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The right to play is a childs first claim on the community. Play is natures training for life. No community can infringe that right without doing deep and enduring harm to the minds and bodies of its citizens. By playing, children learn and develop as individuals, and as members of the community. Letting children go out and play is one of the best things that parents can do for their children’s health. A mix of active, imaginative and creative play makes for a brilliantly balanced diet of play. Some children prefer to spend most of their time with creative play, some with imaginative play and others with active play. There is nothing wrong in liking one toy or game in particular, but a balanced diet of play is best for development. In other words, it’s good for your child to play in lots of different ways. Each type of play contributes in its own way to all-round psychological progress. Your child gets something different out of playing with different toys. Encourage your child to achieve a balanced diet of play by offering a regular change of play activities. You can suggest new types of games and new toys. A balanced diet of play is as important as good food or love. According to Dr Richard Woolfson (an educational psychologist with 30 years’ experience and a qualified nursery and primary school teacher), a portion each of three types of play each day helps with every child’s healthy development:

Creative play is about drawing, painting, playing music, cooking, or making something (anything!). It doesn’t matter what your child makes, or whether there’s a perfect result. Through creative play, your child expresses his- or herself, learns about process, discovers cause and effect and gains pride in their achievements.

Imaginative play starts in your child’s head. It can be role-playing, creating a new game, giving toys a voice, inventing adventures or playing a word game. Through imaginative play your child begins to understand the world, investigates fact and fiction, and develops positive relationships with themselves and other people.

Active play is how your child moves in the world. It is running, jumping, catching and dancing – all of which build strength and boost coordination. Active play is also a great way to learn about teamwork, release tension and feel truly free.

Play is a serious business, as far as children are concerned. Play makes an immense contribution to your child’s development in lots of important ways.As a child plays, they learn all about themselves and what they can do. Play helps them make friends, enjoy company and discover the world around them. Your child has fun while playing and at the same time is exercising, discovering and developing both emotionally and physically. That’s what makes play so wonderful!

Improving Confidence Through Play

Play boosts your child’s self-confidence in many ways:

Exploration. By learning through discovery, your child develops belief in their skills and abilities.

Movement. As soon as your child can move, they want to play. The “I got there by myself” expression shows your child’s growing confidence. Playing is also a fantastic form of exercise and as the facts show us, children need regular exercise.

Facts:

Welsh children are the second most overweight in Europe

According to recent research by the World Health Organisation -in Wales, 23% of boys and 17% of girls are obese.

60% of children spend up to 4 hours a day watching TV.

Only 60% of children have regular opportunities to play outside.

Imagination. Children use their imagination in pretend-play. This is a new and exciting experience for children, and they love it.

Creativity. Every child can be creative in play. Your child will be delighted when you smile at their drawings and paintings.

Socialising. Playing with friends is a great way for your child to learn important social skills like sharing and taking turns.

Problem-solving. Your child’s confidence is boosted by solving a puzzle – they would rather do it without too much help.

Language. Playing with others builds up your child’s vocabulary, speech and communication skills.

Individual Play Patterns

The way your child plays depends on many different factors. First there’s their age and stage of development – play becomes more complicated as your child grows older. Personality matters too – an enthusiastic child will get stuck in to toys immediately while a passive child may hold back. The range of toys and games available affects play – a child who hasn’t got a pedal toy, for example, won’t learn how to make it move by pushing the pedals.

Every child instinctively needs to play. But there are many distractions that can grab young interest. For example, a television programme or a computer game may attract your child’s attention away from toys and games.

A Balanced Diet of Play

Some children prefer to spend most of their time with creative play, some with imaginative play and others with active play. There is nothing wrong in liking one toy or game in particular, but a balanced diet of play is best for development. In other words, it’s good for your child to play in lots of different ways. Each type of play contributes in its own way to all-round psychological progress. Your child gets something different out of playing with different toys. Encourage your child to achieve a balanced diet of play by offering a regular change of play activities.

“Rights” are things every child should have or be able to do. All children have the same rights. These rights are listed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child started twenty years ago. Almost every country has agreed to these rights. All the rights are connected to each other, and all are equally important. Sometimes, we have to think about rights in terms of what the best is for children in a situation, and what is critical to life and the protection from harm. Millions of children in the world are victims of mistreatment, abuse and violence each year. They are abducted from their homes and schools and recruited into the army. They are trafficked into prostitution rings. The consequences can be devastating. Violence and abuse can kill. Often the children result in poor physical and mental health. They are also denied an education, or lead to homelessness or a sense of hopelessness. Some worst cases the children are forced into begging. Most of the time, children are helpless and are not able to defend themselves against any form of danger.

Children need love and protection from the moment they are born. They are not able to defend themselves and are also helpless little individuals who will not be able to look after themselves. They do not have the required capability to care for themselves. They need love and protection from adults for various reasons. The reasons are their psychological, spiritual and physical wellbeing; happiness and joy; safety and security; stability; inner strength, confidence and high self-esteem; a life free of fear and worries and lastly securing a bright future (Benjamim). A child who is not loved and cared for will feel neglected. They will feel that they are unworthy of love and will grow up to be disturbed adults. They will lack confidence, insecurity and therefore will not be able to perform to their potential. As they are not able to express their true feelings, they will hide in a corner or behave aggressively to show their anger. Love will give the strength and also peace of mind they need as they grow. Children’s basic needs must be met. They must know that there is an adult they can approach when they need help and support. They must feel that there is someone who will always be there for them and to love them completely. Even when children are being disciplined, they should know that it is out of love and that they are being protected from being hurt. Children who feel loved and protected will be happy and motivated about themselves. They will be able to achieve to their potential, trust and interact with the people around them. These children will grow into wise, strong, self-confident, respectful, reliable adults and conduct a healthy lifestyle. They will make sensible choices and lead a normal life. They will be able to build positive relationships and therefore create strong family bonds. They will pass the love and protection they received when they were young to their children. These are the reasons why children need the protection of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child was set up in 1945 by 51 countries. Today there are 192 member states. It was set up with several aims to benefit young children. The aims of the Convention are to set standards for the defense of young children against neglects and abuses that they face in countries all over the world every day. It is cautious in allowing for the different cultural, political and material realities among all the different countries. The most impotent factor to consider is for the best interest of the child. The Convention constitutes an assembling point and a useful tool for civil society and individual children, working for the protection and promotion of the rights of the child. The rights set out in the Convention can be generally grouped in three sections. The first section is Provision, which means that every child has the right to possess, receive or have access to certain things or services. For example, they are entitled to a name, a nationality, health care, education, play, and care for disabled children and also the orphans. The second section is Protection. This means that the child has the right to be protected from harmful acts and practices. For example, when they are separated from their parents, being used for commercial or sexual exploitation and when they are physically and mentally abused. The third section is Participation. The child has a right to be heard on decisions affecting their life. As their abilities progress and as a preparation for adult life, the child needs to have increasing opportunities in taking part in the social activities. For example, they should have freedom of speech and opinion. They should be allowed to choose their culture, religion and language (Hrea). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child also aims at protecting children from discrimination, neglect and abuse. It provides for the implementation of rights for children both during times of peace and war times. There are four general principles being conserved in the Convention. The principles also known as the key provisions focuses on Non-discrimination; Best interests of the child; Right to life, survival and development. They express philosophies the Convention is conveying and provides guidance for national programmes of implementation.

According to Krappmann (2009), it is important that many professionals who are working with young children must know the rights of a child. However, most often they do not know much what these rights for the child means. Now the rights of a child are spreading across the world and to other different professional people like judges, teachers, policemen, law-enforcement officers, medical staffs and social workers. Parents are also educated about the provisions of the Convention. Even children themselves know what their rights are. However, this knowledge has not ended the sufferings and difficulties faces by children but it is considered an appreciable start. More schools are starting to inform children about their rights and give them a chance to speak up in matters that concerns them. Then again as mentioned earlier it is not happening everywhere. On the other hand, awareness about who children are and what are their rights are being spread across the globe. There concrete changes taking place in the world. For instance, many laws have been coordinated with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to set the law for Juveniles. Child rights have been included in new articles of constitutions and child codes. In most countries violating the rights of a child like punishing the child harshly or sexually abusing the child have been dealt with very severely. Juveniles’ and adults’ justice are being separated into individual systems in many countries. These progresses are not only the efforts of the supervising committee but many United Nation agencies and organisations have been contributing towards the process of making child rights a success. Governments are involved, not only in the implementation of child rights in their own country but also cooperating with other State Parties which needs resources.

There were case studies from Africa, where reports state that early child development was available in Africa. However, it was limited and was only available to very few people in Africa. Due to this problem, Europe set out a mission to change Africa. It identifies that religion and education will be the most promising means to save the continent and its people from their sufferings. They started the Euro-Western early child development programme in Africa. There are evidences that the Euro-Western early child development programmes are beginning to take shape in Africa (Pence and Nsamenang, 2008). This is one example that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has made a difference to the lives of the children. Another example is that in July 2010, the Republic of Congo announced that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed new measures to increase child protection and this is a major development for the Central African nation. Marianne Flach, UNICEF Representative in Congo said “This framework will better monitor the violation of children’s rights, abuses and help to improve the situation to build a protective environment for children.” UNICEF also noted that Africa’s legislation must be updated and coordinated with the new measures that were recently implemented. These national efforts will need more support.

The world has changed over the past 20 years and the challenges children face is different from those times to the present situation. Early childhood had changed and will continue to do so with the influence of technology and economic developments. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has made a difference to the lives of the children. However, the Convention still could help to strengthen children’s role in decision-making processes and demand that they are given a voice in reviews of their placements.

There are many definitions of resilience but most have similar components. Gilligan’s (2000) definition states ‘a set of qualities that helps a person to withstand many of the negative effects of adversity. Bearing in mind what has happened to them, a resilient child does better than he or she ought to do’ is one of the more straightforward. Critically, most authors consider that resilience is a mixture of nature and nurture. Attributes that some children are born with, such as good intellectual ability and a placid, cheerful temperament, are associated with resilience. Children who are born prematurely and/or with disabilities, who cry and cannot be comforted, who cannot sleep or who will not accept being held are more vulnerable to adversity and may be less likely to be resilient.

The term resilience is used to describe why some people struggle hard to cope with life experiences while others survive with self-esteem, identity and their level of wellbeing intact. The concept of resilience has been used to refer to:

a positive outcome despite the experience of adversity;

continued positive or effective functioning in adverse circumstances; or

recovery after a significant trauma. (Masten quoted in Schoon, 2006, p. 7)

Johnston-Wilder and Collins quote: ‘What constitutes adversity, adverse conditions and trauma varies among individuals and between cultures. Like adults, children vary considerably as to what they find easy, hard or impossible to deal with. When children are exposed to a stimulus that might offer a threat to self-image or self-esteem, they respond differently’. (Johnston-Wilder and Collins, 2008 pg 54)

Very little distresses parent/carers more than witnessing their children struggle to cope with life’s difficulties. Trouble, whatever its form or source, holds the potential of engendering negative emotions in children and exhausting their coping resources. If the trouble is serious or long lasting, it may reduce a child’s chances of attaining life enhancing goals and experiencing sustained episodes of emotionally invigorating pleasure. It may also move a child on a course of maladaptive functioning. Parent/carers typically devote considerable energy trying to eliminate the source of difficulty or control.

However, the government initiatives such as Every Child Matters: Change for Children (DfES, 2004) attempt to address the issue of identity and self-esteem, stressing the importance of supporting all children’s social and emotional development. Such support needs to be based on an understanding of identity formation, which involves a consideration of definitions of ‘identity’ and of the complexity of the term.

John Bowlby’s theory of attachment argued that a child’s emotional bond to their familial caregiver was a biological response that ensured survival. The quality of attachment, he quotes, has implications for the child’s capacity to form trusting relationships. To put Bowlby’s theory into practice, Pound states ‘the main positive outcomes of good attachment experiences in the early years seem to be social ones:

• Self confidence

• Efficacy

• Self-esteem

• The capacity to care for others and to be cared for’. (Pound, 2008, pg 44 and 45)

Consequently, the attachment theory suggests that children’s self-esteem is profoundly affected by the quality of early relationships between children and their parents, carers or significant others. Knowledge of attachment and separation behaviours can be useful in supporting children who show unusual signs of stress in unfamiliar social situations, such as the transition to school (Barrett and Trevitt, 1991). Critcially both, Johnston-Wilder and Collins quote: ‘But even exponents of attachment theory recognise that attachment history is only partially useful in predicting some outcomes for children, and even these would not be uniquely predicted by attachment history. Practitioners need to use a range of theories and knowledge to understand the behaviour of children with whom they work and be tolerant of individual differences and needs. There can, however, be pressures on such tolerance: schools, for example, often justify their exclusion policies with reference to the need to educate all children and keep them safe from harm’. (Johnston-Wilder and Collins, 2008 pg 44)

Valerie Daniels quotes ‘Being able to communicate is a real asset when working with children. Body language says a lot. What you say, what, the way you behave, even to the other adults in the room makes a very real impact on children. But if at all possible try and be as natural as possible with children’. (Open University, 2008)

The UNICEF document, ‘An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries’ provided an overview of the state of childhood in the majority of economically advanced nations of the world. The document states ‘The UK ranked in the bottom third of the country rankings for five of the six dimensions reviewed. While the country ranked higher in the educational well-being dimension, the UK lags behind in terms of relative poverty and deprivation, quality of children’s relationships with their parents and peers, child health and safety, behaviour and risk-taking and subjective well-being’. (UNICEF: 2007, pg Report Card 7). Critically, there is still considerable work to be done, to enhance all dimensions of child welfare, despite increased government investments in improving children’s services over the past 10 years.

Daniel Coleman quotes ‘critically, parents/carers are asked to attend emotional needs of their children and are prompted to train themselves to handle their interpersonal relations wisely. It is critical, that as a parent/carer, they should know about origin of their emotions, functioning of their brain and positive usage of their feelings. Critically, they need to control their emotions while making decisions; otherwise they have the capability to hijack their rationality. Many may face different situations and make spur of the moment decisions, followed by their emotions. Decisions may not be logical even though they may have sharp logics’ (Coleman, 1996). Consequently, responsibility for school readiness lies not with the child, but with the parent/carers who care for them and the educational systems. Parent/Carers therefore, need to attend to the emotional needs of their children and prompted to train themselves to handle their own interpersonal relations wisely. Foley and Leverett, quote ‘There are a number of aspects of emotional literacy that may usefully be grouped, such as recognising your own emotional state, managing your own emotions, recognising others’ emotions, being able to be explicit about feelings, and being able to talk about talking. These skills and understandings are important components with which to build and sustain relationships with others. Here a child describes how, in her school, a simple bully box can encourage children to communicate worries and feelings’ (Foley and Leverett, 2008 pg 17)

This work complements existing national initiatives to promote social and emotional well-being. It should be considered in the context of the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme and related community-based initiatives. SEAL supports children’s social, emotional and behavioural skills. It focuses on five social and emotional aspects of learning: self-awareness, managing feelings, motivation, empathy and social skills. It looks at helping children develop skills such as understanding another’s point of view, working in a group, sticking at things when they get difficult, resolving conflict and managing worries. These initiatives stress the importance of such programmes to enable children to participate fully in the development to ensure their views are heard.

