Introduction
In light of the growing severity of conflicts among young people, the importance of understanding the patterns of development of children and adolescents, which are influenced by the specifics of culture, economics, politics, and even historical processes, is increasing. As you know, socialization is aimed at the formation of a modal personality accepted in society, which includes the main configurations of traits that are necessary for reproduction and further existence in it. The type of parental upbringing significantly influences socialization. However, it is mainly comparable to the influence of such socialization institutions as kindergartens and schools and the broad social environment. However, each individual is the result of the combined impact of cultural, economic, political, and historical contexts that influence the child’s development.
Culture in the Formation of a Child
In the cultural environment, the formation of a personality takes place, which develops, and then passes on its experience to the next generation. A particular culture’s language, norms, and values are mastered in childhood. That is, at this stage, the child absorbs the features of the environment by observing it. Using the system of punishments and rewards inherent in their culture, adults limit the right to choose and evaluate. Researchers have found many cultural practices that speed up (or slow down) the motor development of children. Thus, Erickson describes the custom of the Yurok Indians to stimulate the early crawling of the baby: from birth, the baby’s legs in the cradle remain open, and starting from the twelfth day of life, the grandmother massages them (Berk, 2022). Infants from some African tribes earlier than their peers from other cultures (for up to five weeks) independently assume a sitting posture, which is facilitated by special exercises done by adults (Berk, 2022). Thus, even the child’s motor development (crawling, walking) is influenced by culture.
There is no doubt that culture also influences the emotional development of a child who, in infancy, expresses anger or joy involuntarily. In the future, he or she must learn to observe culturally determined and passed down from generation to generation rules for showing emotions. That regulates expressive facial expressions and prescribes which – universal in nature – emotions can be shown in certain situations and which must be hidden. In addition to communication with parents, culture also has a profound effect on behavior, determining the socialization of children: how children are dressed and taught and what behavior is considered reasonable. In general, the possibilities and shaping of a child’s behavior are culturally determined, even if biological factors determine that behavior. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that cultural factors, whether individual or collective, are not as firmly fixed as genetic ones, and they change over time.
Economic Factors of Child’s Development
Even before we are born, we have a certain status in society. Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to the social and financial level of people (Manstead, 2018). Socioeconomic status before birth and in the early years of life depends on parents, as they are financially responsible for their child and his or her early development. Parents’ socioeconomic status will largely determine early development: how a child views the world; what, how much, and how often he or she eats; type of preschool education; general health; or how others see them. It affects children’s future success or failure in life as well (Manstead, 2018). Perhaps much of life is determined by what happens between the ages of two and five as one discovers and understands the world.
Parental involvement is one of the essential factors in a child’s development, but it varies greatly depending on socioeconomic benefits. A UC Davis Poverty Research Center study shows that a mother’s response to economic stress affects her child’s social and emotional health (Patler et al., 2019). Mothers who respond negatively are more likely to have had negative interactions with their child/children. The researchers found that, over the long term, maternal symptoms of depression are a better predictor of social competence than income and education. How parents deal with financial stress can substantially impact children’s social and emotional development. Children’s health and development are affected by a complex set of social determinants that affect health and development early in life but can also have severe consequences throughout life.
The Participation of Politics in Shaping the Child
Family policy is primarily aimed at the protection of childhood and the healthy and prosperous upbringing of children. The actions of the government seek to create a safe, comfortable, and friendly environment for the life of children. Improving the legal framework in the family policy prioritizes the state policy in the upbringing and socialization of children. The main mechanisms and directions for the development of education are based on the public-state system of education, taking into account the interests of children, the urgent needs of society, and global challenges (Radetskaya & Miroshkina, 2020). In addition, the government monitors the legal regulation in the payment and collection of alimony and tries to address social orphanhood issues and their prevention. By helping families at risk, the policy influences the child’s social behavior, preventing such troubles as, for example, juvenile delinquency.
The state family policy is an integrated system of principles, tasks, and priority measures aimed at supporting, strengthening, and protecting the family as the fundamental basis of society. The policy promotes the preservation of traditional family values and thus operates in conjunction with cultural characteristics. The policy seeks to increase the role of the family in society, as well as the authority of parenthood in the family and community (Levin-Zamir et al., 2017). In addition, political activity is mainly aimed at preventing and overcoming family problems, improving conditions, and improving the quality of life of families. Decisions about the economy, taxes and benefits, planning and transportation, and the overall distribution of government spending are not directly related to child-rearing. It still affects the perceptions and rules that are laid down in society and thus in children. In addition, decisions on more directly associated issues such as education and health care and broader discourse on childhood politics directly impact children’s lives.
Historical Features of Child Development
Ideas about childhood have changed radically not only throughout history but also in recent years. Awareness and understanding of the past’s influence at least allow the opportunity to change the situation. In cultural-historical theory, the practice of social institutions and human activity is the key to development – people participate and create activities that implement and contribute to the institutional practice that contributes to societal changes (Daniels et al., 2019). Personal activity is not a system but a process, and therefore it is not a specific manifestation of institutional practice; they are not inscribed in each other but dialectically influence each other. The individual contributes to his institutional conditions and perspectives of his society; therefore, both the institution and the person must be conceptualized as contributing to the practice of child development theory.
Because modern society is very different from what it was even 30 years ago, children grow up according to its rules. With the development of technology and digitalization, the pace of human life has changed. In this regard, the rate of child development has also changed: a modern preschooler in a week can get as many impressions, and experience as many events as his parents in their childhood received in a few months. Children live in this rhythm, and it is much more difficult for them to be waiting for something. They cannot loiter around, stare out the window for hours at falling snow and passing cars, and pause in the dialogue of cartoon characters or long screensavers.
Given the events that have taken place in recent years, society and its rules have also changed significantly. Modern children are developing in a digital age, and this is only reinforced by the mandatory quarantines associated with COVID-19 when even school education began to be received at a distance. In addition, tolerance is growing in the era of globalization, primarily affecting self-knowledge and perception of the world around us. Thus, many historical events can largely shape the behavior of children.
Conclusion
From birth, a person carries certain organic inclinations that play a significant role in developing various aspects of the personality, especially the dynamics of mental processes, the emotional sphere, and more. In the course of a long evolution, through the action of the laws of heredity, the variability of society and its rules, a complex organization of man has developed, which was transmitted through the main cultural, social (economic and political), and historic signs. The formation of personality is a complex, multivalued process of a person’s anatomical, physiological, mental, and social development, determined by internal and external natural and social conditions.
References
Berk, L. E. (2022). Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood. SAGE.
Daniels, H., & Hedegaard, M. (2019). The significance of demands and motives across practices in children’s learning and development. In Introduction to Vygotsky. Chapter, Routledge.
Levin-Zamir, D., Leung, A. Y., Dodson, S., & Rowlands, G. (2017). Health Literacy in selected populations: Individuals, families, and communities from the International and Cultural Perspective. Information Services & Use, 37(2), 131–151. Web.
Manstead, A. S. (2018). The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour. British Journal of Social Psychology, 57(2), 267–291. Web.
Patler, C., Hamilton, E., Meagher, K., & Savinar, R. (2019). Uncertainty about DACA may undermine its positive impact on health for recipients and their children. Health Affairs, 38(5), 738–745. Web.
Radetskaya, I. V., & Miroshkina, M. R. (2020). Vectors of modern development of Children’s Association. International Journal of Applied Exercise Physiology, 9(4). Web.