Child development by Hurlock Elizabeth Bergner 1898-

Author:Hurlock, Elizabeth Bergner, 1898- [Hurlock, Elizabeth Bergner, 1898-]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Child psychology, Enfants, Psychophysiologie, Child Development
ISBN: 0074631667
Publisher: New York, McGraw-Hill
Published: 1972-06-03T19:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN SocJal Adjustmcnts

256

IN A CULTURE that puts a high value on social ad-justments, as in America today, parents and teach-ers provide the child with opportunities to learn tomake good adjustments. They motivate him to do soby rewarding him with approval when he comes up totheir expectations.

Most parents realize that there is a close relation-ship between a child s social adjustments and hishappiness. Middle-class parents are especially con-cerned because they are future-oriented. They feelthat their children will be happier if they are popularwith both girls and boys, and they begin to providesocial experiences involving members of both sexeseven before childhood ends. They feel that good socialadjustments will lead to successful marriage and willbe a stepping-stone to success in business and toupward social mobility. Thus, they urge their sons tobelong to gangs and be "regular boys." Todays teach-ers are more concerned about behavior that leads topoor adjustment than about behavior that disrupts thesmooth running of the classroom. Most teachersknow, from their classroom experience, that childrenwho make good social adjustments tend to be moresuccessful academically.

The attention given to good adjustments in child-hood is justified because the behavior and attitudesdeveloped and approved at that time persist. Theypersist because any behavior that is rewarded bysocial approval gives satisfaction to the child, is re-peated, and soon becomes habitual.

The kind of social adjustment the child makes alsoleaves its mark on his self-concept. This, likewise,contributes to its persistence. A child who makesgood social adjustments develops a favorable self-concept; if other people like him. he likes himself.By contrast, the child who makes poor social adjust-ments is unhappy and dislikes himself. As a result, hemay develop into a self-centered, introverted, un-social, or antisocial person whose adult happiness andsuccess are seriously jeopardized (10, 38, 49).

Meaning of Social Adjustment

Social adjustment means the success with which aperson adjusts to people in general and to the groupwith which he is identified in particular. A well-adjusted person has learned such social skills as theability to deal diplomatically with people—bothfriends and strangers—so that their attitudes towardhim will be favorable and they will want to accept

him. He has developed good social attitudes, such asa willingness to help others, even if he is personallyinconvenienced. He is not self-bound.

Children are expected to become better adjusted tosocial life each year and to conform to the social ex-pectations for their age. No one expects a baby to bea well-adjusted person: he is too self-bound toconsider others and too ignorant of social expecta-tions to know how to conform to socially approvedpatterns of behavior. The older child, however, isjudged more critically.

CRITERIA OF SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT

To determine how well adjusted the child is socially,four criteria must be applied; any one applied aloneis inadequate. These four criteria are given in Box11-1.

It is not easy to apply these criteria and be sure thatthe results obtained are true indications of the kindof social adjustment the child has made. Since socialacceptance is an indication of how closely the child'sbehavior conforms to social expectations, one candetermine the progress the child has made towardgood social adjustment by finding out what othersthink of him.

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