• Explain how secure attachment might build a bridge between infant relationships with caregivers and peer relationships in early adolescence
Early attachment relationships influence later peer relationships. Parents are often worried that the peer groups to which their children attach will have more influence than they do. However, if it is true that early secure attachment leads children toward positive peer relationships, then parents who maintain positive relationships with their children provide protection from other influences.
It is certainly true that there are many factors that contribute to children’s development of positive friendships and peer groups. Positive family relationships, healthy communities, and good schools all contribute to positive peer relationships.
On the other hand, poor family relationships, divorce, violent neighborhoods, and low socioeconomic status are all potential negative factors, which might result in social problems (such as, aggression, bullying, and social rejection). There are also personality characteristics that may contribute to these types of challenges (e.g., aggression and shyness).
There are important developmental processes to consider in the exploration of friendship relationships. In early childhood, friends are made because they like to engage in the same type of activities and/or they live and play near one another. By the time children are school age, they make friends because they have similar interests and compatible personalities. They develop trust and loyalty with each other. As they enter their teen years, personal values become important, and they form cliques and crowds that swirl around those values. These groups provide a vehicle for dating and later relationships.
Parents are often afraid of preadolescent peer groups. However, these groups are normal and necessary in development. By maintaining positive relationships and sharing values, parents provide the context for positive social development.
As you prepare for this Assignment, think about the role that parents and other adults play in promoting healthy relationships for children and preadolescents.
To prepare for this Assignment:
• Review Chapters 8-10 of the course text.
• Review the article, “A Longitudinal Examination of Links Between Mother-Child Attachment and Children’s Friendships in Early Childhood.”
• Think about how, and why, school age children and preadolescents make friends.
• Think about why some children become popular while others are rejected.
• Consider the logical connection between the relationship which develops in the attachment phase, and the development of future relationships in childhood and preadolescence.
The Assignment: (2–3 pages)
Reflect on the development of peer relationships. Include (but do not necessarily limit yourself to) the following:
• Explain how secure attachment might build a bridge between infant relationships with caregivers and peer relationships in early adolescence. Provide specific examples.
• Analyze friendships that occur in both middle childhood and adolescence. Briefly explain how these relationships are developmentally different from each other. Provide specific examples.
• Summarize your thoughts about the importance of adults in children’s socialization, particularly as it relates to the development of friendships and peer groups. Be sure to provide examples and justify your response with information from the Week 4 readings.
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