Understanding Emotional Development, Attachment, and Socialization
Definition of Emotion: Emotion is the preparation of a person to establish, maintain, or change their relationship with the environment. It is a complex process consisting of innate, subjective, physiological, and behavioral components.
Emotional Development and Its Impact
Emotional development refers to the process by which a child constructs their identity, self-esteem, security, and self-confidence through interactions. Through these interactions, the child is able to distinguish, express, and control emotions. Correct emotional development involves being aware of one’s own feelings, getting in touch with them, and being able to express them, engage with other people, and empathize.
Attachment and Its Significance
Attachment: Attachment is the strong bond that a human being feels and responds to, fulfilling the most basic and fundamental human need to feel safe, protected, and helped. This affective bond is present throughout life.
Characteristics Associated with Functional Attachment:
- Maintaining proximity with the person to whom this link is felt.
- Good sensory contact.
- Affective relationships with the surrounding environment.
- Seeking refuge in times of sadness, fear, or anxiety.
Behaviors Expressing Emotional Bond:
- Drawing attention through tears, laughter, or touch.
- Surveillance and monitoring through motor and visual contact.
- Approximation and follow-up behaviors.
Factors Affecting the Development of Attachment:
Maternal deprivation and institutionalization can lead to developmental delays, but these are not always irreversible. Responding to the child’s needs is crucial, and it’s important that parents adapt to the temperamental characteristics of their children.
The Self-Concept
The self-concept is a physical, intellectual, and emotional character defining each subject. This concept is not always the same but varies according to cognitive factors and social interaction during development. It starts in the early months, and self-recognition typically occurs around 24 months (related to mobile development).
The School Environment as a Context of Socialization
The school environment provides a context for interaction with different expectations and new rules. There is a different number of members, a different type of relationship, and a higher proportion of adults to children, with a more heterogeneous social class composition.
The Child in a Different World:
School is a context where children transition from being the protagonist to becoming a group member. Relationships with adults are often overshadowed by relationships with other children.
Different Contributions from Home and School:
At school, there is a willingness to follow a rhythm, learning program, and objectives. Learning at home is more relaxed and based on everyday issues. At home, there are fewer children per adult. The role of the adult is integrative and socializing, influencing a child’s learning habits.
How Standards Relate to Peers:
Peer interactions help children to communicate, reinforce the rules of good behavior, form a sense of self, develop empathy, establish friendships, and develop adult roles (parents, doctors, patients). They also develop prosocial behaviors and emotional disinhibition.
Peer Relations and Emotional Development
Hartup’s Observations: In the first year, there is little interest in the environment, but interactions become more frequent. Imitation is common. Up to 6 years, group interaction increases, as does verbal communication. This stage sees an increase in interaction with others, recognizing communicative viewpoints and developing communicative abilities.