The Impact of Culture on Childhood Development, Article Critique Example

The process of development in infancy, childhood and adolescence is inextricably intertwined with cultural factors. Development does not happen in a vacuum; while infants may have an inherent drive to explore the world around them, they “can only explore the objects made available to them” (Lerner et al., 2012).  In infancy, the objects available for exploration may be seen through an entirely literal perspective –such as the available selection of toys, clothing, bedding, or the lack of any of these or other familiar objects commonly used by infants- though in later periods of development the “objects made available” to children are as much cultural as they are literal. The world around children shapes their developmental processes, and this world is in turn shaped by –and bound by- cultural processes and artifacts. Seen in this light, the processes of developmental psychology are not just linked to, but are deeply embedded in cultural factors. The cultural contexts in which developmental processes take place will have significant determinative effects on how children and families respond to challenging circumstances, such as chronic childhood illness.

In the last several decades the United States has undergone significant demographic shifts. The ratio of whites to specific minority groups (such African Americans, Hispanics, Asians) has shifted drastically; American society is, simply put, “no longer overwhelmingly white” (McLoyd et al., 2012). Changes have also occurred within the subsets of racial and ethnic minorities, as growth in the size of the Hispanic population is poised to result in African Americans no longer comprising the nation’s largest minority group. Within each of these groups of minorities, a number of notable demographic trends rooted in a cultural context have a significant impact on the makeup of families and the specific characteristics of parent/child relationships. A marked trend in the rise of unwed mothers and single-parent households among African Americans, for example, serves as a cultural framework within which parental/child relationships must be viewed and understood.

Similar trends are seen in Hispanic populations, as a number of factors contribute to the increase in single-parent households. Economic factors underpin a growth in the number of women in the workforce, while the availability of welfare benefits makes it possible for unwed or single parents to maintain individual households. These economic factors alone do not explain the rise in single parent households, however; as one study noted, welfare benefits allow single parents to establish their own households instead of living with their parents (McLoyd et al., 2000). This means that it is not just a combination of economic factors driving single-parent trends, but is instead a deeper set of cultural, social, and economic factors.

With these considerations in mind, it is clear that cultural factors have a significant impact on childhood development. Culture determines –or at minimum, influences-  a wide variety of factors; the number of parents involved in raising children, the socioeconomic status of parents; access to and choice of tools for developing literacy and cognitive capacity; normative gender and social roles; and a range of other factors are all deeply embedded in a cultural framework. Culture plays a large role in shaping perceptions about gender roles, drives perceptions and expectations for educational opportunities and career choices, and establishes the normative boundaries and limitations for appropriate social behavior (Lerner et al., 2012). In short, culture effects development by determining what sort of opportunities and limitations children face.

For children who are afflicted with chronic illness in childhood, cultural factors are important in shaping how families perceive and respond to the illness. Cultural factors impact the availability and use of treatments; for example, a single-parent African American family who rely on welfare benefits may have fewer options or choices where treatment is concerned. Other cultural factors determine how well families deal with the practical and long-term implications of chronic illness (Boruchovitch & Mednick,1997). In order to understand how chronic illness affects childhood development, it is first necessary to understand the cultural context in which the illness occurs, and the ways in which different cultures respond to and deal with illness.

References

Boruchovitch, E., & Mednick, B. (1997). Cross-cultural differences in children’s concepts of health and illness.Revista De Sa\’Ude P\’Ublica, 31(5), 448–456.

Lerner, R., Easterbrooks, M., Mistry, J., & Weiner, I. (2012). Handbook of psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

McLoyd, V., Cauce, A., Takeuchi, D., & Wilson, L. (2000). Marital processes and parental socialization in families of color: A decade review of research. Journal Of Marriage And Family, 62(4), 1070–1093.