However, a growing body of research indicates how identity formation is an important indicator of feelings of wellbeing and self-worth (Canino et al., 2004; Rapee et al., 2006). Our individual perception of, and how we value, ourselves is linked to our behaviour and social performance. This process becomes important to all who work with children because identity formation and feelings of wellbeing are strongly linked to life experiences and success (Kernis, 1995). Poor self-esteem is associated with anxiety development among young children (Canino et al., 2004; Rapee et al., 2006), identity conflict (Kendall and Kessler, 2002) and, in extreme cases, psychiatric distress and disorder (Burns and Rapee, 2006).

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989), including the participation rights of the child, and so incorporates a dimension solely based on children’s own sense of wellbeing. International measurements and comparisons such as these should give an indication of a country’s strengths and weaknesses and of what is achievable; children’s wellbeing in rich countries is, in reality, policy-susceptible. It would appear that the UK has rather more weaknesses than strengths; the UK, at the time of writing, was in the bottom third of the rankings for five of the six dimensions of children’s wellbeing in the UNICEF report.

Critically, practitioners face a dilemma around needing to both accept and change children’s perceptions of themselves in order to promote their wellbeing. Developing resilience is also of vital importance if children are to face up to and cope successfully with the challenges that come their way. Consequently, Susan Rodger states ‘Youth Inclusion Project was developed to encourage young people with disabilities to access mainstream clubs and groups. I think it’s important they attend clubs like everybody else. They should be allowed to have that sense of belonging in these organisations without having to have their mum perhaps going along with them’. (Open University, 2008). Lorraine states: ‘If you see her body language, when she walks in, and she’s walking up high and her shoulders are back and she’s walking in and she thinks she’s the bee’s knees. And she’s saying bye to her brothers and you know, they’re quite high because they think it’s great that their sister’s doing the same things as any other girls and that’s really important for their self-esteem too. It speaks volumes. I think it’s a struggle to get a child like Vanessa involved in just normal activities, usually because of people’s attitudes, because that attitude can be based on fear, it can be based on ignorance, it can be based on a whole variety of reasons, but it was a struggle. I mean like most things with a child with disability, to actually get to the point baseline almost, where other parents are, you know, starting off from, is a struggle. So it wasn’t easy because not all the Guide groups in Stirling wanted to take her’. (Open University, 2008). Other important issues are: what working effectively with others means; how the relevant skills develop; how children can be enabled to make choices about fitting in; where things may go wrong; and how positive intervention strategies can be applied. Nicola Fry quotes ‘Children need to development their sense of responsibility not just to others but themselves. If I am talking to a group of children we all have to respect that a particular child has the right to be listened too and views taken seriously, then that child must realise that applies to the other children too and it then becomes his responsibility to listen.. and so on. (Open University, 2010).

Critically, Identity is a complex term and process and consequently influenced by a myriad of social factors, an identity develops and evolves as a life story. Identity formation begins prior to birth and is influenced by social context, interpersonal relationships and the social construction of meaning. An understanding of the complexity and fluidity of identity development can help us to question ascribed labels, which may create barriers for children and between children. This provides practitioners working with children with a methodological instrument that urges them to examine the importance of the whole child and the whole child in context.

Children’s wellbeing is connected to finding out about themselves and who they want to be. In the light of a child’s right ‘to preserve his or her identity’ (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations, 1989), practitioners have a responsibility to ensure that the children with whom they work can develop an identity in an atmosphere that challenges discrimination and prejudice. Consequently, adults need to know the children with whom they work, to work to build positive relationships with them and between children themselves, understanding and respecting their individual and emerging frames of reference.

As professionals who work with families, our willingness to talk openly about identity and to help foster a positive sense of self in children can make an enormous difference in affirming the rich diversity of our human community and helping children make bridges across cultures and traditions.

Children need to be treated as individuals; ‘one size fits all’ responses are not helpful. Remember that communication of your interest and concern in the child is essential; it is often the little things where, for instance, you have gone the extra mile beyond the call of duty, where you have bought something the child particularly treasures or you have just been there to listen and comfort, that matter and are remembered. Residential workers who have a determined resilience perspective will often make a positive and long lasting difference to looked after children’s lives.

In this chapter, we will be discussing about the historical background of impression management, followed by the definition and scope of impression management. There are different metaphors that used to describe people that use impression management tactics. According to Shakespeare’s As You Like It : “All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players ” , he compares the the world to a stage and life to a play, literally means that our life is just a drama only. However, Shakespeare only interpreted it as a theatrical analogy but not a sociology theory.

The term was first adapted into sociology from the theatre by Erving Goffman, who developed most of the related terminology and ideas in his 1959 book, “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”. Thus, the theatrical analogy was being transformed into dramaturgy, a method of analyzing social interaction as if the participants were performing on a stage. Dramaturgy is a sociological perspective starting from symbolic interactionism , and commonly used in microsociological accounts of social interaction in everyday life.

Erving Goffman (1922-1982), arguably the most original American theorist of the second half of the 20th century, the metaphor of life as theater is rich in meaning. He saw all human interaction as, in some ways, very much like a grand play. He was not, however, as concerned with sweeping generalizations about the human condition as he is much more concerned with the particulars of daily life-the micro-level interactions between individuals that, when taken together, constitute the human experience. At this micro level, he argues, the world is much more like a stage than we commonly realize.

Goffman stated that it is impossible to discuss people’s selves abstracted from their social situations. He writes,

“This self itself does not derive from its possessor, but from the whole scene of his action. . . this self is a product of a scene that comes off, and not a cause of it. The self, then, as a performed character, is not an organic thing that has specific location. . . [the individual and his body] merely provide the peg on which something of collaborative manufacture will be hung for a time. And the means for producing and maintaining selves do not reside inside the peg. (Goffman, 1959, pp. 252-253)”

Thus, the fundamental unit of social analysis is not the individual but rather as the “team” ,which is responsible for the creation of perceptions of reality in social set-tings. A people’s action is always depending upon the situation and the people, yet we could not really observe or even find out the deeper heart of a person.

While Goffman (1959) applied dramaturgy as a tool for smooth interactions, the theory then changes into a more application forms. Some social psychologists like Edward Jones labeled dramaturgy as serving more specific purposes for impression management. Impression management is rather a applied sociology theory that emphasis on the strategic such as gaining power and influencing others. During the 1970s, the impression management perspective became very popular among laboratory-oriented experimental social psychologists and in the mid 1980s, more organizational studies emerged to use the impression management framework. Most empirical studies on impression management concentrate on the situational or individual factors that influence a certain impression management behaviour or tactics that affect outcomes like promotions, performance appraisal ratings, and career success.

What is impression management ? Impression management is defined as the process by which people attempt to influence the images that others have of them (Rosenfeld, Giacalone & Riordan, 1995).

According to sociologist Erving Goffman, men and women are like actors, which perform in front of everyone (audience) to attract their attentions.They use their experiences as a script,to deal with daily activities. Usually a script contains of basic information that people stored in their mind like the persons involved, the situations and the meaning of a scene. Without a script,the situation might become chaos,and the actors’ behavious might become chaotic as well.When people engage in social intereactions, it is known as performances. The performance consists of a combination of verbal and non verbal behaviours, influenced by actor’s interaction motives. In the next chapter, we will be discussing more about impression management behavior.

Impression management behaviours

In this chapter,we will discuss about different types of impression management that exist,followed by Jones and Pittman’s (1982) impression management taxonomy.

According to Leary and Kowalski( 1990) there are two types of impression management behaviours:verbal impression management behaviour and non verbal impression management behaviour.Non verbal behaviour contains expressions like smile, yawns, and etc that can reflect the feeling of the actors without the use of words. Whereas for verbal impression management behaviour,it is defined as the opposite of non verbal behaviour because it involves the action of the actors to influence the others.

Verbal impression management can separate into 2 categories, assertive impression management and defensive impression management.. Assertive impression management is a tactic that to reveal a favourable image on the other. It also further divide into 2 sub-categories, that is other-focused (making sure that the target feel good about himself) and self-focused (aim to himself to make it seems that he has a potential skill and posses a good qualities on others). For defensive impression management, it is mostly used to repair or protect one’s image.

Jones and Pittman Taxonomy

E.E Jones was the first sociologist who investigate the social behaviour. He believed that the Ingratiation has the largest power to influence other people in order to increase their attractiveness of themselves. Jones and Pittman later developed another 4 classes of self-presentation strategies that will mainly engage in our daily life in order to influence the others. There are: Intimidation, Self-promotion, Exemplification and Supplication.

Ingratiation

The most common and most studied impression management tactic is ingratiation. It is also known as ” attraction management “. According to Jones, ingratiation is a process where the ingratiator find out what the audience finds attractive in an individual and then provide it to them. It is widely used by everyone in our daily activities.People engage in ingratiation to enhance their own actual power in a relationship. Ingratiation can be a successful way of influencing others if it is used wisely.

Intimidation

People who engage in intimidation try to gain social power by being feared. The intimidator try to convince his target that he is dangerous. By doing so, he will gain respect from his targets. Intimidation is most likely to take place in working field, family, school and etc.

Self-promotion

Unlike ingratiation who want to be liked, self promotion focus more on being competent.The actor usually focus more on specific skills that they have, such as playing a musical instrument to attract other people. The self-promoter wants to convince others and portray an image of competence among everyone.The aim when using this strategy is usually an immediate one such as getting admitted into university or getting a new job.

Exemplification

The ingratiator wants to be liked, the self promoter wants to be seen as competent, the intimidator wants to be feared, and the exemplifier wants to be admired and respected.He wants to be seen as disciplined and honest Usually the exemplifier always come early at work or takes work home everyday.They want everyone knows that they work hard and engage in self sacrifice.By doing so, the others will feel guilty because they are not the same as the exemplifier. The target will somehow support the exemplifier by doing the same thing sooner or later.

Supplication

The last self presentation strategy would be supplication. It is a strategy where someone exploits their weaknesses.The supplicator tend to seek help or sympathy from others. Usually it is used by those handicapped people, who cant perform daily activities normally. Supplication is the opposite of self promotion.

Based on daily realities, critically discuss how lectures, parents, politicians and artistes engage in impression management.
In this chapter, we will discuss in details about the question of this assignment (which is stated above).
Artistes

As we mentioned in previous chapters, everyone engage in impression management in their daily lifes, especially the artistes.There are three types of strategies artistes use to manage their impressions, they are ingratiation, self promotion, and supplication.

Most of the artistes use ingratiation tactic to attract their fans. Artistes do it through make up, wearing provocative clothes, expensive jewelries to portray a healthy look. This gives a fake image towards the public on the attractiveness of the celebrities. For example, Nicole Kidman will not step out from her house without any make up. Imagine if the fans see their idol’s real look without any make up, they might feel surprise and disappointed, and this might cause them to support another artist instead of the original one. That’s why we always see the artistes in heavy make up or beautiful clothes, but never see them in normal looks.

Besides ingratiation, artistes also use self promotion strategy when engaging in impression management. Artistes do it by promoting themselves and portray an image of competence among them. This will show the difference between the celebrities. They want the audience to recognize them for the skills, not only their physical appearance. For instance, Tom Cruise is one of the most well known male actor in Hollywood. He might not be as handsome as Brad Pitt, but his unique acting skills made him as the best male actor in the past 10 years. This proves that physical appearance is not the only tool to survive in the artistes’ world, but also the unique skill that each artist possesses.

In addition, artistes also use supplication strategy to manage their impression. As we all know, Michael Jackson was found addicted to drugs during the 1990s.He admitted taking Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the child sexual abuse allegations made against him, and painkillers actually were prescribed to soothe excruciating pain that he was suffering after recent reconstructive surgery on his scalp. All the fans were shocked and upset when they found out about that. They can’t accept the fact that their idol has been on drugs for so long. Some fans were disappointed and refused to support him anymore. However, he admitted the mistakes and acknowledge that should be punished. He pleaded the fans to forgive him for his silly mistakes.In the end, the fans forgive him for drugs abuse and continue to support him.If he did not apologize to his fans, the situation might changed.

Conclusion

In this assignment, we have a clearer picture about the background of impression management and the definition of it. We also understand that there are different types of impression management strategies that we use in our daily activities.

The main purpose for this assignment is to study about the different ways to engage in impression management by different individuals with different roles. Artistes, politicians, lectures, and parents are the targets for this assignment. By using Jones and Pittman Taxonomy, we can understand how the targets manage their impressions in daily activities. Different people will use different strategy to manage their impression, but their goal is the same: attract attention.

To conclude, impression management is very important to all of us. We need it in our daily activities. Everyone wants to make a good impression when we are communicating with other people. A good impression is very important because we will never get a second chance to make a first impression.

UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2012
OCTOBER 2012 TRIMESTER
ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET
Course Title : INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
Course Code : UAPS2003
Tutorial group : Tutorial 3
Title of assignment : Impression management
Due date : 14 November 2012
Student’s Name
Student’s ID No.
Course
Year and Sem
Parents

Parents usually are the one who having most of the time get in touch with their children. Hence, it is not peculiar that parents usually use some kind of impression management on their children. Children, on the other hand, will be influenced by their parents, in order to be disciplined or becoming a well-mannered person in the future. Thus, showing that impression management is the important part in this field for educating children.

Parents usually use 3 types of impression management on them, there are Ingratiation, Intimidation and Exemplification. In terms of Ingratiation, parents usually behave friendly in front of their child. Even though they are working at outstation, leaving them alone or sending them to the guardinator to take good care of their child, they call them once a week in order to get in touch with them, building a good rapport with them, no matter how far is it. Some parents even buy some material stuff to their kids as their compensation of time. They shower their children with love and harmony, awarding them by taking them to fun-fair whenever they done something correctly or scoring a good results. Besides, when the children feel unhappy to a certain kind of things, like feeling not happy with their teacher in daily school experiences, parents will become a good listener, listen to their story or experiences and find a solution for them. All in all, parents will be able to “win” their children heart, and in return, children will treat his/her parents back nicely. Ingratiation shows that parents use their positive side of themselves to influence the children perception in the front stage.

