LASA 2: Training and Intervention Program
Running head: ASSESSMENT OF CHILD’S BEHAVIOR 1
Assessment of Child’s Behavior-LASA 2
Student’s name
PSY 311: Child Family and Community Relationships
Looney Tune University
Research has shown that children behavior is significantly affected by the social environment. This has led to many psychologist experts promoting child behavior interventions that mainly focus improving children development by improving the child’s social environment and the general community. This has led for more call to create an effective environment or children which is conducive for their health.
Social environment refers to individuals within the society that interact directly or indirectly to the children. Social environment can be categorized into three; social relationships, community resources and physical surroundings. The physical surrounding includes education facilities, housing and other physical amenities. The nature of physical environment influences the quality of child parenting and in turn influences the child’s behavior development. The community resources refer to community structures, knowledge, organizations and supports within a society. The quality of community resources influences the living standards of community members. A community with undeveloped community resources negatively affects child behavior development. Social relationships refer to how individuals in a community interact. Good social relationships improve the general social cohesion, informal child care and enforce healthy social behaviors that positively influence children behavior.
This paper will analyze the case of Brandon, an African American child who is struggling with his studies and is in danger of repeating third grade. Brandon has a problem with concentration in class and claims that he gets bored with having to sit and read and prefers to walk around class or draw pictures paying little attention to class work. Brandon’s parents say that the child is even more destructive at home. Moreover, we learn that the parents are struggling financially since his father lost his job and the mother is forced to work part time at a gas station. This paper attempts to define the role of the child in the community and the influences on their behavior development.
Today’s education system is faced with various children behavioral problems such as lack of interest in study or even school refusal. One reason believed to influence child behavior and their attitude towards school is their social ecology. Children are born with a biological system that is influenced by the ecology that the child interacts with. The ecological system that influences a child behavior can be divided into micro and macro environment. The ecological factors has an influence on the child behavior and how the child’s behavior at school. Common socio-ecological factors that influence human behavior include; philosophy, media, politics, and religion. Culture develops due to ability of human beings to imitate, learn, teach, and adapt to environmental changes. Therefore ecological concept may help us understand Brandon’s behavior. Brandon’s behavior may be due to changes in his family, or his environment. Brandon may have lost interest in school activities due to his depressed father who just lost his job.
Social ecological models were developed to explain the interrelations between environmental factors and child behaviors development. Bronfenbrenner (1979) introduced ecological perspective into the study of children social development. Bronfenbrenner (1979) argued that the entire ecological system that an individual grows has some influence of how the individual develops. However, in his latter works he acknowledged the genetic and biological aspects on human development.
Bronfenbrenner categorized an individual’s environment into different system levels. The five levels include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem (Lerner, 1989). The microsystem is the system that an individual has direct contact with. Brandon’s micro systems include home and school. Typically, micro systems include parents, family, school peers, teachers and other care givers (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The micro system is the most influential level in the ecological model (Lerner, 1989).
Brandon’s micro system is his home environment and school environment. Brandon’s home environment includes his interaction with his parents and siblings. On the other hand, his school environment includes his regular interactions with other students in class, teachers and the school principle. Brandon’s does not mind being sent to the principle office since the principle compliments his interest in art work.
The mesosystem is the second most influential ecological level. The mesosystem refers to the interaction between different parts of an individual’s micro-system. The stronger and more diverse the links among the parts of microsystems, the more powerful an influence the resulting systems will be on an individual’s development (Zirpoli, 2008). In the mesosystem, the initiatives of the child, as well as the parent’s initiatives in linking the home and the school significantly determine a child’s mesosystem quality.
Brandon’s mesosystem involves the relationship between teachers and his parents. Brandon’s parents take active role in school by attending school sermons. Moreover, the parents share their Brandon’s home behaviors with the teachers. This good relationship between parents and teachers is good. Brandon’s behavior could be worse were it that different parts of the microsystem worked against one another.
