34 Part 1 Foundations of Human Development
Families matter. Researchers and scientists agree on this. Families, however,
differ greatly in terms of their basic parental abilities and skills, their financial
resources, sibling relationships and birth order, extended family involvement,
and values. The same parents can have a different effect on different children
within the same family. How and why families matter are much more compli-
cated questions that have yet to be completely answered.
Peers
Although families have the greatest social influence on a child’s early devel-
opment, peers have a greater impact during later childhood and adolescence.
Friendships or the lack of friendships, social power and status, and acceptance
and belonging all affect social and emotional development. Peers offer equal
status, a relationship that does not exist in child-adult relationships. Friendships
change as children grow and develop. Relationships between boys and girls
change, too. Peer relationships also help children and teens interpret their own
culture through unique language, fads, music, and fashion. For adults, peers
form the basis of social networks that lead to social and emotional health and
development.
Community
Research has often focused on the impact
family and peers have on development. Newer
studies also examine the role community plays.
The community offers a physical environment in
which to live and grow. A person’s community is
the neighborhood, town, or city in which he or she
lives, 2-11. School is also part of a person’s com-
munity. The community factors that affect devel-
opment are endless.
Some researchers see a relationship between
people’s self-worth and the way they view their
environment. People of all ages may derive their
self-concept according to how others view their
neighborhood. For example, children living in
poverty may see themselves differently from their
more affluent classmates. In the community in
which they live, they may interpret this to mean
that they are not as valuable as wealthier class-
mates. Although this situation does not always
result in lower self-esteem, this result is possible.
Factors such as diversity and the average
income and education of residents may impact the
outcomes of children as behaviors are modeled.
Affluent families may have more relationships out-
side the community that provide both positive and
negative social models than families with a lower
income. Other factors such as the number of single
parents and of children per adult resident might
affect children raised in the neighborhood.
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2-11
Communities can have a profound
effect on a person’s development.