The next impression management is Intimidation. This kind of impression is simply regarded as the opposite action of the Ingratiation. As we known, Ingratiation is type of the impression in order to get people attractiveness, whereas for Intimidation, it is kind of the impression that make the surrounding feel scary and dangerous. Parents also using this type of impression towards their kids. Parents, usually father uses his air of authority to educate their children in those days and nowadays as well. This situation has made the surrounding very scary and children will feel the sense of danger towards him. Consequently, children dare not against to their parents in the future. Even though when children come to the rebellious stage, they also dare not tone loudly against their parents. This seems much effective than Ingratiation in order to educate their children. Intimidation shows that parents using their negative side of themselves to influence/fear the children in the front stage but at the back stage, they are very caring for their children.

The following impression management is Exemplification. This is a kind of impression that a person sacrifices himself in order to influence the other people so that the target will feel guilty and tends to changing his/her bad behaviour. This usually happen on parents in educating their children as well. For instance, when parents saw their children throw rubbish in the public without intentionally, they will pick up the rubbish and throw it into a proper thrash in front of their children, or whenever the parents saw others doing so, also picking up the rubbish and throw it in a proper way, in front of children of course. This has made children guilty that littering is a bad behaviour and they start to change themselves, by not repeating the same mistake again. This shows that parents setting a good example in front of their children in order to instil a good morale values on them. In china, most parents are very poor. They usually work as a farmer and yet they want their children to have a further studies on overseas to get a proper degree. Thus, in order to fund the education fees, they worked very hard and even sell off their valuable things like the land or their house as well to let their children to study. This is also a kind of impression management in parents engaging to their children, sacrificing themselves and making their children to feel guilty if they do not study hard to get a proper degree.

Lecturer

Impression management refers to the individual intentionally or unintentionally influence and control others formed their own impression. Appropriate impression management helps individuals and others to establish good interpersonal relationships, even attracting the attention of others, and then pull nearly the distance between. Therefore, if lecturer can grasp of teaching impression management strategies, will help to attract the attention of students and learning focused, directly or indirectly, to enhance the students’ learning motivation and effectiveness. Goffman said that “Everyone has their own performance to others; everyone is always trying to keep a proper impression in social contexts, in order to get a positive rating. Everyone has a set of face-saving or face – saving strategy that “face work”.

The impression management tactics of lecturer use is ingratiation, intimidation and exemplification. Ingratiation is the strategy use to influence others, in order to increase their own personal attractiveness. How do we choose to show ourselves, by increase our personal appearance? By clothes, darker clothes to convey authority and lighter clothes is produce a friendly image. Do not wear the excessive jewellery and open-toed shoes. Besides, most of the lecturer uses shaping good teaching in order to enhance teachers’ social status and importance enhance communication between schools and parents. Lecturer emphasis the influence of their background behavior, try to understand student subcultures, establish a positive self-identity, in order to shorten the spatial distance between teachers and students. Lecturer unauthorized use of ingratiation strategies to enhance students’ interest in learning, to create a sound and stable self-identity of students.

Intimidation, the use of coercion is to show the behavior itself is a dangerous man, and caused a horrible impression to others, to accept each other for fear of control, so as to achieve their own ends. Most of lecturer given quizzes and practice in the class to supervise students concentrate in class, understand students’ learning. Students feel afraid to take quizzes and practice in the case of an unpredictable. This situation helps students to increase their concentration. For those their attendance rate is lower than 80% in each subject, examination not allow as their punishment. Students will attend their class and do not absence randomly. For those who full attendance, bonus marks will give as their rewards.

Exemplification, model strategy use refers to behavior for those who show outstanding moral behavior, designed to lure followers exemplary. The core of the strategy is to make others agree with the behavior, in order to win the respect of others, and to increase its own influence to the lofty impression of integrity and behavior. If lecturer is fair and equitable, students were more likely to trust the teachers, actively participate in courses. “Score is in your hand, however you decide, not for me to decide”, let students know the score in their hands, and openness their result. Respect is important, if teachers respect the students, the students also felt seriously under mutual respect with the teachers, the students learn the effect will be better. Do not quibble over or any contempt and crumbs attitude, if you give him a face embarrassment, may be the next time he not come to class anymore or sleep at there, what ever you talk, he not listen also. If students can feel the enthusiasm and sense of responsibility of the teacher, students take the initiative go to class and take part of actively in class.

In conclusion, the teacher can directly or indirectly affect the students, but also has the responsibility to make good profit to the future with a variety of ways to enhance students’ learning motivation and effectiveness. Therefore, as a teacher if the proper use of impression management can promote human interaction of teachers and students to improve the students’ attention and interest of lectures, with the love of learning contexts, and thus effectively improve learning outcomes.

Politician

Do you ever ask yourself why the politician is always full of cheers of support from the audiences in his or her political speech? Recently in 6 November 2012 of the United States President Election, Barack Obama managed to win the election and be able to serve for his country for four years more. It is partly due to the high support from the people of United States. However, we may notice that an election is always full of political talks. Therefore, politician will take their opportunity to give their point of views in order to get their supports and build up their reputation.

Without doubt, the phenomenon of dramaturgy and the application of impression management can be easily seen in politics. Many of the politicians have their own family and of course they perform differently in different situations. For example, a politician will perform as an ambitious and inspired leader in front of the mass people. On the other hand, politicians will behave to be mean and aggressive to the member of the opposite party. Moreover, they would not behave what they are in politic towards their family members and their beloved. It is then obvious that the behaviors of politicians are dependent to the situations, and the application of impression management is tremendously important to the politicians.

Most importantly, what strategies should politicians adopt in engaging impression management?

First, most of the politicians use ingratiation tactic as their strategic in politic. The Tactic of “ingratiation” is to make one politician more liked and attractive by the others. So politician will sometime find out something that attract the people’s attention and provide them something that people really want. They will be considered as caring, responsible and considerate. The purpose of this tactics is to give the good impression to the people and thus the people will support him as a politician. Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has been the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia since 2009. Recent time, our Prime Minister Najib have establish many policies that benefit all Malaysian. As Malaysia is a multicultural country, 1Malaysia Campaign was established by the Prime Minister on 16 September 2008. 1Malaysia Campaign put emphasis on ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance. Furthermore, Najib also introduced the Government Transformation Program (GTP) to increase quality, skill and transparency in public service and the government. Specific measures include the use of Key Performance Indicators to measure the performance of officials and agencies and National Key Result Areas to define goals for specific areas of public policy. Najib also develop a New Economic Model that will speed Malaysia’s transition to a high income country. The plan will emphasise ways to increase the income and productivity of workers by encouraging knowledge industries and increasing investment from overseas.

Moreover, politicians also engage intimidation tactic towards their political enemy such as the representative of opposite member, terrorists and others. Sometimes the politician stands their point of view very much and they hope that thing can process according to what he says. So they will use this strategic to fear the people and thus achieving what he want. It may be unusual to see in a democratic country because the politician will definitely don’t want to lose his supports, but this can be widely seen in the some dictators of underdeveloped countries such as the last dictator of Libya- Muammar Gaddafi. In some how they want to scare the people from preventing them to overthrow his idea and rule. One example that can explain this tactic is the famous Munich Agreement that happened in 30 September 1938. Munich Agreement, (September 30, 1938), settlement reached by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia. As Hitler continued to make inflammatory speeches demanding that Germans in Czechoslovakia be reunited with their homeland, war seemed imminent. Neither France nor Britain felt prepared to defend Czechoslovakia, however, and both were anxious to avoid a military confrontation with Germany at almost any cost. With lots of effort, the Britain and France were able to persuade Hitler to have a meeting. However, Two Czech representatives were only allowed to sit in the room next door. Afterward, Czechoslovakia was informed by Britain and France that it could either resist Germany alone or submit to the prescribed annexations. Finally, the German army was able to conquer Czech without having a war. It is clear to show that Hitler applied tactic of intimidation and fierce impression towards his enemies made him able to achieve his goal.

Furthermore, self-promotion is vital for politician because they want to show the capability in doing this. From this, they will get support and then continue in making contribution to the society. During the election, we can always see many politicians go to their election area to shake hand with the voters and even giving a political speech. The main purpose of these moves is to promote oneself and gain vote from the people. One of the examples of this impression management is the fireside chats of Former President Franklin Roosevelt. They were called fireside chats because fireside chats because when you chat by the fire, you feel calm and relaxed, just like what the fireside chats were intended to be like. People could sit at home and listen to the president speak. President Roosevelt talked the nation on the radio about various issues during his presidency. On that time, fireside chats were broadcast every Sunday night. He spoke of plans such as creating jobs for the unemployed. He gave hope when people needed hope. Consequently, he gained great support from the people of The United States that made him elected more than two times.

Self presentation/ Presenting the Self

In self presentation, we are the actors and the others are the audience and vice versa on other people perception. Generally, all of us will try to display the positive side of us and hide the bad images of us. This can be mainly seen in our daily life experience. For instance, we would dress up nicely when we dating with somebody else, laughing with other people although it was a bad joke, and try to pretend a good listener although knowing that it was a boring story. So, just ask ourselves, does this scenario has destroy our true identity on pretending the others although knowing that something is not going well. The answer is NO because all of us are applying the Goffman’s principle of role distance, the separation of outward performance as well as inward performances. Therefore, we may outwardly perform a nice, smiling face but inwardly scolding and cursing them instead. Outward performance is similar to the actor does onstage and the inward feeling is comparable to what the actor does on the backstage. Goffman hence uses this stages to his theory in analysing the self-presentation, dividing into frontstage and backstage. In front stage, people present their selves in ways expected for the others, like audience. On the other hand (backstage), starts to reveal their true identity, showing no concern for the audience. Frontstage performance is not necessary consider as dishonest or making fool on the others (audience), but it can be perform better if we apply the Jones and Pittman Taxonomy on the front stage and conceal our true identity in the back stage in our daily, it can seems much interesting in order can influence other people perception as well.

It refers to the growing control and strengthening of small and large muscles. Children develop in stages, gaining control in the larger muscles of the upper body first. Physical development takes place in two directions, from the head down and the trunk out. Developmental progress is measured using milestones based on typical sequential development.

Physical development can be sensory development (relates to sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell). Or motor development (relates to the body). There are two sets of skills involved in motor development they are gross motor/ major motor skills (used in the control of large muscles e.g. walking, running anf kicking) and fine motor/ manipulative skills (control and use of hands and fingers e.g. pincer grasp and fastening buttons).

Effecting development

There are some factors that can effect physical development whether these are good (improve physical development) or bad (make the process slower), the following are examples of this:

More reason on how development can be effected
Gender

Both boys and girls should be given the same opportunities however; some adults assume that boys wish to play ‘rough’ and that girls want to play ‘gently’. In reality most boys and girls enjoy both. Restricting the types of play a child can do means that a child is missing out on activity’s, that they probably would have enjoyed and that would have helped them in developing and learning.

Health

Healthy children will usually have all the energy they need to enjoy the range of opportunity’s open to them. A child with a health problem may lack energy, and need more rest. They may even miss opportunities through illness or time spent in hospital. This can lead to a slower tare of development affecting growth, development and learning.

Environmental effects

Poor air quality and traffic pollution can effect health as the lack of space to play in is a cramped area also if home conditions have no outdoor space may lead to issues such as traffic fumes, pesticides from agriculture. Also living with adults who smoke, drink or take drugs can result in a generally less healthy living space. Which may result in not giving the child enough area to develop properly.

Stimulation, encouragement and opportunity

Children, who are encouraged to try new experiences and have plenty of stimulation opportunities aviable to try, will usually have greater enthusiasm for learning. This will give them a better chance of developing better than those children who lack opportunities whatever the reason.

Love, security and bonding

Children who know that they are loved and feel secure both at home and school or in there care setting will feel more confident, to new experiences. They are more likely to join in with others, benefitting fully from learning things from new opportunities aviable to them.

Discipline and apprioate boundaries

Children need to have boundaries. It is an important part of security. A child who is not disciplined will continually test the boundaries to see how far they can go. There energy will be used up in testing the boundaries, leading to them missing out on opportunities and not knowing how to behave properly.

Adult expectations

If adults looking after the child do not expect much of a child, they are unlikely to get much out of them in return. It is important for a child to understand that adults are keen for them to learn and develop. Children are usually eager to do well and gain adult approval.

Grasp

A child uses a variety of different ways to grasp things. These are:

Development of grasp – using the hands (book research).

New-born – A new-born baby keeps there hands tightly closed for most of the time, the baby also shows a grasp reflex – if anything is put in there hand, it is automatically grasped tightly. The automatic grasp reflex disappears after a few weeks and the baby will only be able to grasp again when she has learnt control of the muscles in her hands.

3 months – The child’s hands are held open for most of the time not that the grasp reflex has gone. If the baby is given a rattle, she holds it for a few moments only. If there hands accidently touch her clothes she pulls them. This is the time they will spend along time looking at there hands. In about another month the baby is able to clasp her hands together and play with her fingers. They learn what there fingers and hands look like and how they can move them to to do what they want.

6 months – The baby can now grasp an object without it having to be put in there hand. They use their whole hand to do this. At this age they can pick up everything in their reach with one or two hands. They can pass it from hand to hand, turn the objet over and take it to their mouth. When lying on there back, they like to play with there toes, they love to crumple things and to splash water.

9 months – The baby is able to use her fingers and thumb to grasp things. They can also open there hands when they want and deliberately drop things on the floor. By the tenth month they use their index finger and pokes objects, at this age they should be able to pick up small objects between the tip of the index finger and thumb.

1 year – The baby can now use her hand to throw things and can point with their index finger to the objects they want.

15 months – The child can now take a cup or spoon to their mouth – but there judgement is not very good yet. The cup is likely to tilt too far when they are about to drink and the spoon is likely to turn over before reaching the child’s mouth. When playing with toys such as building bricks they should be able to stack them on top of each other.

18 months – The child can now feed their self’s completely. They should be able to make a tower of three bricks.

2 years – The child can now put there own shoes on, begin to draw, turns door handles and unscrew jaws. She can build a tower with six bricks.

2 and ? years – The child begins being able to undress, builds a tower with eight bricks and can thread large beads.

3 years – The child begins to dress herself but needs help with buttons.