Brandon’s exosystem is the third ecological system we examine. The exosystem is the environment that does not involve Brandon’s active participation yet still has influence on Brandon’s development. According to Zirpoli (2008) the child’s behavior might be influenced by forces which the child is not actively involved, but have direct impact on parents and other care givers. Exosystems includes parent’s workplace issues, school management board and social service agencies. Brandon might have been negatively affected by the report that his father just lost his job and is depressed. Moreover, Brandon’s father used to come back home tired around dinner time when he was working. This often took the father away from the family. However, Brandon’s father’s depression may have made Brandon anxious. Brandon’s anxiety can be witnessed by his constant complaint o hunger and lack of interest in school activities.
Macrosystem is the fourth level of the ecological model. The macro systems involve an individual’s cultural settings that affect their development. Examples of macrosystems include cultural values, political systems and economy. Macrosystems can have either negative or positive influence on a child’s behavior development. The economic recession in the country has led to massive job losses and unemployment. There this indirectly affects Brandon’s behavior at school where he prefers to draw rather than concentrate on class work.
Brandon is a trouble maker at home. His poor behavior is seen by way in which he steals and breaks property of his siblings. Moreover, he frequently sneaks food into his room and regularly wets his bed. However, the doctor has ruled out physical problems as a reason for his accidental bed wetting experiences.
Brandon’s rebellious behavior at home has clearly influenced his behavior at school. While at school, Brandon prefers to draw picture and walk around class rather than concentrating on class work. The family has great influence on child socialization. Children are dependent on their parents as they grow and the responsibility to influence good behavior on the child is the responsibility of the parents.
However, the class or family situation might affect how a child is brought up. Brandon’s family is somehow low class. The mother works as a part time fuel attendant while his father just lost his job. Parents in lower class emphasize conformity to the laid down structures. People in low class are used to performing routine jobs done under close supervision and hence encourage conformity from their children. Brandon’s parents do not compliment his drawing skills and insists that he should concentrate on class work.
Parenting styles differ in four areas; nurturance, discipline strategy, expectations and communication skills. Berger (2001) describes three parenting styles; authoritative, authoritarian and permissive. Parents greatly influence the lives of their children (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Berger (2001) argues that there is a close correlation between parenting style and a child’s school behavior, self-perception and delinquencies.
Authoritarian parents are described to have strict devotion to discipline but low on nurturance. Moreover, dictatorial parents are high on expectation, low on child-to-parent communication and show little affection to their children (Berger, 2001). However, as children work to avoid punishment by obeying their directions, they become passive. Children in this category will distance themselves from their parents by rebelling against their values as they grow older (Berger, 2001).
Authoritative parents are moderate on expectations of maturity and discipline and high on nurturance and communication (Berger, 2001). They also provide a loving environment to their children providing close emotional support. Barakat & Clark (1999) argues that authoritative parents are firm, fair and consistent in their actions.
Permissive parents are generally neglectful and disengaged. Permissive parents are high on nurturance, high on child-to-parent communication, low in expectation, and low in discipline. Permissive parents are inconsistent disciplinarians with no clear limits to their parents. Children who undergo this style of parenting learn how to manipulate others at a young age. In school these children record poor grades, have higher records of misbehavior and lack of respect to authority. Moreover these children are vulnerable to get distracted or discouraged by environmental problems turning them away from actively participating in school activates. Brandon’s parents are permissive in their parenting style. The father comes back home late and tired while the mother spends time at her place of work as a part time fuel attendant. Moreover, since the father lost his job he has spent a lot of time sleeping and desperate.
Schooling is of great importance to the growth of a child. Schools give children an opportunity to see the world perspective by helping them meet people from different backgrounds. Furthermore, school instill values of hard work, honesty, friendly competition and justice to the children. Additionally, teachers strive to inculcate right attitudes on the children and empower them to adapt to life after school.
References
Barakat, I. S., & Clark, J. A. (2001). Positive discipline and child guidance. Human development and family studies.
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Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
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Zirpoli, T. J. (2008). Behavior management: Applications for teachers. Prentice Hall.
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Berger, K. S. (2001). The Developing Person throughout the Lifespan. 5th ed. New York: 2001
