed members of society. )ecause %ri&son#s theorycombines how people develop beliefs psychologically and mentally with how theylearn to e$ist within a larger community of people, itBs called a #psychosocial# theory.

%ri&sonBs stages are, in chronological order in which they unfold! trust versusmistrust autonomy versus shame and doubt initiative versus guilt industry versusinferiority identity versus identity confusion intimacy versus isolation generativityversus stagnation and integrity versus despair. %ach stage is associated with a time

of life and a general age span. "or each stage, %ri&son#s theory e$plains what typesof stimulation children need to master that stage and become productive and well1ad6usted members of society and e$plains the types of problems and developmentaldelays that can result when this stimulation does not occur.



"or e$ample, the rst psychosocial stage is trust versus mistrust, and it spans frombirth to about age one year. +uring this phase, if children are consistently providedall their basic needs such as food, clean diapers, warmth, and loving aCection andsoothing from caregivers, they will learn that they can trust other people in theirenvironment to love them and to ta&e care of them, and they will believe the world

is good. 9f infants are neglected and not given these things consistently or if theyare ta&en care of roughly and unpredictably, they will learn to Duestion theircareta&ers and to believe that others will not always be there to support them whenitBs needed. 7earning to trust others is the rst necessary step to learning how tohave loving, supportive relationships with others and to have a positive self1image.

The second stage, autonomy versus shame and doubt, spans ages one to threeyears. When children are autonomous, they feel con dent that they can ma&e theirown choices and decisions and that they will be positive e$periences. Eoung children

become autonomous when caregivers are supportive and give children the safespace to ma&e their own decisions and to e$periment with their bodies andproblem1solving s&ills without shaming or ridiculing the child. When children feelshame and doubt, they believe that they are not capable of ma&ing valid decisionsand not capable of doing everyday tas&s. This will begin stunting a positive self1esteem as these small children start seeing themselves as Fstupid.G

The third stage, initiative versus guilt, spans ages three to si$ years. When childrendevelop initiative, they continue to develop their self1concept and gain a desire to

try new things and to learn new things while being responsible for their actions tosome e$tent. 9f caregivers continue to give children a safe space to e$periment andappropriate stimuli to learn, the children will continue to nd their purpose.:owever, if caregivers try to create too many strict boundaries around what childrencan do and to force too much responsibility on &ids, children will feel e$treme guiltfor their inability to complete tas&s perfectly.

This is 6ust a taste of %ric&sonBs ideas. :opefully, these paragraphs will help e$plainhis way of thin&ing and organi=ing development. The rest of %ri&son#s stages will be

outlined in detail in future documents in this series as they become age1related.

7awrence 'ohlberg and *hild +evelopment

Angela Oswalt, MSW



<sensory,< and by learning to crawl and then wal&, point and then grasp, hence,<motor.<

+uring the preoperational stage, which often lasts from ages two though seven,children start to use mental symbols to understand and to interact with the world,and they begin to learn language and to engage in pretend play. 9n the concreteoperational stage that follows, lasting from ages seven through eleven, childrengain the ability to thin& logically to solve problems and to organi=e information theylearn. :owever, they remain limited to considering only concrete, not abstract,information because at this stage the capability for abstract thought isn#t welldeveloped yet. "inally, during the formal operational stage, which often lasts fromage eleven on, adolescents learn how to thin& more abstractly to solve problemsand to thin& symbolically, e.g., about things that aren#t really there concretely infront of them. As is the case with %ri&son and 'ohlberg, (iaget#s ideas will be

developed in greater depth in future documents.

Jrie )ronfenbrenner and *hild +evelopment

Angela Oswalt, MSW

One nal developmental theory needs to be addressed, even though it#s not a stagetheory. Jrie )ronfenbrenner -2-H1?>>/4 developed the ecological systems theoryto e$plain how everything in a child and the child#s environment aCects how a childgrows and develops. :e labeled diCerent aspects or levels of the environment thatin uence children#s development, including the microsystem, the mesosystem, thee$osystem, and the macrosystem. The microsystem is the small, immediateenvironment the child lives in. *hildren#s microsystems will include any immediaterelationships or organi=ations they interacts with, such as their immediate family orcaregivers and their school or daycare. :ow these groups or organi=ations interactwith the child will have an eCect on how the child grows the more encouraging andnurturing these relationships and places are, the better the child will be able togrow. "urthermore, how a child acts or reacts to these people in the microsystemwill aCect how they treat her in return. %ach child#s special genetic and biologicallyin uenced personality traits, what is &nown as temperament, end up aCecting how

others treat them. This idea will be discussed further in a later document aboutchild temperament.