4 years – The child can now eat skilfully with a spoon and fork.

5 years – The child dresses and undresses without any help, can use a knife and fork for eating.

What can Mia do?

After researching what ages a child should be doing what, so far Mia is doing very well. She points at objects when she can not say what they are called, she can undress her self and open door handles etc. When Mia eats she normally uses just a spoon and a fork she knows what to do and how to use them however she doesn’t always do this so far by looking at this research Mia’s is doing well.

Looking at my grasp research I can see Mia can do the grasp she should be able to she picks up a pencil correctly and smaller items.

Below is a checklist I made to see how well Mia was doing –

Age

What should happen?

Does Mia do this?

New-born

Keeps there hands tightly closed for most of the time, the baby also shows a grasp reflex – if anything is put in there hand, it is automatically grasped tightly. The automatic grasp reflex disappears after a few weeks and the baby will only be able to grasp again when she has learnt control of the muscles in her hands.

Mia has done all of this as a baby anything she was given straight away she would show a grasp reflex keeping a tight hold on the object she did this when people gave her there finger to hold on to.

3 months

Hands are held open for most of the time not that the grasp reflex has gone. If the baby is given a rattle, she holds it for a few moments only. If there hands accidently touch her clothes she pulls them. This is the time they will spend along time looking at there hands.

This was the time mia started to learn about her hands, she use to pull at her top often and look at it in amazement.

4 months

Able to clasp her hands together and play with her fingers. They learn what there fingers and hands look like and how they can move them to do what they want.

Mia has done this at this age mia use to poke things as well.

6 months

Grasp an object without it having to be put in there hand. They use their whole hand to do this. At this age they can pick up everything in their reach with one or two hands. They can pass it from hand to hand, turn the objet over and take it to their mouth. When lying on there back, they like to play with there toes, they love to crumple things and to splash water.

Mia did this she use to touch and pick her small toys up, mia use to and still does splash in the bath. Mia went through a stage where she put objects to her mouth but she now knows she shouldn’t do this.

9 months

Use there fingers and thumbs to grasp things. They can also open their hands when they want and deliberately drop things on the floor.

Mia did this and realised it was funny to drop things onto the floor.

10 months

Use their index finger and pokes objects, at this age they should be able to pick up small objects between the tip of the index finger and thumb.

Mia already poked things before the age of ten months but did start to do this more.

1 year

Use their hand to throw things and can point with their index finger to the objects they want.

Another thing Mia realised was funny, she still does this. She points at things when she forget what there called, or you cant understand what she means.

15 months

Now can take a cup or spoon to their mouth – but there judgement is not very good yet. The cup is likely to tilt too far when they are about to drink and the spoon is likely to turn over before reaching the child’s mouth. When playing with toys such as building bricks they should be able to stack them on top of each other.

Mia has learnt this well.

18 months

Now feed there self’s completely. They should be able to make a tower of three bricks.

Mia learnt this and still does this now.

2 years

Now put there own shoes on, begin to draw, turns door handles and unscrew jaws. She can build a tower with six bricks.

Mia often puts her own shows on when she wants to go outside, she can open doors and loves to draw.

2 and ? years

Begins being able to undress, builds a tower with eight bricks and can thread large beads.

Mia undresses when she knows its bath time, etc.

3 years

Begins to dress herself but needs help with buttons.

Mia can dress her self, but putting her trousers on and a top but can not do buttons, this means mia is able to do more than the average 2 year old.

4 years

Now can eat skilfully with a spoon and fork.

Mia can use both of these to eat, she prefers a spoon but still does sometimes use her hands.

5 years

Dresses and undresses without any help, can use a knife and fork for eating.

Mia is not yet at this stage.

Development milestones
What is a milestone?

A milestone is an action or event marking a significant change or stage in development.

There are a variety of milestones a child passes throughout while physically developing, these all happen at different ages. Below is a table showing what ages a child should be able to do something physically new. The end column is explaining whether Mia has done this yet

Between the ages of 0 and one –

Age

Physical milestone

Has Mia achieved this?

New-born

Reflexes, e.g. moro, walking; no head control’ sees vague shapes, light movement.

Mia showed this as a new born baby.

1 month

Tracks objects.

This happened.

3 months

Held upright, legs bear a little bit of weight, more head control, needs help to sit, kicks vigorously – using alternative legs, raises head and chest using forearms, hands open- can hold objects.

Mia use to do this and use to always be kicking her feet and legs.

6 months

Head fully controlled and can turn, holds on to one or both feet when lying on back, legs can bear weight when held upright, on front supports head and chest with straight arms, rolls from on back to on there front, holds arms out to be picked up, reaches for objects using palmar grasp to pass from hand to hand, eyes work together.

Mia can do this.

9 months

Pulls into sitting and standing positions, sits unsupported, deliberately drops objects, crawls on hands and knees/ feet, shuffles on bum, bear walks, rolls, wriggles to move, walks when both hands are held, can use fingers and thumb to grasp an object (inferior pincer grasp).

Mia do this at the correct age and used the correct grasp.

12 months

Walks with one hand held with feet wide apart (cruises), uses primitive tripod grasp, helps with dressing, deliberately throws objects, focuses on distant objects.

She is very independent and did this well.

Below are physical development milestones a child will reach between the ages of one and five –

Age

Physical milestone

Has Mia achieved this yet?

15 months

Walks independently – using arms to balance, walks upstairs forward and downstairs backwards, kneels, builds a two block tower, uses a cup and spoon.

YES

18 months

Walks confidently, walks upstairs putting both feet onto each step, controls wrist e.g. turns door knobs, remove shoes and socks, builds a two – three brick tower.

YES

2 years

Runs – avoiding obstacles, walks on tip-toes, jumps, kicks ball, uses preferred hand, threads beads, builds a six – eight brick tower, starts potty training.

YES

3 years

Walks upstairs with one foot on each step, downstairs with two feet on each step, balances on one leg, walks sideways, peddles and steers toys, throws ball overarm and catches it, dresses and undresses with help.

NEARLY

4 years

Goes up and down stairs like an adult, has a mature pincer grip, eats skilfully with a spoon and a fork, uses a bat and ball, improved balance and climbing skills.

NOT YET

5 years

Dresses and undresses mostly independently, uses knife and fork well, increased agility, skip, dance rhythmically, and use large equipment confidently.

NOT YET

Freeway is a modern take on the fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood.” The movie depicts the struggles of Vanessa Lutz in school, her home life, and then as she tries to go to her grandmother’s home after her mother and stepfather were arrested for prostitution and drug possession. Vanessa Lutz is severely, delayed academically, due to the multiple school changes that she endured because of her unstable childhood. Her years of being raised in the ghetto with her mother and stepfather added to lack of schooling she received.

Vanessa started her criminal career years ago with petty crimes but this current string of crimes started with handcuffing her social worker to the bed. She did not want to go to foster care again. Her last experience in foster care was far from beneficial to her mental as well as her emotional health and she did not want a repeat performance. Vanessa had heard of her paternal grandmother, but had never actually met her or her father, for that matter. Before leaving town, Vanessa went to see her boyfriend Chopper, an African American gang member. She wanted to tell him that she is leaving town and to ask him to go with her. Her plans are to find her grandmother, who lives in Northern California and who does not even know Vanessa exists. Vanessa dreams of a great life with her grandmother, but doesn’t even know if the grandmother is still alive or living in the same mobile park.

When the car she is driving breaks down on the freeway and leaves her stranded, the person, who stops to help Vanessa, is Bob Wolverton, a counselor at a school for troubled boys. He talks Vanessa into accepting a ride from him and revealing intimate details of her life. When she realizes “Bob” is getting sexually excited as he learns the details about her molestation and rape by her stepfather, Vanessa gets mad and wants out of the car. Bob has removed the door handle from the passenger side door and Vanessa cannot get out the car. Vanessa realizes that Bob is the “I-5 Killer”, she heard about early in the afternoon on the Channel 5 news.

Bob orders Vanessa to strip off her clothes. Vanessa says that she cannot get her pants off because of her boots. Bob allows Vanessa the freedom to get into the back seat to have room to remove her boots and pants. Once in the back seat, Vanessa pulls out a gun, the one her boyfriend gave her, orders Bob to pull off the next exit. She then asks him if he believes in God. When he says that he does, she orders him out of the car and shoots him in the head. She then vomits and shoots him three more times. Thinking that Bob is dead, Vanessa takes his money, credit cards, and car keys.

Vanessa leaves Bob for dead and continues on her trip to her grandmother’s house. After a while, she is hungry and she stops at a little truck stop style cafe to get something to eat. When she walks into the cafe, she has blood on her hands from Bob and frightens the server. Vanessa goes to the bathroom to clean up and then she eats her meal. Immediately upon leaving the cafe, Vanessa is arrested for the attempted murder of Bob Wolverton.

At the police station, a couple of police officers question Vanessa. Vanessa admits to shooting Bob Wolverton. She is cooperative and shocked that he did not die. She tells the police officers that Bob is the I-5 Killer, but they do not believe her. The police officers list her long list of petty crimes and tell her that Bob is a well-respected citizen with no prior criminal record or mental health issues.

One of the officers starts teasing her and Vanessa becomes violent and starts hitting him, all the while spouting racial slurs at him. She is taken away in handcuffs and placed in a holding cell until her arraignment. Vanessa refuses to show remorse for her actions at her arraignment, insisting that Bob is the I-5 Killer. Vanessa makes fun of Bob because he has physical disabilities from the shooting and taunts him about his colostomy bag. The judge orders Vanessa out of the courtroom, no one acknowledging that Bob admitted he is the I-5 killer. She is placed in juvenile detention until psychological evaluations can be done. These evaluations are to determine her status of either an adult offender or juvenile delinquent. Juvenile delinquent status would be considered if it is felt she can she be rehabilitated otherwise she will be tried as an adult, if her mental capacity allows. Vanessa becomes friends with a drug-addicted lesbian and then confronted by the toughest girl in the prison, Mesquita. Before Mesquita has a chance to hurt Vanessa, Vanessa beats her to a pulp, an act for which Vanessa receives solitary confinement.

One of the police officers, who was assaulted by Vanessa, has a gut feeling there was more to the story than he had gotten from either Vanessa or from Bob Wolverton. He returns to her hometown to find out more about Vanessa’s home life. He was surprised to find Vanessa’s boyfriend was an African American, which was interesting to him considering the racial slurs she had spouted at him. Upon returning to the crime scene, he found previously overlooked evidence collaborating Vanessa’s version of the crimes.

While in solitary confinement, Vanessa constructs a shiv from a toothbrush, plastic wrap, and a lighter, a skill learned from her stepfather. After returning from solitary confinement, Vanessa learns the psychologists feel she would not be a suitable candidate for rehabilitation, so she will stand trial as an adult. She also sees Bob and his wife on television and is disgusted they have been elevated to celebrity status and praised for the way they have persevered in the face of the shooting by Vanessa Lutz.

Vanessa, Mesquita, and a pair of twin girls plan to escape from prison. The opportunity presents itself while the group is being transported in a van to the state prison. Vanessa and Mesquita use the shiv to kill one guard and seriously injure the other. They steal the van and then find Mesquita’s boyfriend, where Vanessa is given a fake ID, clothes, and a gun. Vanessa and Mesquita share of moment of sisterhood, where Mesquita explains why she tried to intimidate Vanessa the first day she was in juvenile detention. Mesquita said that she had wanted Vanessa to “put out for her” and Vanessa states that she would “put out for her” any day. They share the joke and go their separate ways.

The police officers finally conclude Vanessa was telling the truth about Bob Wolverton being the I-5 killer. They obtain a search warrant for Bob’s house and the small shed in the backyard. In the shed, they find his stash of child pornography, sex toys, and trophies from his victims is found. When confronted with some of the items, Bob’s wife, Mimi, realizes that her husband is a serial murderer and runs upstairs to commit suicide. Bob returns home from physical therapy to find his house surrounded by police cars, so he drives off to avoid capture.

Using the clothes, she received from Mesquita, Vanessa poses as a hooker and lures a john into a back alley. Vanessa robs the john, forces him into the trunk of his car, and drives to where she thinks her grandmother lives. As luck would have it, the police officers realize where Vanessa might be going and decide to drive to her grandmother’s mobile home as well.

Upon arriving at her grandmother’s home, Bob is dressed as Vanessa’s grandmother and is lying in bed waiting on Vanessa to arrive. Just like the wolf in the “Little Red Riding Hood” fairytale, Bob has killed Vanessa’s grandmother and waiting to devour Vanessa. They struggle with each other, firing a gun in the tussle. Vanessa manages to strangle Bob and emerges victorious in the battle for her life from the mobile home. The first words out of her mouth to the officers were, “Y’all got a cigarette?” (Bright, 1996).

Freeway, the movie, was directed and produced by Matthew Bright in 1996.

What causes Juvenile Delinquency?
Introduction

Juvenile delinquency has increased thirty-three percent over the last decade (Loeber, Farrington, & Petechuk, 2003) Human beings are unique and multifaceted creatures. Human offspring are just as multifaceted and as resilient as they are different. While scientist do not know why or how the individual personalities are formed, every person has a different personality and handles life’s situations in a distinct individualized manner. The movie, Freeway, depicts one of the worst living situations in which a young person can be reared (Bright, 1996). The events in the movie explain one possible outcome of a child raised in the ghetto area of a town. In an attempt to understand more thoroughly the young people who become juvenile delinquents, the individual, family, cultural and media’s influence on children will be examined.

Causes of Delinquency

Delinquency is defined as an antisocial or illegal behavior or acts in violation of the law, which pertains to adults as well as young people (Encarta Dictionary: English (North America), 2007). Juvenile delinquency is conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010). Some behaviors such as drinking alcohol are not deviant as long as the person doing the drinking is older than twenty-one years of age. A status offender is a juvenile, usually under the age of eighteen, which does something like smoking before the legal age to be able to participate in the particular activity. In other countries, something that is seen as deviant or delinquent in the United States may or may not be seen as deviant, but more of the norm of the country. In the United States, delinquency is determined differently in each individual state. For instance, North Carolina considers a six year old who commits a crime to be a juvenile delinquent, where a many states do not have a legally defined age to be classified as a juvenile delinquent. Risk factors are numerous depending upon the age of the child when the symptoms for delinquent behavior begins (Loeber, Farrington, & Petechuk, 2003).

Individual Aspects

The psychological development of a child is personal and individualized to each child.

