Lecture #5-Children, Families and Communities Flashcards
Longitudinal Research
The goal of longitudinal research is to incorporate children’s characteristics and their various contexts for development
Contexts
Are measured based on children’s basic demographic information, information of the parents, child’s health status and health information about the child’s parents and their lifestyle activities
Community context
Focuses on social relationships outside of the family, involvement in the community and information about the neighborhood where the family lives
Ethnography
Helpful in demonstrating the complex nature of childhood experiences and provides important information that can be used to support caregivers and their practices
Collaborative research
Valuable in early childhood settings because it allows practitioners and families to have a voice in research on child development who are often excluded
Environmental Context
The environmental context that a child is raised in helps to make more effective decisions that will have a positive impact on their wellbeing
Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory
-incorporates multiple contexts, environments, social policies and cultures to gain a better understanding of child development
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach
-attempts to conceptualize children in relation to their physical, social and psychological environment
Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology model
-refers to the microsystem which involves settings that the child is involved in such as school and church
Mesosystem
-refers to the amount of overlap that exists between two settings in the microsystem such as between conflicting or complementary values and routines between home and school
An exosystem
-refers to settings that the child is not directly involved in such as a parent’s workplace but which has a significant effect on their life and development
A macrosystem
-refers to various cultural and societal contexts that affect all the other systems
The developmental niche
The idea that individuals seek out a niche with contexts that match their own characteristics
Chronosystem
A chronosystem changes over time and takes into account numerous developmental and historical changes
The process-person-context-time model
The idea that the effectiveness of proximal processes is dependant on the person who is participating in an activity, the context the activity is taking place in, and the amount of time that is dedicated to a specific activity
Cultural practices
Cultural practices are internalised and passed down through the generations and play a significant role in shaping the behaviour, values and beliefs of a child
Microtime
Refers to the continuity or discontinuity of episodes of proximal processes
Mesotime
Refers to the frequency of these episodes over time such as weeks and months
Macrotime
Refers to the idea that societal values and expectations are constantly changing
Epigenetics
- Focuses on environmental influences that affect gene expression
- Every person develops differently and on a unique timetable that is largely affected by environmental factors
Sensitive periods
Refer to the time during development where the brain is very malleable and responsive to experiences which results in irreversible change
Plasticity
- Plasticity is the production and refinement of neural connections through stimuli of synapses
- An unhealthy environment during childhood is associated with neural network abnormalities in areas of the brain that are responsible for memory, attention, impulsiveness and behavioral regulation and control
Disability
A disability is an umbrella term that refers to impairment, activity limitations and participation restrictions
Impairments
Impairments are problems in physical body functions that can range from mild, moderate, severe or complete
Activity limitations
Activity limitations are difficulties in participating in daily activities like learning or mobility
Participatory restrictions
Problems that happen in everyday life situations like building relationships and community
Classification
- Allows people to come together to share common experiences and develop an understanding of various disability types
- not useful when it makes the assumption that people of the same disability classification are the exact same and have the same experiences
Disabilism
Disabilism affects the person with the disability and sometimes their family members and can come in the form of social exclusion, verbal abuse or being looked down on by others
Living environment deficiency
Refers to those who are living in an environment where there is a high risk for social issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, high crime rates, poverty and abuse
Childhood trauma
The term used to describe a history of physical, sexual or emotional abuse in childhood
Cultural Identity
Allows people to identify themselves in relation to their ethnicity, religion, geographical location and beliefs
4 features of cultural life
- Having an understanding of the culture’s ideology and beliefs
- Becoming competent in the cultural practices
- Moving along the culture’s accepted pathways
- Following the culture’s rules for uniformity
Practices
A way of acting that is repeated and sets the standard for the culturally accepted way to behave and they are often resistant to change (ex. wearing a headscarf or turban)
Enculturation
Children become enculturated in the process of embracing beliefs, practices, lifestyles and norms of a particular culture
Acculturation
Acculturation processes are experiences when two cultures come into continual contact with each other as people move through various contexts
Community development work
Community development work is often done by a paid worker whose goal is to help a specific community to come together and organise themselves to address shared problems and needs
Social action
Work conducted by a community group to persuade the government or private sector to do something they want or to stop something they don’t want
Social planning
Social planning is used to influence service providers, rather than only assisting a community group to do so
Community development approach
- The idea that workers act as facilitators with local people to help them become involved and work towards reaching their collective goals
- It is important for workers to have a facilitating role when there are competing ideas and interests in the group and they work to reconcile differences
Process goal
A process goal has to do with changes in people’s confidence, knowledge and skills
Product goal
A product goal involves a change in the situation
Expressive groups
Focus on having a good or rewarding time during their meetings while working towards complicated, long-term goals
Instrumental groups
Focus on trying to create change outside of themselves and involves specific plans, written records or decisions and a meeting agenda
Radical community work
Based on challenging norms and “common sense” and identifying issues along with their causes
Intervention project
An intervention project must have a long-term development plan that is based on a community profile and needs analysis and to build on any previous work
Operational power
Operational power is control of the labour processes which produces economic profit and management is typically displayed using a pyramidal hierarchy (top to bottom ranking)
Strategic power
Strategic power is control of the corporation itself, often by owning the largest amount of shares
Allocative power
Allocative power is having control of the money-capital that corporations depend on, resulting in a complex relationship between creditors and debtors
Finance capital
Finance capital is operational forms of economic power which is a combination of operational, strategic and allocative power which has helped to advance capitalism
Neo-liberalism
Refers to a historical economic approach where there is less government regulation and involvement in the economy
Hegemony
Refers to cultural and political leadership that influences what is seen as possible and in the common interest of the corporate elite
What are the 3 types of class consciousness?
- Class awareness/identity
- Oppositional class consciousness
- revolutionary/counter-hegemonic
Class identity
An awareness of membership in a distinct class (most people identify as middle class)
Class opposition
- The belief that the interests of workers and capitalists are opposed
- Research shows that there is only a small difference in attitudes towards business and labour
Counter hegemonic consciousness
- A belief in the desirability and possibility of a non-capitalist society
- Most people rarely see an alternative to the capitalist economy