)ronfenbrenner#s ne$t level, the mesosystem, describes how the diCerent parts of achild#s microsystem wor& together for the sa&e of the child. "or e$ample, if a child#scaregivers ta&e an active role in a child#s school, such as going to parent1teacher



conferences and watching their child#s soccer games, this will help ensure thechild#s overall growth. 9n contrast, if the child#s two sets of careta&ers, mom withstep1dad and dad with step1mom, disagree how to best raise the child and give thechild con icting lessons when they see him, this will hinder the child#s growth indiCerent channels.

The e$osystem level includes the other people and places that the child herself maynot interact with often herself but that still have a large aCect on her, such asparents# wor&places, e$tended family members, the neighborhood, etc. "ore$ample, if a child#s parent gets laid oC from wor&, that may have negative aCectson the child if her parents are unable to pay rent or to buy groceries however, if herparent receives a promotion and a raise at wor&, this may have a positive aCect onthe child because her parents will be better able to give her her physical needs.

)ronfenbrenner#s nal level is the macrosystem, which is the largest and mostremote set of people and things to a child but which still has a great in uence overthe child. The macrosystem includes things such as the relative freedoms permittedby the national government, cultural values, the economy, wars, etc. These thingscan also aCect a child either positively or negatively.

*hild +evelopment Overview Summary

Angela Oswalt, MSW

All of these theorists# ideas will in uence and inspire the coming articles in thisseries. The documents in this series will concern child development, both fromtheoretical perspectives, and also from applied perspectives, in the form ofparenting s&ills coverage. %ight documents cover four stages of child development,de ned for the purpose of this document series to be!

9nfancy covering birth to age two4

%arly *hildhood covering ages two to seven4

Middle *hildhood covering ages seven to eleven4

Adolescence covering ages eleven to twenty1two4



This brea&down of ages provides rough correspondence with the stage theories of(iaget, %ri&son, and )ronfenbrenner too. Within each stage, a #theory# document willdescribe how development typically proceeds through the ma6or developmentalchannels, including physical, mental, emotional and social, and se$ualdevelopments. A second #applied# document will address appropriate parenting s&ills

in light of what is &nown about children#s development within each stage.

9t#s important to remember that while these documents will ma&e generalstatements about when developments occur in a child#s life, each child willnevertheless develop at his or her own speed, and that even within a given child,certain channels may progress faster than others. "or e$ample, a twelve1year1oldmay have the physical growth and change of an adolescent but mentally still be inthe concrete operational stage. This is normal because often one aspect of a child#sbeing will mature faster than another. Most of the time, given the right nurturing

and stimuli, everything will catch up in the end. These ages are 6ust an average andshould be loo&ed at as a general guide rather than a rule.

When babies are in infancy, they are changing from being totally dependent oncaregivers to learning to wal&, to tal&, to play alongside others, and are reali=ingthey are their individual selves. When children enter early childhood, they continueto improve their large and small motor s&ills as they run and move more smoothly.

They also grow mentally and socially as they enter school and other places wherethey interact with children. +uring middle childhood, children continue to grow and

improve physically, while also growing mentally as they attend school. Theymaintain friendships in large same1se$ groups and begin forming ideas aboutgender roles and 6obs. +uring adolescence, people go through puberty as theirbodies mature and become capable to reproduce. Teens attempt to assert theirindividual identity while still needing rules and limits to continue to help them ma&egood life decisions. +uring later adolescence, young adults begin the tas&s of

nding a life calling or 6ob and of nding or creating their own ne$t1generationfamily.

%ven more milestones and more in1depth information will be e$plained in futurearticles. :opefully, they will give you the tools that as a caregiver you need to giveyour children the best possible basis to grow and to succeed.

major child development theories and theorists

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