A child’s behavior is influence by his/her genetic, emotional, cognitive, physical, and social aspects. A person cannot help the genes, which he/she is born with, just as they cannot control the ability to learn. Young people, who are behind others of the same age academically, have been proven prone to criminal behavior. It is thought the less intelligent a person is, the more likely to commit crime he or she will be. There are many other factors, which influence a young person to be deviant or not to be deviant. This failure to express themselves appropriately causes anger and frustration to build. Many times, anger leads to depression or can lead to other more severe forms of mental illness (Mullis, Cornille, Mullis, & Huber, 2004).

One disorder, which could indicate the possible beginnings to juvenile delinquency, is oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Oppositional defiant disorder is defined as “a psychological disorder in childhood and adolescence characterized by excessive oppositional to tendencies to refuse requests from parents and others” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2008). Once a child adds to his/her defiance stealing, truancy and/or even rape, the child is considered to have Conduct Disorder (CD). Conduct Disorder is defined as “a psychological disorder in childhood and adolescence characterized by disruptive, antisocial behavior” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2008).

Antisocial behavior is inheritable (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2008). Antisocial behaviors is when a individual does not want to be around others, with draws from physical contact and does not behavior appropriate for the situation. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASP) is defined as has been linked to a defect in a person’s frontal lobes in a study of children who had committed deviant acts. (Wallace, Hesselbrock, & Bauer, 2006). ASP is the mental illness linked with serial killers such as Jeffery Dahmer and Ted Bundy. An individual early in life usually displays symptoms of ASP, but the true manifestation is in the teen years.

A problem some may over look as a predictor of future delinquency is sleeping problems as a child. If a child does not receive adequate sleep during his/her formative years, cognitive as well as neuropsychological problems may appear during adolescence (Gregory, Caspi, Moffitt, & Poulton, 2009). When a child does not get adequate sleep, behavioral problems emerge as a symptoms that something is wrong. Cognitive and brain development depend upon getting enough sleep as well as enough good sleep. Good sleep is defined as sleep that includes several cycles of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

REM sleep is important for the processing of memories as well as a time for the body to rejuvenate itself. Short-term memory is converted into long-term memory during the REM sleep cycles. A person cycles through four stages of sleep, which takes approximately ninety minutes per cycle. REM sleep happens at the end of the fourth cycle and gets progressively longer as the night goes on. Dreaming occurs during REM sleep. Many times dreams are a way for our minds to process the day’s events and to sort through the emotions that a person has had. REM is also the time in which the body is in a coma like state so that most of the blood flow is concentrated in the body’s core and head. It is a time for the muscles to relax and rejuvenate. A child without adequate sleep is a child without adequate cognitive function, which may influence his/her emotional and psychological health in the future and lead to delinquent behavior (Catrett, & Gaultney, 2009).

Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavior disorder characterized by excessive motor activity and n ability to focus one’s attention. The child is described as having ants in his/her pants, but cannot keep his/her mind on the subject at hand. The other element to ADHD is impulsivity. The child cannot make rational decisions due to the need to move and forgetting what is going on around him/her. These symptoms begin at an early age, sometimes as young as six or seven. Medications to combat the symptoms of ADHD can cause a child become zombie like. Vanessa, in the movie Freeway, may have been diagnosed with ADHD because of her inability to behave while in class at the beginning of the movie (Bright, 1996). This inability to be able to concentrate can lead to decrease intelligence if not caught in its early stages.

Family Aspects

As portrayed in the movie Freeway, children who grow up in a violent, drug-infested home do not learn the correct manner in which to express themselves or the extent of their actions has on their future. Children model their parents. If parents are doing deviant behaviors, child do not perceive anything wrong with doing the same behaviors. Just as Vanessa saw her mother working the streets in order to get money for the family, Vanessa posed as a streetwalker in order to be able to go to her grandmother’s at the end of the movie. She learned how to make a shiv from her stepfather in order to escape from prison.

Sometimes children have good parents, but still go astray from social norms. Family is important in forming a child’s character. A child needs responsibilities, duties, and close family relationships as well as some privileges.

Communication in a family is very important as well. Children notice the tension in a family no matter the cause and open communication is paramount to stop the children from blaming themselves for it. Parents want their children to talk to them about any problems that may arise, but often do not feel the need to allow the children to be information about family situations that affect the children.

Children who do not have adequate parental supervision are more likely to be party to criminal activity. Single mothers working can be stressful for the entire family, because she is responsible for all the chores, childcare, discipline, and financial success in the home. Being a parent is hard enough when a couple shares the responsibility, doing an adequate job alone is nearly impossible.

The more siblings a child has the less individual attention the child will receive from his/her parents. As a society, we spend less time with our offspring than most any other generation in history. Divorce has become an epidemic and many women are single mothers by choice more than ever before. Most children do not have a father in the home. Almost of as many children, do not even know who their father is or never see them on a regular basis. Women want to have it all, career, children, and freedom. The family unit appears to play the most important role in preventing as well as causing juvenile delinquency.

A child that has been sexually abused is more likely to run away than any other child (Widom, 1996). This sexually abused child runs away thinking he/she will have a better life away from the abuser, but more often than not, the runaway becomes a prostitute to survive (Widom, 1996). Sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect are three ways that a family can assist a child into becoming a juvenile delinquent. A person is more likely to be abused by a loved one or someone know to the person than by any other group of people (Thio, 2010).

Poor families struggle to put food on the table and many times children feel neglected or that the plight of the family is their fault. Doing without the necessities makes a child want the things he/she does not have, which can lead to shoplifting and other such deviant acts. Poverty in this great nation is rampant. We are the greatest nation on this earth and yet we have children that are going hungry and in need of clothing. The cheap food is not the healthiest of choices in most cases. Money worries cause many families to separate in order to receive assistance from the government. Divorce is often a cause for children to become deviant.

Peer Aspects

Peer pressure has long been seen as a reason for deviant behavior in children. Groupthink is where adults as well as young people seem to lose their ability to speak or act in the correct manner the more people are in the group. The term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment”(Coon & Mitter, 2010). Conforming to the crowd and acting as a whole instead as the sum of many parts is what happens to when young people give in to peer pressure. Peer pressure is one of the hardest delinquencies to avoid.

Children with physical and learning disabilities are often taunted, which can often lead to anger. Young people, who are behind others of the same age academically, are prone to criminal behavior. It is thought the less intelligent a person is, the more likely to commit crime he or she will be. Cognitive function is necessary to rationally think about the consequences in situations and realize what will happen if you are caught doing a “bad” deed.

Sleep quality has been linked to obesity in a chicken and the egg type scenario. Some say obesity is caused by a lack of sleep quality and other say the lack of sleep quality causes an increase in obesity. Obesity can be a reason for a teenager or adolescent to buckle under peer pressure to “fit” in with the group and participate in delinquent activities. Young people who are obese have a higher rate of depression, which can lead some to a feeling of helplessness (News to use, 2003). Helplessness can result in deliqency because the child doesn’t feel that anything he/she does is worth while any way. Obesity has increased rapidly and some even call it an epidemic. President Obama signed a bill into law giving the United States Department of Agriculture the to set standards for public school lunches in order to combat obesity (Jalonick, 2010). Evidence has shown children are heavier now than at any other time in the history of the United States. The chart below is a little old, but it shows that in 2002, obesity was approximately sixteen percent in both children and adolescences.

(Buggey, T. (2007).

Social and Community Factors

Teachers have to “worry” about their jobs, because of the “No Child Left Behind” policies. If students are not able to pass a certain percentage of test questions, the school will find teachers, who can make the students pass. The United States Government is mandating every one must pass in order for the teacher to keep her job. This is a lot of pressure on the teachers, who then pass the pressure on to the students. Some students aren’t able to handle the pressure and drop out of school. School dropouts cannot get a driver’s license in many states until age eighteen. Many states do not allow dropouts to work, so getting into “trouble” is what is available to these young people. The teenagers are not in school, working or doing anything productive with their lives. Some have joined gangs as way of “fitting” in and having some “status” they have not otherwise achieved. Chopper, Vanessa’s boyfriend in the Freeway movie, was a member of a gang. She did not see anything odd about him being in a gang, it was just a way of life for her and him.

Teenagers, who are loners, in recent years started committing crimes at their schools. Columbine High School shooting is a prime example of the dangers juvenile delinquents can participate in. They have nothing to live for and just want to have some excitement.

Video games have taken over the children in this country. A child can play war games, running from law enforcement as well as shooting games. Their minds are not developed to be able to separate fact from fiction and many times, they think the person will stand back up if they shoot them.

Teenagers working while in school has been encouraged throughout the last few decades. Currently, working teenagers have disposable income, which affords them the opportunity to commit deviant acts. The teenagers are more likely to smoke, drive recklessly, and engage in other deviant behaviors when they work while going to school (Thio, 2010). There is more of an opportunity to lie to parents and have time with other people the same age or older in order to commit these deviant acts.

Music such as Rap has been blamed for violence, crime, and juvenile delinquency among black as well as other populations of youth. (Mahiri & Conner, 2003). Television shows such as Jerry Springer have done more damage to America’s youth by exposing them to the most deviant and sexually explicit material than ever before in history. Our collective values have declined since the 1950s in the United States.

Conclusion

An increase of in the number of juvenile delinquents has been observed. A thirty-three percent increase has been noted in the last decade (Loeber, Farrington, & Petechuk, 2003). Gangs are more prevalent in local cities than ever before. Drug related crimes are increasing. Violence depicted in movies such as Freeway, is common place to our young people.

Schools need to have in place programs to help alleviate some of the “baby sitting” that is done by teachers. As a country, we need to stop worrying about everyone else around the world and take care of our children. Studies have been done to determine why we have so many juvenile delinquents and we need to so something to stop the progression. Deviant acts leads to juvenile delinquents as well as other criminals. Our young people need to be taught the importance of staying in school as well as a criminal record can follow them for the rest of their lives. Babies should come home with parents who have had parenting classes as well as CPR and first aid classes. Changes need to be made in our country to insure our most valuable resource is protected and taken care of properly.

Juvenile delinquency happens for many reasons. Poverty, abuse, and family tension are a few of the major reason for a child to become a juvenile delinquent. Steps need to be in place to stop and control some of the children that are falling through the crack of society and becoming ill-adjusted adults. Life is not always pretty, but that should not be a reason to commit crime.

Movie Synopsis

Freeway is a modern take on the fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood.” The movie depicts the struggles of Vanessa Lutz in school, her home life, and then as she tries to go to her grandmother’s home after her mother and stepfather were arrested for prostitution and drug possession. Vanessa Lutz is severely, delayed academically, due to the multiple school changes that she endured because of her unstable childhood. Her years of being raised in the ghetto with her mother and stepfather added to lack of schooling she received.

Vanessa started her criminal career years ago with petty crimes but this current string of crimes started with handcuffing her social worker to the bed. She did not want to go to foster care again. Her last experience in foster care was far from beneficial to her mental as well as her emotional health and she did not want a repeat performance. Vanessa had heard of her paternal grandmother, but had never actually met her or her father, for that matter. Before leaving town, Vanessa went to see her boyfriend Chopper, an African American gang member. She wanted to tell him that she is leaving town and to ask him to go with her. Her plans are to find her grandmother, who lives in Northern California and who does not even know Vanessa exists. Vanessa dreams of a great life with her grandmother, but doesn’t even know if the grandmother is still alive or living in the same mobile park.

When the car she is driving breaks down on the freeway and leaves her stranded, the person, who stops to help Vanessa, is Bob Wolverton, a counselor at a school for troubled boys. He talks Vanessa into accepting a ride from him and revealing intimate details of her life. When she realizes “Bob” is getting sexually excited as he learns the details about her molestation and rape by her stepfather, Vanessa gets mad and wants out of the car. Bob has removed the door handle from the passenger side door and Vanessa cannot get out the car. Vanessa realizes that Bob is the “I-5 Killer”, she heard about early in the afternoon on the Channel 5 news.

Bob orders Vanessa to strip off her clothes. Vanessa says that she cannot get her pants off because of her boots. Bob allows Vanessa the freedom to get into the back seat to have room to remove her boots and pants. Once in the back seat, Vanessa pulls out a gun, the one her boyfriend gave her, orders Bob to pull off the next exit. She then asks him if he believes in God. When he says that he does, she orders him out of the car and shoots him in the head. She then vomits and shoots him three more times. Thinking that Bob is dead, Vanessa takes his money, credit cards, and car keys.

Vanessa leaves Bob for dead and continues on her trip to her grandmother’s house. After a while, she is hungry and she stops at a little truck stop style cafe to get something to eat. When she walks into the cafe, she has blood on her hands from Bob and frightens the server. Vanessa goes to the bathroom to clean up and then she eats her meal. Immediately upon leaving the cafe, Vanessa is arrested for the attempted murder of Bob Wolverton.

At the police station, a couple of police officers question Vanessa. Vanessa admits to shooting Bob Wolverton. She is cooperative and shocked that he did not die. She tells the police officers that Bob is the I-5 Killer, but they do not believe her. The police officers list her long list of petty crimes and tell her that Bob is a well-respected citizen with no prior criminal record or mental health issues.

One of the officers starts teasing her and Vanessa becomes violent and starts hitting him, all the while spouting racial slurs at him. She is taken away in handcuffs and placed in a holding cell until her arraignment. Vanessa refuses to show remorse for her actions at her arraignment, insisting that Bob is the I-5 Killer. Vanessa makes fun of Bob because he has physical disabilities from the shooting and taunts him about his colostomy bag. The judge orders Vanessa out of the courtroom, no one acknowledging that Bob admitted he is the I-5 killer. She is placed in juvenile detention until psychological evaluations can be done. These evaluations are to determine her status of either an adult offender or juvenile delinquent. Juvenile delinquent status would be considered if it is felt she can she be rehabilitated otherwise she will be tried as an adult, if her mental capacity allows. Vanessa becomes friends with a drug-addicted lesbian and then confronted by the toughest girl in the prison, Mesquita. Before Mesquita has a chance to hurt Vanessa, Vanessa beats her to a pulp, an act for which Vanessa receives solitary confinement.

One of the police officers, who was assaulted by Vanessa, has a gut feeling there was more to the story than he had gotten from either Vanessa or from Bob Wolverton. He returns to her hometown to find out more about Vanessa’s home life. He was surprised to find Vanessa’s boyfriend was an African American, which was interesting to him considering the racial slurs she had spouted at him. Upon returning to the crime scene, he found previously overlooked evidence collaborating Vanessa’s version of the crimes.

