Childhood Aggression

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses the issues relating to the placement of babies and young children into daycare. The paper examines the association between aggressive behavior and daycare among children from three different perspectives. The paper also discusses Erik Erikson's stage theory of psychosocial development and the operant conditioning theory of B.F. Skinner.

Outline:
The Issue
Erik Erikson's Perspective
Skinner's Perspective
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"How can daycare environments be improved upon in order to decrease the stress experienced by children and further decrease the development of aggressive behavior? Dettling, Parker, Lane, Sebane, and Gunnar (2000) used patterns of cortisol production in young children to assess whether levels were influenced by situational factors involved in daycare such as size of the group, adult-to-child ratio, separation from parents, and quality of stimulation and attention from the child-care provider. The results of this study indicated that cortisol patterns among the children over the span of a day correlated significantly with the quantity of stimulation and attention provided by the child-care provider. Also, cortisol levels among children that were more emotionally negative and those with less self-control, such as aggressive children, also dramatically increased throughout the day. Overall, this study further reinforces how quality of daycare is key in determining the stress levels experienced by the children (Dettling et al., 2000)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baron, R.A., Richardson, D.R. (1994) Human Aggression. Springer.
• Borge, A.I., Rutter, M., Cote, S., Tremblay, R.E. (2004). Early childcare physical aggression: differentiating social selection and social causation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(2), 367-76.
• Bower, B. (1991). Infant daycare: nothing beats quality. Science News, 8/24/1991.
• Dettling, A.C., Parker, S.W., Lane, S., Sebanc, A., Gunnar, M.R. (2000). Quality of care and temperament determine changes in cortisol concentration over the day for young children in childcare. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 25(8), 819-36.
• Deynoot-Schaub, M.G., Riksen-Walraven, J.M. (2006). Peer interactionin child care centres at 15 and 23 months: stability and links with children's socio-emotional adjustment. Infant Behavior and Development, 29(2), 276-88.

More papers on Childhood Aggression:

• Essay # 16493 : "Childhood Aggression in Developmental Pathways"
• Research Proposal # 52562 : "Video Games and Aggression"
• Research Paper # 128292 : "Early Childhood Trauma Lives on in Adulthood"

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