While in solitary confinement, Vanessa constructs a shiv from a toothbrush, plastic wrap, and a lighter, a skill learned from her stepfather. After returning from solitary confinement, Vanessa learns the psychologists feel she would not be a suitable candidate for rehabilitation, so she will stand trial as an adult. She also sees Bob and his wife on television and is disgusted they have been elevated to celebrity status and praised for the way they have persevered in the face of the shooting by Vanessa Lutz.

Vanessa, Mesquita, and a pair of twin girls plan to escape from prison. The opportunity presents itself while the group is being transported in a van to the state prison. Vanessa and Mesquita use the shiv to kill one guard and seriously injure the other. They steal the van and then find Mesquita’s boyfriend, where Vanessa is given a fake ID, clothes, and a gun. Vanessa and Mesquita share of moment of sisterhood, where Mesquita explains why she tried to intimidate Vanessa the first day she was in juvenile detention. Mesquita said that she had wanted Vanessa to “put out for her” and Vanessa states that she would “put out for her” any day. They share the joke and go their separate ways.

The police officers finally conclude Vanessa was telling the truth about Bob Wolverton being the I-5 killer. They obtain a search warrant for Bob’s house and the small shed in the backyard. In the shed, they find his stash of child pornography, sex toys, and trophies from his victims is found. When confronted with some of the items, Bob’s wife, Mimi, realizes that her husband is a serial murderer and runs upstairs to commit suicide. Bob returns home from physical therapy to find his house surrounded by police cars, so he drives off to avoid capture.

Using the clothes, she received from Mesquita, Vanessa poses as a hooker and lures a john into a back alley. Vanessa robs the john, forces him into the trunk of his car, and drives to where she thinks her grandmother lives. As luck would have it, the police officers realize where Vanessa might be going and decide to drive to her grandmother’s mobile home as well.

Upon arriving at her grandmother’s home, Bob is dressed as Vanessa’s grandmother and is lying in bed waiting on Vanessa to arrive. Just like the wolf in the “Little Red Riding Hood” fairytale, Bob has killed Vanessa’s grandmother and waiting to devour Vanessa. They struggle with each other, firing a gun in the tussle. Vanessa manages to strangle Bob and emerges victorious in the battle for her life from the mobile home. The first words out of her mouth to the officers were, “Y’all got a cigarette?” (Bright, 1996).

Freeway, the movie, was directed and produced by Matthew Bright in 1996.

What causes Juvenile Delinquency?
Introduction

Juvenile delinquency has increased thirty-three percent over the last decade (Loeber, Farrington, & Petechuk, 2003) Human beings are unique and multifaceted creatures. Human offspring are just as multifaceted and as resilient as they are different. While scientist do not know why or how the individual personalities are formed, every person has a different personality and handles life’s situations in a distinct individualized manner. The movie, Freeway, depicts one of the worst living situations in which a young person can be reared (Bright, 1996). The events in the movie explain one possible outcome of a child raised in the ghetto area of a town. In an attempt to understand more thoroughly the young people who become juvenile delinquents, the individual, family, cultural and media’s influence on children will be examined.

Causes of Delinquency

Delinquency is defined as an antisocial or illegal behavior or acts in violation of the law, which pertains to adults as well as young people (Encarta Dictionary: English (North America), 2007). Juvenile delinquency is conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010). Some behaviors such as drinking alcohol are not deviant as long as the person doing the drinking is older than twenty-one years of age. A status offender is a juvenile, usually under the age of eighteen, which does something like smoking before the legal age to be able to participate in the particular activity. In other countries, something that is seen as deviant or delinquent in the United States may or may not be seen as deviant, but more of the norm of the country. In the United States, delinquency is determined differently in each individual state. For instance, North Carolina considers a six year old who commits a crime to be a juvenile delinquent, where a many states do not have a legally defined age to be classified as a juvenile delinquent. Risk factors are numerous depending upon the age of the child when the symptoms for delinquent behavior begins (Loeber, Farrington, & Petechuk, 2003).

Individual Aspects

The psychological development of a child is personal and individualized to each child.

A child’s behavior is influence by his/her genetic, emotional, cognitive, physical, and social aspects. A person cannot help the genes, which he/she is born with, just as they cannot control the ability to learn. Young people, who are behind others of the same age academically, have been proven prone to criminal behavior. It is thought the less intelligent a person is, the more likely to commit crime he or she will be. There are many other factors, which influence a young person to be deviant or not to be deviant. This failure to express themselves appropriately causes anger and frustration to build. Many times, anger leads to depression or can lead to other more severe forms of mental illness (Mullis, Cornille, Mullis, & Huber, 2004).

One disorder, which could indicate the possible beginnings to juvenile delinquency, is oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Oppositional defiant disorder is defined as “a psychological disorder in childhood and adolescence characterized by excessive oppositional to tendencies to refuse requests from parents and others” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2008). Once a child adds to his/her defiance stealing, truancy and/or even rape, the child is considered to have Conduct Disorder (CD). Conduct Disorder is defined as “a psychological disorder in childhood and adolescence characterized by disruptive, antisocial behavior” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2008).

Antisocial behavior is inheritable (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2008). Antisocial behaviors is when a individual does not want to be around others, with draws from physical contact and does not behavior appropriate for the situation. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASP) is defined as has been linked to a defect in a person’s frontal lobes in a study of children who had committed deviant acts. (Wallace, Hesselbrock, & Bauer, 2006). ASP is the mental illness linked with serial killers such as Jeffery Dahmer and Ted Bundy. An individual early in life usually displays symptoms of ASP, but the true manifestation is in the teen years.

A problem some may over look as a predictor of future delinquency is sleeping problems as a child. If a child does not receive adequate sleep during his/her formative years, cognitive as well as neuropsychological problems may appear during adolescence (Gregory, Caspi, Moffitt, & Poulton, 2009). When a child does not get adequate sleep, behavioral problems emerge as a symptoms that something is wrong. Cognitive and brain development depend upon getting enough sleep as well as enough good sleep. Good sleep is defined as sleep that includes several cycles of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

REM sleep is important for the processing of memories as well as a time for the body to rejuvenate itself. Short-term memory is converted into long-term memory during the REM sleep cycles. A person cycles through four stages of sleep, which takes approximately ninety minutes per cycle. REM sleep happens at the end of the fourth cycle and gets progressively longer as the night goes on. Dreaming occurs during REM sleep. Many times dreams are a way for our minds to process the day’s events and to sort through the emotions that a person has had. REM is also the time in which the body is in a coma like state so that most of the blood flow is concentrated in the body’s core and head. It is a time for the muscles to relax and rejuvenate. A child without adequate sleep is a child without adequate cognitive function, which may influence his/her emotional and psychological health in the future and lead to delinquent behavior (Catrett, & Gaultney, 2009).

Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavior disorder characterized by excessive motor activity and n ability to focus one’s attention. The child is described as having ants in his/her pants, but cannot keep his/her mind on the subject at hand. The other element to ADHD is impulsivity. The child cannot make rational decisions due to the need to move and forgetting what is going on around him/her. These symptoms begin at an early age, sometimes as young as six or seven. Medications to combat the symptoms of ADHD can cause a child become zombie like. Vanessa, in the movie Freeway, may have been diagnosed with ADHD because of her inability to behave while in class at the beginning of the movie (Bright, 1996). This inability to be able to concentrate can lead to decrease intelligence if not caught in its early stages.

Family Aspects

As portrayed in the movie Freeway, children who grow up in a violent, drug-infested home do not learn the correct manner in which to express themselves or the extent of their actions has on their future. Children model their parents. If parents are doing deviant behaviors, child do not perceive anything wrong with doing the same behaviors. Just as Vanessa saw her mother working the streets in order to get money for the family, Vanessa posed as a streetwalker in order to be able to go to her grandmother’s at the end of the movie. She learned how to make a shiv from her stepfather in order to escape from prison.

Sometimes children have good parents, but still go astray from social norms. Family is important in forming a child’s character. A child needs responsibilities, duties, and close family relationships as well as some privileges.

Communication in a family is very important as well. Children notice the tension in a family no matter the cause and open communication is paramount to stop the children from blaming themselves for it. Parents want their children to talk to them about any problems that may arise, but often do not feel the need to allow the children to be information about family situations that affect the children.

Children who do not have adequate parental supervision are more likely to be party to criminal activity. Single mothers working can be stressful for the entire family, because she is responsible for all the chores, childcare, discipline, and financial success in the home. Being a parent is hard enough when a couple shares the responsibility, doing an adequate job alone is nearly impossible.

The more siblings a child has the less individual attention the child will receive from his/her parents. As a society, we spend less time with our offspring than most any other generation in history. Divorce has become an epidemic and many women are single mothers by choice more than ever before. Most children do not have a father in the home. Almost of as many children, do not even know who their father is or never see them on a regular basis. Women want to have it all, career, children, and freedom. The family unit appears to play the most important role in preventing as well as causing juvenile delinquency.

A child that has been sexually abused is more likely to run away than any other child (Widom, 1996). This sexually abused child runs away thinking he/she will have a better life away from the abuser, but more often than not, the runaway becomes a prostitute to survive (Widom, 1996). Sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect are three ways that a family can assist a child into becoming a juvenile delinquent. A person is more likely to be abused by a loved one or someone know to the person than by any other group of people (Thio, 2010).

Poor families struggle to put food on the table and many times children feel neglected or that the plight of the family is their fault. Doing without the necessities makes a child want the things he/she does not have, which can lead to shoplifting and other such deviant acts. Poverty in this great nation is rampant. We are the greatest nation on this earth and yet we have children that are going hungry and in need of clothing. The cheap food is not the healthiest of choices in most cases. Money worries cause many families to separate in order to receive assistance from the government. Divorce is often a cause for children to become deviant.

Peer Aspects

Peer pressure has long been seen as a reason for deviant behavior in children. Groupthink is where adults as well as young people seem to lose their ability to speak or act in the correct manner the more people are in the group. The term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment”(Coon & Mitter, 2010). Conforming to the crowd and acting as a whole instead as the sum of many parts is what happens to when young people give in to peer pressure. Peer pressure is one of the hardest delinquencies to avoid.

Children with physical and learning disabilities are often taunted, which can often lead to anger. Young people, who are behind others of the same age academically, are prone to criminal behavior. It is thought the less intelligent a person is, the more likely to commit crime he or she will be. Cognitive function is necessary to rationally think about the consequences in situations and realize what will happen if you are caught doing a “bad” deed.

Sleep quality has been linked to obesity in a chicken and the egg type scenario. Some say obesity is caused by a lack of sleep quality and other say the lack of sleep quality causes an increase in obesity. Obesity can be a reason for a teenager or adolescent to buckle under peer pressure to “fit” in with the group and participate in delinquent activities. Young people who are obese have a higher rate of depression, which can lead some to a feeling of helplessness (News to use, 2003). Helplessness can result in deliqency because the child doesn’t feel that anything he/she does is worth while any way. Obesity has increased rapidly and some even call it an epidemic. President Obama signed a bill into law giving the United States Department of Agriculture the to set standards for public school lunches in order to combat obesity (Jalonick, 2010). Evidence has shown children are heavier now than at any other time in the history of the United States. The chart below is a little old, but it shows that in 2002, obesity was approximately sixteen percent in both children and adolescences.

(Buggey, T. (2007).

Social and Community Factors

Teachers have to “worry” about their jobs, because of the “No Child Left Behind” policies. If students are not able to pass a certain percentage of test questions, the school will find teachers, who can make the students pass. The United States Government is mandating every one must pass in order for the teacher to keep her job. This is a lot of pressure on the teachers, who then pass the pressure on to the students. Some students aren’t able to handle the pressure and drop out of school. School dropouts cannot get a driver’s license in many states until age eighteen. Many states do not allow dropouts to work, so getting into “trouble” is what is available to these young people. The teenagers are not in school, working or doing anything productive with their lives. Some have joined gangs as way of “fitting” in and having some “status” they have not otherwise achieved. Chopper, Vanessa’s boyfriend in the Freeway movie, was a member of a gang. She did not see anything odd about him being in a gang, it was just a way of life for her and him.

Teenagers, who are loners, in recent years started committing crimes at their schools. Columbine High School shooting is a prime example of the dangers juvenile delinquents can participate in. They have nothing to live for and just want to have some excitement.

Video games have taken over the children in this country. A child can play war games, running from law enforcement as well as shooting games. Their minds are not developed to be able to separate fact from fiction and many times, they think the person will stand back up if they shoot them.

Teenagers working while in school has been encouraged throughout the last few decades. Currently, working teenagers have disposable income, which affords them the opportunity to commit deviant acts. The teenagers are more likely to smoke, drive recklessly, and engage in other deviant behaviors when they work while going to school (Thio, 2010). There is more of an opportunity to lie to parents and have time with other people the same age or older in order to commit these deviant acts.

Music such as Rap has been blamed for violence, crime, and juvenile delinquency among black as well as other populations of youth. (Mahiri & Conner, 2003). Television shows such as Jerry Springer have done more damage to America’s youth by exposing them to the most deviant and sexually explicit material than ever before in history. Our collective values have declined since the 1950s in the United States.

Conclusion

An increase of in the number of juvenile delinquents has been observed. A thirty-three percent increase has been noted in the last decade (Loeber, Farrington, & Petechuk, 2003). Gangs are more prevalent in local cities than ever before. Drug related crimes are increasing. Violence depicted in movies such as Freeway, is common place to our young people.

Schools need to have in place programs to help alleviate some of the “baby sitting” that is done by teachers. As a country, we need to stop worrying about everyone else around the world and take care of our children. Studies have been done to determine why we have so many juvenile delinquents and we need to so something to stop the progression. Deviant acts leads to juvenile delinquents as well as other criminals. Our young people need to be taught the importance of staying in school as well as a criminal record can follow them for the rest of their lives. Babies should come home with parents who have had parenting classes as well as CPR and first aid classes. Changes need to be made in our country to insure our most valuable resource is protected and taken care of properly.

In the media, peer groups are made out to be the ‘bad kids around the back gates at school’ they are publicised as those who make teenagers take up smoking, drugs and underage drinking – but is this reality or the media hand picking out the sections to make a story? During this dissertation, I will look at what age peer groups are most influential; when are they a negative influence and at what age people most depend on their peer group. I chose this topic as it is an area of interest and relates to my psychology studies, I want to pursue this further at university and it will give me a deeper understanding in psychology and my prior knowledge will give me an advantage. This topic covers both psychology and sociology which will give me an insight to a new area as well as Furthering Pre-Knowledge. I will use many different resources during this essay including the internet, books, journals and e-resources; I will keep a bibliography of all references as well as in text citations.

So, what defines a peer group? Collins English Dictionary puts it nicely as a social group composed of individuals of approximately the same age, whereas The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy adds a little extra by explaining it is a group of people who share certain social characteristics, such as age, class, occupation, or education, and interact on a level of equality. An individual may be a member of several peer groups, including friends, schoolmates, and co-workers.

By looking into the effects of peer groups and their importance on different ages, I will be able to see whether all they are important for is making teenagers go down the wrong road, or whether their uses start at a much earlier age and are crucial to our development, new views show that a child’s early relationships have a large effect on later growth and development. During this dissertation I will look at both sides to determine the age when peer groups are at their most influential and fundamental toward people focussing on the differences between peer groups in young children and those in adolescence.

Peer Age Relationships

Some believe that peer groups are a great participating factor in building our cognitive development; others think it lures teenagers into a detrimental environment. Edwards (1992) said, ” the increasing use of preschools, organized playgroups, and child care arrangements has brought the age of access to peer relations down near the beginning of life” (p.197) whereas Erwin (1998) said, ” children’s earliest relationships are normally with the primary caregiver, usually the mother, and the rest of the immediate family”. Edwards believes that peer groups are fundamental from the very early stage of pre-school to gain the ability to succeed in life, whereas Erwin believes young peer relationships are only with immediate family and do not strengthen until adolescence. How are peer groups defined in both young childhood and adolescence? By establishing this, I can look deeper into the two age categories and delve into how peer groups affect children in these groups and the use of their peer group.

Young Children

Some theorists, such as Bowlby, Freud and Rutter suggest that early childhood is a sensitive period in life for social development; they also believe that certain types of peer experiences during this period can have an impact on the children’s later behaviour. Theorists such as Berndt, Hoyle and Bulowski theorize that one of the most influential factors that could have an effect on the stability of friendships is the initial quality of the friendship. Accordingly, friendships that have a positive, solid foundation will be more likely to withstand the test of time compared to friendships based on more negative attributes (e.g. mutual aggression, control) (Human behaviour, 2011).

Young Children – Infants

People usually think that infants are not old enough to understand peers and they show no preference to people, many parents believe this is their only chance to hand pick their child’s friends, but typically, infants orient toward peers by 2 months of age, make simple gestures by 3 to 4 months, and direct smiles and vocalizations to peers by 6 months, meaning that infants are aware of their peers and can distinguish and make decision, they are just more subtle at this age (Vincze, 1971). Among infants and toddlers, friendship has often been defined in terms of peer familiarity, consistency of interactions between the partners, and/or the mutual display of positive affect, sharing, and plays. For example, in research conducted by Howes (1983), dyads were considering friends if:

at least 50% of their social initiations resulted in social interaction (mutual preference)

one or more exchanges of positive affect occurred between partners (mutual enjoyment)

One or more episodes of reciprocal or complementary play occurred between partners

Howes found that 60% of toddler friends sustained their relationship over a period of months, and in 1992, Howes reported that toddlers’ friendships (particularly cross-gender friendships) often lasted well into the pre-school years.

As said earlier, Erwin (1998) disagrees with this research and believes children’s earliest relationships are normally with the primary caregiver – usually the mother – and the rest of the immediate family. During the first two years of life, infants do not spontaneously seek out other children for interaction or for pleasure, even though six month old infants may look at and vocalize to other infants, they do not initiate reciprocal social play with each other (Human behaviour, 2011). Ross (1990) has shown that toddlers’ peer relationships are unique, in the sense that both partners tend to adjust their interactions they conduct with each other, and interact in ways that are different from the ways they treat other children (Young children’s peer relations and social competence, handbook of research on the education of young children, 2006).

Young Children – Pre School Years

Vandell & Mueller (1980) think that by as early as 2 years old, children prefer certain peers over others as play partners. Between two and five years of age, children’s interactions with each other become more sustained, social and complex. Solitary play is dominant among three year olds, but this strategy shifts to group play by five years (Human behaviour, 2011). It has been theorized by Howes (1992) that at this age, children have a level of emotional maturity to a degree that enables them to form close ties with their peers. Because pre-schoolers are better able to conceptualize, reflect on, and describe their friendships when they are at this age when compared to infants and toddlers, researchers have been able to use children’s self-reports to assess friendships (Price & Ladd, 1986), although other theorists would argue that although they have a better understanding of their friendships, they still haven’t reached a full awareness of their peers and therefore you cannot rely on self-reports from 2 year olds, although, by the second and third years, toddlers begin to engage in more sophisticated forms of ‘games’ and repricol play which shows that they are gaining peer awareness. The significance of peer relationships increase and change with age, peer relationships become increasingly stable, intimate and personally significant – by 3 years, children usually have 22 contacts and Erwin (1998) believes children start to use the term best friend from the age of 4 and Hayes (1978) also found that preschool children could not only name their best friends they could also articulate reasons for liking them.

Adolescence

Adolescence is generally the term used for teenagers, the time when children are going through the most changes including puberty. It can be broken up into three sub categories, early (11-13 years); middle (14-18 years); and Late adolescence (19-24 years). The adolescent years have traditionally been treated (and still are by many authors) as an area of interest distinct from the rest of childhood (Erwin 1998). The sociology of adolescence has been dominated by a ‘social problems’ approach – that is, basic research has centred on those phenomena which appear to characterize adolescence as a period of individual crises (Credo reference, 26th Feb 2011). Relationships during this era have often been examined as entities separate from and largely discontinuous with those that went before, despite ‘the glaring obvious proposition that the groundwork for transition in adolescence must have been laid in childhood’ (Coleman, 1995). During adolescence, peer relationships become more important and influential than parent relations.

Early Adolescence

Social relations are organized around the peer group rather than families or individual friends. (Credo reference, 22nd Feb 2011). The rapid growth of the teenage population as experienced in the 1990’s has led to a rise in adolescent peer groups simply because the sheer increase in the number of peers that young people have has increased. (Steinberg, 1996). As the importance of the family in the adolescent’s life declines, whether it is from a divorce or from normal growth, friends move to the forefront. Friends are usually peers, that is, people of the same age, with similar backgrounds and interests. Peer group membership answers adolescents’ concerns about many things including their changing bodies. Discussing their fears with other young people experiencing similar physical changes and asking similar questions about their impact helps adolescents to accept their physical development. In several ways, the group reassures the individuals that they are acceptable and not abnormal. Peer groups can help adolescents accept their physical development by devising means to hide it. Body differences appear less different when people dress alike. Each group has its own look, from sophisticated dressy, to designer labels, to ratty jeans and T-shirts, to whatever is handy. Each group presents an identifiable image through a style of dressing that clearly states what is acceptable. (Kaplan, 1993). Acknowledging that by early adolescence, peer groups have a significant influence on children’s behaviour

Middle Adolescence

Peer pressure is heightened during this stage and is mainly seen as a negative influence that provokes behaviour such as underage drinking and sex. Some researchers believe the children in this stage which are part of the ‘in crowd’ are more susceptible to peer pressure than those who friends with peers who are kind, nice and well-liked (Science daily, 23rd Feb 2011). In a contemporary society, peer groups have become an increasingly important context in which adolescents spend time. Modernization has led to more and more age segregation-in schools, in the workplace, and in the community. Today’s teenagers spend far more time in the exclusive company of their peers than their counterparts did in the past (Steinberg, 1996). Becoming a peer group member meets many adolescent concerns about social expectations as well.

Late Adolescence

Many teens try to balance school work with part-time jobs, dating and other activities. Today’s teens also deal with an uncertain national economy, violence, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. With all this, teens lack the experience and the coping and problem-solving skills that would help them make good decisions about handling these stresses. Without such skills and given the almost complete absence of their families support, teens are at the mercy of their friends’ immature ideas about how to solve problems (Kaplan, 1993). Young people need to develop independence from their parents. They need to learn decision-making skills, to act on their own and learn to live with the consequences. But young teenagers find these goals confusing and the ways of achieving them even more so. They feel dependent on their parents because they privately know that they lack the confidence and the skills to succeed in the outside world alone. Adolescents, however, deeply resent this need and view it as a sign of weakness, often covering up with arguments and impulsive behaviour (Kaplan 1993).

Development – Young Children

Peer groups can have an effect on a young child’s sense of well-being and belonging which are increasingly important concerns as education and child care settings have become a significant role in children’s daily lives throughout the world. Child rearing is acknowledged as a collaborative endeavour between families and early childhood education and care institutions (OECD 2006). Peer relations are high priority because of the fun and pleasure a child will get from being in the company of other children, which is most evident in play. Non-parental early childhood arrangements have proliferated because parents need to be employed and cannot simultaneously care for their children. Although, throughout the 21st century, these arrangements of early childhood care are seen as a means of enrichment for the child to help establish their developmental needs by meeting new people and other children to gain dependence from their parents and that is where peer groups start to enhance a child from one of the earliest stages in our lives. These adaptations have created the need for early year’s practitioners to think and act in new ways to help establish this development.

Positive attachment relationships with caregivers influence children’s formation of positive relationships with peers and children who are in less conflict with peers are more likely to form positive relationships with caregivers (Howes, 2008). Interactions with peers (meaning other children) develop through multiple and recursive interactive experiences which are well scripted social exchanges that are repeated many times with only slight variation (Bretherton, 1985). From this, the child forms an internal representation of a relationship with a playmate, and from those playmate relationships friendships could evolve – children who engage in repeated and complex interactions with a given playmate are more likely to represent the partner as a friend and the content of these interactions will influence the quality of the resulting friendship (Kernan, 2010).

Factors affecting peer development

A child’s participation in peer activities and their social ability relies on a number of contributing factors which can either have a positive effect on their ability to create new peers.

Relationships with caregivers

As mentioned earlier, children who have strong attachments to their primary caregiver are concurrently and longitudinally more socially competent with peers even when controlling for parental attachment quality (Howes 1999; Pianta et al 2002). We sometimes incorrectly assume this is because sociable children from good relationships with all people, peers and caregivers. However, in order to master peer relationships the child needs to be able to explore and experiment with peers whilst making forays back to a trusted adult, if a child feels valued and supported they are more likely to make these steps and form stronger relationships, but those children who don’t form a relationship with their caregiver are more susceptible to pick fights, refuse to let somebody play or hide from a bully as they don’t believe they have the support of the adult (Kernan, 2010). In the introduction, it was mentioned that the first peer relationship a child makes is with their primary caregiver, whether this is with their mother, father, or teacher – it is essential that children create the strongest bond possible with this figure in order to have the confidence to establish new bonds with other people including other adults and children their own age. When children are new to peer groups they don’t know the games or the players which puts them at a risk of exclusion or withdrawing from already formed groups, this makes them miss the opportunity to play with others and develop new social interaction skills with other peers. This makes the time when a child enters a new environment such as a classroom an important setting for the development of peer relations.

Setting

A child’s setting is a main contribution to their social development, for example, imagine a classroom setting in which most of the interactions were harmonious and respectful, in which children and adults worked together on projects, in which a child who was distressed or frustrated was comforted and helped, and in which laughter and other expressions of positive affect predominated. Contrast this with a classroom setting in which children were ridiculed for being different, talked to and touched in a harsh rejecting manner, competed rather than helped each other, and the general tone included mistrust and anger. We can imagine that the social development of children would take two different paths in these two extremes. Because encounters with peers become experiences of ‘living’ within a group for the child, it is impossible to understand the social development of a child as isolated from the group (Kernan, 2010).

Time and permission

The main place where child to child relations are made are during play, which means the caregiver must create an environment that values play so they can have the physical space, materials and encouragement to pretend and play together. If a child is playing with another child and this is interrupted and they are separated, it may result in the children thinking it wasn’t allowed, so it is essential that this importance doesn’t fade into the background. Howes and Wishard (2004) say that the amount of time children engage in complex pretend play has decreased over the 20 years they have been observing in local programmes. This decrease is consistent with anecdotal reports that programmes are providing relatively little unstructured time for children to play. Without the time and permission to have play with other children, this could have a negative effect on a child’s social and peer building skills.

Strategies focussed on peer building

The Government published its first national play strategy, earmarking ?235 million to:

Make sure that every residential area has a variety of high-quality places

for all children to play safely and free of charge aˆ¦ as a direct response to

demands from children, young people and their families for better play

facilities.

(Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2008)

This strategy will help to raise awareness for the profile of play’s importance in children’s development, and people from all background have access to this funding. Although, despite the 2004 Children Act’s statutory duty for government bodies to take into account the views of children when planning services, there is little evidence of this in this play strategy. 9 000 children were involved in the consultation of the strategy, but this was done online and the ages of the children were not given, and it is highly unlikely that the younger children who will be most affected by the scheme would have been part of this consultation. There were 42 800 respondents aged 19 and under that gave their opinions about services in the areas in which they lived, although this may be applauded, the views of the local population of more than 130 000 children from birth to seven years – making up 39 per cent of those 19 and under were not surveyed.

The BIG lottery fund is a grant making non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom created by the Government to administer funding to suitable causes following the creation of the National Lottery. This organisation decided to give ?155 million to Children’s Play initiative which was based on the recommendations of the 2004 play review Getting Serious About Play which defined play as ‘what children and young people do when they follow their own ideas, in their own way and for their own reasons’ the report also mentioned how play was a key factor in development for a child’s social wellbeing and their ability to form peers both early and late in life (2004). When the programme finished, 90% of Local Authorities reported that the programme had raised the profile of play, 48%of portfolios said BIG funding had helped them to secure extra funds and unexpected outcomes achieved included enhanced parental engagement, increased social and community cohesion (BIG lottery fund, 2006)

There are also courses available for those to study child development and play to help enhance the social skills of children and so those primary caregivers like nursery nurses will now have a bigger insight into exactly what a child needs and how to achieve that to help them gain the skills needed to have the confidence to build more relationships when they advance to the older stages and have to gain ore peer relationships. Northumbria University currently have 12 courses available for early years, these include early years and disability studies to learning in families, schools and beyond. Most of these courses contain topics related to play and child development. The development of courses and funding which is now available shows how early childhood has become more recognisable as a major stepping stone in the formation of peer groups and their ability to give us fundamental skills we will recall on later in life.

Peer Pressure – Adolescence

Most commonly, peer pressure is seen as the time in our lives when peers have the most influence over us Google will bring up over 3 million results for the search peer pressure. There are links including ways to deal with peer pressure, definitions and past newspaper articles that are related to peer pressure. 9 out of 10 teenagers will give in to peer pressure whether it is simply wearing similar clothes or under age alcohol and sex. Peer pressure can have a devastating effect on those in adolescence but it also beneficial by getting a teenager to do something they want to, but just don’t have the courage or confidence for.

Positive effects of peer pressure

Friendship

Amongst peers, teenagers will find friendships and acceptance and share experiences with these other teenagers that will build lasting bonds. Adolescence is a tough time of a person’s life, you go through puberty start new schools and have exams and have to make some life changing decisions, having friends around you whilst going through this stage can have a positive effect on you. Studies such as the Effects of Friendship on Adolescent’s Self-Esteem by Thomas J Berndt and Keunho Keefe show that friends can build self esteem and bring out the confidence in people. When in a strange environment, it has been proven that when accompanied by a friend, your heart rate lowers.

Positive Examples

Peers can set good examples for each other’s. Having peers who are committed to doing well in school or to doing their best in a sport can influence a person to also be more goal-oriented. The same applies for peers who are kind and loyal which can influence them to build these qualities in themselves. Peers do not have to be somebody you know, for example watching Tom Daley diving at the Olympics could encourage another person to aspire to be like Tom. A teenager is more likely to copy somebody their own age than somebody older, so having a positive role model from the same age group (e.g. Taylor Swift for singing) is a type of peer pressure than can have a positive effect on somebody.

Feedback and advice

Adolescents are going to listen their peers, who can give them advice and feedback on trying new ideas explore beliefs and discus problems. They can help them to make decisions such as what courses to take, what haircut to get and issues such as how to deal with family arguments. This advice could help a teen through a rough patch and help them make life changing decisions for the better. It can encourage them to try new things, for example joining the school gym or art club.

Socializing

Peer groups give opportunities to people to try out new social skills, allows people to get involved with others – friends of friends so to speak – and gives them a chance to expand their circle of friends. Peers can help each other to build relationships or to work out issues.

Encouragement

Peers can encourage other peers to work hard to hit specific targets, such as getting a solo in the school concert or they can encourage you to study and aim high for your exams as well as listen and support them when they are upset or troubled and they can empathize with each other when they have experienced similar difficult situations.

New experiences

Some teens could be involved in clubs, sports or religious groups and they could help other teens to get involved in these too, helping them to gain new experiences, new likes and dislikes.

Negative effects of peer pressure

Although there are positive effects to having peers in adolescence, there are also negatives and a lot of stresses which can come from peers during this age. They can pressure people into doing something they are uncomfortable with such as shoplifting or doing drugs. These pressures can be expressed openly for example ‘have a drink, it’s only one drink, everybody else is doing it’ or it could be more indirectly by simply providing alcohol at a party. But most peer pressure is much more subtle, without talking, a peer could let somebody know how they must dress, talk or the attitudes they should have towards school, parents and teachers in order to win their approval. This pressure to conform can be much more powerful than the more direct pressure; they don’t want to look awkward or uncomfortable, so when unsure of what to do in a situation, they naturally look to others for cues about what is and what isn’t acceptable.

Drugs

Peer influences have been found to be amongst the strongest predictors of drug use during adolescence. It has been argued that peers initiate drug use by providing, modelling and shaping attitudes to drugs. There was a study done by Farrell and White to determine how much peer pressure affected adolescent drug use, they included factors such as family – are you more likely to conform with drug users if you were from a single parent family, no father or lived with a step parent. The results showed that although those who were living without a father figure were more likely to participate in drug use, it could not outweigh the strong relations between peer variables and the frequency of drug use found within the study, which replicates the findings of previous studies that have also found peer variables to be amongst the strongest predictors of adolescents’ drug use. Although, drugs are not just marijuana or heroin and other types of really bad illegal substances, drugs also include alcohol and cigarettes. Underage drinking is one of the leading causes of teenage death it makes you think irrationally, drink and drive or even binge drink until you are unconscious; all of these effects of alcohol usage increase the chances of ending up in hospital or six feet under. Although, peer pressure is not the only factor leading to underage drinking, there are other influences such as relationships with parents, parental or sibling drinking and the media. Underage smoking is a common peer pressure problem; someone who starts smoking at the age of 15 is three times more likely to die due to cancer than someone who started in their late twenties. According to a two year study by Carlos Bolanos, teenage smoking can lead to depression in adulthood. Teenagers are 80% more likely to try smoking underage if their friends and family also smoke; this is an immense amount of peer pressure to put onto an adolescent.

Sex

Many teens – particular males – feel the pressure to have sex before they are ready. According to research 63% of teens believe that waiting is a good idea, but few of those actually do wait. 1 in 3 boys aged 15-17 feel the pressure to have sex, often from their male friends, whereas only 23% of females within the same age range say that they feel the same pressure. This factor is what is making schools rethink about the delivery of sex education, and the need to introduce sex education at a much younger age. Although, there are other contributing factors such sexually transmitted diseases and the rise in teenage pregnancy, reports in 2003 showed that 1 in 7 sexually active 14 year olds have been pregnant, the report did not say whether they had continued with the pregnancy. (Colin, 2003)

Conclusion

All Educational system has an image, which lead to a unique learning process. Waldorf educational theory supports a magnificent learning process for children, which focus on reading, storytelling, rhythmic activities, practical activities related to nature. This research paper examines the depth of Waldorf philosophy and belief.

INTRODUCTION

Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian educator and philosopher, scientist and artist founded Waldorf at the beginning of 20th century. He believed there is a way to educate children into human beings who will be capable of bringing peace to the world. In April of 1919, Emil Molt, the owner of Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory invited him as a guest speaker, to educate the worker of his company in Germany. After listening to Steiner’s speech Molt asked him to establish a school for the children of the company’s employees. Sterner agreed four conditions, which was, it should be a unified twelve years, and co-educational school and teacher will take the leading role and open to all children. And that’s how the fist independent school ( Die Freie Waldorfschule) was opened on September 7, 1919. (www.waldorfanswers.com)

Today Waldorf education is one of the largest independent schools in the world. There are more than 900 hundred Waldorf school in 83 countries and approximately 128 Waldorf school in North America. There are 10 Steiner teacher training in the United States and 2 in Canada. (www.whywaldorfworks.org)

The philosophy and belief behind waldorf:

Waldorf education is based on Steiners spiritual philosophy ” Anthroposophy” which is wisdom or knowledge of the true nature of human being.

The goal of the Waldorf education is to educate the whole human being that includes head, heart and hand. It means to teach them cognitively, physically and also spiritually. And the waldorf teachers do so through hand on learning experiences, dramatic and imaginative play, songs, drama etc.

Waldorf believe that children learn by playing and imitating their adults and peers; exploring and experiencing everything by their own.

The theories underlying model’s belief:

According to Jean Piaget, “children’s are like little scientist, they try to make sense of the world by exploring, making mistakes and then learning from them”. Rudolf Stiener also believed in that. He said, “receive the children in reverence, educate them in love, let them go forth in freedom”. Waldorf teachers emphasize more on free play and independent creative play where children can exercise the power of their imagination and are free to explore their natural curiosities and less on teaching them reading or writing during the early years. They create an environment for children with rich in opportunities for creative work and imaginative play and give them freedom to explore and experience any materials that interest them. That’s why Waldorf students don’t begin reading until 2nd or 3rd grade.

When engaging through art viewing and art making experiences, these can in turn be very strong and rich indicators in the visual arts in the domain of learning for young children (Eckhoff, 2007). However, Eckhoff further states that art viewing and making isn’t seen as a strong component in early childhood education and in some cases can become non-existent in their curriculum. However, it is clearly stated in the national education standards and curriculum that art viewing experiences is an essential component of children from birth to eight years.

Art isn’t truly defined by Eckhoff. According to Eisner, (1994), art is a form of representing your own personal ideas and your own concepts to the public eye. This is a broad definition of art, and doesn’t clarify what children’s art entails. Many people convey to us what children’s art really is. Young children use their art to communicate to others, what their own understandings and views of the world are, before they ‘acquire means of conveying their thoughts and feelings with words’, (Danko-Mc Ghee and Slutsy, 2003 cited in Bae 2004). Not only does art help children to communicate with the outside world, it helps develop their Cognitive, Emotional, Social and Sensory Motor Skills. Creating an image of something expresses the way a child might feel. Children in my view need art to give them a voice, so that their feelings can be seen, as in most cases, would not be heard. Children need to have the freedom of art, and not simply shown what to do. The Highscope method highlights this theory and gives children a voice and lets them choose what they want to draw, colour, paint etc. However not all approaches are like this, and in my opinion, when we talk about art, the Highscope approach best fits the children’s needs. Art is a learning experience that provides the child with many challenges, which in turn when achieved gives them a sense of pleasure. Through art, the child will learn complex thinking skills and will be able to master developmental tasks put in front of them (Belden and Fessard, 2001 cited in Reyner, 2007). It is the activities that early years educators set out that engage and encourages the child’s developmental skills to evolve even more. Art activities provide a foundation for children with learning experiences through sensory skills that they can master at their own rate. Not only does these activities help children develop their skills, but the activities laid out should be designed in a way that they incorporate the children’s own work, and should not be told by a practitioner what to do or how to do it to a certain extent.

One of the most important people in children’s art is adults. The adult has a role in providing the child with materials and accessories needed, and in turn, these materials provide different skill developments. The child might also discover new skills and in turn develop these (Reyner, 2007). The adult and practitioner have a more important role than just providing the materials and the sanctuary in which the art is created. Grainger (2004), claims that as professionals more must be done than just recognize and provide multimedia objects for children. She believes the adult must do more than just the ordinary practitioner and create an environment where the children can use their creativity and imaginative skills as best as possible. However, it is thought that this isn’t being done. From being on placement in an early years setting, I have seen first-hand that this isn’t happening and that the practitioner is simply handing the bare minimum materials to the child, and telling them what they must create. This isn’t in any way helping the child develop his creative or imaginative skills. Practitioners should have full resources available to the children, and should support the needs of the child as best they can.

In today’s world, art is seen as a struggle in Early Years Education. It is not just seen as a struggle from an outsider’s point of view, yet the educators themselves find it hard to educate children through art. Early Childhood Educators continue to struggle with different ideas around the concept of art and where it stands in the early year’s curriculum. Not only this, they also find it very hard to teach it to children and struggle to find the most effective way to do so (Twigg and Garvis, 2010). In Early Years Settings, the practitioners find it hard to fit art into their daily routine. However this should not be the case, as art is seen as a strong component for children in developing a range of different skills, previously highlighted by Reyner (2007). This was the view of Educators of Queensland, Australia. In New Zealand, teachers know their role when it comes to art educating. In New Zealand, children are given the time and space to express their ideas. It is seen as a child-centered approach. This is set in an environment where creativity and experimentation is encouraged by teachers. The teachers themselves adopt a non-interventional role as a facilitator. They provide the child with adequate resources, an environment in which they feel most comfortable, and continuously offering praise to the child for their efforts. Children are encouraged in developing their skills; observe themselves and others around them, to create and plan in their daily cycle and also to reflect their own pieces of art work. The teacher’s role was to help and scaffold this process (Stott, 2011). However this isn’t the case here in Ireland in some settings. The teacher’s role in art is an unclear and ambiguous concept and some teachers try to neglect art as a subject that needs to be taught. In New Zealand the teacher is an essential part of the child’s life in that it provides the child with these opportunities to develop their skills.

Stott goes on to highlight the views of Ballengee-Morris and Stuhr (2001), that visual art should be taught ‘contextually’ and not just as an isolated subject. They believed this should be the way in teaching art to children as it would provide a better understanding of how children see their lives in which they live.

Jean Piaget, a developmental psychologist, argued in Margaret Brooks (2007) Journal Article, that a child performing an art activity such as drawing reflected the child’s cognitive competence. Piaget didn’t however believe that drawing acted as domain of development, yet it gave us an insight into the child’s overall cognitive development. Brooks (2007) , then gave her own personal opinion to Piaget’s view of art. She believed that when a child creates a drawing, the drawing itself involves all of the child’s past and present experiences, which would also incorporate the child’s imagination and emergent thinking. What Brooks is trying to highlight in her journal is that drawing involves many skills, including imagination, creativity, observation, memory and most importantly experience. This theory once again highlights what Reyner (2007) believes art involves also. When a child begins to draw, it begins to become fully engaged with the object being drawn. With all of Brooks’ theory in mind, a longitudinal research study was carried out in 2003 to investigate drawing activities done in the child’s home, preschool and schools. Ring (2003), carried out the study and investigated how the children were doing when drawing activities were being carried out by adults. The study found that the ‘child’s voice was not being heard’. The adults and practitioner were doing the drawings for the children and were not letting the children use their own creativity and imagination, and this in turn, goes against what Margaret Brooks believed drawing for children involved. It is the adults and practitioners who lack theoretical preparation when it comes to teaching art in early childhood. They have their own views on art yet none have theoretical back up and supporting evidence.

”Arts education policy is subject to the interplay of many values, de¬?nitions, and approaches regarding both the arts and education. Some believe the arts are basic to education; other see them as important, but less than basic; still others see them as a low priority or expendable, given the importance of other core academic subjects such as mathematics and English language arts”(Heilig, Cole and Aguilar, 2010).

However, personal opinions aren’t really accepted and are not seen as ‘best practice’. As previously mentioned, this is the case nowadays in Ireland. In two of the early years settings that I have attended, and also a Primary school, this appears to be the case in both of them. The adult ended up doing the art activities themselves, and when asked ‘why they are doing the activity for the children?’ their response was ‘to make the finished article look good’. It is in early years were children’s drawings change and their understanding and attitudes change. This change can be guided by adults and practitioners, however in the wrong way (Bae, 2004). The views of adults and practitioners of what art really means in early years varies from one person to the next. Bae claims that children use art to communicate their feelings, understandings and views of the world. This is the same view that Harris (1963) has that children use their art to express their ideas, feelings and emotions on a page. They both back up Reyner’s theory previously mentioned.

In conclusion, art in early years education in today’s world has different and contrasting views from many different people. This leads into primary school education. Here in Ireland, many programs have been set up to combat the problems that some practitioners might have when it comes to teach art. We as an educational framework are seriously falling behind to other countries in particular New Zealand. They have a framework built around art which helps the practitioners understand their role as an early year’s educator and how to use art as best they can to develop children’s developmental skills. The method of letting a child create their own art work and not by the adult is how I see best the child will develop their own skills. I don’t see this being the case here in Ireland were it can be seen that some setting’s still tell the child how to do things and what way to do it. I would be strongly of the opinion that this area is a possible avenue for further research and analysis.